Mara was working with Oin the next day when Lona bustled in, Gimli tearfully clutched in her arms.
"Oh dear," Mara exclaimed softly, approaching them at once. "What happened?"
Lona just snorted in annoyance, plunking the young dwarf down on a bed. "If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times," she said with a shake of the head. "Stubborn as his father this one." At Mara's silent request for an explanation she prodded her son with a thick finger. "Tell her what you did," she ordered sternly.
"Fell offa counter," Gimli mumbled, head lowered so that he did not see the mirthful look that Mara hurried to mask behind professional worry.
"Well let's have a look then shall we?" Mara murmured, taking his head in gentle hands and examining the long cut that went from temple to jaw line. She tutted to herself, taking the salve Oin passed her and smoothing some onto the wound after she was certain it was clean. "Do you feel dizzy at all lad?" she asked, frowning in concern when the young dwarf nodded before swaying shakily. "Perhaps a mild concussion?" she suggested to Oin, his nod of confirmation enough to cause her to ease the young one back to a prone position on the bed.
"Will he be alright?" Lona cried softly, motherly worry instantly replacing irritation.
"Oh yes," Mara assured her. "He'll be fine, we just need to keep him awake until it passes. He should be ready to go home by the end of the day."
"Very well," Lona murmured, sitting herself down beside her son to keep vigil. A single look at her face told both healers it would do no good to try and roust her from his side, so they backed off respectfully and allowed her this time.
The quiet conversation between mother and son lasted through to the afternoon before Gimli began to show signs of restlessness. He was fidgety and irritable, and positively vibrating with his desire to leave the confines of the bed he had been placed upon. After his third such attempt, Lona could be heard chiding the boy sternly.
"Sit still now, you're not to go anywhere until the healers say so," Lona admonished him, well practiced at keeping a straight face when her son began pouting.
"But amad, I'm bored," he exclaimed quietly, his eyes widening to comical proportions. "Please can I get up? I promise to move slowly and stay on the ground."
Taking pity on the lad, Mara moved over to them to check up on him. "Eager to get going are we?" she asked lightly, offering the lad an understanding smile. He nodded enthusiastically, showing no sign of being in pain anymore. Taking his head in her hands again, she pressed lightly on the wound. Gimli trembled slightly but did not waver, continuing his pleas to be released from confinement. "Not dizzy anymore?" she asked him, giving him a stern look that warned him to tell the truth. He instantly became serious, sensing he was about to get what he wanted.
"No Lady Mara, not dizzy anymore," he answered truthfully, his response leaving Mara pleased and slightly surprised.
"Well, everything seems to be in order. I think you can go lad!"
Emitting a whoop of joy, Gimli leaped down from his perch and raced for the door, already forgetting his earlier promise to his mother. Lona for her part just shook her head in amused resignation, following her son as Mara called after him. "Make sure you stay off the counters now!"
Lona turned at the doorway, offering Mara a grateful smile. "Thank you for being patient with him. I suppose I'll see you at the feast then," she promised a suddenly confused Mara.
"Feast?" Mara asked questioningly.
Lona frowned slightly in evident surprise. "You didn't know? It is the feast of the advent of summer, not that we really need a reason to celebrate," she admitted with an anticipatory grin. "Everyone will be there, just ask Dis about it, I'm sure it only slipped her mind." With that she was out the door, and Mara followed soon after, her work done for the day.
Mara entered the kitchen to find Dis humming a cheerful song as she tidied around the room. "Back already?" Dis exclaimed as she heard Mara enter, only to glance out the window and notice the steadily lowering sun. "Goodness me, is that the time? I must start supper! Come, help me get this sorted so we can chat, there's something I forgot to mention."
Mara moved to help her, grabbing the ingredients for soft dinner rolls and hastily mixing a batch. "Is it about the feast?" she asked, grinning when Dis offered her a look of mild shock.
"How did you guess?" she wondered.
"Lona," Mara explained. "She was at the wards today, Gimli took a bit of a fall off their counter. He's fine but we had a chance to chat while I tended him."
Dis chuckled. "That rascal, always getting into things he shouldn't. I hope he didn't learn that from my boys, they can be a horrible example at times."
"Oh I know it," Mara agreed heartily. "They tried to sneak cookies while you were gone, poor Fili managed to knock the entire jar over the floor. It's lucky it missed his head."
At that Dis broke out laughing. "So that's what happened to my jar! When I asked the boys they mumbled something about not knowing and ran out of the room. I suspected of course, but confirmation is always nice."
"So about this feast," Mara asked, returning to their previous topic once the mirth had subsided. "I'm not sure I have anything to wear, I only really have this dress and one other besides my travel clothes."
"Not to worry," Dis assured her. "We shall get something made for you in time. We have a week yet. Tomorrow we can go to market and find a fabric that you like," she offered, mouth crinkling at Mara's obvious delight. Their happy chatter filled the room, along with the growing scent of dinner as they continued to make plans for the upcoming celebrations.