Emma tried in vain to be as unnoticeable as possible when she walked up to the head table. She was foolish to think that she could go unnoticed by anyone in that hall. Most obviously, because she was walking to the head table on a raised dais. But, more importantly, because she was wearing a dress that was more expensive and ornate than any other person in the room, including Eomer. Eomer had gone back to training after leaving Madge's house and had opted for a simple tunic for dinner after washing up. This meant that Emma was highly visible among the crowd, even for her small stature, and extremely uncomfortable about that fact.
She used the same technique as the first meal when she was wearing the hideous brown dress for the first time, simply stared straight ahead at her seat and walk calmly towards it. She managed to pretend she didn't notice all the staring and whispers, especially not the absolute death stare Sinead was sending her across the hall. When she arrived at the head table she was troubled to see that Eomer was, indeed, sitting in his assigned place next to her seat. Although he had a seat reserved at the head of the hall, he would often eat meals with other members of his Eored in order to talk to them about their patrols and training. This meant that Emma hadn't sat next to him for a meal since her first day here. It also meant that Carling might win her bet, but she said it had to be the entire meal, and Emma doubted he would stay near her the whole time.
Eomer and Cedric stood, both intending to pull out her chair for her. Cedric had been doing it out of custom since Eomer so often ate at other tables, but now that Eomer was here, it was his place, so Cedric stood back as Emma sat on her chair and Eomer helped her push the chair forward.
"You look beautiful, my lady," Cedric said as she sat.
"Thank you, Cedric," Emma said with a shy smile.
"Yes," Eomer cleared his throat, "that dress is quite nice, Blythe did an excellent job." Emma smiled, that was almost a complement.
"She's incredible," Emma said, "I meant to thank you by the way, for the dresses."
"You're very welcome," Eomer replied, glancing at her, "the accounts look good and Madge has said only great things, you're certainly earning your keep."
"Yes, I just thought there may have been a mix-up," Emma tried to bring up the matter of the coins as delicately as possible.
"Is there a problem?" Eomer raised his eyebrow in a challenge.
"No, well not really," Emma turned to face him, "it's just that you gave me the coins for the dresses but then when I went to the fitting Blythe said they were already paid for so I guess I was just confused..."
"It's not polite to discuss money in public," Eomer cut in.
Emma's face turned a bit red, "I'm not trying to be rude, I just wanted to see if there was some kind of misunderstanding."
"There wasn't," Eomer bit out, "you'll probably need a cloak when winter comes around, keep it for that."
"You think I'll still be here in winter?" Emma said, sadness creeping into her tone.
Eomer turned to look at her fully for the first time that night, "surely you've realized your stay may be longer than you hoped?" He whispered. Trying to be vague and not give anything away he added, "there are a lot of dangers outside Aldburg, my lady, and I don't think they'll be going away anytime soon." His eyes looked almost gentle, his hand squeezed hers under the table, just for a moment, like he was trying to comfort her.
Emma visibly deflated, she almost wanted to cry. She had managed to ignore how many days had passed, managed to think of this as some kind of wacky renaissance-themed vacation. It had been days since she considered that she may be stuck here for months, or even forever.
She cleared her throat, "you're right. I hadn't thought of that. Thank you, then, for thinking ahead."
"You don't have to thank me, my lady, it's what I would do for any of my guests," he retreated.
There he is again, she thought, as he went back to his distant manner.
Sinead passed by and sat a plate in front of Eomer, "you must be hungry, my boy," she said fondly.
Then, with a glaringly obvious flip of a switch, she put a second plate in front of Emma, "enjoy," she said, icily. Emma turned to Cedric and caught his eye, they chuckled like they had an inside joke.
"Did I miss something funny?" Eomer questioned.
Emma giggled, "not really, it's just that she hates me," she and Cedric burst out into another round of laughter.
"She's been nothing but courteous to you." Eomer glared and defended Sinead, who was like a mother to him.
"She has been completely professional," Emma tried to appease him as she could see he was growing angry, "but I can just tell that she doesn't like me very much."
"So, just because she doesn't kiss your feet you think she hates you?" He bit out.
"I didn't say that at all, you don't have to be so angry about it," she was yelling under her breath to avoid making a scene, again.
"It seems like you are-"Eomer began and then because the universe hates her, they were interrupted.
"Good evening Emma!" Declan walked up to the head table to chat, "you look beautiful in that dress," he smiled charmingly. Declan was about 24 years old, a couple years younger than Eomer, of slighter build and with a more youthful face. He was handsome in a boyish way, whereas everything about Eomer screamed rugged masculinity.
"Hi Declan," Emma said warily. She didn't quite believe Carling's theory that Eomer was jealous- that was absolutely preposterous-but she knew that Eomer had been upset earlier when she saw him talking to her. This evening had already begun to go south and she did not want to upset Eomer more by making him watch Declan try to flirt with her in front of him. She had a feeling Eomer had a bit of a nasty temper. "Thank you, I hope you're having a nice evening. How's your shoulder?"
"Oh, it's much better!" Declan grinned, "you're a skilled healer."
"It was just a set of simple stitches," Eomer cut in, "nothing a novice couldn't handle."
"Yes, even a novice like me could do it," she said sarcastically in Eomer's direction, turning back to Declan, she said, "I'm glad you're feeling better." While Emma had been doing her best not to step on any toes since arriving in Aldburg, she was not by nature a gracious woman. She was caring and made friends easily, but she was also petty and sarcastic when antagonized. And so, even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help poking the bear when she added, "if it's still hurting tomorrow, you can stop and see me at Madge's in the afternoon. I'll take a look at it again."
"That'd be lovely, my lady," Declan smiled brightly.
"Don't you have a meal to get back to Declan?" Eomer snapped, "You know we don't waste food during times like these."
"Of course, my lord, I was just saying hello to the lady," Declan responded.
"Well you've said your hello, now go back to your seat," he replied gruffly. Then he turned to glare at Emma, "I know you're not from this world but you should learn how to act around men here, people may get the wrong idea about you."
"I haven't done anything wrong, I was just being friendly," another whisper/yell. "The only one who seems to have a problem is you!"
"Oh trust me, I'm not the only one who's noticed the two of you," he responded under his breath as well.
"There's nothing to notice, you're being crazy!"
"If I may," Cedric leaned in, "perhaps my lord and lady would like to discuss this matter later. I can't say that leaning so closely and glaring at each other as you are won't raise suspicions."
Emma huffed, "fine by me. There's nothing more to talk about, anyway." She turned back to her food and began eating, staring at her plate like it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen and religiously ignoring Eomer. Eomer did the same, although at one point he did turn to James, the head guard, to discuss a repair that needed to be done on the main entrance to the city. As soon as she had cleared her plate, Emma feigned exhaustion and headed back to her room as fast as possible.
Carling met her at her door. "Well, that didn't go very well did it?"
Emma laughed, "yeah, how did you guess?"
"Well, for a minute there he seemed quite sweet on you but then I could tell you two were fighting about something, then Declan came up and Lord Eomer looked like he was about to run him through," she summarized.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Emma sighed, "well it seems I owe you a coin at least."
"Oh, don't worry about it, my lady. It was all in good fun," Carling waved her away.
"No, really, you earned it," she said with a small laugh.
"Alright, but I'll tell you what? I'll still figure out how to get you that bath," she grinned.
Emma smiled, "deal."