Elfwine: Part Seven

"I am glad you have come," Mayda said once she had managed to tear two very giddy boys away from the great hall. They had been having such a wonderful time at the exuberant feast that Mayda had nearly had to get down on her knees and beg before they got to their feet and followed her out. Such joyous and lively public occasions were unheard of in their conservative home. Rohan was more different to Tolfalas than the boys had imagined and upon seeing how the court behaved, they gained some insight into why Mayda was the way she was.

"I need your help with a plan I have been concocting all day," she explained as they reached her room. Without thinking she went in and was rather surprised to find that they had not followed her. Instead they hovered at the door uncertainly. "What is it?" she asked worriedly, looking about herself to see if there was anything particularly offensive in her room.

"Is it not rather inappropriate for us to enter your private chambers?" Dior asked, furrowing his brow so deeply that his dark eyebrows practically met in the middle of his olive brow. Mayda sighed exasperatedly before she marched forward, took hold of their collars and yanked the unsuspecting boys inside.

"Why is it that you like to make everything into a situation Dior?" she laughed with a smile as she slammed her door shut and marched over to her window to see if her village friends might be eavesdropping.

"Why is it that you must do everything you can to make me feel uncomfortable?" Dior countered, his eyes shining with affection for the young princess.

"Because it is so easily done," Mayda sang back before dropping down on her knees and peering under her large bed uncertainly. "I know they're here somewhere," she muttered to herself.

"What is here?" Huor asked, crouching down beside the princess.

"My Manhald Eve costumes," Mayda replied. The boys looked to each other blankly earning them a look of reprove from the girl. "You must have Manhald Eve in Tolfalas surely? It is a sacred tradition! The night of the spirits?" she explained sounding incredulous. "Tell me friends, do you do anything fun in Caladhir?" The boys grinned wryly and nodded.

"We have our own traditions that you know little of," Huor stated with a certain degree of smugness. Mayda grinned and leaned back on her heals.

"Oh yes? Name one!"

"Lômin Pharaz," Huor said proudly. "The Night of Gold. In the height of summer..." Mayda laughed out loud and nodded.

"Very well, so perhaps you do have some traditions, though I still say they sound boring! Manhald Eve falls in early spring, it is a night where many in Rohan dress up as fiends and ghouls in order to scare away dark and evil spirits that may have gathered about our dwellings during the dark months," Mayda explained as she dropped down on her front and pulled herself under her bed.

"We do not have such an eve in Tolfalas I am happy to say, it sounds ridiculous," Dior laughed.

"Well why do you seek these costumes now Mayda?" Huor asked, wanting to avoid any chance of a scuffle.

"Because we are going to wear them in order to disrupt the parade and terrify my friends," Mayda replied cheerfully. "Ah ha! Here they are!"

"Will your uncle not find that awfully wicked?" Huor asked worriedly. He received no response, instead he received the fright of his life when a ghoulish mask was flung out from beneath the bed and landed at his feet. He quickly jumped to his feet, earning him a mocking grin from his older brother.

"I have a reputation to uphold," Mayda finally replied and she reappeared, dragging a sack full of oblong objects from beneath the bed. "If I do nothing at the parade then the entire village will think I have turned into some sort of cowardly Gondorean!" What she could not know was how this stung her friends.

"We too are Gondorean you know," Dior managed.

"Yes, well you two are acting like cowards," the girl retorted. "Now I know you are not cowards, so I would appreciate a little help on your part!" Their pride restored, the boys leaned forward and peered in the bag.

"And if we get speared by one of your uncle's guards? What then?" Huor grinned. Mayda frowned slightly.

"I do not think it will come to that," she eventually replied, though her tone did nothing to reassure the boys. "Now then, I am going to have to lead the parade out of Meduseld as this is tradition," she said pointedly and received two sarcastic smiles in return. " So you are going to have to hide behind one of the village houses with my costume, so as I might change! I shall feign a twisted ankle or such and then come and meet you."

"Are you going to be in a lot of trouble?" Huor asked worriedly. Mayda grinned and shrugged.

"That remains to be seen..."

X X X

After their plan was concocted and every eventuality countered for, the young trio found themselves with plenty of time on their hands. Mayda knew instantly what she wanted to do with her friends from the south.

"I am going to take you on a tour, so as you might see what real living is about," she said cheerfully, jumping to her feet and leading her friends out into the breezy corridor beyond her room. "This, my dear friends is a corridor," she said with a large grin on her face. She looked most wicked. The boys exchanged a tired look that was ripe with affection nonetheless. "And this," the young princess continued, motioning towards one of the ornate benches that lined the corridor. "Is a..."

"Let me guess," Dior interrupted gallantly. "Is it a bench?" Mayda smiled wickedly.

"Ah," she said. "I see you may have encountered the basics before." The boys nodded their assent. "Very well then, I shall have to show you something you have never encountered. I know!" With this she took hold of their hands and ran off, dragging the boys through the network of breezy corridors with the ease of someone who had grown up within these walls. Finally she skidded to a halt on the slate in front of a very grand door.

"Now you have to be quiet, I get told off if I make a noise in this room, it is called a library," she whispered. The boys exchanged a grin once more at her mockery, but they nodded nonetheless and allowed themselves to be led into the modestly fitted library.

"You know," Huor whispered in the princess' ear. "We too have books in Tolfalas." Mayda grinned.

"All foolishness aside, I have not come here to show you books," she explained and her eyes glazed over for a moment as her eyes took in the grand portrait that stood before the children. "I have come to show you my father," she explained, finally sounding slightly humbled. The boys followed her gaze and their eyes took in the exquisite mural that depicted Théodred's demise. "He was a mighty warrior was he not?" Mayda whispered. Though the boys made no sound, they wholeheartedly agreed. It was a fine painting of what appeared to be a mighty warrior. They had of course, heard all about Théodred from Mayda's tales. After several more minutes Mayda stepped back and turn around.

"Come," she said softly. "Let us go and I shall introduce you to him!" With this she strolled out leaving the boys staring after her slightly worriedly.

"Do you think she has gone mad?" Huor asked anxiously. Dior snorted and shook his head.

"She was already mad brother," he said cheerfully, before following their guide out of the library. She led them through the corridors until finally she found the door she desired, which led them out into the cold afternoon. The sun was beginning to set, basking Edoras in a pink glow, and it lit the way for the trio as they traipsed through the thick snow to the gates of the village. The guards there were jolly and they greeted the children enthusiastically.

"Mayda, where are we going?" Huor asked as Mayda led them on even further, traipsing down some hidden route.

"See here," she said indicating the two rows of pristine white mounds. "Here my ancestors lie, my father is among them," she explained and led them to the mound she had sat by many an occasion. "And here is my father," she said with a smile, dropping down to her knees on the side of the slope. Instantly the boys felt humbled. They had never known anyone close to them that had died, and were so unaccustomed to it that it frightened them. "Papa, this is Dior and Huor, they are my friends. They come from Tolfalas," Mayda explained, her hands roving over the snow in search of the white flowers that ought to have been lying beneath the snow.

"You speak with him?" Huor asked uncomfortably.

"Of course," Mayda replied. "His body may be gone, but his spirit remains. Perhaps he cannot hear me, I do not know where our spirits reside once our bodies have wasted, but if there is the slightest chance that he might hear me, then I wish to speak to him. I knew him but a brief time in life, and I have changed so much since..." She faltered as her fingers connected with something soft.

"What is that?" Dior asked, getting down on his knees next to the princess.

"Simbelmynë," Mayda replied distantly, helping the little flower out of its icy grave. "They grow where the dead rest, and never perish. Do you not have them in Tolfalas?" The girl sounded surprised.

"We do not know, we have such places for our dead, but they are not so public and only a few can access them," Dior explained. Mayda furrowed her brow.

"That is odd," she finally said before turning her attention on the howe. " So much of your lives seems odd to me."

"And so much of yours to us," Dior retorted with a grin. "It is fun here though. Much more colourful than in Gondor." Mayda grinned and jumped to her feet.

"And you are yet to see old Master Hamason's hovel. Trust me," she said as her friends got to their feet also, to follow her back to the village. "He has more Mettarë decorations in his drawing room than we have in the entire Golden Hall!"

X X X

"Stop squirming or you shall hurt yourself," Lothiriel admonished gently as she helped Mayda fit her wreath of candles.

"I am not squirming," the girl countered with a grin. "I have an itch and if it does not go away right this second I shall scream!" A moment of silence passed. "Ah!" Mayda cried out exasperatedly.

"What is all this commotion about?" Éomer's voice sounded and he appeared from the hallway beyond. "Everyone is waiting for you and all they can hear is you screaming the place down." Mayda glared at him.

"I am not screaming I have an itch," Mayda grumbled, but by now the wreath was firmly fitted to her head and she stood up, wiping the creases out of her white gown.

"You look enchanting," Éomer said with a proud smile as Lothiriel fitted the heavy red cloak about the girl's shoulders. Mayda smiled and did a very careful twirl to illustrate the full effect, before she took up her handheld candle and walked out the door. As soon as she entered the hall her eyes fell on her friends and they rushed to each other with as much precision as they could manage and clasped their free hands together.

"You never told us your plan Mayda," Arin reprimanded. Mayda's eyes twinkled wickedly.

"That is because I have decided to forego my annual tradition of mischief and instead try my hand at behaving for once," she explained in a lofty tone of voice. Arin and Laiken waited a few moments before they broke out into reels of laughter.

"That we will never believe," Laiken laughed. "No, we shall have to watch our backs Arin, she's up to something!" Mayda grinned once more, but she was being hailed to the head of the procession to lead out of the Great Hall. As soon as she reached the front the soft hum of the carols built up behind her and for a moment she almost regretted what she had planned. It was such a lovely tradition after all. And so on they marched, down the slopes of Edoras, handing out treats from their pouches to the little ones that ran along with them.

When they reached the fork in the main lane Mayda knew what she had to do and she feigned a trip, catching herself just in time, so as her candles wouldn't touch the ground. Her fellow maidens dropped down around her worriedly. Twittering almost nonsensically about broken ankles and swollen knees.

"No honestly, I have broken nothing, it is merely strained. You must carry on without me," she urged. It took several minutes to convince the ladies, but eventually they conceded and Laiken and Arin instead led the parade on. It took a further fifteen minutes for all the concerned village-folk to leave Mayda be, but finally she found herself thoroughly alone. She carefully removed her wreath and blew out the candles before hiding it amongst the shrubbery, and then in a flash she was behind the house where Dior and Huor were waiting already dressed from head to toe in their costumes.

"For an instant we wanted to come out and aid you," Dior's muffled voice came from behind his mask.

"Yes you are a frighteningly convincing liar Mayda," Huor added. Mayda grinned cheekily and started pulling on her ghoul costume. Within minutes she was done and she led them through the small backstreets to where they had planned to intercept the parade. They had to wait only a mere few seconds, as the carols announced the arrival of the parade.

"Ready for some real fun?" Mayda asked with a smile, before she threw herself into the street howling and shrieking. With one last sigh the boys followed her lead and within moments the parade had scattered into chaos. Women and children fled in all directions, their screams echoing eerily in the night. With the fear that spread out before her, Mayda realized that she had made a terrible mistake. What she had done was meant to bring laughter, not panic.

"What have I done?" she whispered, and then she smelt it. She had smelt it before when disaster had struck the lower parts of the village two years before. It was the smell of burning thatching...something was on fire!

X X X

More to come soon. Thanks so much for the reviews, so nice to see you guys respond so quickly after me not updating in so long!