Chapter Seventeen-Beer!
I arranged for beer to be served to the dwarves at four o'clock and informed Bilbo, Frodo and the other hobbits that tea would be served in the sitting room promptly at three. As I ran around to inform everyone of the changes, I was approached by Erestor. He walked smoothly up to me, a serious look on his face.
"Lady Karyn, may I speak to you for a moment?" He asked politely.
"Of course Lord Erestor. What's on your mind?" I stopped in my tracks and looked up at him.
"Since you will be the liaison for the dwarves, may I suggest that we scale back your Sindarin lessons from ninety minutes to sixty? I am sure you will be kept very busy keeping them happy," he said fastidiously.
"Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that," I rubbed my forehead, "Thanks for the offer. Sixty minutes sounds great. Which reminds me, I'm going to have to figure out my schedule again. I don't think I'll be able to help out in the gardens or kitchen while this is going on."
Erestor nodded, "You are becoming a proficient rider for a mortal. Perhaps you could reduce your riding lesson for the time being as well."
Huh. I didn't think he had noticed my riding lessons. I knew I was getting better. No tipping and I could gallop without bouncing. I wasn't ready for jumps quite yet, but I was coming along.
"Thank you for the compliment." I said, "I have to run, so I can let everybody know what's up." I nodded to Erestor, who returned the nod, and ran off.
My afternoon before tea was a busy one. I had notified the kitchen, gardeners and Rochonduron of the changes to my schedule, and then went to the kitchen to get everything prepped for tea. Getting the sitting room set up at two-forty five, I looked up to see Glorfindel enter the small room.
"Good afternoon Lady Karyn. I thought to join you for tea, as I could assist you in cleaning up and then help with the dwarves. Is that acceptable?" He looked down at me, his face impassive.
"Oh, thank you for the offer. Bilbo usually helps me clean up, but I could sure use your help with the dwarves," I smiled.
"Of course. May I stay for tea?" Glorfindel asked.
"Oh absolutely. The hobbits enjoy your company, as do I," I noticed his eyes brighten at that.
"Thank you. I enjoy your company as well," I wasn't sure if Glorfindel meant me or all of us. His face was inscrutable.
He picked up some items off the tray and set them on the table in the centre of the room. I was making sure the tea was hot and fully steeped when Pip and Merry dashed in.
"Oh good. We didn't miss tea!" Exclaimed Pip, who grabbed a plate and began filling it with sandwiches and baked goods, "Can you hand me a cup of tea Merry?"
Merry meanwhile was busy filling his own plate, "Hands full Pip. Grab your own."
Bilbo, Frodo and Sam came meandering into the room.
"Oi, don't eat all the lemon cake!" Sam chastised as he took several squares off Merry and Pip's plates.
Frodo got a cup of tea for Bilbo and put a few goodies on his plate. I gave a cup of tea to Glorfindel and then poured Frodo a cup as he filled his own plate. When everyone was settled, I poured my own cup and settled back into a chair.
"So, what about those dwarves?" Pip asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
"What about them Pip?" I asked.
"They seem nice enough," Bilbo said as he sipped his tea.
"They're fine Pip. They seem to enjoy themselves. I'm serving them beer at four, so that's why we had to move tea up," I mentioned.
Merry's eyes widened, "Beer! They get beer? How come we're not getting beer?" he complained.
"Merry, the dwarves requested beer, and you are currently getting tea. I don't serve food with beer, unless I can scrounge up some pretzels or peanuts," I joked.
"No food with beer?" Merry seemed a bit taken aback.
"What are pretzels?" Pip asked, eyes bright with curiosity.
"Pretzels are dough, twisted into a knot and baked so they're soft and chewy. You can get hard pretzels too and you can dip them into mustard," I explained.
Merry's eyes got quite wide, "Well why haven't we had them here?" He demanded.
"We're having tea Merry. I have never in my entire life have seen pretzels served at tea. Never," I emphasized.
Glorfindel smiled, "Why did you not bake some for the dwarves Lady Karyn?"
"Oh, not you now," I was annoyed, "I haven't had time. But should time suddenly be made available to me, I'll be sure to bake some."
Glorfindel laughed, "I am sorry. You just seem to be capable of anything, so I may have presumed you capable of getting pretzels for the dwarves."
"You have presumed incorrectly," I said dryly.
I looked at my watch, which was still a source of amazement for both the elves and hobbits. I hadn't yet introduced the device to the dwarves. It was getting on to four. I had to get going, but the hobbits still had not finished their tea.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to get going here. Bilbo, could you and Sam stay and clean up?" I asked, "I've got to get the beer out to the dwarves. I don't want unhappy dwarves on my hands."
"Of course my dear," Bilbo reassured me.
"Yes, I can help Lady Karyn. It's no trouble at all," Sam piped up.
"Thanks so much. I've got to run," I said as I put my cup on the tray, "But I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"Of course," Frodo smiled at me, "We'll see you at dinner."
"Can we come and get beer?" Pip asked hopefully.
"No. The beer is for the dwarves. But I'll see if I can't get some to the table for dinner, okay?" I placated.
"Okay!" Merry and Pip were suddenly more enthusiastic.
I got up and Glorfindel joined me. We walked out of the room and went to the kitchen to get the beer. Several elves joined us as we brought out the beer steins and the kegs of beer. Glorfindel tapped the kegs and I set out small bowls of roasted walnuts. I looked up to see a couple of elves pouring the beer incorrectly.
"No, no. You have to minimize the head," I took a stein, "Here, watch how I pour a correct pint. You've got to tilt the stein and run the beer down the side to prevent a thick head from developing. See?" I poured a beer with almost no foam.
The elves nodded and began pouring like I had shown them. Glorfindel brought out more chairs and tables for the dwarves and we placed them around the veranda. As we finished, the dwarves started pouring onto the veranda. Goha picked up a stein and took a long draught, swallowing he gave me a pleased look.
"Wonderful my lady! Just wonderful!" he exclaimed.
"Aye laddie," Gimli rejoined, "You have a good hand in pouring a smooth beer."
"Oh I only poured a few Gimli. I taught the elves how to pour," I demurred.
"Yes lassie, but if you hadn't taught the elves how to pour, we'd all be wearing beer beards now, wouldn't we?" Gimli countered.
The dwarves all burst into gales of laughter at that. I made sure everyone had beer and made sure the bowls of walnuts were kept full. The afternoon seemed to fly by as the dwarves told bawdy stories and made various toasts to anything and everything. When I figured everyone had a good buzz going on I had the elves roll the now empty barrels off the veranda, and put them away. Gimli watched as I directed the venture.
"Where's our beer going lassie?" Gimli asked.
"Well, the kegs are empty now. As well, evening meal is being served in half an hour, so I figured instead of bringing out a new barrel, we could wrap this up, so you'd have time to get cleaned up and ready for supper," I explained.
"Oh. All right. I thought you were cutting us off. If supper's soon, that's a different story," he agreed.
I nodded and smiled, "I would never cut you off Gimli. Just trying to make sure everything runs smoothly and ensure you don't miss a meal."
"Thank you lassie," Gimli grinned and swigged his beer.
As everyone drained their steins, the elves helped me clear them up and take them away to be cleaned. I let the dwarves know supper would be served in twenty minutes and helped Glorfindel direct the dwarves back into the building so they could get ready. Sighing, I dropped down into a chair after all the dwarves had left. Glorfindel sat down beside me.
"It went well. I think tomorrow should be fine," he remarked.
Tomorrow? Good lord, I'd forgotten about that.
"Oh God, I hope they're as agreeable tomorrow as they were today," I moaned.
"The Mirkwood delegation will behave, and I'm sure under your excellent guidance, the dwarves will be fine as well," he soothed.
Glorfindel had told me the story of the bad blood between dwarves and the Mirkwood elves, and I didn't want a brawl breaking out. I really hoped he was right. I had a migraine starting in my right frontal lobe, and I didn't think I'd make it to dinner. I needed to take my meds and lie down.
"Lord Glorfindel, I'll need you to advise the hobbits I have to miss dinner. I've got another migraine starting and I need to take my medication and go lie down for a while," I said.
"May I assist you?" he asked with concern.
"No that's alright. I just need some quiet time to let the meds work, that's all," I wearily got up from the chair and began to walk back into the building.
"I will let the hobbits know, but I will come and check on you later, if that is alright with you," he walked behind me, rubbing my neck.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," I said.
I went to my room and took my migraine meds and then lay down on top of my bed, pulling an afghan over me. I had fallen asleep a short time later, and perhaps an hour or two after that felt Glorfindel come into my room. He touched my forehead and then sat down in a chair by my bed. I couldn't rouse myself enough to say hello, so I sighed and turned over, falling back into a deep sleep.
This was the first migraine I had experienced since I had come to Imladris, and little did I know, it wouldn't be the last.
As I slept, I dreamed of riding through the trees at night, a cool breeze caressing my skin and a huge full moon hanging overhead. I slept very deeply that night.