A/N: Apologies to everyone who is waiting for canon to make an appearance. The plotbunny originally told me the wedding would only take two chapters. 'Galdricge' means 'enchantress' in Old English.
Mood lightened by her talk with Elfhild, Cearo returned to the kitchen.
"The happy couple saw everything, so Aelfrid is the only one facing certain death for causing a scene. Elva, there are some platters out on the head table that are empty. I'd have grabbed them, but they're by Aelfrid, so…."
"You want to avoid more drunken scenes. Very good idea. Don't tell anyone what Elfhild said until I get back! I don't want to miss anything."
"Then go fast!" Acca, the miller's wife, called after her, and then turned to Cearo. "What did Elfhild want to talk to you about, if she already knew Aelfrid had been a drunken fool?"
"I'm waiting until Elva gets back." Cearo smiled slightly and leaned against the hearth. "No one would be quiet long enough for me to tell Elva what I'd already told you, so I'm only saying it once."
"What did she say about Aelfrid?" Wilda demanded.
"I already told you. She and Helm saw that what happened was entirely Aelfrid's own doing."
"What else?"
Cearo grinned. "You'll have to wait. If you're that eager, go and help Elva." Immediately, three women left.
When Elva and the others returned with empty platters and bowls, they set them down haphazardly on top of other dishes waiting to be scraped and wiped off and joined the group by Cearo.
"Elfhild wanted to know what happened out in the rain to make Aelfrid ignore me. I told her, and she told me to apologize to Aelfrid for overreacting and say I'd consider what he said, and that she understood needing to get used to seeing Aelfrid as something other than a brother so if I'd agree to let Aelfrid court me she'd talk to Helm about me staying with them."
Orva giggled excitedly. "You're going to let Aelfrid court you?" She giggled again.
"I did not say that. I said that is what Elfhild wants me to do."
"Use your ears more and your mouth less, girl." Dagmar gave her daughter a reproving look. "That is why Eru gave you two of these—" she pinched one of Orva's ears "and only one of these—" she tapped a finger against Orva's lips. "No man wants a wife who is quick to speak and slow to listen."
Cearo laughed. "I can't imagine why any man would want to marry me, then."
"You are far less silly than my daughter, but she is right in one thing. You should allow Aelfrid to court you." A smile teased at her lips. "You will have no peace until you do."
"I'm getting that idea," Cearo said with a resigned sigh. "Am I the only one in the village who didn't know until last month Aelfrid wanted to court me? What?" Everyone was looking at her like she'd just admitted to not knowing where wool came from.
"You did not know?" Udela and her mother traded amused looks. "It was obvious."
For the third time that day, Cearo wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. "Not to me," she admitted, face flaming. "Where I am from, it is normal for guys and girls to be friends and spend lots of time together."
"It is also normal where you are from for men to spend whatever time they are not working with the same woman, and to go out of his way to do things for her, and to find excuses to be with her and stand near her and touch her?" Gurda, Cearo's closest girl friend, leaned toward Cearo and tugged lightly on her braid. "It is also obvious to everyone that you are quite taken with him as well, so stop saying you are not."
"We are just friends and leave my braid alone!" Cearo stuffed it down the back of the overdress. What was it about her braid; that everyone had to pull it? "Like I said, guys and girls—it's normal for guys and girls to be friends where I'm from. I like spending time with him. I used to spend a lot of time with Helm, too, until he became betrothed to Elfhild, and no one was going on about how Helm and I were interested in one another, and the reason Aelfrid is always helping me on and off Cwen is because—and you know it's true—I look like a complete fool trying to mount and dismount on my own. I'm likely to trip over my own feet when dismounting and fall on the ground if someone does not help me."
"Is he the only one able to help you? Is that why he is always the one helping you?" Gurda chided. "Even when there is a mounting block, you wait to wait for him to help you. Everyone has noticed." The other women nodded and voiced their agreement.
Cearo rolled her eyes. "You must have very boring lives to be making a big deal out of nothing. I don't like mounting blocks. That's all it is. I've had guy friends before, so I'd know if I were interested in Aelfrid as more than a friend. Gurda, Orva, stop looking at me like that! If you're so desperate for romance, go pester Helm and Elfhild and leave me alone. I'm going to clear tables."
Dagmar grabbed her wrist. "You stay here. The others will do that."
"We are not done talking with Cearo," Orva whined.
"Yes, you are." Dagmar's tone brooked no disagreement. "The sooner tables are cleared, the sooner the dancing begins."
Those, apparently, were the magic words because Orva closed her mouth and hurried out to the main room with the others without another word.
"Are you trying to get me alone so you can talk to me one-on-one about why I should let Aelfrid court me and that I need to stop denying I like him as much as he likes me?" Cearo said dryly. "Are you going to keep at me until I break and give in to all the pressure?"
"No, you are safe for now." Dagmar released her wrist and shuffled over to where she had a small pot and an empty bowl. "You came back here to avoid the talk and stares and that is exactly what will start again if you go out to clear tables."
Cearo nodded and went over to her clothes, turning them over so what was still wet would have a chance to dry before it was time to leave.
After a long moment of silence, Cearo spoke. "Dagmar, I have a question."
"I might have an answer."
"Don't tell Ma."
"I will tell no one. What is your question?"
"All this stuff with Aelfrid. Everyone is pushing me to let him court me and they act like I'm foolish for not being all excited about it and no one can understand why I'm not and I'm afraid to tell anyone the real reason because I'm afraid they'll laugh at me and tell me I'm just being stupid and to get over it." She took off her cloak and looked around for a place to leave it to hang to dry. "Maybe I am just being silly and stupid."
"And you want to know if you are." Dagmar began pouring the contents of the jar into the bowl. "How can I when you have not told me what your reason is?"
'Smooth move, Exlax,' Cearo thought dryly. 'Telling her would help.' To Dagmar, she said, "It—he scares me. The way he looks at me. It makes me feel uncomfortable and kind of scared and—everything has changed suddenly and I felt safe with Aelfrid and everything was fine and now everything's changed and I don't know what to do." She hugged herself and stared blindly at the worktable. "Everything has turned upside down and everyone acts like I'm wrong for wanting things to go back like they were. Everything is changing and I'm confused and scared and—I don't know what to do—what I want to do. I told Aelfrid to leave me alone; I needed to think and he kept on pushing and pushing and he kissed me and—Dagmar, what do I do?"
The older woman said nothing as she finished emptying the pot into the dish and set it down to her right. There was some tension in the silence as Cearo waited for Dagmar to speak, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Cearo was content to rest back against the side of the hearth and watch Dagmar work.
Dagmar cleared her throat. "I can see why you would be feeling unsettled and confused. It would be a big shock, to learn Aelfrid has decidedly un-brotherly affection for you."
"Brego, too."
"Brego as well?" Dagmar's surprise was obvious.
"Unfortunately. He told me he was interested—actually, he kissed me and that was his way of telling me—right after he told me that Aelfrid was interested in me."
"Oh, my. And Rheda knows?" She turned to look at Cearo, who nodded. "Oh, my. What a mess you have found yourself in, child!" She chuckled sympathetically and moved around the table, pulling Cearo into her embrace. "Small wonder you are confused and feel scared."
"So you don't think I'm being silly and stupid?"
"Only a little." Cearo looked up at her and saw Dagmar was smiling at her. "Only when you say you have no interest in Aelfrid."
"Only as a friend. I know how I feel. I'm tired of everyone insisting it's more than that." She lowered her head, resting it on Dagmar's shoulder. "Everyone acts like they know better than me how I feel and what I should do and it makes me mad."
"We mean no harm, my dear. Us older women know love when we see it, is all."
"Why does everyone think I love him?"
"You are—" Several women entered the kitchen then, carrying empty platters and bowls, cutting Dagmar off. "Come talk to me tomorrow, Cearo." She gave the younger woman's hand a quick squeeze and stepped back, returning to where she had been working.
"The tables are almost clear!" Orva announced excitedly. "I hope Edwyn asks me to dance with him! He is so cute!" She giggled.
"Why don't you ask him?" Cearo suggested, laughing at Orva's shocked expression. "Men like confident women."
"There is a difference between confident and forward." Acca gave Cearo a stern look. "Is that how Gondorian woman act; like harlots?"
"I was teasing her, Acca. I wasn't serious." Cearo clenched her teeth briefly, willing herself to remain calm and polite. Act like a harlot, indeed. "I don't know how women from Gondor act, but if I hear, I'll let you know."
"I thought you were from northern Gondor."
"No, I grew up near the Fords of Isen. Good, solid Rohirric stock." She smiled brightly at Acca. "Wouldn't surprise me if there's a bit of Dunlander in my blood from way back, though. Father's family always was rather strange." Cearo was tempted to mention a great-great-great grandmother's rumored dalliance with Saruman, but decided not to. The Dunlander ancestry was enough of a scandal for one day. She smothered the urge to grin and laugh with glee at the idea of how many feathers her background would ruffle in the village.
She checked her clothes several minutes later and was thrilled to find they had dried out enough she could wear them comfortably.
Kenric was waiting outside the door to the kitchen for her when she came into the main room.
"May I have the first dance, my lady?" he asked with a formality that made Cearo laugh.
"Of course you may, kind sir." Grinning, she put her hand in his and let him lead her to the area that had been cleared for dancing. "Thank you for asking me before anyone else did. The last thing we—the family, I mean—need is for people to see Aelfrid snubbing me."
"That is why I was waiting for you." He winked at her. "I thought you would like the pleasure of having the first dance with the most handsome man here as well." She curtsied to him as the band played the first notes of the dance.
"But I'm dancing with you instead. Maybe I can have the next dance with the most handsome man in the room, if Elfhild will let me."
"That is fine thanks, insulting me after I spare you from embarrassment!"
She shrugged as they did something similar to a do-si-do. "I did not say you were not handsome, only that you were not the most handsome man here. You are quite good-looking, Kenric. If you were a few years older, I would marry you without a second thought."
"You will not wait for me?" He lifted her by the waist and spun her around.
"I wouldn't mind, but I'm sure Brego would have something to say about that." She wrinkled her nose. "If—when he complains, I'll tell him to talk to you and you can explain to him why I should refuse him to wait for you. I know! Ask him if he wants a wife with Dunlander blood." She told him about her conversation with Acca.
"That explains your hair."
"Are you implying red hair is something bad?" She gave his ponytail a tug as he set her down.
"Do you think I would be foolish enough to say 'yes'?" He grabbed her braid and tugged it.
She narrowed her eyes and scowled at him. "If I find out that's what you meant, I will smother you while you sleep."
He laughed. "It also explains why you always react with threats of violence. I am surprised you have not killed us all in our sleep yet."
She smiled ferally. "There's always tonight."
As she'd expected, Cearo was never wanting for a dance partner. Neither was Aelfrid, who seemed intent on charming and flirting with every unmarried female eighteen and older except Cearo, a fact that became embarrassingly apparent after several dances.
When the band took a break, Cearo sat down next to Rheda, who wordlessly handed a sleepy Wilone over to her before heading in the direction of the bar.
"Are you and Ma having fun, Little Bird?" She rested her head on top of Wilone's, who was sitting with her back against Cearo's chest.
"I'm tired." She wiggled until Cearo let go of her and then turned around so she was facing Cearo and straddling her lap and wrapped her arms around Cearo's neck.
"Do you want me to find you somewhere to sleep until the dancing is over?"
"Nuh-uh. I wanna stay with you." Her arms tightened around Cearo's neck.
"Please let go a little bit, honey. You'd holding too tight. Thank you. You are with me right now."
"Will you be home tonight?"
"Do you want me to be?" She put her arms around Wilone and hugged her close.
"Yeah." Wilone lifted her head so she was looking at Cearo. "Why did you leave? I have to sleep with Mama an' I don't like that. She makes really loud snort noises when she sleeps a lot an' it's hard to sleep."
Cearo resisted the urge to laugh at Wilone's "snort noises" and wondered what Rheda would say if she was told she snored.
"I was helping Elfhild get ready to marry Helm. I'm sorry you had to sleep with Ma."
"I'll sleep with you tonight." It was a statement, not a question.
"Of course." She kissed the tip of the little girl's nose, making her giggle. "I missed you, too. I'm not used to sleeping without you holding onto my arm." 'And kicking my side and whimpering and holding my arm so tight I lose feeling in my fingers and laying half on top of me and making your own snort noises,' Cearo added silently. She hadn't thought she'd miss the toddler, but her left side had felt strangely empty and bare without Wilone pressed up against it and falling asleep had been hard for several days.
"Who did you play with when I was gone?" Cearo asked. "Did Tellan and Grindan play with you?"
"Sometimes. They're not fun like you. They don't like to play dolls or make crowns. They just like to hit each other an' yell and bang their wood swords together a lot. Helm is nice to me. He let me ride Ser-win with him an' he told me stories." Her excited smile spoke volumes. "Aelfrid told me stories, too, an' gave me piggyback rides an' let me pet the sheeps an' lambs an' sit on the sheeps. They're real soft. We got berries, too. I ate a lot and got a tummy ache an' Mama said she hoped I'd learned my lesson an' would leave some berries in the bucket next time an' she was mad with Aelfrid an' Kenric for letting me get a tummy ache." Wilone took a deep breath. "Morwen's babies are real big now an' Mama let me bring the black an' white one, like a cow, inside to be my friend an' Aelfwine's friend. I named it Gally 'cause that's easier to say than 'galdricge'. I'm tired. I wanna go home."
"We will. Soon. Do you know where Pa is?"
Wilone shrugged and shook her head. "If I did, could we go home?"
"I don't know, Little Bird." She hugged Wilone.
Rheda returned a few minutes later with two mugs of cider, one of which she handed to Cearo.
"You look thirsty." The older woman smiled at Cearo.
"Quite. Thanks." She took a long drink from the mug. "Wilone was telling me everything she did while I was gone. You let her bring a kitten into the house?"
"She would not stop pestering me about it and you know how Algar is with her." Rheda's expression softened and she stroked Wilone's hair. "He would have let her bring all the kittens, and Morwen, too, into the house if I had not refused. Wilone was very mad at me for several days."
"You're a very mean mother," Cearo deadpanned, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "How could you deny your daughter her heart's desire?"
"Very easily. We do not need nine more cats in the house. There are too many right now, but it will be large enough to hunt mice soon enough and make itself useful. You know several cats always disppear by the harvest so we will need another good mouser."
"Aelfwine is mouser enough for five cats. Is the kitten a boy or a girl?"
"A girl. Did Wilone tell you what she is calling it?"
Cearo nodded. "Did she tell you where she heard 'galdricge'? From Brego," she continued, not waiting for Rheda to answer. "She told me he says it's a better name for me than 'cearo'."
"It would explain the effect you have had on two of my sons."
"Not on purpose, I promise." Cearo smiled wryly. "If I had any powers, I'd enchant them to go after other women and leave me in peace."
"Little pitchers have big ears." Rheda nodded at Wilone. "We will talk about this later."
"Of course. It's funny Brego would say I should be called Galdricge. Where I am from, that is what one of my names, Tinuviel, means." The words surprised her. Why was she telling Rheda this when, for the last three years, she'd said little about her life before coming to Rohan. She'd been sharing a lot about her life before Rohan in the past several months. 'I'm a regular fount of information,' she thought dryly.
"Truly? That is strange." After a moment, she said, "Why did you not say something before now?"
"I did tell you my name, but you all had trouble with it and people already knew me as Cearo, so I decided to stay with that." She shrugged. "It didn't seem very likely to me I'd ever get back home, since no one knew where to find me, so I decided to leave behind my old life and start new. Maybe I should have insisted on a happier name, like 'laughter' or 'sunshine', instead of letting people keep calling me 'sorrow'." She smiled to show she wasn't upset.
"You should have said something." Rheda took Cearo's free hand and gave it a squeeze. "I doubt anyone remembers why you are called 'Cearo' anymore, except our family."
"I know. It does not matter, truly. There are many people whose names are ill-fitting. Our Tellan rarely stops to consider anything and the only thing Andsaca Teonson is the enemy of is the biting fly that dares to land on him. My other given name, Luthien, means 'nightengale' and you know I cannot carry a tune." Both women laughed. "Could you do me a favor and find Helm and tell him I want to dance with him? I'd go myself, but—" she nodded down at Wilone "—I'm a bit weighed down at the moment."
"I can take her if you want."
"No, Mama! I wanna stay with Ce'ro!" Wilone gripped Cearo tightly.
"The princess has spoken," Cearo said dryly. "Tell Helm he'll need to get Wilone's permission to dance with me."
Rheda stood up and, clearly amused, said she'd make sure to warn Helm he might have to dance with two ladies at once.
"I'm gonna stay with you all night," Wilone declared as Rheda left. "I don't want you leaving me at all again."
"Little Bird, I will have to leave you at some point to go to the bathroom and I will have to set you down when I need to take off my overdress. You cannot cling to me forever."
"You need to come right back."
"I always come back, Little Bird. When didn't I come back when I said I would?"
"You told me you were only going to help Elfhild for a little while and you were gone a long time!"
"I'm sorry, honey. I thought I told you I would be gone for a while but I would be coming back." She hugged Wilone tightly and kissed her forehead. "I will never, ever go away and never come back, not unless something keeps me from coming back."
"You promise?" The question sounded more like a desperate plea, breaking Cearo's heart.
"I promise. You're too cute not to come back to."
Cearo and Wilone were singing a silly song about Tom the Toad and his friends when Rheda returned.
"Helm says he will dance the next dance with you and that he would consider it an honor if he were to dance with both you and Wilone, two of the most beautiful girls here." Rheda adjusted Wilone's hose so they covered her entire legs instead of bunching below each knee.
"Elfhild being the most beautiful, of course." Rheda nodded and Cearo grinned. "He's obviously biased. Wilone is the most beautiful. She will break the hearts of many men when she is older."
"No, I won't!" Wilone protested. "I'll be real careful. I won't break nothing!"
Cearo and Rheda looked at each other, both trying not to laugh.
"I hope she does not give me as much trouble as you have," Rheda teased.
"If by 'trouble' you mean grown men acting like petulent little boys because they cannot have their way, I hope so, too. I never wanted or asked for any of this. I'm surprised it's been Aelfrid, not Brego, causing a stir."
"He will be dancing with you after Helm. I have told him to or he will sleep with the horses for the next month."
"Who; Aelfrid or Brego?"
"Aelfrid, of course. Brego is—I am not sure where he is." Rheda stood and looked around the room, but without success. "I am surprised he has not tried to claim you for a dance yet."
"So am I." A chill ran down her back, making her shiver. "I have no idea what to make of Brego suddenly being interested in me. I thought he disliked me as much as Deagol does." Brego had never liked much of anyone, save Deagol, but he'd seemed to have a special dislike of her, especially after she and Aelfrid became good friends.
"Speak of the devil and he will appear," Cearo muttered, spotting the subject of the conversation coming toward her and Rheda.
A/N: Please do not tell me you wish I'd update more often. It annoys me. When I have something new, I update. Like all other authors on this site, I have things IRL that take priority over fanfic and there are times my fountain of ideas runs dry. I'd love to be updating every few days or once a week, but that's not always possible. I'm sorry when there are long stretches between chapters. In an idea world, there wouldn't be.