After that Monodnock seemed to hurry them through the rest of the meal, looking quite pink around the ears. He brought out several fur-lined blankets and more feather pillows, made sure Brie and Aelwyn were quite comfortable, and bade them an abrupt good night. Then he disappeared into his adjoining room.
Brie and Aelwyn took one look at each other and were overcome with giggles. They desperately tried to smother their laughter so Monodnock wouldn't hear. Fatigue soon overwhelmed them, however, and they nestled into their luxurious bedding and fell fast asleep.
***
Brie woke suddenly, something hard digging into her back. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on the lake path, her back against the hard rock of a scree. Her pack, quiver, and bow were placed neatly beside her. Aelwyn was nearby and she, too, was just waking up.
"We seem to have been rather unceremoniously dismissed from the porth," Brie said.
"Perhaps Mr. Monodnock is not at his best in the morning," said Aelwyn, stretching her body.
"You shouldn't have teased him like that," Brie grumbled, rubbing her back.
"I suppose you're right, but wasn't his expression priceless?...'To sally forth, to Bog Maglu?!' Still, I wish he had saved us some of that strawberry cream cake."
But when they opened their packs they discovered that Monodnock had indeed given them each a hefty portion of cake, as well as a piece of medlar fruit and a big hunk of cheese. They also found that all their clothing had been freshly laundered. And tucked discreetly in with the rest were two bars of sweet-smelling white lilac soap.
"At least his heart is in the right place," said Aelwyn, biting into a strawberry. "You know, I've been meaning to tell you what a great fool you are."
"Oh?" Brie raised her eyebrows.
"To leave behind that handsome young man who cares •for you at Cuillean's dun."
"Indeed." The color rose in Brie's face.
"I saw the way his eyes stayed on you. Collun, that was his name, was it not?"
Brie nodded. "We are friends."
"Of course." Aelwyn yawned, then gazed critically at Brie. "It is not as if you were pretty."
Brie was surprised into laughing out loud.
Aelwyn ignored her. "Although if you took a little trouble..." She reached under several layers of her colorful clothing and retrieved the soft leather pouch that contained her treasures. As she removed her hand, Brie saw something sparkling in her fingers. The wyll leaned over and fastened a pair of earrings to Brie's ears. They were spiral mosaics of differently colored iridescent stones. Aelwyn then unplaited Brie's hair and caught it loosely with a bioran that also glimmered with iridescent gems.
Aelwyn settled back into her place and gazed critically at her handiwork. "Yes. You could do better with what you have."
"Thank you," Brie responded with a smile.
"Still, it is not often one wins that kind of loyalty, especially from one so fair."
Brie's forehead furrowed in puzzlement. "It is Collun we are talking of?" she asked.
"Of course. He must be powerful, as well, to live in such a large dun."
Brie almost laughed again, but refrained, removing the wyll's ornaments from her hair and ears. "It was his father's dun. Collun is a gardener, not a lord."
"So you say," responded Aelwyn, accepting the shiny things from Brie. "But you ought to think about taking more care about your appearance, perhaps wear a skirt every so often; that is, if you do not wish to end up old and unwed."
"Unwed?" Brie replied with some measure of astonishment in her voice.
"Surely the prospect is not an appealing one?"
"I have never thought of it, one way or another," Brie responded. And indeed she had not.
Aelwyn gazed at her with a look of incomprehension. "I believe you speak truly."
"Of course."
Aelwyn stood, shaking out her skirts. "Well, you reap as you sow," she said briskly. "It is time for me to go. My friend's time is near."
They walked back the way they had come, and Aelwyn pointed out a path that followed the lake's edge on the opposite bank. "In the first farmhold you come to beyond the lake lives a Dungalan woman married to an Eirrenian farmer. I do not care for the farmer, but the girl is kind. She will give you a welcome, as well as fresh supplies. They can direct you to the path leading into the mountains and Beirthoud's Pass. And, Breo-Saight, if you should journey into Dungal, to the hill country, and your way takes you near the village Cerriw, know that you will receive a welcome at the home of my family. I may be there as well by then. Farewell."
***
It was midday when Brie arrived at the first farmhold. A heavy, soaking rain had begun to fall, and Brie was welcomed into the snug farm kitchen, where a fire burned cozily on the hearth. Bread was baking and a large well-fed cat rubbed against Brie's legs.
The farmer Ladran was warm enough in his welcome, though Brie thought there was something sly in his eyes. It was his wife, Rilla, who urged Brie to stop with them for the rest of the day and overnight, as well.
"We get so few visitors," she said with a shy smile.
Rilla was a small, pale girl, with copper hair cut short and a voice as soft as ash. When the farmer gazed at his wife, his slyness disappeared; to even the least observant it was plain he was devoted to her.
Brie described Bricriu and asked if the farmer and his wife had seen such a man. Ladran quickly shook his head. "No, no travelers through here, not in a long while."
Rilla looked at Ladran, puzzled. "I thought I saw you talking to, a man a few days ago."
"Ah, no," Ladran responded glibly. "That was Farmer Gluhn. You haven't seen him since he shaved off his beard. He had a sheep go missing, second one in a fortnight, and was asking if I'd seen it about."
Rilla nodded, though said nothing.
She invited Brie to share their meal and served a soup thick with corn and potato, along with bread that was crusty on the outside and melting-soft on the inside.
During the meal Ladran asked Brie where she journeyed. When she replied, "Dungal," a look of the most appalling emptiness came over Rilla's face, the look of one who has lost a part of her body and can still feel the ache of it.
Ladran, paying no heed to his wife's discomfort, advised Brie against the journey. "It's a nice little place," he said, "but there's nothing on that side of the Blue Stacks that you can't find on this side, and then some. And who in their right mind would want to go to all that trouble getting over Beirthoud's Pass? That's my opinion, anyway. And I say that even though I found the treasure of my own life there." His eyes softened as he gazed toward Rilla.
Brie said she was set on going, and Ladran replied that in that case he'd be more than happy to show her the best way through the Blue Stack Mountains.
After dinner Rilla took out a box of paints. She began painting on small circles of wood. "Panners, they're called," explained Ladran. Each was no bigger than a small locket. "No one makes a lovelier panner than my Rilla. It's a craft native to Dungal."
Brie went around behind Rilla and saw that she was painting a miniature portrait on the small wooden disk. The face was that of a man, with a beard and keen blue eyes.
"My father," Rilla said softly. It was extraordinary, Brie thought, how the girl used tiny dots of color and hatch marks to create a face so alive it looked as though it might speak.
"It's exquisite," Brie said.
Rilla flushed slightly then smiled.
***
It rained through the night and into the next day. Rilla shyly invited Brie to stay on with them for the day and, as it was not the most inviting weather to travel in, Brie found herself accepting. Rilla offered her a pallet in the farmhouse, but catching a frown on Ladran's face, Brie said she preferred to sleep in the barn.