Rannie grunted as she let the logs fall to the ground. She rubbed her sore arms before starting to place the logs neatly on top of the small stack of previously cut wood. While the simple but tasking work was still heard for her Rannie was already noticing an improvement. She could now carry five logs in her arms instead of the three that she could barely manage when she had started doing this work. The plan was keeping her busy with work would make it harder for trouble to find her and she really hoped it worked.
After the easterner nearly drowned her Rannie had her fill of trouble and her fill of being the victim. It was then that she saw her life had to change. Which is why, while sitting in Duramarth’s house after Cynreade saved her, she had asked him to teach her to defend herself. Her luck seemed to be running out and her plan to just run from danger wasn’t working any more. She couldn’t be a victim anymore, not if she wanted to live past the month the way her luck was going.
He agreed to teach her but there were conditions. Rannie had to stop her excessive drinking, start eating more and getting more hours of sleep. She had managed limit her drinking and eat at least twice a day but the sleeping...unless she exhausted herself with work sleep didn’t come to her. She tried to exhaust herself for that purpose and to see quicker results unless the soreness was too much. Usually she tried to simply work through it but some days her arms would be too sore that they nearly locked up on her.
The sound of a horse brought Rannie out of her thoughts and she looked up to see a rider dismounting off his horse. She looked at the rider curiously and wondering what Gaildrin was doing there. “Hey there lad,” she greeted him, laying down the last log. “What brings ya here?” He walked over to her with his usual stiff gait.
“Cynreade sends word” he told her, passing the greetings and straight to business like usual. She sent him a smirk, tempted to give him some smart remark but instead simply nodded.
“Aye, and what’s he say. I noticed I hadn’t seen him in a good while” she said, once again rubbing her sore arms.
“He has need of us in Angmar though I do not entirely know of the mission. I believe it has something to do with the storming the gates of Carn Dum. He asked me to bring you with me and leave as soon as possible” he told her and once again she nodded.
“Aye, well I’ll have ta get me things and a horse, unless ya want ta share a horse” she said with a wink.
“We would go faster if we each had a horse, that way they take longer to tire that way” he stated, clearly missing it was a simple jest.
“Aye lad,” she said with a shake of her head. That boy only had work on his mind! “Ya right there…well give me some time ta get me things from Bree and get a horse, I’ll meet ya outside the west Gate aye?” she stated and he nodded, mounting up on his horse and racing off just as quickly as he came. With another shake of her head, she quickly finished her work and headed towards Bree to prepare to leave.
