The night outside is somewhat chill for spring. There is a promise of rain, if the starless sky and rising humidity can vouch for that. Fae's windows are open to the breeze that stirs up the trees and shrubberies on her small estate. Her fires burn low; her candles and sconces are the ones to blaze forth the light that she needs to see by. She sits at a table in her small, comfortable study, a quill in hand and a blank leather bound book before her. At last her thoughtful expression dissolves and she begins to write.
It has been a long time since I have felt or seen the need to chronicle my life. However, events have occurred in the past few weeks that I feel as if they should at the very least be documented. I have kept myself in the homesteads and have rarely ventured into town. I knew that things were changing, sometimes for the better or for the worse, but I had never imagined something as bad as a small civil war taking place between the inhabitants of Bree...
I was fairly dragged into the middle of this war, which was (and still is, in some ways) taking place between El's faction, Indignation, and the noble houses (pretty much all of them and they are too numerous for me to remember them all just now) which have taken up residence in town. While I did not agree with Indignation's methods of making their point known, they had a valid one to make. Somehow I managed to appoint myself as their neutral go-between when the idea of peace was brought up. Possibly because I said I would have it no other way. Since then, I have met several new people and they have either intrigued me or won my heart.
Firstly, Sigfread. He and I were the neutral parties in the peace talks and we have got on famously. I now consider him a friend and a dear one at that. He is a dark, tall, handsome fellow and knows it; I cannot blame him for having a high regard for himself. Despite that, he is good natured and his moods are easy to read. However, I fear that he wears his heart on his sleeve, for I see troubling evidence that he may feel something more for me than friendship. I truly hope that this is naught more than my own hubris, but I fear not. Either way, he is likeable and is well-liked by me.
Harlyn is the next person that I met. Or rather, the first, as she is the leader of El's group. I met her when she was interrogating a noble, I believe; I did try to stop it, but it appears I had arrived on the scene just when they were finishing up. She is fair and dark and I think rather pretty, but I bear mixed feelings for her. I see good in her, yet, she gives me the idea that she also has her own agenda that she would like to push forward. I cannot say why this is, just that it is. I do not know her well enough yet to know for sure whether my intuition is correct or not. Aside from that, she is impatient and hot tempered; she is easily aroused to wrath, but she is not unmanageable. She can be made to see reason -- and she cares for her people, which stands greatly in her favor.
Then I have made friends with Annsuel, another woman within Indignation. Her I like very much; she is sweet tempered and friendly. Aye, she is far less prickly than Harlyn is and she has a lot of good sense between her ears. She is not afraid to speak up either, from what I have seen, and she appears to be a good negotiator. She is very comely, too, but she seems unconscious of it. I would count her as a loyal friend indeed, for I have gotten the notion that she has been with Indignation for a long time though she has not always agreed with their choices.
And the last person that I have met, the last one that I wish to speak of in this entry, is Lord Gerwolf Thalanduin -- the head of the house which Indignation made peace with. He is a puzzle to say the least. I know not what to make of him. He seems truthful and open, but I would also call him brash and unthinking, perhaps even impatient by turns. He has a good heart, I am sure, for I have seen many indications that the heart he does bear is not a hard one. However, he also appears to have trouble empathizing. He is, by my book, vain (or sensitive, chuse what you will) enough to care how others view him. He is insulted by the way that Indignation views him; he believes they view him as a monster and I do not think that is quite true. Feeling that one's self is above the law does not make one a monster. It does, however, class one with criminals. Perhaps he equates criminals with monsters? I know not. I generally like him, as he is affable when given a chance, but I'd like to throttle him, too. Or gag him. Whichever is more handy at the time.
I judge him to be young (or inexperienced, at least) for he seemed surprised to be presented with the idea that he is an example to the people at all times. It seemed common sense to me; those in power will be emulated to any degree. I would write to him again, if I thought I would not be intruding or even giving unwanted advice. I would hate to prove myself annoying. Alas! What can I do? I must endeavor to figure him out. Perhaps one day I shall be able to amend this entry with a full understanding of his character -- and Harlyn's, too.
After a few moments of sitting in silence with her quill poised in the air, she lays it down and rises from her seat. She blows on the still wet ink, watching it dry with tired eyes. At last she shuts the book and walks away, leaving the other things that weigh on her mind to be written on a different day.
