Walks and Talks

Standing in her accustomed place and playing her harp once again, Lieve waited for Haldrid to come to the Pony. He did eventually and asked if she would walk with him. This time they went to a garden. Lieve was a little apprehensive about going to that particular place since it was where she had been when Ruthrey had been attacked, but Haldrid soothed her fears, saying it was better to remember the happy memories there. After that they would often go there, Lieve weaving grass stems or tickling him with grass-stalks, trying to make him smile. He would speak a little of his life. He told her where he was from, born a Dalesman, but brought up in Bree since a very young age, so felt himself more of a Breelander. He told her about his family, his father, his mother, his stepmother, his sisters Ceowulf and Tarlancina. At some point he confessed to her that he had murdered people. She was rather shocked at first, though she had become a little more inured to such things since the captain and certain incidents in Bree. This seemingly gentle man was not at all as she thought, yet in spite of his words, she felt for him, believing she saw a goodness inside him that it appeared no one else could see. While he was explaining his actions, his words were such that she could not fail to note the pain and anguish he went through because of his deeds. She longed to ease it for him. Yet people around her were telling her he was no good, a bandit, a criminal, a murderer. While she knew this in her heart, she refused to acknowledge it consciously, listening to the accusations with a blank expression of innocence and naivety on her face, telling them what he had told her, that he had changed, wanted to become a better man. She would tell him about her life, how her father beat her and his plans for her, about the captain, though that pain had become so much less lately. They discussed ways and means for her to escape her situation. He suggested she run away from home, but she told him how that had worked out for her last time and he agreed it was not the best solution. At one point he suggested she ask Mr. Baywillow to marry her, surely such a good friend would be willing to do this for her? Lieve laughed at that, shaking her head. 'Oh no, though Mr. Baywillow is a very good friend, I could never marry someone I do not love,' she said, watching his eyes as she spoke. 'If I did, I may as well marry the man my father has in mind for me, it would come to the same thing!' she insisted. He conceded the point to her. Saying he would think more on the matter, they took leave of each other, Lieve gazing after him as he walked away, suddenly coming to the realisation that she wished that he would be the one to tell her he loved her and would marry her, believing he did not care for her more than for a friend.