"Wait! ... wait, hey you!" Pearl shouted, running after Roswehn.
The woman turned around. "What do you want, now? I said I will not pay more than that."
"No," the girl panted. Her father came out of the tavern yelling at her to return to do the damn work in the kitchen.
"No ... I'd like to talk to you ..."
"I have to go get my horse, I don't have time to waste, please." Roswehn answered abruptly, she couldn't wait to leave that cursed village.
"Did something happen to you last night?" Pearl asked, while pulling Roswehn by the arm and walking away with her before her father reached them both. "I saw that an ugly guy followed you on the stairs, after you've finished dinner."
Roswehn looked at her. "Yes. Yes, that piece of...was about to rape me...and then kill me. I was helped by that boy I asked you about."
Pearl shook her head. "Ah ... I knew that, he did the same to me once."
Roswehn was incredulous. "What ?! He already did it ?! And why isn't he in some jail now?"
"Can't you imagine why? Because he always spends a lot of money in our tavern. You know, I told my father about him, and what he did to me. He promised me he would have solved the matter, I thought he would tell the city guards. Instead, my father just went to that criminal and told him that if he had tried to touch me again, he would have cut off both his hands, and since then that pig has left me alone. " the girl confessed.
"But now he does whatever he wants with other women!" Roswehn shouted. "It's terrible, do you realize that?" Meanwhile, several people on the street had turned to look at her.
"Don't yell!" Pearl said. "I know ... I know ... it's horrible, but that's how life goes, here."
"Thanking Eru, I do not live here.The world of Men has fallen into degradation, and this village is the great western latrine. I can not wait to get back to the Elves." she murmured.
She immediately understood that she had said too much. In fact, Pearl widened her blue eyes, enthusiastic. "Do you live with the Elves, really?" A bright smile opened on her face. "I noticed the embroideries on your clothes ... no tailor in this place can make such elaborate dresses. I imagined you came from Rivendell. "
"Yes. Listen, I'm in a hurry, I'll take my horse now and then I have to go, have a good day, Pearl." Roswehn tried to dismiss her. They had meanwhile arrived at Arlon's stable. "Excuse me, can I take my horse, now? And how much do I owe you?"
A blond and dangling lad came out from the stables, holding a rake full of straw. "I still have to groom your horse, it will take an hour, and the hooves should also be checked in. Where did you bring it? There are stones stuck underneath." the man said.
"Couldn't you do it last night?" Roswehn retorted, annoyed. She hated Bree and wanted to leave that village as soon as possible.
"What do you want, to teach me my job? In the evening there is not enough light in the stables." Arlon said, spitting on the ground. "In an hour, and three gold coins, dear lady."
"Well, I'll take you for a walk around Bree, since you have time! So you can tell me about the Elves!" Pearl said. "Come on, I'll offer you breakfast, you can even change your gold powder with coins! We have a goldsmith here."
Roswehn reluctantly followed the girl, who took her to a baker. They sat outside his shop and Pearl ordered a slice of apple pie for her. The woman had to recognize that it was delicious.
"So," Pearl asked, "how are the Elves? Some months ago one of them came here from Rivendell, he wanted to buy seeds, or something else for their crops, I do not remember. He walked around the village for a whole day."
"They're like the one you saw." Roswehn said. "What intrigues you about them?"
"They say they are all beautiful! The Elf who came here was fantastic, the girls were all drooling on him ... and me too." Pearl said.
Roswehn smiled and nodded. "Yes, they are very good-looking creatures, in general."
"My friend Lisel spent the night with him, I envied her to death!" Pearl revealed.
"Way to go, Lisel." Roswehn murmured, watching the citizens busy in their activities. In the light of the day, Bree reminded her of Dale.
"And do you know what she told me? That Elf loved her all night without stopping!" Pearl said, with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Ah yes, I can imagine that." Roswehn said again, watching an elderly woman trying to load pots on a cart. Her friend Edith came to her mind.
"You tried that too, uh?! Sleeping with an Elf ...?" Pearl asked, opening her mouth in amazement.
Roswehn bit her tongue. But it was too late.
"How are they in bed? How do they do it? Please, tell me!" She asked. "My first time was at the age of fifteen with the blacksmith's son, it was behind the tavern's counter, on the floor, on a festivity day...our inn was closed ..."
Well, my first time was at the age of twenty-six, with the mighty Elven King of Greenwood, in a large bed with silky sheets.
Heh, that's life, dear Pearl. Roswehn thought.
"Look, I do not know what you want to hear, they're like us, they make love as Men do, that's all." She answered. Actually Roswehn had no experience with mortal men and therefore could not make a comparison. But she felt strangely embarrassed to admit it.
Pearl was confused. "As...men do?
But ... Lisel told me that there is a big difference with men ... she said she never experienced anything like that and she even fainted while they were..."
"I believe it, Pearl, I believe it." It had happened to her too, that time when she and Thranduil had spent two days in the king's rooms. Now that she thought about it, that may have been the moment when little Haldir appeared in a tiny spark of life in her womb.
"And then Lisel said that ..." Pearl continued.
"Listen," Roswehn said. "I'll tell you everything you want to know. But do me a favor: go away from this place when you're a little older. Take all your money, and leave. Do not waste your life in a dirty hole like this. Will you promise me?" Roswehn asked.
Pearl replied: "But...but...where should I go? My father has only me in this world, he counts on his daughter to carry on the tavern when he is old ..."
"Then sell everything, as soon as you can, bring your father with you to some better place, where there are no fools who follow you up to your room, or filthy old men who touch your butt when you serve them or ignorant boys who take advantage of you on a dirty floor. Try to give some value to your life. " Roswehn suggested her.
Pearl looked at her for a few seconds and Roswehn hoped she understood. But then the maid started again with the questions. "Is it true that the Elves are all skinny and have perfect bodies and there are no fat elves?"
Roswehn sighed and decided to tell her what she knew about the intimate life of those beautiful pointy-eared creatures.
Pearl listened open-mouthed, blushing as Dale's woman described the spicier details. Roswehn liked to have someone with whom to gossip, considering that she had no close friends; the person closest to her was Sigrid, and she was too innocent to hear that sort of thing.
At the end of Roswehn's stories, Pearl's face was all red.
"Now I want to go to Rivendell." She said, "...how long does it take from here?"
Roswehn laughed. "I would rather suggest you to go to the Lórien, in the South East. And ask for Orophin, if you get there, tell him you're a friend of mine."
"Holy cow, how many places have you visited?" Pearl asked, a little envious.
"Many, until this day, and others are waiting for me. Look Pearl," Roswehn said. "What I told you was just for your ears. The world of the Elves is beautiful, and peaceful. I don't want all the girls and women of this place to head to Rivendell looking for a boyfriend."
Pearl laughed. "No, no ... I will not say anything to anyone, I swear." She promised.
"They are such delicate creatures, you know." Roswehn said, getting up from the wooden chair. An hour had passed, it was time to visit Arlon again. She hoped the horse was ready.
"Well, delicate ... from what you told me ..." Pearl chuckled.
"Sensitive, is that better for you?" Roswehn snorted. She was not in the mood for lexical discussions.
Then they went to the goldsmith who widened his eyes in front of Elrond's gold, and gave her the equivalent in coins.
Finally, Roswehn said goodbye to her new friend. "Good luck, Pearl, remember what I told you, there's only one life ... for us."
"What's your name? You did not tell me!" the girl asked.
"Roswehn." She answered, mounting on horseback.
"What?? Rossen?" Pearl asked again.
The woman of Dale rolled her eyes.
"Rose." She told her then. "Call me Rose."
She looked at the green landscape. There were endless cultivated fields to cross to get to the Shire.
"Goodbye, Rose! Goodbye!" Pearl shouted from afar. "And God bless you!"
Yeah, what God? she thought. From what she had seen, there was no God in the world of Men.