''BWAHAHA TOL'YE PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR WOULD DRINK'IT'' - Says one of the men, waving and then drinking his own Ale.
''Well so much for lack o' faith.'' - Phi'lip rises his head and pulls a small wooden box a few centimetres from him on the table. - ''A word once given...'' - He shoves it to the other side of the table.
''Aye, damn right it'is'' - The men at the other side pluck it open and start sharing what was inside. Coin.
''PHILLIP. What is this about?'' - She looks again inside the cup, maybe it was a trick after all.
''Ah, just a daft bet we've had among the lads'' - He avoids her eyes.
''A bet? Pray, what was said bet about, exactly?'' - She crosses her arms.
''Well, you see...'' - He makes gestures with his hands, trying to make something up right there and then.
''The Bask boy had a bet ye wouldn't've drunk ale. Bwaha! Outta teach him not do underestimate the ladies, ain't that i'ght Little Stone?'' - The man reaches from the other side of the table and taps on Phi'lip's arm playfully.
''Aye, sorry Ashes. Thought ye wouldn't drank at all, let alone drown in it!'' - He finishes his own ale. The metaphor of 'drowning in it' gives her a slight twitch on her lip.
''An' in a single go at that. HA! Goldenhair 'ere has fire in her.''
''She sure does.'' - Ewan appears seemingly out of nowhere, taking the seat to her right. Though she can feel every beating heart around her, every breath they take, she couldn't notice him until he spoke.
The men that were preparing food earlier approach the table and begin setting the food, meat and potatoes, mostly, but also a few different grains she can't tell apart.
''My apologies, you've arrived at a bad timing, we couldn't receive you proper. But you did get in time for huntday.'' - Boulder, the huge man speaks to her, pushing Phi'lip to his side and taking the seat to her left. He snatches the leg of one of the chickens served on the table. - ''Me son has spoken highly of you, he calls you a lady. Are you?'' - Though he has a strong voice, he means no offense.
''Not really, no. I'm no lady.'' - Before she has time to continue speaking, Ewan intervenes.
''But you have lost you memories, have you not? Then so how can you be sure?'' - Ewan speaks with a grin on his face.
''If i was... Someone would have been looking for me.''
''Who can say there isn't? Who's to say what they micht do to those who had you, do you realize our-'' - Ewan is stopped by Boulder.
''That's enough, Máistir Ewan. It's just a girl.''
''Aye... Án oirthear with a pretty white dress, golden hair and blue eyes, loveliest young lady i've ever seen, and she appears here? Right before the fire...'' - Ewan lifts his cup up to his mouth, it covers the lower part of his face, while his eyes fiercely look directly into Ashes's. ''Of course i will be paranoid about it.'' - His voice, a constant shift of raspy and soft accents, was almost hypnotic.
''You that afraid of a girl?'' - She teases him, filling her cup with more ale.
''Girls? Nae. I'm afraid of what people to for them.'' - He takes a drink himself, glancing accusingly at Phi'lip.
They begin eating, most of them are very vocal about the food, talking about how good it is, about how on point the meat is, yet Ashes doesn't feel a thing. No flavour at all, as she was still eating that suspicious stew the Lady made back at the Manor.
''Food's not to the lady's liking?'' - Ewan provokes.
''I am not a lady. And the food is great.'' - She eats agressively, as if to spite his comments.
At first she found it to be strange, people here did not use forks, only spoons and their own hands. Yet at the same time, she can't recall ever using forks.
''Lady Ashes... I have something for ye.'' - Seán says turning her to face him, handing a little wooden box to her hands.
''Mr Bask, i cannot-'' - She's interrupted by him.
''Aye, you can. Me idiot son did not care enough to lend ye his boots. So i got new ones for you. Well, not new... But better than having none at all.''
She opens the box and there they are, a pair of brown boots, just from the sight, she can tell they're slightly bigger than her feet, but as he said, they're better than nothing.
''I didn't even know she was barefoot, that's why! i didn't look at her feet, i looked at her eyes.'' - Phi'lip bends over the table around his father to see her.
''Aye, my eyes, sure.'' - Ashes's usage of their own expressions make them laugh, Boulder gives her a gentle tap on her back.
She slots in the boots and stands up, though they really are a bit bigger, they're comfortable and sturdy.
...
The feast lasted for some time after, Ashes ate her fill, as a necessity, not as a pleasurable act as the rest of them did, she picked at the meat, still unable to taste a thing. Her cup sat in her hand, the ale now stale. The boots on her feet were a constant, heavy reminder of her place in this new world. And the dress she still wore, even if by now dirty, so starkly white against the soot and grime, felt like a costume, a long gone fantasy she wanted gone.
It reminded her of being left for dead, effectively, at that manor. She convinced herself that whoever did that to her, could not possibly mean anything other than harm.
When the feast finally began to wind down and the villagers dispersed, Phi'lip already lying down at the loose grass behind the tables, drunk to exhaustion, Seán approached her. He had a few clothes in his hands.
He spoke of cleaning her dress, but the thought of wearing it again made her sick. It was a lie. A lie about being a lady, a lie about a life she didn't have, and a lie about someone coming to save her. She knew in her gut that no one was coming.
After changing her clothes inside Seán's house, she walked back, instead of handing it to him, to have it cleaned, she tossed it into the bonfire by the well. Seán was surprised, shocked-
''Whatd'ye doing, Lady Ashes?'' - He waved at the fire, confused. - ''Twas a nice dress...''
''Letting go.'' - She watched the flames chew through lace and thread, the white collapsing into cinders, sparks drifting into the dark.
...