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The Heartwood
The Plainsend Inn at the foothills of the Highgaard Reaches

Pauli didn't immediately answer, he first looked among those gathered in his commons. One to another and another until he finally ends upon the House Shannon Squire.

He takes a breath, once, twice, before consciously taking up his role as a host and turning back to Celi.

"A word. Ja."

Darian

Longtooth made a rumbling noise, and Darian looked up again. The one he had growled about before was in motion once again. Her eyes followed as many thoughts circled. She also looked to the others now.

The sellsword. The healer in white. The fancy Red Man. The prey. The innkeep and his woman and girl child. Her mouth twisted as she thought. She had questions she wanted answers to, but there were too many here.

"Perchance on the road," she said to the ruff at her side, "perchance to find answers of a thief."

As she had intended to keep only a bench or a stretch of floor in the common room to allow Longtooth to remain near the fire, she settled herself further. Still watching, she pulled a a pouch from within her pack by feel and a sharp knife. The pouch was filled with whole feathers, and she set to splitting and cutting them into smaller purposed pieces.

Once in awhile her mouth would move as if she were saying something, but there was no sound.

"Thank you, your lordship. I was in your stables earlier, and observed the amount of trade you handle in such high-travel times as these, and ... you see, sir, I myself am competent in the care and maintenance of all animals.

"Umm, 'All' meaning, all them as you are required to care for in your stable. Would you be having any openings for such help? Sir"

She stood straight and looked him in the eye without hesitation, though clearly such was not her most comfortable manner. She was more about not being noticed than she ever was about being direct.

Conrad

He looked a bit surprised at her question.

"Of course you may ask me a question Lady Camelia. What would you like to know?"

She winced a little at the open use of titles. That gave her a moment's pause, and it took that long to summon her courage again to speak so boldly.

"Just a short time ago, you asked for my name and I answered you... and then you... then you said you didn't know me but you knew the lineage of my name. What did you mean by that?"

There she managed to speak her mind and ask her question. She felt a small measure of relief. Food and water and warmth that had only now just begin to seep into her body. She was feeling a little stronger and a little more confident.

Conrad


He looked in her eyes and then nodded at the drying clothes by the fire.

"I recognize what the checkerboard motif on your clothing implies. Imperial family or some relation to imperial family."

The Heartwood
The Plainsend Inn at the foothills of the Highgaard Reaches

There's a quick shake of the barkeeps head, almost before Celi can even finish her request.

"If'n I were rich enough to be hirin' folks off the road my stables would have walls, lass.

"That and Jessup, who looks after them, is the son of a good an proper family whose farm is just over the hill. Are you suggesting I tell him to stay home so some stranger from ..."

There's a sharp pause as he checks his words,

" ... far, far off ... can take the few pennies he earns?"

Again, a second holding of his words.

"Dawn, She is coming early now. Best you sleep and be on the Path first thing."

OOC: Let us assume that the clothing she was wearing when she arrived is set out for drying and visible, since she changed and is now wearing a much plainer tunic as offered by the Innkeeper's wife.

******

The young woman relaxed a little.

*Of course, the clothes...*

She nodded to the squire in appreciation for his straightforward answer.

"House Deynekko," she said as she too looked to bundled garments, so badly in need of cleaning and mending. Perhaps she might see to that herself. It was Handmaiden's work, but...

"It was the clothing I was wearing when I was abducted, and spirited through the streets of Trundle on the Hill. I had nothing else to wear, but had I, then I would have abandoned those garments long ago. It is too dangerous to wear them, and if I am to enter Cragside, then it might be best to go without drawing unwanted attention."

She glanced about the room. There were quite a numberr of people. Some seeking employment to see them through the winter, others with tasks and destinations already appointed them. Cragside for them... But perhaps Cragside would be the best for all... The more of them she kept about herself, the less likely her unseen enemies would be to strike in open fashion such as on the road to Cragside. Of course, any of them could be an enemey, but since she had already wandered into the place more or less announcing who she was with that damnable Imperial checkerboard cuffing she might as well attempt to keep all of them about her so as to watch them.

*Too much time in the Court,* she allowed privately. *Muddles the brain and makes you suspicious of everyone and everything.*

What was it that her Mother said... **"We are always the ones buying time ...**

The young woman never understood what that phrase meant, but it was important, and in it's own way she found an understanding that made some snse to her.

Right now she felt as though she were buying time... from who and for why, she didn't yet know.

Mikal

When she is finished, he rolls back down his sleeve and stands up. "I thank you for your time, Lady Comfrey. I do my best, but it is always better to get the opinion of an expert on such an important matter. Well, important to me anyway." He grins.

Then, more seriously. "Yes. Bandits. Not terribly far from here either. They killed a friend of mine so I took it upon myself to make sure they did not do that again." He glances briefly down to his arm. "Took those couple of cuts for it, but could have been worse."

**Yes, it could have you ninny. Charging so many.** He muses internally.

"As for the weather", he flicks his eyes over to the woman conversing with the Squire. "Will she be alright? She looked more than a bit worse for wear when she came in."

Conrad

"We will get you clothing for the trip. Perhaps Lady Comfrey might have something or perhaps the innkeeper's wife can mend something to fit you." he said. "Would it insult you if I do not call you Lady Cameila for our journey? I would not use your name without your permission."

"I have no way to express my gratitude except in simple words," she replied. Perhaps it was an embarassment for her to be in such need and to have to seek the charity of others, but the woman who called herself Camelia found it hard to meet his eyes at this moment. "Thank you... It is not enough I know..."

She paused to consider his question. She mustered the resolve to look him in the eye. She wasn't particularly short in stature but she was rather thin of build. Perhaps her perceived delicate nature was represented in the name she offered.

"There would be no insult, in fact I would gratefully prefer you not call me Lady at all...Camelia is sufficient."

<Comfrey>

She smiled again at Mikal's comments and nods. "It is always time well spent. Not checking could leave for worse to happen, no?"

"The weather isn't always the best for those not out in it in proper attire. I see no lasting harm that time won't heal."

Comfrey hesitated a moment, not sure of how much to meddle, and erring on the side of what felt right. "Perhaps you would like to give your well wishes yourself? They are both here."

She chuckled softly. It seemed to her the young woman was worried about many things. Perhaps this could aid in less worrying, and the squire was right there.

Celi

Celi was disappointed, but refused to let it show. It had happened before and would likely happen again.
"I thank you for your consideration, sire. Ah, I don't suppose you offer a reduced rate if I were to bed down in th' stable? Tis no hardship and if Jessup has trouble with the bay stallion, I could calm the big fellow ... again."

Mikal

He nods to Lady Comfrey, and at a break in the conversation he turns to face the Squire and other woman and says, "Your pardon, Squire and Lady. But I wanted to offer my wishes for the Lady's health. I know with the ministrations of the good Lady Comfrey such is no longer an issue, but I hope you did not suffer too much in the elements? The weather lately has been unpleasant."

He pauses a second, then goes on, "In any case, I do not wish to interrupt, other than to mention that if you will be traveling towards Cragside on the morrow then perhaps you might suffer my presence, along with Miss Darian and Longtooth", he nods towards the girl and her ruff sitting near the fire. "We are traveling that way tomorrow as well and having recently run into bandits on the road I'd think there's safety in numbers."

"Oh, I forget my manners. I am called Mikal."

Conrad

He turned to look at the man speaking to them, eyes narrowing as he weighed and judged the man.

"I will be accompanying these two ladies to Craigside. I have no trouble with you traveling with us if you wish and if the ladies do not have any objections."

The Heartwood
The Plainsend Inn at the foothills of the Highgaard Reaches

"Good. The stables is it is. Two pennies and why don't you take advantage of it.

"Now."

Camelia

"I have none," she replied. "I am grateful for an escort, but I do not see myself as more than a guest of this trip as it is. And so, as for the others, I am in no position to voice objections."

She looked towards the fireplace.

"I would like to sit near the fire though, warm my feet upon the hearthstones."

She drew the tunic hem in just enough to reveal that she was barefoot.

"Hopefully, before the chill sets in deeply now and I catch a fever, I might feel them warm again. I would not turn away company."

Due to the Lady of Aterras ministrations, Camelia was reasonably sure she wouldn't come down ill, but several nights in the cold with wet clothes and no food and so little water had taken it's toll. She could feel the weight of her journey weighing her into a torpor. She had eaten food but still her joints ached deeply.

<Comfrey>

She smiled a bit as she heard the planning for travel. It was good that Conrad approved of him. It might be soothing to Camelia to have more. But for now, the fire would be more soothing.

She thought a bit. She didn't have shoes but warm socks? That she did have. "Sock! I'll be right back," and she headed upstairs for the sock, muttering at herself in her mind for not thinking of it sooner. She could move quickly when she wished though sometimes it was hard to remember decorum while doing it.

She saw the innkeeper and the small woman talking and briefly wondered about what. She smiled at them both as she sped past.

Celi

Celi restrained the urge to jump up and down in delight. Something finally had gone right on this journey. She unknotted her soft leather purse and extracted two pennies from her slowly shrinking supply, examining each carefully to be sure they weren't something larger, or two somethings stuck together, or anything other than the proper denomination, then handed them over with the solemnity usually reserved for paying off the manor's mortgage.

"You are most gracious, sire. Should Jessup encounter any emergency, I will be happy to provide whatever assistance I can."

She reknotted her purse, slung it at her waist next to the rightmost of the brace of workmanlike kukra she carried, rearranged her scarf to cover her neck and head, then turned and made her way with graceful ease through the crowd to the door, and out.

Darian

She tucked away her fletchings, rolled up the pouch and put it back in her pack and reseated the knife into its proper place. Rising with the grace of a born hunter, she pulled her cloak from the chair back and settled it around her shoulders. The eyes of the ruff followed her movements.

"Checking the hide," she told him as she moved her pack from the chair to lean against the wall.

He rose to his feet to accompany her as she headed towards the door. She smiled a half smile. Together they went out through the kitchen and the door in back. Going that way, the two did detour to the stables first to find the girl clad in skins.

Longtooth stood at Darian's side, the amber of the ruff's eyes nearly the same shade as the woman's. She had a hand in his fur and the other hooked into her belt by her thumb.

She stated simply and as a matter of fact, "You should probably wear normal clothes... or else you are NOT sharing the trail with us."

Celi

Celi had found the stall where her little gray had been put up, and had tidied a corner for her use. She did not appear to have overmuch in the way of gear, save a cold-weather coat made from wolf pelts, currently rolled up around a small package of personal effects and more normal clothing.

She considered her reply, then said mildly, "These are the most durable of my clothes, and I made them myself from a deerhide I took myself, so they are also the least expensive. I have other things, but nothing so durable and I was hoping to make my things last. I take it ... that is not something I should do?

"I beg your forgiveness, most heartily. I will change immediately ..." she fetched her bedroll, untied it, pulled out ordinary homespun trousers and a tunic, and proceeded to change right there, behind the obstructing breadth of her gray pony. As she pulled the tunic down and re-wrapped her scarf, she said, "I beg you, instruct me if I do aught to make you uncomfortable, or render our amicable passage together on this path the least bit hazardous. I ha' been on my own only a short time, and I am trying to learn how to pass unnoticed during my travels."

"Should I leave these behind?" she pointed to the leathers and the coat. "They are all I have..."

[ooc: Fixed, and thank you. I had read the CHR sheet, but I thought the generic possessions would be adjusted according to the CHR's background as I imagined it.]

Darian

An eyebrow rose at the claim this girl made about taking a hart herself. Darian could only imagine it must have been sick or old if it was true. Hart might be prey creatures but they were uncanny at avoiding the hunter.

She was backwoods, yes, had never been off of the High Tarn before, but even she knew better than to dress so, she who had more cause than any but another of her kind.
She spoke slowly and clearly, to be sure she would not be misunderstood, "You draw eyes to yourself, dressing as such. There be many eyes as we come to this Cragside, Imperial eyes. Imperial eyes do not lightly suffer those who follow the old ways. Anything ye do that declares ye to not be one of them puts ye and all who travel with ye in at greater risk."

She shook her head. "No. If ye do, and they are discovered, harm would visit the inn and all those in it."

Darian looked about, considering. "Ye should ne'er wear those again."

"Enough words I say. We go now."

With that woman and ruff turned and left the girl to her own devices.

When the huntress had made sure of the hide she returned to the interior of the inn, and she and her companion once more availed themselves of the warmth of the fire.

<Comfrey>

She shrugged. The Lady's patience was infinite. Hers, sadly, was not. A quick rummage through her pack and she found a lovingly knitted pair of warm, thick socks. She'd been given a few sets once for helping a woman's first grandchild be born. They would do. Stitching hide to the bottom might even make them something wearable outside of just under boots or shoes but that wasn't the intent right now.

She returned triumphantly and offered the socks to Camelia.

"These will help," she said simply.