Mareen stared out the window of the carriage. The trip had not been what she expected. She had wanted to surprise Orn by visiting him over the holidays, but they were slowed by summer storms turning the coastal road to mud. Instead she arrived two days late, but just in time to receive the letter now in her hands.

A letter from a place she never expected to return, but was slowly heading towards.

She watched the town slowly come into view. I cannot believe they moved the town. It is so different. Has it really been more than a decade?

The small gated square used as an animal pen, was gone. A wide gravel path turned to cobble stones at the large square. The shops and even a few two-story homes surrounded the square, with several more homes standing along the road. Glancing from the window she saw nothing that she recognized. I know they did not move the buildings but I thought as least something would be the same. So many of these buildings could be the inn.

“Where too?” Tnok asked through the small window near his seat, bringing the carriage to a stop.

“I am looking for a particular… Wait,” She saw a boy with messy red hair step out of one of the buildings. “Over there.”

The coachman followed where she pointed and turned the horses toward the indicated building. The young boy seemed shocked that the carriage was heading toward him, and swept faster. She chuckled to herself as the boy worked to clean the area around the door before the carriage reached him.

When she arrived, the boy had cleaned the area around the door reaching to the square’s cobblestones. Tnok brought the carriage to a stop at the edge of the swept space, much to the relief of the frantically sweeping boy.

Looking out the window she asked the boy, “is this the inn of Jenny and Burke Traverskeep?’

The boy nearly jumped, at her question. “Ye…Yes, mam.” He nodded, not looking at her.

He is really shy for someone raised in an inn. She opened the door and kicked down the folding step, not wanting to wait on Tnok to climb down. “Does your family have a stable?”

The boy nodded, again. She looked back Tnok who smiled and waived the boy closer to talk about getting the horses fed and watered.

Leaving Tnok to care for the carriage and horses she walked into the inn. A bell rang as she opened the door. The inn was largely empty with only a couple patrons working on a late lunch. A large man was behind the bar wiping the counter.

“If you want something to eat we have a bit of stew on the hearth, and some fresh bread.” The man listed the menu not looking up from his task.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

She smiled a bit when she imagined his surprise when he realized who she was. Walking to the bar that ran the length of the wall she asked,“Is it Mrs. Martha’s recipe?”

The man scoffed, “Of course it is! What other recipes would we use?” the man stood snapping the cloth to knock the dust off. He froze when he saw her. She watched the recognition slowly dawn on him.

“Good afternoon, Burke. I like the beard.” She motioned as if stroking one on her face, and saw the tension immediately drain away.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to a doorway at the other end of the bar. “Jenny, you have a visitor.” Then smiling at her, tipped his head in the direction of the door.

She was halfway to the doorway when a red haired woman stepped out. “Who…” Jenny stopped as she caught sight of her. Jenny’s eyes went wide and she rushed forward only to stop a step short. “Mare… Countess…”

“Mareen is fine Jenny.” She said smiling and embraced her flustered friend. Releasing Jenny she took a step back., they smiled at each other but years apart made the silence stretch on neither knowing what to say.

Olivia cut through the tension by stepping forward and introducing herself. “I am Olivia,” she said with a small inclination of her head.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Oliva,” Jenny smiled warmly and directed them to a nearby table. “you both must be tired from traveling please grab a seat.”

Jenny instantly began to as Olivia about herself, starting with how old she was. Jenny could not believe Mareen had such a proper young woman as a daughter. They grabbed an empty table and Burke brought them food and drinks, as they sat down.

While Olivia emphasized she was Mareen’s ward, not her daughter, Mareen felt the awkwardness fading and had a sudden thought. Mareen leaned back in her chair to watch the man returning to the bar. Jenny saw the motion and slapped her shoulder for it. “What? I wanted to see if married life had changed his best feature.”

“You are the worst friend, you know that?” Jenny asked laughing and slowly turning a bit red. “I cannot believe you remember that after all thees years. And what would your husband say?”

“He would probably feign being hart broken, in hopes of getting attention,” Olivia answered matter-of-factly.

Mareen cleared her throat and changed the topic.“What happened? The village moved. Everything is so different.”

“Oh no,” Jenny replied pointing at her. “If we are going to talk about changes we need to start with you, Countess Blackthorn.”

…

She finished the overview of what had happened since they last saw each other and leaned back in the chair. “So what about you? How long did it take for Burke to ask?”

“Burke proposed not long after you left, and everything was quite for a year or so. The war was still going on, but after Wall even that faded into the background. Then the new mines in the Adles territory opened. But they had an argument with the Duke, and did not want to sell to him anymore. The king’s young bride apparently suggested moving the town,” Jenny explained. “We are now halfway between the mining camp and the king’s city. Ore carts overnight and miners stop by to spend their coin on holidays. It made it convenient for them to take the ore this way rather than to Sahpire. Things are much better than when you left. We are not nearly so bad off.”

“Half way between the king’s city and the Adle’s lands… But that would mean…” Mareen started looking at her friend with a worried expression.

“Yes,” Jenny admitted with a sigh. “That is the one downside. The king traded the old village to Burrach, in exchange for the right to move the village and to put the road through his ancestral grazing lands. He technically does not have any authority here, but he still acts as if he does. The worst part of it, is that he has a lot of the people around here convinced that he does have power. I worry that if he gets his way, one of his children will get a noble path. Then we really would be under his power.”