This is a story about love, or call it a love story if you like.
Waldera walked into the Inn of the Prancing Pony in her usual manner, craving for a warm cup of tea. She had had a day full of readings and was a bit weary of the shallow small talks of the small minded patrons of the inn. She waved kindly at the barmaid and gestured for a cup of tea in the white tea cup which she always prefers.
She picked the cup from the counter. It was quite a crowded evening at the inn, even there was going to be a weird brawl later on and even later she was going to meet Alfknutr, the young man who strode the path all the way from Langsjön.
She walked to a rather empty corner and took notice of an elf. She always wondered at the elves and were quite curious about them, as is her personality. This elf was talking to someone, a black figure with an unusual look. She kept staring at him rather than the elf, for this young man looked more fair and even more mysterious than the elf he is talking to. With the white cup in her hand, she approached a step while staring at the two inquisitively. She found it easier to communicate with the elf, thus she hailed him. Yet the elf took leave and left Waldera and the black figure alone.
She looked at him and smiled. The man looked rather troubled; and the lock of hair that fell on his face must cause a lot of discomfort she thought and wondered why he kept it so. They started to converse. It turned out that the man was named Favarth and he was a surgeon. She could easily see that he was from a distant land. Yet it seemed that some things ailed this man deeply; which ignited Waldera's curiosity.
Things do not always go on the most rational way they could choose. Feeling very excited and happy at this man's presence, she did not risk him to go away or direct his attention elsewhere. Thus she practiced quite an old trick and faked some random symptoms like headache or whichever came to her mind at that instance. And I must confess, the simplest and oldest tricks are those that work best.
Thus the two met that very night and found each other close. Each talk ignited her interest for this stranger man. Waldera's senses urged her to keep talking to him, even though he seemed quite cold at the beginning, she could feel that he had many secrets, even riddles to solve. She asked and he answered. With each moment, love and compassion grew in her breast, something more than the sort of compassion any ordinary heart feels for perfect strangers.
