"Damn bloody rain," she hissed under her breath, tugging the edges of her heavy, woolen cloak closer about her chest. The sky brooded its low, soot-colored clouds just above the trees, bathing the land in both shadow and drenching moisture. It would make for a glorious display of blooming wildflowers and budding trees in a few weeks, but for now, it was just plain miserable.
She tromped through the slick grass that slapped at her boots and trousers. The cottage loomed ever closer in the faded light, its windows still faintly aglow from ebbing fires within. As morning came, sunless as it was, the slender girl climbed the wooden steps and stood on the stoop before the front door, waiting for the shower of water droplets from her clothing to slow a bit, before lifting a hand and rapping with her knuckles.
Muffled voices spoke within, announcing a visitor. Quickened steps approached, and the door swung inward, revealing the curious, weathered face of the woman who now resided there. She stared at the dripping figure on her porch for a moment, before breaking into a ready smile. "Narys!" she exclaimed. "What an unexpected thing! What are you doing out there in the rain? Come in, come in!" The woman stepped back and beckoned her guest with her hand.
"Nay, nay," replied Narys, a quick and lopsided grin tugging briefly at her features. "I'll not leave watermarks all over your floor." The "your" sounded so odd as it fell from her lips, but she pressed on without hesitating. "I just wanted to know...d-did that man ever come back...for the cloak?"
The woman blinked her brown eyes, looking confused, before giving a quick little gasp and nodding. "Oh! Oh, yes. Yes, he did. Was some time ago now, my dear. Several months, I'd say."
Narys felt her eyebrows perk upwards in surprise. "Oh? Oh, he did? Oh..." She heard herself sounding rather like an idiot and quickly cleared her throat. "Ah. Well. Did he uh...did he say anything when he was here?"
A frown creased the older woman's weathered features now, and for a few seconds, she pondered in silence, with nothing but the low droning of the rain to be heard. "Nothing especially, no."
The girl on the stoop was already nodding, twisting her lips together as if unsurprised by this news. "All right. Well, thank you for your time, ma'am. Sorry to have troubled you in the middle of this wretched weather." Despite her words, she grinned brightly, chuckled, and tapped a finger to her hooded brow in a gesture of farewell.
"You sure you won't come in and dry off?" the woman called after her, for she was already turned away and clomping down the steps.
"No. Thank you!" Narys waved a hand in the air and strode onward, pulling her hood low and hunching her shoulders against the darkness and the relentless downpour.
