Ellany

The afternoon sun was just past its pinnacle in the sky and on its way descending towards the horizon when it paused to shed light on the hard-working town of Trestlebridge. It brought forth sweat from the necks of carpenters sawing down lumber, glinted against the swords of guards practicing combat, and illuminated the anxious faces of mothers trying to feed their children with little in their larders.

The dapple-grey horse seemed to be enjoying the attentive brushing of the fair-haired young woman. He had been restless in a foreign stable surrounded by foreign stable hands until the return of normalcy: Ellany smoothing his coat down with a coarse brush after a hard day’s ride.

Miss Charlotte could hear the rhythmic chopping of a knife coming from the kitchen beyond the main hall as she entered through the front door and set her cloak on the peg beside the door. The steady sound was at odds with the sporadic hammering inside her chest, since she had bustled up the hill to the Litwell home faster than she was used to walking. She wasted no time in crossing the entrance hall and proceeded in towards the kitchen.

In the quiet evening when all lights in the neighborhood were blown out, one room in the top floor of the Cadien house remained illuminated. The windows were thrown open to let in the occasional gentle breeze, while Ellany was standing at her dresser, clutching a letter to her chest with a dreamy expression upon her face. This week, having hardly seen Corrben, she thought perhaps that he had grown disinterested in her after she had made her affections towards him known.

I had an interesting talk with Ellany the other night, one that has been on my mind in the last two days.

I interviewed another person in connection with Cirywen Ravencrag's murder, she wished to remain anonymous in the report so I will not endanger her by putting her name on parchment. She came to speak about Berrywine, voicing her opinion that he would not have been so sloppy to leave her body out nor kill her before he could discover who Cirywen worked for.

Yesterday I finished my interview with Seaver, I watched this man nearly break down from the guilt he carries because he could not protect the wo