Ken enjoyed the sight of his farm. It probably came with his advanced age, but these days, he really didn't like to travel away from his home. He didn't mind the occasional trip into town to sell his tea and buy supplies, but if it turned into an overnight trip, he preferred to let his granddaughter ...

Ken laughed. “I’m glad to hear that you are used to small towns. We’ve got one inn, the Red Chalice, a few farms, and a manor house, but none of us will be going there. My granddaughter gets cabin fever I think, so she’s often off and about.”

He paused to take a good breath of country air and then ...

"As I said before, I'm not really from around here. I haven't been her long though, so I'm not sure of much of the politics of the area. I mean, aside from some ban on 'magic' or whatever. They ask you that question at the gate if the guards aren't familiar with your face," Aura said, making a face ...

Indicating Gerda as she began following Ken Zu, Aura asked, "She doesn't like me much, does she? I know we've just met and all, but she seems very ... suspicious of me, I guess." Aura threw her own look over her shoulder at the quickly receding outline of Gerda.
Ken Zu watched his granddaughter ...

Gerda masked her feelings as she saw this helpless, weakling leap on her grandfather’s offer of a place to stay. Blessed with a natural cynicism honed to a fine-edge through a wanderer’s years of little humiliations and an assassin’s professional disdain for humanity, she ascribed the basest of ...

She forgot all about the man that had offered to help her as she swayed unsteadily on her feet, looking on the verge of collapse.

Ken Zu watched the girl reject his offer of assistance. His brow showed his troubled thoughts. He hesitated to interfere for each of us had the right to choose their ...

Gerda watched her grandfather stagger briefly under the weight of the fresh teas leaves. "Let me help you," she said. She moved as if to take his pack fashioned of pine and rope. He just laughed heartily and waved her off. "Girl, see to your own pack!" Love and affection for his granddaughter mixed ...