~ ASH ~
I slipped between the stalls in the village market just outside the walls of Arinel's Palace City, looking for my favorite vendor. A farmer who preferred to sell his wares to those outside the City, but was the sole provider of a rare herb to the Palace kitchens.
Always an excellent source of gossip and news of what went on inside the walls of Arinel.
We'd been in hiding for a month, and even though I was still taking precautions, it was clear to me that Lizbeth and I had been forgotten. Or conveniently ignored.
Every day I was more grateful for it, though I couldn't shift the feeling that we were not done with the Arinel palace and its inhabitants.
I'd moved Lizbeth outside the city walls two weeks after being discovered by Stark out the hunting cottage. No one had contacted us in that time, but one evening after venturing out to get a decent cut of meat, I'd been followed home.
