In the common room, Hanrey slouched by the hatch, waiting for Taniel to return from down the town. In the company of Erin, the women had gone to see a dressmaker. Taniel was acting out of character. She seemed curious about the latest fashions, was kinder to Erin and, strangest of all, she had abandoned watching dragons.
Fair enough, it was only two days. It was unsettling. Taniel displayed none of the fidgety annoyance she usually showed when missing a guard-change.
He had talked of the apparent change in his daughter with Rita, but she fathomed it no better than he did.
At last, Hanrey heard his daughter in the kitchen. He swallowed another shot of whiskey. The fiery liquid hit his stomach with satisfying warmth. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.
Hanrey opened the hatch, the noise caught Taniel's attention.
"You busy," he asked her.
"Not at the moment. Why?"
"Meet me in the den."
He did not like her tone of reluctant agreement, nor the wary look in her eye. He dropped the hatch. He fingered his armring.
"Let's do this," he muttered.
***
10 March 2017 - replaced with revised scene
Thanks for reading!
Another short one. I like doing short scenes, but I do have the odd one of 2000+ words.
There is a lot of backstory and foreshadowing to be done in Book One, but I'm trying to keep it spread thinly. Please tell me if it is going too slowly. It does begin to ramp up a little later. But then that is my opinion. Looking forward to the view of others.
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Taniel (The Taverner's Daughter I)
FantasyTHE TAVERNER'S DAUGHTER - BOOK ONE FANTASY, MAGIC, DRAGONS, ROMANCE, WINGED WIZARDS. Please Note: The rest of this series will not be published until the complete series is drafted and revised - probably another four volumes over the next year...
