[Ealasaide]

"Does her mother work in the Inn as well?" Kellan asked, a laugh upon her voice as she watched the stablemaster's daughter, Sallie, playing happily with Grimm.

At the mention of Tristana, Rochadan felt the familiar spike of pain that appeared every time he tried to speak of her. While it had been three years since her passing, he still felt the loss with a sense of immediacy. To hide the sorrow that he knew must show in his eyes, he turned away from Kellan for a moment to watch Sallie and Grimm.

"She seems to have gotten over her fear fairly quickly, hasn't she?" he commented, more or less to buy himself a few seconds of time. "As for Sallie's mother," he continued once he had composed himself again. "No, she doesn't work in the inn, though I think she would have liked it here very much. She passed away three years ago."

"I'm so sorry," answered Kellan immediately, the laughter disappearing from her voice. She, too, glanced down at Sallie, then back again at Rochadan, piecing the story together for herself. “Was it childbirth?” she asked softly.

Rochadan nodded. “It was a difficult birth and Tristana had never been very strong.” He looked at Kellan, smiling sadly. “That’s why I came off the road. With Tristana gone, I needed to be here for Sallie.”

“She’s a lovely little girl,” answered Kellan.

Before Rochadan could respond any further, they were joined by Ædhral, who came from the direction of the kitchen. Rochadan watched as the serving girl shared a playful conversation with Sallie, then paused to introduce herself to Kellan.

“Hi, my name is Ædhral,” she said pleasantly. “I must apologize for interrupting, but I am in need of the stable masters ear for a moment, I will not keep him long.”

Kellan nodded graciously as Rochadan excused himself and retreated a few feet away with Ædhral to see what he could do to assist her. He listened as she explained about the soaking wet elf and Finian’s request for dry clothes. Then, he nodded sagely.

“Yes, I know the chest you are looking for,” he said with a smile, noticing the slight flush that rose in Ædhral’s cheeks as she described the wet elf. “It’s in the attic. I’ll bring it down for you... if you will be so kind as to keep an eye on Sallie for me.” When Ædhral gratefully agreed, he turned to Kellan. “I shouldn’t be more than a few minutes, if you care to wait. Otherwise, if you need to go on about your day, I promise you the ladder will be fixed by nightfall!”

With that, he stooped and gave Sallie a light kiss on the top of her head, leaving her to play with Grimm under the watchful eyes of the two ladies as he went to retrieve the trunk of clean clothes for the elf.