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The day was finally here. Elka stood outside the inn, bouncing on the balls of her feet in impatience as she waited for Kayde to get a cart and horse to carry their things away to the next destination. Not that she had a whole lot of belongings as it was, though it was more than when she had first come to this city. Back than she'd had just two bags to carry all her dresses and accessories, her brush and shoes. Now she had a good few more bags from all the stuff she had slowly been acquiring over her time here, using what income she earned working at the inn. She wouldn't miss the busy city, whose noise she could always hear, but she thought she would miss some of the people she had met at the inn. People like Grett, one of her nicer co-workers, and Entaria, the innkeeper, who had been so kind to her over the years despite Elka's laziness. If there was ever a way she could get away with not doing any work, she would. Most recently, she had hurt her hands during an earthquake, taking advantage of her inability to use her hands while they healed to laze around her bedroom, reading all day while Kayde was busy.

Speaking of, where was he? She'd been waiting so long. She really wanted to be on the road by now.

Traffic passed her by at a steady pace. Some people turned into the inn, barely giving her a second glance. Elka equally ignored them. At least until an older Oban man stopped near her, gazing at the sign of the inn almost longingly. That was odd. It started to make her uncomfortable the longer it went on. Why didn't he just go in?

Suddenly, he turned towards her and smiled. All she wanted to do was inch away from him with her back against the wall.

"Miss," he addressed her, stepping off the road to stand next to the doorway, closer to her and out of the way of traffic. "Do you know about this place?"

She could still run. There was time. But than if she ran from this crazy old man with the dirty clothes clearly from travelling, Kayde might not know where she went. This man could remain by the inn, delaying their trip. Best to just deal with him so he moved on, right?

"I work here," Elka said instinctively. "Or, well...I used to. I'm moving out of Jauhar."

"Moving out?" the man asked, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Elka flexed her fingers against the folds of her skirt, hiding her now growing annoyance with him. Yes. Moving away. Because not everyone liked this place. How shocking. "I remember all the times I stopped by here on my travels. I loved it here. The branches over my head made me feel so cozy, as if everyone here is shut into their own little world. I suppose they are, in a way." He stopped talking and went silent, staring up at the inn once more. Unable to resist, Elka gave a large step to the right, putting a little distance between the two of them. He hardly seemed to notice, so engrossed in his own memories was he.

After a while, Elka's curiosity, always heightened when she was bored, won over and she turned her body to face the older man.

"Has it been a long time since you were here?" Judging by his wistfully he kept looking at the place, she could only guess so.

The man made a sound in his throat, as if he were thinking over his answer. "Yes. I got married and stopped traveling for a long time. But now that I'm an old widow, I thought I would take one last trip before I retire back in Oba."

Elka looked at the side of the road. She saw no bags anywhere, not even on the man himself. He must have seen her looking around and smiled kindly at her once more.

"I am staying at a different inn. But I had to come and see this one, again. I don't suppose Idylio owns it anymore? He was always such a kind man."

This was not a name Elka was familiar with. It wasn't the name of the previous innkeeper she had heard straight from Entaria's mouth. Perhaps the place had passed hands many times before coming into hers. Entaria herself had never been sure about the entire history of the building. It could have some terrible, dark past for all they knew.

The Ice woman shook her head and the man nodded. "Yes. I am sure he has passed on by now, anyway. He was already very old when I was younger." Giving one last sigh, he turned towards the street. But not before patting Elka's shoulder. "I hope you have a nice trip, miss."