Alína slowly shakes her head in the negative. "From what little I saw, I would need more detail to make sense of this. What was his grasp on your Lady's wrist like? You initially believed he did not merely kiss the top of her hand, but moved up her arm? "You believed this is what he did, y...

[ uh-oh ... ] Alína shines her smile again, then follows Bojan out the door and hurries towards the stables, drawing her tichel about her once more, this time to ward off the streaming downpour. Once inside, she quickly assesses Zola's quarters then rubs her horse's nose in a gesture of parting for ...

Seeing Sigismondson surreptitiously raise the pouch of steeped herbs to the bruise on his cheek before entering the kitchen, Alína relishes the smile he had allowed to show before leaving her table side. Her own face lights up with her repressed joy, but quickly fades as the disturbance at her ladys...

"My dreams, miss? My Da tells me I shall one day inherit this Inn. He says any other dreams are just fancies, and best left forgotten when my head leaves the pillow." With this last statement, he turns away from here, staring at an unoccupied corner of the room, and mutters something else...

In the Dining Room ------------------ Sigismond's son approaches Alina's table with the kettle of hot water, held with a thick towel between his hand and the handle. "Be careful, miss. It's still very hot." He puts a flat stone tablet on the table, then places the kettle atop it. "An...

The Jewess gazes at the boy staring at the floor, seeing the bright red tinge of a palm print on his cheek starting to spread in to a bruise. The pain returns to her eyes and she addresses him while reaching for her satchel and starting to remove small fabric sachets of various herbs. "First te...

The widow smiles as she watches the by play between her Lady and the beggar child. Her inner joy starts to reassert itself in her eyes, but is dampened slightly by a pang of pain at the loneliness she feels for her son and his family that she left behind several years ago in Prague. Still, the momen...

Her eyes ever alert as she finishes her parve meal, Alína lays her fork down and waits silently, to see if more details of what is to occur at the L-rd's castle tomorrow is forthcoming.

Muffled through the closed door, the sound of a boy being slapped can be heard. Sigismond isn't quite shouting, but his voice carries loud enough into the dining hall to be heard, "She's right where she was, you blind fool. Now, no more of your dangerous pranks on Lord Claudio's guests, do you...

Sigismond's son steps out of the kitchen with a plate in his hands. He glances around the room, and frowns. "Da, where's the fish woman gone? Her fish is done." Sir Leopold pauses in his rambling to listen to the question. He also glances around the room. His father quickly turns back to ...

"If, however, you are a good tutor and ever find yourself in the vicinity of Tótkomlós, then you may call upon my husband about whether your services would be of use..." Alína's attention darts to the noblewoman who speaks the name of the nearest village to her own home, and she takes a q...

The boy looks at Alína, then glances at his father, almost fearfully. "Oh no, ma'am. Lord Claudius' guests are taken care of for his sake. I can't accept that, ma'am." He backs away quickly, while his father looks on. Alína's fist closed loosely upon the coin, a look of incomprehension on...

lorin wrote:Should I get a dog...........
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.or should I have kids?
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Apparently, I am the answer to that question...

"Madam, we ARE a restaurant. We have a full kitchen, at your disposal. If you don't mind the wait, we can prepare you what you will. Just tell me what you desire. I'll not have it said that one of Lord Claudio's guests went looking elsewhere for dinner while under my roof. I'd not be able to s...

"But Lord Giovanni will treat you no worse for being a widow, I've no doubt. If you have anything to bring up to your room, I'll carry it up now for you. My son will bring you dinner, and then attend to your horse in the stables." Not used to such treatment from a non-Jew, Alína hesitates...

Alína blushes prettily at the kind words. "Yes, kind sir. My home was in Prague. But I now hail from a small region to the northeast, since my husband's passing..."

The rickety cart pulls slowly up to the doors of the inn, and the plump woman climbs slowly down. Walking to the lead of her bay mare, she gives her a hug along her nose, muttering " A dank , Zoja. Alevay vayter ." Releasing Zoja, Alína hitches her reins around a nearby post, making sure t...

The plump, slightly aging “witch” sat by her fire, tapping the letter in her hand and looking back at the manservant of the l-rd of a neighboring area. One does not turn down the invitation of a l-rd. With a curt nod, she answers the summons. “I will be there,” she tells him in Slovak, the language ...