Early October (?) 359 SR
I am sitting on a terrace of the city, basking in the sunshine of a warm autumn day and looking out on the extensive views over the surrounding woodlands. I am reading extracts from my journal that I saved from the fire, reminiscing over my first meeting with VanQa. It was on 67th March 351. Can it really be getting on for 9 years ago, some years before the Heartwood elves arrived in Yew? As the extract makes clear, I didn?t even know she was an elf then. Of course, I didn?t know Nian Cethlin was a sort of elf either. How ignorant I was?
Quote:
I asked Nian out to visit the newly opened tavern, The Trinsic Rose, last night, but she was busy. I went alone and was most impressed. Wonderful menu, beautifully appointed. It even has rooms for guests to stay in and a stable! I especially liked the bear rug and the blazing log fire. Stood and warmed my hands there a while. Aah!
It was early, round 7pm but there were already a couple of people there, a man sitting by the bar and a very elegant looking lady, smartly-dressed in a green gown and matching hat. The Lady VanQa was there in person: Mine hostess. We chatted a bit, I ordered a dwarven ale, my first ever, and it was delicious, went down a treat. |
I got quite hooked on this brew. It was dwarven ale that I drowned my sorrows in after Nian left me...
Quote:
| The lady in green left and I heard VanQa refer to her as Sheila. I asked if it was our Sheila, the serf, and she said yes! How she has changed - I didn't recognise her! Felt a bit silly, but then it must have been 7 or 8 years ago since we met. |
This made me realise, of course, that Sheila was no longer a serf. But I've also changed quite a bit since my late teens.
Quote:
| A foreign looking gentleman came in and gave VanQa an instrument that she played most finely. "Elven music" the foreign gentleman said. I wonder if VanQa is elvish? |
This was some time before I heard VanQa sing - that treat was yet to come...
Quote:
| As I was taking my leave I told VanQa I would invite Nian to come here one evening for our first date together, and she started talking about booking a room for us, comfortable large bed, and so on: hint, nudge. I started to explain that this would be premature to say the least... *remainder of text burnt* |
In those early days I addressed her as
Lady VanQa or simply
Milady. I was of course still a serf then, but it wasn't all that long ago that she asked me to call her VanQa, plain and simple.
I put away my journal and watch the pixies hover by, and the comings and goings of finely-robed elven emissaries and green-clad scouts. I've also had talks with an elven smith who lives here. There is much to learn from the elves, as I realised when I began to study elven smithing secrets in Heartwood.
I continue to wait for a sign, trying to sense whether the time has come for me to leave or not. But I feel its not yet. Will it ever be? What would I go back to that I don't have here...