"Could this night get any better I wonder?" Lyfrid thought to herself sarcastically. She hadn't seen her Stalker coming around the back of the structure. One would think Lyfrid had the missing eye and ear, instead the Man. Patch stood there at the end of the bench, one shoulder leaning on the stone wall. From the woman's viewpoint, seated on the bench, he looked massive. Instinctively she scooted to the opposite side of the bench, as far as she could move away from the one she called Patch.
Lyfrid had two things on her mind at that very moment, identifying the best route of escape and why he was following her. Of the two, though escape would have been the safer, more logical choice, the curiosity of why he was there kept her sitting. It didn't take long for her to find out why he was there.
The night Patch followed Barraden, he'd heard her name, Lyfrid. Hardly a common name in the West, she'd hoped he wouldn't but figured that if he asked around he would find out she had been working at the Warhorse. At first that made her very nervous, she liked the assumption she was dead. Thinking about it, Lyfrid realized she had nothing to fear, she had committed no crimes. It was simply she believed she had the upper hand by being presumed to have died in the fire. But upper hand on whom? It didn't matter.
That Inn fire was the reason he was there. Patch asked about the fire, why she let everyone believe she had died To Lyfrid, it was clear he was more interested in her reasons for keeping up the ruse than the history of the events. But why should he care? More curiosity keeping her seated, for now.
As Lyfrid believed that the less someone knows about you, the less vulnerable you are to them, she didn't tell him the entire truth of why she stayed 'dead.' For one thing, if her past ever came looking for her and traced her to the Inn, they'd be told she had died. Harugrim believed that the Inn fire that nearly claimed her life was exactly that, her past had found her. Her old travel companion could be right, so staying dead was safer. Not to mention, she would be blamed for the damages, death and injuries suffered in the fire, or so they reasoned. Dead was a good choice.
What Lyfrid did explain, however, was the fact that no one from Arrowhaven bothered to say a few parting words over the dust they thought were the Cook's remains. No one showed any concern at all. Patch obviously had talked to the Witch about her. He knew something about her Floodwend pendant, which gave him away. He insisted that They kept it because of some sentimental reasons, some reverence for her death. What she didn't tell Patch is that Harugrim was there in the burned out hull of the Inn the morning that pendant was found in the charcoal. One of them recognized it as Lyfrid's.
Oh yes, the Witch wanted it, had it in her hands when Harugrim took it from her. What she didn't tell him was Harugrim overheard the entire conversation, that there was no mention of sadness or regret for Lyfrid's life on finding the pendant. All that was said was that it might give clue to the arsonist. Lyfrid explained that was the only reason there was any interest in her pendant, clues. She hissed as she warned her Stalker he was being deceived by that Witch and her associates. Patch was right on the money when he commented about Lyfrid being an angry woman.
She calmed herself, then spotted something under the bench. What she spotted is what she had dropped in the tall grass earlier. Reaching under the bench, Lyfrid pulled out a small pale yellow snake and allowed it to coil around her arm. Lyfrid had befriended the venomous snake and, like her past, brought it with her to the Breelands. The snake was useful, not only were most Men afraid of it, it was an excellent weapon if used right. Patch seemed completely unaffected by the snake or the fact it was now coiled around her forearm, which Lyfrid though unusual.
Completely unexpectedly, at one point, when the barrel chest man stopped sneering at Lyfrid, he offered to help her. Lyfrid laughed. She pulled down her collar to show him the bruises around her throat asking him if that was the kind of help he was offering. Surprisingly, Patch made an attempt at an apology and called it less than one of his best moments. Lyfrid tucked that apology in the back of her mind, it might prove useful one day, but didn't accept his attempt at making amends.
It was, however, an insight which she turned into an opportunity. In her refusal to accept his help, she countered with an offer to help Patch. She suggested that should he ever need questions answered, those kinds of questions about past and future, she might be able to help him. Lyfrid told him if he was interested in asking a "question" to send word to the refugees at Amon Raith and she would meet him there to "answer". He looked nervous at this counter offer and that delighted Lyfrid.
Commenting on the lateness of the evening, the Seer asked to take her leave of Patch. Not that it she felt she needed his permission, she was merely showing she had good manners, even in front of snakes and stalkers. Besides, it was time to give Balisan his tea. Before leaving, however, she asked and got his name. She said it once, "Brulk", then walked down the steps, got her horse and left.
