Liaran listened in on the conversation going on behind her without feeling the slightest trace of guilt about it. After all, the two men weren't even trying to keep their conversation quiet; she could easily overhear them whether she wanted to or not. Her eyes looked forward, watching the line move in front of her, but her ears stayed open. The line wasn't short, but it moved quickly, and to her disappointment, she hadn't learned much more from the two men, who had begun grumbling at each other over whether it was possible for two children to sleep right through the sounds of a murder taking place. Liaran, of course, gave no indication that she was listening, but observed to herself how easy that would be for Nykkolaia to accomplish. All she'd need was a simple weave of Spirit, and it definitely sounded like something the other woman would do, as protective as she was of children. That troubled her, though nobody other than Haeden would have been able to notice.
When her turn came, the Aes Sedai smiled politely at the innkeeper, a rather round, white haired woman, and after paying for their rooms, asked whether there had been an orphanage built recently. The woman blinked up at her, shrugging her shoulders.
"There's been a lot of new buildings recently...I couldn't begin to name them all, though I think I recall hearing about an orphanage somewhere in town." The woman turned her head away from Liaran, looking towards the door. "There's a rather large building at the opposite end of this street, that might be an orphanage, and another....maybe four streets over? I'm just not sure where one might be."
Liaran nodded, the smile still on her face. "That's fine, thank you," she said. "I'll just have to visit both." While having some ideas did help, Liaran had really hoped for a more definite location, but she kept that disappointment carefully hidden as she turned and left the inn to rejoin Haeden.
Her Warder was right where she'd known he'd be, standing by the horses, but the young girl talking to him while petting Seawind's nose was a surprise. As she approached Haeden's side, Liaran could hear the girl speaking of something that sounded awfully familiar.
"They didn't even wake up, if you can believe it."
It was clear that the two men she'd been listening to were not the only ones eager to talk about what had happened. Liaran moved beside Haeden, paying careful attention to what the girl had to say.
"Don't know how those kids stayed asleep...I mean, I heard she was stabbed, some stuff broken....you'd think that would have been pretty loud."
"It's probably for the best that they slept through it," Liaran commented. The girl looked towards her, still stroking Seawind's nose, and nodded once.
"Just hope they find that scarred lady," she said. "Nobody's real upset about Missus Willow, but still...hate to think there's a killer loose here." The girl gave the horse's nose one last pat before turning away.
"She'll be found eventually," Liaran said. Her voice was calm and even, concealing how strongly she felt that Nykkolaia had to be found, and her own commitment to seeing that done. She smiled in an attempt to distract the girl from the unpleasant subject and asked, "Before you leave, I've been told there's a newly built orphanage here, do you know where it is?"