As they walked through the streets filled with hawkers and vendors, Avalan felt a sense of familiarity. She'd missed the crazy hustle and bustle of a city. She bought a skewer with grilled vegetables and beef covered in spices. She and Nevala wandered around the streets for hours, browsing shops, watching street performers, and eating far too much food. As dinner time came around, the street got fuller as people got off work, headed home or to inns, and the night owls came out. As someone jostled her roughly, Avalan reached for Nevala so as not to lose track of her, but it seems she already had. She looked around for a few minutes, staying in place, but it seems Nevala was gone. They'd planned for this, and had decided should they get separated, they'd head back by themselves so as not to waste hours looking for each other.
She turned down a street to make her way back, but paused in front of the Happy Horseman. It seemed to be a decent inn and she was hungry. She stepped inside, and above the din of the patrons she heard a friendly "Just seat yourself, and I'll be right with you." She did, and it wasn't long before a young serving girl stood before her. She ordered a mug of wine and a bowl of stew with some bread. She wasted no time digging in when the food arrived.
She paused with the last spoonful halfway to her mouth. A tall man with red hair and a beard was watching her from across the room. Not leering the way most men did, but just studying. She squinted at him, then polished off the last of her meal. As she did, he rose and walked over to her, taking a chair and turning it around to straddle it. "Now, forgive my boldness, miss, but you wouldn't be any relation to Sheyna Bastian, would you?" he asked in a friendly, relaxed tone. "Because you look exactly like her, minus the ageless face," she said the last in a low voice.
She froze at her mother's name, eyeing him coolly. "I may or may not know her. Who's asking?" Something about him set her on edge, but seemed so familiar at the same time. The red hair, the high cheekbones..but she was sure she had never seen him before.
"An..old friend, of" he paused, studying her openly, "your mother's?" he ended with a question. Something in her face must have confirmed his guess, because he grinned and nodded. "Thought so. The resemblance is too striking to be anything else. It's been 20 years since I've seen her, but I'd recognize her - or her daughter - anywhere. What's she been up to since?"
20 years? Her parents had already been married at the time, and her mother might have been pregnant with her already at the time. "How do you know her? Are you..a friend of my father's as well? She was already married 20 years ago." He grinned again, and Avalan again found herself with the nagging feeling that she recognized him.
- Spoiler: show