“Straight as an arrow” Rhainyr recalled her words. He chose a pace and an arcing path to bypass her. After a light jog he spotted a lamp’s light swaying in the wind and the silhouettes of roofs beyond the trees.
A voice came from behind him. It was sweet and jovial. “If we keep bumping into each other perhaps names are better than ‘hey you'. You may call me Eloise.”
Rhainyr halted and drew a deep breath. “I'm not anyone you want to know.”
She laughed at his response. “How often do we choose who we know? Fate often does the choosing for us. And from each carries a needed lesson.”
He approached her to be able to look into her eyes as he said, “I learned lessons from people I never wanted to know. One was that I should have avoided them. In truth Eloise, my gut tells me you are too naive to avoid trouble and anyone close will have to sacrifice to save you from it . . . Or you are a pretty trap.”
She beamed sweetly at the backhanded compliment and swayed in a bemused girlish gesture. “I'm glad you can be so honest. Lots of folk wear lies as masks and twist truths to get what they want from others. The fact that you want nothing from me is reassuring. And your face scrunches up even more at the thought of telling a lie. It looks like a strong wind suddenly rushed against your face. You are as gruff as the old wolf back there and just as honest. We still have a little ways back to Valbone. May I tell you a story as we walk?”
“You may call me Rhainyr and I'll escort you to the inn as long as there are no more games.”
Eloise slipped her arm around his as they walked. “My apologies for trying to learn things about you that you were unwilling to share. I do have a habit of being overly curious. The truth is I thought you might be someone I had been told about a long time ago. A couple of odd coincidences made me think . . . so I pressed more than I would . . . I'm sure none of this makes sense. Which is why I want to tell you the story. Perhaps you will understand before we part ways.”