Family affairs

The inn was crowded, which suited Timona just fine, this was the first time in nearly six years that the family had gotten together, and it was still too soon for her. She thought back to the last time and almost spilt her tankard of ale as she shuddered involuntarily.

It had been an inn much like this one, except it had been filled with people she had known. They had entered like a whirlwind, demanding people move, using her name to get the innkeeper to give them privileges she herself had never claimed. As always there was the one who could no more hold his drink than he could fly, the one that started hours before anyone else just to be ready then wondered why they were drunk. That time she had arrived late. Her long black hair, still in the braid she always put it in before a fight, was still coated in the green substance that passed for blood. Not one even asked if she was okay. The first thing they had asked was why was she late, she tried to explain that their had been a troll problem she had to deal with, only to be told that she should have planned better. The rest of the night was about why she hadn’t settled down and married.

Timona sighed and took a deep gulp from her tankard, her gaze rarely, which had rarely strayed from the door, took in the rest of the inn automatically. It was mostly farmers, which at least meant that she wouldn’t know them. This year she was determined to what she had always wanted to do, tell her family exactly what she really thought of them.


(Word count 285ish)