[Huan]

Anyopâ sat quietly at his table. Grey eyes peering over the oft raised mug took in the little scenes in the room about him. A ways away had been an interesting tableau. A woman in a pale blue dress, her hair catching the sun’s pale beams as they happened for a moment through a far window. A man, whose face often traveled to the woman in blue. An Elf. And one of the small folk, a child, at that. Tensions shimmered in the air about the group as bodies tensed and teased and questioned and laughed. To be a fly on the wall, he thought, his eyes glinting at the party.

And now the Elf and child were away and the space between the man and woman crackled it seemed . . .

Gold and silver in twining bands the setting . . . set with a small oval of obsidian, one tiny deep green emerald set slightly off center within the black stone . . . Even now he could see the deep green glimmer casting a small light on the smooth, polished black surface. Anyopâ fetched his small chapbook from the pack at his feet and with quill and ink got from a side pocket, quickly sketched in his design.

Sketch done, he noted a trio of women not far from him . . . two at one table, one adjacent to them. The two had invited the third to join them. Three travelers sharing each other’s company as well as a meal.

Three freshwater pearls! He grinned, seeing the necklace of three different colored pearls spaced on a short chain of fine silver links, gracing the slender neck of some maiden.

And there at the bar, slumped on a stool, sipping a drink to fortify himself for the rest of the day sat a lone man. Tall and lean he was, yet the day sat heavily on him, or so it seemed to Anyopâ, and bore him down.

A thick gold band . . . a ring of promise. One lone diamond set flush in it. Round cut, many facets . . . with a deep brilliance, a fire that pierces the heart.

Anyopâ roughed in the sketches for the necklace and the gold and diamond ring. Accompanying each of the designs was a small bit of text, giving the flavor of the scenes that had prompted them. He smiled, pleased with the drawings and put the leather journal back in his pack. Later, he would work on the drawings in more detail. He leaned back in his chair, pouring himself another drink from the pitcher one of the servers had left. He raised his mug discretely to the room in general, giving thanks to whatever whimsy of fortune had brought him to this most interesting of places.