[Amanaduial the archer]

As the tune finished to the sound of applause, Aman gave her hands to the clapping also, then continued her rounds about the Common Room, whistling the remainder of the tune jauntily to herself. The night had put her in high spirits, the same as the rest of the Inn's denizens, for it had been surprisingly succesful: usually when such crowds gathered in the Inn for such a night of songs and when the ale flowed quite so freely, a sharp eye was required of Aman and her staff for any trouble or rowdiness. But tonight, nothing of the like had raised its head, and although the wind had picked up outside, blowing a chill breeze through the Common Room door whenever it opened, inside there was no sign of any such chill atmosphere inside the Green Dragon.

The door opened and as Aman chanced to look up she saw two newcomers scurry in looking windswept and rather harried. The boy, evidently the older of the two, hustled a younger girl along in front of him, and although he looked calm enough, his tight lips and anxious, flitting eyes told Aman that this lad was anything from calm. Hungry eyes as well… Aman narrowed her own eyes, looking around at those who may have been eligible relations for these two newcomers, but all the Big Folk, it seemed, had already been here for some time and many were already known by Aman. And small though the children were, they were certainly no hobbits. The Innkeeper raised an eyebrow and made a note to herself to keep an eye on that pair – the night was drawing on already, and the dark was no place for children.

Heading towards them, she accidentally nudged the elbow of a customer seated nearby. The woman gave a stifled, surprised cry and Aman turned quickly, surprised at such a reaction – after all, all she had done was jolt the woman’s arm a little. But apparently the woman had been so deep in her book that she had not noticed the Innkeeper’s approach – she much have been more startled than Aman had bargained for. Yet now that her book had fallen to the floor, the woman did not move to get it, and when the Innkeeper turned towards her, she remained unmoving, her eyes fixed pointedly on the wall, a sheet of long golden hair covering her face. Murmuring effusive apologies, the Innkeeper set down the glasses she had been carrying on a nearby table and knelt down to retrieve the book. But as she picked it up, she noticed something odd: the cover was entirely blank, totally unmarked apart from a few dusty smears now across the cover. Hastily brushing these away, Aman glanced up at the book’s owner to see that her face was still turned away and, curious, she turned the book over, frowning when she saw that the back was also unmarked. But on the spine…Aman’s frown deepened as she looked closer at the book’s spine, for dotted onto it, apparently randomly, were a series of dots and indents, a neat yet indecipherable code. But although she did not understand it, it was a code that was vaguely familiar to Aman, from a customer many months ago who had also had a series of books that bore these indentures…

She felt a hand brush her shoulder and turned as she woman drew away: she had not realised Aman was still there and so had bent to get her book. Apparently embarrassed, the woman looked away again, but this time Aman saw her face more clearly and her suspicion sparked by the unmarked book was confirmed by her pale, silvery eyes: the woman was blind. Straightening up, Aman wiped the book once more with her sleeve and then handed it back to the woman. “I do apologise, ma’am, I didn’t…sorry, I was a little distracted,” Aman amended her sentence just in time. She added, “You are new to this Inn, are you not? Can I get you anything?”