It was a long ride back from the north country where strife between the clans and with the foreign kings was tearing up the land and leaving hillsides and towns littered with broken bodies.

Lord Galeron had been sent back south by his father, King Wulfgang, to secure a treaty and enlist the aid of several cousins of his father. Along the way he stops at the Red Dragon Inn, hoping to see the fair lady he had met there once before.

He writes a letter and leaves it in the mail box at the inn.

Dear Lady Kyndra MacDraven,

I can only pray that this letter finds thee well, and that perhaps you might still have a fond remembrance of our talk.

I admit with no little embarrassment and humility that I have thought of you oft whilst away to the north.

Fortune has brought me back to where you dwell, and I pray I'm not too bold to ask of thee if perhaps you would have dinner with me.

If you would be free any evening this week and would do me such great honor, please leave me a note at the Inn. I'll be staying here several days.

With fondest thoughts of you,

Lord Galeron

The old man had found himself within the Inn, as he had lately, taking care of various matters. The Inn, after all, was one of those places where you could do private business in a public area.

Upon shaking hands with the one he met, he moved behind the bar, and looked through his various boxes. Retrieving the few items that had accumilated, he started to turn and head back to the library. That was, until a letter in Kyn's box had caught his eye. She had been staying at the library as of late, and of course, he didn't mind retrieving her mail.

So, he picked up the letter, and started his way on through the streets that lead back to his city dwelling. The letter in hand had caught his interest.. it was sealed with a roayl signet. It seemed that the lady had drawn someone's interest.

As he stepped within the door to the great athenaeum, he moved to the back office and found her once more engrossed in the maps of the land and various deeds and titles to some of that land. He chuckled as he stood there watching her a moment. She had been at this for a few weeks now. Perhaps it was good that he had offered this to her. She seemed.. uneasy with one of the previous offers which she had come across concerning a perminate dwelling.

Stepping from the doorway of the office, he moved behind her and gave her a kiss to her ear, and then laid the unopened letter infront of her on the maps.

"This was in your box at the Inn. Inform your suitor that I like my steaks raw and my roses fresh." And there was a grin and a twinkle to his eyes.

Lord Galeron remained at the inn and waited for a response, but his time was growing short. He would soon have to leave.

He now wondered if Lady Kyndra had received his message at all. In fact, he was starting to think that some gnarly midget with a mind smaller than his manhood had stolen the note to use as rolling papers for hemp cigars.

Galeron sighed and conceded to give the exquisitely beautiful Kyndra another night to respond, then he'd be force to assume that some unworthy lowlife has made off with a treasure far beyond one's ability to measure.

Alas it would be his own fault for waiting so long. He should have stayed in Rhydin and nurtured the relationship they had only just begun. One should never take such a lovely lady for granted, and now he feared he would pay the price for his neglect.

He had been gone for several weeks, but his desire was still residing with a woman he had met one night at an inn within the coastal town of Rhydin. In his mind he had come to terms that the lady did not share such feelings, for she never responded to his invitation; yet the stubborn heart would not release those desires so quickly.

He rode his war horse back to Rhydin. It was a ride of no urgency, for there was no one awaiting his arrival, no one who would notice that he had even been away. It was just one more stop on a long journal home to the northland.

Yet he could not help but fantasize that he might catch a glimpse of her, and those thoughts still had his heart beat just a little more quickly.