This will be my last night at the inn. I will not miss it. Summer brings a stench to this town that is hard to define but even harder to ignore. The sweat of both man and beast. The rubbish heaps covered in maggots and flies. Cheap oils painted on the necks of the women who skulk the Alley. I have visited the boarding house that was mentioned to me some time back. It is tiny but it is clean. It is surrounded by farms and open air and not this pestilential fog. An old man and his wife own the house but live separately on a nearby plot of land where they apparently tend a large number of chickens to enhance their income. The boarding house is managed by a young woman that seems skittish and has a poorly leg or foot. I care not as long as I am provided a bed and plenty of privacy.
While fishing last evening I was interrupted by a local hunter. Or huntress. She plowed straight into the stream without a thought and ruined a carefully spent hour of my time. Her claim was that she was stalking a hind across the water but that was hardly forgivable for scattering the fish within half a mile of me. As penance I made her sit and keep me company for another hour while letting the water settle again. To my surprise I enjoyed her presence. She was not put off by my bark and held her own against my vexed questioning. She stayed beyond what I required and continued to chat as if she had nowhere to go and no care for the setting sun. In the end I offered her a decent-sized perch I had caught and she offered a coney she claimed to have trapped. I enjoyed cooking a supper over my fire that did not involve scales for once.
I overheard two men near the marketplace speaking of some kind of tea that aids with sleep. I did not catch all of the things that go into the making of it but I understand there is an apothecary in the village where I will be staying. I may inquire there to see if they know of this tea and where I might acquire some or make some myself. Aedre has begun to haunt my dreams of late and my rest is impaired.
