Spring was a quiet time for the Dagger. While the regular patrons came and went as they pleased the steady crowd of farmers had dwindled down to just about nothing. It was a busy time in a farming community. A time when the baby animals were birthed, and seed was carefully inspected, ready to be planted as soon as the earth had warmed enough for them to be planted. It was quiet, and quiet was exactly what Dulcie liked.
All the bread had been baked, the linens in the rooms upstairs were clean and the innkeeper had decided to take a much needed break. She had poured herself an ale, propped her feet up on an empty chair and had just started enjoying the silence when she heard the creak of the stairs from the porch outside. Generally Dulcie prided herself on knowing the footfalls of just about every person in town and while she heard the tapping sound of a cane or walking stick, she knew immediately by the shuffling sound of the feet that it wasn't Councilor Berdini. She spent the next few minutes trying to figure out just who else in town came around the Dagger using a cane, but her curiousity was soon answered as the door was slowly pulled open and an old woman stepped inside. She was a sight to see certainly, wearing a threadbare coat and a skirt that seemed to be made of a patchwork of many different fabrics.
Dulcie immediately leapt to her feet, coming to catch the door for the old woman.
"Oh there. Welcome to the Dagger. Do you need some help getting in?" She asked carefully, watching as the woman hobbled past her, offering a hand out to the old woman if she wanted it.
"Nay lass. I been gettin' around this tavern fer months now an' I've been doin' just fine. Good o' ye to offer though child." The old woman said as she continued her shuffle towards the chairs near the hearth, pausing briefly to look over her shoulder as those green eyes noted the apron about the other woman's waist, the way her hair was kept, and a few assumptions could be made.
"Ye be workin' here lass?"
Dulcie nodded her head and closed the door with a soft press of her hand, looking back over at the old woman with a sort of reverance. Like some of the other people in Myrken she had a deep respect for anyone that had survived to live that long.
"Yes, I manage the place. I hope that it's been comfortable for you. I know that the stairs aren't that easy to get around on." She said apologetically, moving towards the old woman as she heard the crack and pop of the old bones as the other woman seated herself.
"Oh it's been plenty fine. I can get around just fine when I be wantin' too. An' don't ye come over here askin' me anymore questions 'bout if I can be managin' things. I nay want for anything but a spot o' company lass." She paused to pat a chair near her. "In all my years I hear some o' the best stories from innkeepers, an' I'd love to be hearin' yours child."