Haven smiled at the girl, her eyes softened, and she reached out toward the little girl. She meant to show kindness to the girl and help redeem her situation--

[i]"You should not have come up here woman," [/i]

--However, before Haven could do anything, a man approached, he had a plate of food in his hand. It was the mercenary from the dining room--

He inched toward her, Haven shied away, her wide eyes fixed upon him, her back found the wall and pressed against it. There was nowhere to run, the storage room was at a dead end. He reached for a weapon, he meant to kill her for finding the girl. Haven had discovered his terrible secret, and would protect it by any means necessary.

[i]"No! She won't say anything, Valunn, don't hurt her."[/i]

But the secret spoke up, the little girl arguing in Haven's favor. 

[i]"She knows about you now, the incompetent barkeeper was too foolish to tell his whores not to come up here. I'm sorry young lady, but we all have to make choices-"[/i]

Each word felt as if it hit haven in the chest, cold and hard, like hailstones. Icy fear filled her body.

[i]"No! Just... come on Valunn, she didn't know... look at her, just a young lady... I'm sure she'll keep quiet." [/i]

If only they knew.

[i]"Fine, you tell anyone about what's going on here, and we're going to have problems, you hear?"[/i]

He leaned in so close she could smell his breath, full of the ale she had served him, his eyes were hard and dangerous, his threat was a promise. 

Haven did not wait for him to change his mind. She ran down the hall as fast as she could then out to her room…

… Her place was above the barn. A real room could not be wasted on the orphaned help. It was warm, and dry. She had a straw bed, and lots of shelves full of bottles and baskets, while above she had an array of dry herbs and plants hanging.

Her hands shook with fear as she loaded a small pack. Bundles of herbs, a few jars, and food for herself. She had meant to leave in the morning, but decided it would be better to put as much space between herself and this man as possible. She would leave now. She could handle the woods as well during the night as the day, wet and gloomy as it was, and it would be better to give the little girl her medicine sooner. 

She left, abandoning the rest of her chores and duties for the evening. Inn would have to make due without her.

Even as she fled, she would not forget his cold hard eyes anytime soon.