Hazel adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she trekked through the woods to Myrefall. It was a bit heavier than usual, since she had packed more of her herbs and supplies than she normally did. Having never partnered with a physician before, she only had the faintest idea of what to expect from this woman, so on the off chance that the noble showed up unprepared, she wanted to be able to make up the difference by being overly so.

When she reached the edge of the village, she turned to head down the main road towards the Ivory Hatchet tavern, where she remembered Penelope had wanted to meet this time. She wondered absently why the knight had chosen to move the location. That dingy old house they had met in two days ago had seemed like a perfectly good spot to her. It was humble and out of the way, not the sort of place one would expect a secret rendezvous to take place.

[i]Perhaps it has some sort of significance to her and Crow,[/i] she mused as she stepped up to the tavern door. Though she had no idea what a run-down, abandoned home could mean to anyone, it was the only explanation she could think of that made at least some sense. If the place was special to them for some reason, she could see why Penelope would have felt like the herbalist had been intruding on that space. Regardless, she had no qualms with the change of scenery, so they could keep their secret house to themselves if they wished.

Stepping inside the tavern, Hazel dropped her hood and took a brief look around. Off to the side, she spotted the all too familiar face of the knight she had met with before. She was seated beside a dark-haired woman with her nose in a book. Considering the fact that almost all peasants in the outer villages were incapable of reading—she, her mother, and Simon were the only ones she knew of that were even somewhat literate—she guessed that this stranger must be the physician.

Having already come this far, she let out her breath in a long exhale and made her way over to the table, pulling out a chair across from them and sitting down. Once she had settled down comfortably and removed her bag from her shoulder, she crossed her arms loosely over her chest and looked between the two nobles seated in front of her. “Alright, ladies,” she said curtly. “I’m sure you don’t want to be here any longer than I do, so let’s get this over with.”