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	Amber stood for a moment while the double doors of the Inn closed behind her with a solid thud. There weren’t a lot of patrons about, in fact there were very few, which wasn’t a surprise. Greenfalls was a small place, and it was still morning. Most drinking was done later in the day, roughly when most visitors, if there were to be any visitors, arrived to rent a room on their way through town. 

Jarlin was there of course - since he owned the place – a stocky fifty-odd year old balding man standing behind the bar with his arms crossed, brow furled, lips tight, a small towel slung over his shoulder like a badge of office. As for actual patrons, one bar stool and two chairs of the ten tables in the whole establishment were occupied. Perched on the stool at the bar with his back to Amber was a man of thin build, a rich traveller type by the looks of his clothes, and from that angle Amber had no idea if she knew the man or not. On the main floor, at one of the tables, was a local fellow named Barnibalus, Jarlin’s most regular customer, who could more or less be found drinking at Greenfalls Inn so long as he was awake to do so. In the far corner, at the other table and with a view of the entire room, was the Jack fellow. He was sitting with a slight slump, one hand under the table, one hand resting on the table next to his mug. He was watching Marianna, Jarlin’s daughter, cleaning dishes at the far end of the bar until Amber walked in the door, which was when his discomforted attention shifted completely to her instead. 

As she made her way towards the table his eyes darted left and right as if trying to make sense of the fact that this woman, the same woman who had recently slammed a door in his face, was now on rout to his table. 

‘Can I sit with you?’ Asked Amber, hand assumingly on the backrest of the empty chair across the table from him. 

Jack squinted thoughtfully, eyes deviated to the bartender for a few seconds.

‘It’s a free country,’ he said, ‘I mean, it is a free country… right?’

She drew the chair and dropped herself down in it. 

‘Well that depends on who you might be talking to, stranger.’