Spymasters and Inquisition

Horknath nodded absently, gazing around. "Yeah", he added then. For him nothing could beat the forests he grew up into, but he had to admit that the view there looked mighty fine.

Valdyr sighed softly. "Okay. It's this way." He took the half-orc through another set of corridors, sometimes stopping him when he heard round guards or civilians walking around. Finally, he took him to modest quarters, and took a paper out of one of his pockets. He read it, looked around, then headed for a particular house when he had made sure the street was empty. He knocked a peculiar way on the door, and gestured for Horknath to be ready to enter. The door opened soon, revealing no one, and he hushed inside.
"I thought you'd never come," said a voice behind them, as soon as the door was closed. It was a dwarven lady, with light brown hair, and a tired look on her face. Yet... she was bravely holding back tears. Well. The half-orc that caught her off guard probably helped. She stared at Horknath for a few seconds, her face reading "what the heck".

Horknath looked quite embarrassed - and he probably also looked terribly out of place, with how he was hunching to avoid adding more bumps to his collection. "Uh... hello", he said, awkwardly waving his hand to the woman.

"... Who's that," the woman finally asked, more confused than she had been her entire life.
"Leitna, Horknath, a... friend. Horknath, this is my sister-in-law, Leitna," Valdyr breathed, fighting hard against his own emotion.
"... Are you a half-orc?" Leitna finally asked Horknath as she held her hand out, to greet him.

Horknath blinked at Valdyr, surprised at being defined a 'friend'. But he shook the woman's hand with not much esitation. "Yeah. Half-orc. I...hope you got no problem with that, lady", he muttered.

Leitna shrugged. "Whether I had a problem about it or not, you're in my house now, aren't you?" She then turned to Valdyr, and hugged him tight. "I'll get you something to drink before you hit the road again. Weana is fast asleap, but... She'll be happy to see you."
Valdyr nodded, fighting back tears. Again. "Thanks," he whispered. Leitna finally let him go, and rushed to her kitchen. He kept his head down, awkwardly talking to Horknath. "You can, erm, go to the kitchen if you'd like. Drink a bit. Maybe eat. I shouldn't be long."

Horknath looked in the direction of the kitchen, shifting on his feet uneasily. "I... I, uh, I guess", he just said, unsure. Granted, he was feeling definitely out of place. That was a family reunion, he shouldn't have been standing in the middle of it like a giant awkward lantern pole.

Valdyr nodded awkwardly and left, going into a corridor to wake his niece up.
In the meanwhile, in the kitchen, Leitna was trying to keep herself busy by wrapping a meal for the two of them, and brewing coffee at the same time.

Horknath grunted, trying to get in the kitchen just as silently as he could. Shame he got stuck in the door. He struggled, and struggled until he finally freed himself with a loud noise. His face was flaming from embarrassment at that point. He just hoped to pass off unnoticed.

Leitna turned her head towards him, and couldn't hold back a smile. "We have a sturdy couch here, if you'd like to sit down. I'm sorry, the house is not really big. It must be hard for you."

Horknath lowered his gaze, scratching his head in embarrassment. He carefully sat down on the couch, not really letting himself relax completely. He wasn't sure it could hold his weight. "N-no, it's fine. It's me who is sorry, I am the one that is too big", he muttered with an unsure smile.

Leitna held back a smill smile, and then brought him a cup of coffee. "How long have you been friend with Valdyr?"

Horknath smiled back, a bit more sure of himself, accepting the cup of coffee. "Well... not much time, honestly. I met him some weeks ago. We traveled a bit", he answered, thanking Leitna for the hot beverage and taking a sip.

Leitna nodded. "You two are going to keep on travelling like this for a while ?"

Horknath nodded. "Yeah. We plan on going back together", he said. He was suddenly struck by the notion that he had probably met someone who was the closest thing to a friend he ever had. He tried to distract himself, looking around. "You have a nice house, miss Leitna", he observed.

Leitna sighed. "Thanks. I've... tried my best ever since my husband left this world," she muttered, turning her face away. "... I have some pie left, if you're hungry."

Horknath lowered his head. "I grieve with you", he said, very formally, but honestly. "...if, if you don't mind", he said somewhat shyly. "I'd like to eat something."

"Hope you like apricot," Leitna said as she gained her composure back. She cut a generous slice of pie, and served it to Horknath in a big plate, with a dwarf-sized soup spoon. Since he was so tall.

Horknath took the spoon - which was looking almost normal sized in his hand. Well, that was new! - and smiled at her. "I like fruit", he said simply, taking a big mouthful of the cake and swallowing it. He let out a long, pleased hum. "Not even my ma makes them this good", he murmured, honestly surprised. Then he looked almost startled. "Well I hope she never comes to know I just said that."

Leitna laughed kindly. "I can give you the recipe, if you'd like. My fruit pies are always a success ~" She went around the kitchen, and fetched stuff to write, before looking up. "... You do know how to read, right?"

"I like to read", Horknath answered with half a smile. "But I am not as good at cooking. I will still be honoured to have your recipe, Madam!"

Leitna smiled back and wrote done the recipe. "Well. At least somebody will remember me by, and maybe cook Valdyr my best pies," she said, her mind wandering. She clearly knew she was never going to see her brother-in-law again after that night.

Horknath sat quietly, observing Leitna as she scribbled on the paper. He fiddled with his fingers, not really knowing what to say. What could he even say? He didn't know if telling her "Everything will be ok" would work. Most likely, it would have sounded empty.

Leitna finished writing down her recipe, and gave it to Horknath, as she went on giving him more instructions. She seemed quite enthusiastic to talk about her cooking to someone for once. So much that she didn't even hear when Valdyr finally came back half an hour later, while she was telling the half-orc her secrets to cook the perfect meat pie.

Horknath was nodding, eagerly trying to note down in his mind all the dwarrowdam was telling him - he felt incredibly clever he knew a word like dwarrowdam -. "... and then you do what?", he was asking, when he noticed Valdyr was back. He perked up on his seat a bit.