The Place by the Fire

At the Crooked Lantern, already crowded despite the cold air, a customer tried to reserve the table beside the hearth for the following day. Pavri explained that tables were not sold before the inn opened. Kema, short and fair-haired, sat near the fire with a net across her knees and looked up from her work. The customer protested: she had been coming to the inn for years. “Then you know the way,” Pavri replied, straightening the tankards. Kema smiled but said nothing. In the end the customer ordered a drink and postponed tomorrow's problem until tomorrow. Pavri applied that method to many problems without considering it a philosophy. Kema picked up her needle again. Had it been a fishing net, she would have fixed the knot immediately. A chair, however, could wait.