The osta was sitting in the kint's doorway. Shi, coming back from the river, heard the familiar chirped melody she specifically used to greet her, but Hillax did not turn her head to even glance at her. The animal kept staring towards the east as the witch hanged her damp clothing on the side of the kint.
The petite woman, still in just her night pants, sat on the step beside her pet and folder her legs. She sighed as her legs settled and the cool night air relaxed her shoulders and chilled her small breasts. Another meaningless day in a meaningless live.
Festival time should be a happy time. She had never droned through Festival days like that. There was so much to do! Tending the tavern, going to listen to tales from the Deep Water tekaa and learning new words from them, listening to concerts… And of course, discreetly checking Ti's whereabouts with the other youngsters. But everything had seemed boring this year. And now, Noli… For the umphiest time in the last week, she prayed for the rain to come earlier this year.

She fondled the top of Hillax' head, rewarded by a purr, and followed her gaze. Eastward. Away from the locked tavern cart, with the stools still piled in front, ready for tomorrow setup.
"Still waiting for her, are you? You too, can't believe she won't ever come back?" The old osta put her head on her knee while the witch whispered, still looking towards the east. "At least, you know she loved you."

"She loved you too." The kint's floor cracked as the muscular silhouette of Noli Ol'Inalo appeared in the moonlight. Standing just behind his wife, but not touching her.
Sure. The one that locked her in a spoke life. Who didn't want her to try galdori magic or settle in a city. Who chose a human father for her, lowering even more her magical abilities, or her status or in this clocking world. But who still kept check on her like she was a princess instead of letting her enjoy spoke's freedom. She had to dust to escape me.
"I'm sure she did." The man insisted. Shi had stayed still and silent, but one does not spends so many years with a Hoxian without learning to decipher small changes in her expression. "Believe me."

But the witch suddenly stood and glared up at her husband, asking a totally different question.
"How come you're here tonight?" Her voice was kept low, but now full of scorn. "Already tired of this tumble of yours?" Sensing the storm, the osta slipped under the steps, out of sight.
Even if he hadn't those reservation about lying, Noli would have been silenced by his wife gaze. He started thinking about different justifications, as he had done for the last two weeks, but simply gave away and nodded. "This bed's at least half mine, remember?" Then in a lower voice "and Lizbeth's not a tumble."
"No, just a chip who'd turn away a man from his wife before their daughter's body is cold." Shi's voice had turned to a sarcastic whisper, and there was contempt in the gaze she cast on her husband.

"It's not like that." Noli felt the urge to remind his wife that without Lizbeth, he'd never have been able to build Neti's Shunak for the Fotamos ceremony. That she had refused to honour the memory of their daughter. But he didn't. He had not waited for her to start a fight. They had had too many during the last month. Almost each time they were alone together it seemed, which was why he had barely slept in his own bed during the whole Festival.
He looked down at the half-naked woman, and didn't feel any attraction. It was still the same body, but the woman inside was turning into a stranger. Even more alien to him than that weird girl he had met twenty years ago. It would be so simple to ignore her and walk away. But she had been that weird girl. She was his Hoxian princess and he was her husband. He had to find something to appease her. It was his duty. He owed it to the soul of their daughter… And to his own memories, he realized.
Just something. Even a physical fight. He wouldn't mind having his ass handed to himself if it made her feel better. But she'd have to start it. No way would he try to hit his wife! In the end, the man just shook his head.

Shi was finally the one to break the long silence. In a barely audible voice.
"You want to keep the bed? Fine. Get out of here so I can grab something warm."

There was sadness in the man's eyes as he watched her head for the trees on the edge of the tavern's clearing, a blanket and Neti's hammock slung on her shoulder. This same hammock he had had to sleep in so often this last month. Mugrobi were supposed to have an arsenal of long romantic sentences in store. Well, not him, not tonight. He sighed and went back inside the kint.

Shi was seething in the hammock when she felt the soft tug of Hillax landing on her feet. The old osta looked at her, blinked once, and leaped away. She heard the distant screech of the kint's door when the pet pulled it open to join Noli on the bed.
She was alone with her thoughts. She had always been alone anyway. Even in the middle of the Festival crowd.

You should put this where it's played-- It's a Lit thread!

((Moved thread to appropriate section for relevant lit area.))