He sprawled comfortably over the large stuffed lounge recliner. The air was thick with the smoke of fires and tobacco pipes. The sound of cheerful celebration filled the room with laughter. Fools, jugulars, singers, entertainers of every kind danced, tapping their feet about the pub. People threw copper, gold and silver. People threw flowers, spit, and ale. Dice thumped against the table, sending gamblers into heated shouts.
He ignored it all.
Too long had he been alone. Left to linger in the dark. To cower away from any eyes that flickered too much in his direction, avoiding a finger that was inevitable to fall. Whether out of jealousy or fear. The accusations always came, would never leave him be.
And there she was.
He loved her immediately. Or so he would like to think. He was incapable of such a strong emotion. It was attraction that he felt, and only a tinker at that. He held no passion or heart for her.
Without pause, he rose smoothly from the recliner and started after her. No one paid him any mind. The celebration seemed to slow, having nothing to do with him, an entirely different dimension altogether.
Her back was to him. Red, finely woven ringlets fell to her lower back. He inhaled the sent of her living blood. It pulsed inside her. He could hear the every thump of her heart.
He reached out a long and paled hand. Tapping her ever so lightly on the shoulder. He did not know why he was doing it, but he was tired of being alone.
She turned to him. Her blue eyes met with his gold.