8. Easthaven

Bells bit her bottom lip as a look of almost despair momentarily shadowed her face before the bard turned a warm gaze upon the elf. A slight shake of her head, No, no. You answered perfectly. We should avoid confusion by sticking to the truth as much as possible.

Obviously, Zinvaris' sensibilities were refined and he was in strict control of himself while Bells felt like a boiling pot of feelings about to bubble over. But that was unfair to the man to burden him with all of her emotions. Zin was a friend who held her in high regard while holding some affection for her and not some Toffee Apple. Not his Toffee Apple.

Zin nodded, coughed and shifted uncomfortably Oh… right… uhm… I have a few things to… I’ll see you … uh, later. Zin made a hasty exit of the situation and building. While he walked aimlessly through the streets, Zin’s thoughts whirled. He knew he was misreading things. Bells was just worried that Skriip might be scheming against them. Maybe he was misunderstanding her customs… Of course that. She couldn’t be interested in him. The wood elf stopped dead in the snow, a memory racked him and he slumped against a wall.

---

…I am my mother’s son! You can’t change that father!!! No matter how many times you tick your damn ledger, you can’t erase it!

Contemplate this… SON... Dirt never goes away. If you clean a dirty table with a clean rag, the rag comes away dirty. If you put a dirty rag in a bucket, the bucket comes away dirty. The only hope is to spread the dirt far and wide enough that no one notices it.

You… are… soiled. Your transgressions are filth… dirt. And always will it be that your only hope will be to corrupt those you touch and hope that someday you corrupt enough that no one notices your own... stain. That’s 72..

---

Zin sat against the wall taking deep breaths trying to calm himself. Zinvaris pulled his journal from his pack and removed the letter Kel had written him after 72. Zin read the letter four times before he was able to shake off his father’s remembered words. Could he go back to Tanbrook? Eldath claimed to follow Mielikki, but Zin knew the truth now. He lost his faith when he lost Tol’un…