    Her name was 
Leyla, she said, and 
her hair was braided 
wild with creepers 
and thorns. I 
marveled that they 
did not hurt her, but 
when I asked, she but 
#EOP
shrugged and let her 
eyes roam once more 
across the woods. 
Though I had my 
hands securely 
fastened by her 
ropes, I itched to 
reach out and comb 
#EOP
that unruly golden 
mane, dirtied and 
leaf-ridden.
    Her provenance, 
she told me over 
nights illumined by 
campfires, was once 
the city of Trinsic. 
#EOP
She claimed to have 
been kidnapped and 
raised by orcs, which 
I judged an unlikely 
tale, for all know orcs 
delight in eating the 
meat of honest folk. 
When I told her this, 
#EOP
she laughed a fey 
laugh, and gaily 
admitted that honest 
she was not, for oft 
had she stolen folk 
away from caravans 
to loot their 
possessions from an 
#EOP
unconscious body!
    At this, I began to 
fear for my life, and 
her smile seemed full 
of teeth sharper than 
a human ought to 
have, for the tale of 
orcish raising had 
#EOP
struck fear into the 
marrow of my bones. 
"Wilt thou eat me?" I 
asked, a-tremble, 
fearing the answer.
    And she cocked 
her head at me, like a 
wild animal facing a 
#EOP
word that it dost not 
understand, and the 
fixity in her eyes 
was a glimpse into 
the deeper reaches of 
the Abyss. But she 
finally grunted, and 
said, "Nay," in a 
#EOP
voice that recalled to 
me a child. "Nay," 
she said, "for thou 
dost remind me of a 
boy I knew once, 
when I was a girl 
who played in a city 
of great sandstone 
#EOP
walls, before I was 
taken. He had sandy 
hair like thee, and I 
dreamt as a child of 
holding his hand and 
sharing flavored ice. 
His name was 
Japheth."
#EOP
    The next morning 
she let me go, 
stripped of my pouch 
and clothes, and bade 
me run through the 
woods, and to fear 
recapture, for surely 
her heart would not 
#EOP
soften again. 'Twas a 
fearful run, and I 
came to the road to 
Yew with welts and 
scratches run 
rampant crost my 
skin, but I did not see 
her again.
#EOP
    Oft have I 
wondered of the boy 
named Japheth, and 
whether he 
remembers a girl who 
lived in sandstone 
walls. The only 
Japheth I know is the 
#EOP
Guildmaster of 
Paladins who died 
last year warring 
amidst the orcs, and 
though he had indeed 
sandy hair, I cannot 
picture him side by 
side with a feral girl 
#EOP
whose tongue has 
tasted of human 
flesh.
    Yet the paths of 
fate are strange 
indeed, and I suppose 
'tis possible that this 
paladin died 
#EOP
defending his 
remembered lady's 
honor, unknowingly 
struck down by the 
orc that she called 
father.

#EOP
#EOP
#EOP
#EOP
#EOP
