The pungent smell of smoking herbs and cheap liquor filled the air of the packed tavern. From farmers to soldiers, each planked table seated twice as much as it should, adding to the choking claustrophobia that clawed at the thin woman pressed against the wall.
"I have to find him quickly," she muttered in a scratchy, hoarse voice. Her dull brown eyes shot around the room as she stiffened her aching body to see through the swelling crowd. With each second that passed, the room seemed to grow busier and soon the woman was focused more on protecting her limp arm with her body than anything else.
"Maybe I can help you, little lady," a tall man with short light brown hair and a bushy mustache offered, leaning on the wall behind the hooded woman to shield her from the swelling mass of jovial
