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Alameth silently ate the lunch Eleniel had brought her while Eleniel told her about herself. The food was good. Better than what she'd had at other inns along the way, in fact.
Eleniel's question rang in her ears: "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" She wanted to know everything. How long Eleniel had been taking trips to find merchandise for her shop; how many years she had owned it; what it was like to own a shop like that; who she left in charge of the shop while she was gone, or if she just closed it. But it would never do to ask all these at once.
"What is it like?" she asked. "Owning a shop, I mean. How long have you had it? And what do you sell there? Everything? Oh, dear," Alameth regretted asking so many questions. "I got quite ahead of myself. I only meant to ask one question, and there I go asking three. I hope you don't mind. I've always been plagued with curiosity. Mother used to say it would be my undoing...." Her voice trailed off at the thought of her mother. Even after twelve years, it was still difficult to think of her without getting a tear in her eye.
She snapped herself out of her reverie. It would do no good to cry in front of three people. Eleniel might be sympathetic, but she wasn't sure about the elves.
"But so far," she said with a smile, "my curiosity has only helped. It has dwindled somewhat since I was six, but as you can tell, I still haven't been able to quench it."
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