Time to restore some order (closed)

[Caipra]

"Me?" Caipra answered
"Well, I didn't think about it yet. But I still have a lot of people to see this afternoon, so I'll probably stay at home and get some rest. I'm not anymore as young as you girls." She added with a wink.

[Kriss]

Funny. Kriss did not feel so young anymore. After all what she went through. Not that she was tired or lost her adrenaline lust. She still could hear her inner, old Kriss de Valnor called deep inside. She still felt her strength to do the great things but did not find any motivation. She did not like her life in Basra and missed her old one in the North a lot but somehow the situation had became appropriate. Perhaps she started to acclimate herslef, even if deep inside she did not want to.
However, her instinct to troubles seemed not to sleep. She proved that last night in the forest.

She just simled at Caipra in an answer.

[Caipra]

The three women finished eating without saying anything.
After a moment Caipra finally said.
"Thank you for the lunch Kriss, it was lovely as usual. I hope you will never leave your cook go away."
She smiled and stood up.
"I'll see you tomorrow I think, I want to know how that dinner went."
She gave a wink to Kahlan before leaving the two young ladies and walking out of the tavern.

[Kriss]

Kriss let Aniel go back to his toys after he had eaten everything and turned at leaving Caipra,
"See you tomorrow then." She said with a smile. Then she stood up and picked up the plates from the table, talking to Kahlan in the meantime,
"I have an idea for that dinner." Actually it was the only solution possible in her tavern. "There is an unused terrace with the view of the sea but it needed to be cleaned..."
Kriss looked at Kahaln in the way to give her to understand that she needed her help.

[Kahlan]

Kahlan said goodbye to Caipra by a sign of her head.
Then she turned to Kriss as she was talking to her. The tavern's owner didn't need to say anything else for her to understand. She stood up and said with a smile.
"Where shall we start?"

[Kriss]

The girls got to work just after the lunch. Kriss found the key to the terrace and opened the door. Frankly speaking, she had not been there for a very long time. She had never opned it for the guests, too. Terrace on the coastal escarpment was not the best place for the alcohol lovers. That is way this balcony had been left unused or rather used as a storage of some old and useless stuff. Even so, she never expected to find such a big mess there.
Some old tables after the previous tavern's owners, an old, broken broom, three cracked pots, two chests with even more gubbins. That all and many more could be found there.

The both women looked at each other. Neither Kriss nor Kahlan had any idea what to start with. In contrast, Aniel seemed to like the place and its gubbins and he exactly knew what to do - making even bigger mess. However, his mother was not really delighted with this. She found him a new job.
She and Kahlan were shattering the tables what was not very hard to do since they were rotten, and Aniel was carrying the little wooden pieces to the kitchen where they were supposed to be burnt.

Cleaning the terrace was going very smoothly. In the meantime, Kriss told Kahlan about the previous owners and how she had changed the tavern after buying it.

"... Still, my private place, the attic needs some changes. I don't like it. I don't find it as my home, don't feel that atmosphere. Actually, I can't find myslef in Basara at all." She confessed.

[Kahlan]

Kalhan was listening to Kriss talking about the past of the tavern while they were cleaning the terrace.
She had noticed since the beginning that the Archer didn't seem very happy to live here, in Basra, but she couldn't tell why since she didn't know anything about her past. The only thing she was sure about, is that Kriss haven't always been a tavern's owner. And the reason why she ended here intrigued a lot the young princess.

"Yet it seems that you made yourself a name here." She answered "I mean, your tavern is working very well...and you have good friends. I can see for example that Caipra cares a lot about you."
Kahlan was trying to understand more that bond between the tavern's owner and the old lady.

[Kriss]

Indeed, her tavern was working very well but it was not largely thanks to her. The old owners had used to have a lot of guests, too. Perhaps it was caused by the location of the tavern-directly in the port.

Kriss could understand that the young woman wanted to know more about her and about Caipra since she had told her to trust the old woman.
"I met her in a week or two after my arrival in Basra. I didn't know anyone here and offered me so much help. Actually, Caipra is my only friend here."
Not that she had many frieneds anywhere else.

[Kahlan]

"What about Ziad?" Kahlan asked without even thinking.
"Don't you consider him as a friend? "
The relation between those two was very difficult to understand, but they were surely not ennemies.

[Kriss]

Kriss giggled quietly to herslef at Kahlan's words. This sounded pretty ironic but on the other hand, her point of view was definitely differnet and the question even made sense.
The archer did not know how to put into words her relation with the guard.
"Well...Ziad is someone...someone I know... nothing else."

[Kahlan]

Kiss's answer made Kalhan smile. It seemed that the tavern's owner didn't know herself how to describe that relation between her and the chief's guard.
However, there was a thing that hadn't escape Kahlan's eyes earlier in the market, and she wondered if her new friend was aware about that.
"Well, I'm only here for a day and I don't know much about you or Ziad but, I know men...and I can tell you that when Ziad sees you, he doesn't just consider you as someone he knows."

[Kriss]

Kahlan did not need to say that she knew men. With her appearance it was very obvious. Such a beautiful, young woman for sure had many admirers.

Kriss' problem was that her keen galce could get to know the intentions of almost everyone, just not of Ziad. He annoyed and intrigued her at the same time. His sarcasm was annoying but on the other hand, he was someone who Kriss found as the pretty interesting personality. Still, she could not tell much about him and about the relation between them. All their meetings and conversation had been strange enough not to stated it. Maybe if their acquaintanceship had looked different, her feelings about this guard would have been more friendly.
But for sure she had never been wondering about what he was thinking about her. It seemed to be the best moment ever.

The archer gave her son another wooden piece and something crossed her mind.

"For sure he consider me as the worst mother in Basra..."
That would be the first point.

[Kahlan]

Kahlan didn't know if she was the best person here to tell her opinion about the Archer as she didn't know her much yet, and she futhermore had no idea what Ziad really thought about her.

However she tried to give the best answer she could.
"He has no reason to think that." She started "Aniel seems to be a very spoiled little boy. And we can see that you care a lot about him just by seeing how you look at him."
She looked at Aniel and added. "Besides, yesterday you didn't leave your son to anyone, it was the chief's guards, someone you know and trust. It was surely better than leaving him alone."

[Kriss]

Kriss also looked at Aniel while Kahlan was talking about him. For sure, he was really spoiled. The boy always had been raised like a prince. Kriss had never found her as the greatest mother ever but true that she always tried her best.

"You know, I had no choice and it was the best solution then." She answered.

[Kahlan]

"I know it was." Kahlan simply answered with a little smile.
Kriss didn't need to find an excuse...She had done this for her, and she had already thanked her so many times for her help.
But the truth is, that everything would have been different...if the young princess hadn't ended in the forest of Basra, after running away. Yesterday would have probably been another normal day for everyone...