"Mora," his hands stop moving but when he doesn't let go of her leg, she looks up to him, "they don't...want me for who I am, they want me for what I am," he says, as if trying to reassure her.

She feels her eyebrow raise, questioningly, "A tavern owner?"

"Yes," he smiles but she can see he is trying to hide what she already knows, "they have no desire to get to know me as a person, nor do they intrigue me or interest me in the way--" he stops short, looking sincerely at her. His hands let go of her leg before he dips his fingers back into...