"I have been close, even intimate, with many people in my life, yet I also avoid growing *too* close to them. The pain of separation with someone you truly cared for… was too much even the first time. It was a feeling I have no desire to repeat, hence why I kept all my later relations at a bit of distance.

It had not helped fill the void he left behind in my heart, of course, but maybe it soothed and balmed the wound a little. Probably why I sometimes just let go and forget all about the typical societal norms on such intimacy." - From the diaries of Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden.

"You're leaving then?" asked Otto with a resigned tone of voice.

The two of them laid on the large bed in Aideen's room at the inn, their lower bodies just covered by a blanket. It was early in the morning, roughly three months after Aideen had arrived at Meergant. It had also been a month or so since she overstayed in town. Her original plan was to depart after a couple months.

Of course, the surprise relationship she found with the local youth threw her plans off course. She had not regretted it, but Aideen thought it might be better for her to end it early, before Otto became too infatuated with her.

After all, they each had their own lives and responsibilities.

"Indeed," said Aideen as she sat on the bed. While the blanket covered her lower body, her upper body was exposed, and she caught Otto glancing at her modest chest, which she dismissed with a smirk. "Not today, of course. I'd need to prepare a bit first, but probably by firstday the next week."

"I… I'll miss you," said the youth, with a dejected look on his face. Even with his thick, scruffy beard, when he made such an expression, she couldn't help but feel that he looked every bit the twenty year old kid he was. "Will you ever return?"

"Probably… Otto. But it wouldn't be anytime soon, or even for long," said Aideen with a melancholic smile on her face. She brought out a lacquered wooden pipe from her storage, and stuffed some dried herbs - a mixture of chamomile and rosemary - into it, before she took an enchanted lighter and lit the herbs. "You should forget about me… kid. We belong to different worlds."

"Find your own happiness, someone who can be with you throughout your life," she said after she took a deep pull from her pipe. The smoke she exhaled was a fragrant one. A local affectation she had tried and liked quite a bit. "Don't… waste your life pining on me. Promise me that, please. It's… not worth it."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"All right…" said Otto with a dejected look as he nodded. The kid seemed torn. He must have known that they would go their own ways in life, but probably harbored a hope to the contrary nonetheless. "I promise."

"That's a good boy," said Aideen as she ruffled his hair over his protests. Otto didn't really like it when people do that, but his mother loved to do it to tease him, and Aideen had built a good relationship with the woman over the months as well. "You know, your mom might be so in love with doing this so you remember her after she's gone… since you're all but certain to outlive her. Cherish her while she's still with you, kid."

Otto's mother was a human, while his father was a dwarf. As a half-dwarf, Otto himself would likely have a natural lifespan of three and a half centuries or so. He was likely to outlive both his parents, given that his father was already in his fourth century.

"I know…" said the young half-dwarf with a melancholic look as he looked down. It was an issue that normally wouldn't have crossed the mind of someone so young, but his relationship with Aideen somewhat drove that point home, given how she was all but certain to outlive him as well. "And I will take care of my parents… thanks."

"Do that, kid," said Aideen with a smile as she took one last pull from her pipe before the herbs extinguished. Then she dumped the ashes into a basket for waste by their bed as she exhaled and looked at Otto with a mischievous smirk. "Besides… We still got the rest of the week. You up for a few more rounds?"

******************************

"You'll be leaving town then?" asked Mina, Otto's mother. She was a broad, strong woman of maybe forty five years of age, one that looked on the masculine side… which was what had attracted her husband to begin with.

A blacksmith's daughter and a blacksmith herself, her dwarven husband - also a blacksmith by trade - happened to be visiting the town and was mesmerized when he saw her at work back then, and had proposed on the spot.

Aideen and Otto were having breakfast at her house, which was built adjacent to the smithy. Her elder two kids were already out at work, one of them worked at the docks as a clerk and their eldest apprenticed with her father with the goal to eventually take over the shop.

Otto had pursued his studies under a scholar, and usually left a bit later since his mentor was not an early riser. The woman still gave her son a knowing wink when she noticed his drained, but happy look, though. A wink which caused Otto to wilt and blush at the same time.

"Early next week, yeah. My stay here was always meant to be temporary," said Aideen as she munched on some of the woman's cooking.

Otto's mother made some of the best pies she had tasted, small palm-sized things filled only with a mixture of butter, sugar, and dried fruits baked until the filling was cooked but still runny. It was a very decadent thing and made Aideen truly glad that she had no need to worry about what she ate.

"I'll probably visit when I pass by Meergant again, but I can't say when that would be," she added as she munched on the last of the very rich pie and washed it down with the strong, bittersweet ale Otto's family favored.

"I wish you safe journeys then," said the woman with a motherly smile. She was at first a bit surprised at her son being close with a woman ten times his age, but after some talks with Aideen, had learned that her stay would be temporary and that she would take care not to hurt her son.

That and a couple healing sessions Aideen did on a whim had made the woman's opinion of her turn into a good one, and they had grown friendly pretty soon. "And thank you, for everything."

"No, I'd need to thank you instead. Live well, Mina."