Still Room

She deposits the tray on the island for the staff to worry about cleaning up, exchanging it for the bundles of herbs and plants that she had collected the previous day. Figuring now is as good a time as any to replenish her stock of medicinal supplies Anna unlocks the door that leads to a small still room filling the space under the stairs in the kitchen.

Closing the door behind her Anna seats herself on the lone stool, taking a moment to enjoy the dark space and its soothing smells before starting the task of sorting the plants and hanging them to dry. As she hangs the fresh growth, her hands pull at bits and pieces of plants that have already dried sufficiently to use in the various salves, tinctures, and oils she plans on preparing today, placing them on the narrow counter running the length of the tiny room.

Slipping back into the still room Anna once again settles herself on the stool to finish what she started what seems like hours ago. Picking up her tools she settles into the task of grinding the herbs prepared for her healing concoctions into a fine powder.

Not even knowing where to start looking for Shard, Hetty settles on finding Anna. At least she has a clue where the innkeeper has gone. Not seeing her in the kitchen, she pauses in thought trying to figure out where else Anna would be creating healing items. Hearing noises from the door beneath the stairs she knocks gently before opening it a crack.

"Anna? We have a... well I guess it's a problem? Though maybe it's more of a something bad happened but there's nothing we can do about it so we can't worry about it too much kind of situation that will hopefully work itself out but you should know what happened." Hetty braces herself for the innkeeper's reaction, looking around for the nearest exit in case she needs to run.

Anna looks up from her work, squinting at Hetty as the sun streaming through the crack in the door distorts her vision, having been sitting in a dim room for a while.

"Since there is no screaming, blood, or walls caving in I can't imagine it's that terrible." Putting down the mixture she's working on Anna massages her temples with her fingers. "Well?"

Wincing and making a slightly high pitched mmm noise, she avoids Anna's eyes. "Slick kind of... fizzled out? He faded in and out of reality before just disappearing completely. It looked like who or whatever pulled him away wasn't very friendly either."

Rushing through her words she continues talking. "I didn't understand a lot of what he was trying to tell me. He told us not to do something and we may have a chance. I don't know what that something was. He's your friend. You may know where he ended up? That's all he was really able to say..." Not sure what else to do, but knowing bringing up the part of her conversation with Slick before he vanished is most likely not a good idea right now.

Steepling her fingers as if in prayer and leaning her forehead against them Anna counts backwards from one hundred very slowly. It's too early in the day to break into the tequila. The way this news is twisting her stomach it probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway.

"Nope. That's a new trick." She really hopes Slick pops back into existence soon- preferably before she forgets to throw something heavy at him. "Thank you Hetty."

Knowing a dismissal when she hears one, Hetty nods and rushes out of the room relieved and a little concerned by the calm response.

The shrieking pulls Anna out of her thoughts. Wondering what could possibly be going on now, she reluctantly exits the seclusion of the still room and goes to investigate, pulling a knife from it's spot at her belt as she walks.