Chapter:One - Apple and Elderberry (The Wise Man's Fear)
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Maple. Maypole. Catch and carry. Ash and Ember. Elderberry.
Bast slouches against the bar of the Waystone Inn. He pulls out a cloth and begins polishing the bar. He resigns from this task relatively quickly and begins playing a rhyming game, ending each passage by pointing at a random bottle on the shelf and taking a drink from it. Kote enters the room and asks if their guest, Devan Lochees, had awakened yet. Bast informs him that he had not and Kote mentions that Devan has had a hard couple days. Kote asks Bast if he had been drinking, Bast says no, he had been tasting before asking if they had any more elderberry. Kote says that the elderberry would be in there somewhere before changing the subject and trying to discuss the previous night's encounter with a creature from the Mael. Kote says that while everyone else will believe that smith's apprentice saved them, Kote would know that it was actually Bast.
Kote asks Bast if he had ever heard of the White Riders' Hunt. Bast mentions that it was a Faen song before it was known to men, then begins reciting it. Kote nods and says that the verse Bast had quoted was the exact verse he had been thinking of. Kote asks Bast to take care of it while he gets everything ready at the inn. After assuring Bast that they will not begin Kote's recital without him in attendance Bast takes his leave.
After Bast's departure, Kote begins the opening process for the inn. He bakes some bread, cleans the stove in the kitchen and kindles a fire before moving into the common room and starting a fire in the fireplace. He pumps water, washes his hands and brings up a piece of mutton from the basement. He cuts kindling, carries in firewood, flattens the rising bread and moves it to the non-warm stove. After finishing Kote stands behind the bar and focuses on the sword that was hung on the wall above the shelves of bottles. The sword's name is Folly. Kote hears footsteps and a knock at the door, he opens the door to find Graham standing there with three barrels in a wooden cart.
Kote thanks Graham for his work on the barrels. Graham mentions that he had never made a barrel with brass bands before and Kote says that since the inn's basement gets damp he would worry about iron bands rusting within a couple of years. Graham asks for help moving the barrels in, saying he doesn't want to drop one and scuff the floors. Kote and Graham move two of the barrels into the basement and the third into the pantry. When they finish Graham asks for a short beer saying that he has a long day ahead of him. While he is drinking Graham hints towards the happenings of the previous night, afraid of directly mentioning Shep's death.
Graham asks how long Devan will be around and says that he may have him help with Graham's last will and testament and Kote lets him know that Devan will be there for another day so there was no need for folk to rush in looking for his services. Graham mentions how things used to be when he was younger and then laughs, saying that he sounded like his father. Kote mentions that his father used to say the beer was better, and the roads had fewer ruts. Graham smiles at Kote and says that he knows that Kote is not from the area and that, while people usually talk down about strangers, Kote had a "wider view" that most people did not. He continues, saying that the new taxes are making things tighter and asking if things were as bad as they seemed. Kote replies that he "thinks things are usually bad one way or another and it might be that only us older folk can see it".
Graham nods before frowning and saying that Kote isn't old and probably wasn't half Graham's age. Graham pushes himself away from the bar and begins to leave saying that he will be back to speak with Devan during lunch. Before he leaves, Kote gives Graham a warning that he should begin getting ready for a hard winter and making sure that he could protect himself if needed. Graham takes the advice seriously before leaving.
Not long after, the Bensons arrive with a delivery of late apples. Kote takes his pick of the apples, buying half of what the Bensons had brought. He sorts them out, taking the ripe apples to the kitchen while the ones with spots or bruises would be turned into cider. Kote unloads the cider apples into the cider press and set to work. To anyone else, his arms would have not been those of an innkeeper, instead, they were muscled and scarred. Kote continues his work, his eyes were distant and joyless and were so pale that they could have passed for grey and not green.
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