She was running out of fabric to do anything but stitch little poque bags. In the mornings, when the Dagger was quiet, she seamed their edges together, worked a twine drawstring through the fabric. When that was done, she held handfuls of them in her fists in the streets of Myrkentown, asking "Two shillings, two shillings!" of passers-by, who occasionally purchased one from her for -- how did she put it -- "A fine place to store smokeleaf, servings of beans, or wooden tops and trinkets for the little ones. Two shillings a piece, thank you, thank you kindly."
But with the cold, she had not ventured out far. At the first moments of dawn, hunters brought corpses of game to the kitchen's back door and tried to pawn it off on the Dagger's prep-cooks. Sometimes they bought them. Sometimes they didn't. Sometimes the corpses were offered freely for reduced tabs or the trade of bowls of stew on credit.
Gloria watched the process for several mornings, offering to seam the waist-ties back on torn aprons for an opportunity to observe the trades. She turned away when the cooks cleaved the hooves off, or split the guts out to get to the leaner meat. The hunters never looked away, though. They watched, and they awaited their payment.
One of the hunters, she knew. Not well, but knew her -- for that was the whole reason to watch in the first place.
When the hunter turned to leave, the seamstress shouldered her way through several of the cooks, down the back stairs, and out the door. She followed the figure until the Dagger was just a black peak on the horizon behind them. Myrkentown was not far; they were in the land between, where it was quiet, where things were serene.
"Menna Niall," the seamstress finally said, throwing her voice. Keeping her distance. Both of her hands, the gloved one and the bare one alike, clutched tightly at her own skirts, ready to grab them up and run if she must. She said again, with insistence. "Niall, it is me. It is Gloria.
"I would like to speak to you," she offered, "even if I must walk with you while you do your tasks. Please. It is a matter of great importance."