Chapter 13

While Corec and Bobo went into the city, Katrin spent the day practicing on her harp and getting to know Shavala. The elf girl talked about her training as a druid, her brother and his wife and their young son, and a friend named Lele who Katrin eventually figured out was a squirrel. For her part, Katrin admitted she’d been a thief, and that the penalty Shavala had overheard them talking about was a way for her to stay out of prison.

Shavala knew what a thief was, but it was clear from her questions that she didn’t really understand why anyone would steal something. It had taken Katrin some time to explain the events in her life that led up to it, and she wasn’t sure the other woman grasped the concept even then.

Still, after talking to her for several hours, Katrin felt less wary of the elf, and thought they might become friends.

With the warm sun, the shade from the trees, and the chance to just sit and talk and play music, she found herself enjoying the day, in a way that she hadn’t since Barz had been arrested. She felt guilty about that, but she was still working toward a solution for him—if Corec was true to his word.

As the night grew dark, though, she became anxious. Corec and Bobo had been gone for nearly ten hours. Shavala didn’t seem concerned, but Katrin wondered what might have delayed them. Had they decided to stay in the city?

Finally, there was the sound of horses leaving the road and coming toward their camp, which was hidden in a copse of trees. Once the riders were close enough that Katrin could see it was their friends, she relaxed. One of Corec’s magical lights was floating above them, lighting their way.

As the men dismounted, she said, “What took you so long?”

“It’s a long trip,” Corec said.

“Did you find what you needed?”

“I’ve got a recommendation for a wizard. I’m not sure how good he is, since he’s working as a shopkeeper, but we can try it. If he can’t help us, we’ll find someone else.”

Bobo said, “And I spoke to the librarians. They’ll let me in, but at a cost of five silver per day.”

“That’s a lot of money just to look at some books,” Corec said as he unsaddled Dot.

“They do seem more strict than I’m accustomed to, but if it finds your answer, it’ll be worth it.”

Corec frowned. “I’ll pay for one day. Will that be enough?”

“I don’t know,” Bobo said. “We’ll have to try it and see.”

“Are we going into the city tomorrow then?” Katrin asked. Shavala glanced at them anxiously, and Katrin felt bad for her. Despite the girl’s bravado about all the places she wanted to see, it had been obvious earlier that she’d been frightened by the sight of the city.

“We’ll leave first thing in the morning. With the morning air and the breeze coming off the ocean, it should be cool enough for you to wear your cloak and hood, if you’re still worried about it.”

She nodded. “Are you hungry? We ate earlier.”

“We stopped at a street vendor on our way out,” Bobo said. “It tasted wonderful, though I didn’t want to ask what sort of meat it was.”

“It was just mutton wrapped in flat bread,” Corec said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Ahh, I didn’t recognize it.”

“It’s the spices and the way they prepare it,” Corec said. “I’ll take the first watch. If someone comes looking for the horses, we should be able to scare them off without much of a problem.”

“The animals will watch, too,” Shavala said. “I asked them to. They’ll warn us if someone’s around.”

Corec stared at her for a moment, then just shook his head and laughed.

While the others were getting ready to bed down, he took Katrin to the side to speak to her privately.

“I stopped at the constabulary building,” he said. “Your penalty fee is seven gold. If I add together everything I’ve got with me, it comes to just about seven, but it won’t leave me any money to pay the wizard or buy supplies. I think it’ll have to wait until we return.”

She sighed. It had been a nice thought, but dealing with the runes was more important. It would mean she’d have to return to Tyrsall before heading to Circle Bay, but she’d have likely done that anyway, rather than cutting across the countryside.

“How will I go into the city if people might recognize me from the poster?”

“Well, for tomorrow morning, wear your hood up. In the afternoons, when it gets hot, you may have to stay at the inn.”

“All right,” she said reluctantly. Being locked up in the inn for a few days was better than being locked up in prison.

“We’ll only be here for two or three days,” he assured her. “I’ve got a courier job in Dalewood, so we’ll need to make good time. Oh, and if I bring you in when you pay your penalty fee, I still get the bounty.”

She tried to glare at him, but ended up laughing instead. “Seriously?”

“What? It’s not much, but it’ll help. We need the money.”

That was true. “Fine, I guess. I’m worried about Shavala. She hasn’t said anything, but I don’t think she wants to go into the city.”

“She seemed distressed earlier. How was she this afternoon?”

“It got better when she couldn’t see it anymore, but any time we talked about it, she looked worried.”

“I think she needs to be with us when we talk to the wizard,” Corec said. “And she does want to see the city—she’s just new to it. I was a little overwhelmed the first time I visited Telfort.”

“We’ll have to watch out for her.”

Corec nodded, then stared silently into the night for a moment before speaking. “What do you think these runes are? Why is it happening?”

His voice sounded less confident than usual, which was troubling. One of them had to pretend to know what they were doing, and she’d been depending on him for that.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Do you really think I did it somehow?”

She shrugged. “You’ve got two of them that match ours, and it seems to start when you meet someone new.” She tried not to speculate about why Bobo didn’t have a rune.

He sighed. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know.” She didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she changed the subject. “I was worried when it got dark and you still weren’t back.”

“You were in Tyrsall for a few days; you know how long it takes to get around.”

“More than a few days,” she admitted. “I grew up here.”

“I thought you were from Circle Bay.”

“I moved there when I was fifteen. My brother and I had trouble with some people in Tyrsall, so I try not to mention that I’m from here. I doubt they even remember me, but I don’t want word getting back to them, just in case.”

“Why act as bards then? Wouldn’t that make you more visible?”

“It was a risk, but we were playing the expensive inns. The people I’m worried about weren’t likely to show up there.”

He nodded. “Anyway, I should have mentioned how long I’d be gone, but Shavala was here, and she’s good with that bow of hers. I figured she could watch out for you.”

Katrin hoped the darkness hid that she was blushing in embarrassment. Corec thought the elf girl would be able to protect her ... because she couldn’t protect herself.

Shavala forced herself to take a deep, calming breath as they walked down a street filled with vendors hawking their wares. The press of people was overwhelming, but Corec and Katrin were on either side of her, sheltering her from the crowd.

Their first stop in the city had been to get rooms at an inn. They’d left the horses there, in the stable, and Bobo had headed off to the library. That left the rest of them to find the wizard, in the hopes of getting rid of the binding sigils. Shavala wasn’t sure how she felt about that—she liked the mark on her forehead, and the way it glowed, but they’d wanted her to come with them.

At the inn, she’d had a chance to calm her nerves from the ride in, and when they left again, this time walking, she’d managed well enough to start with. The first few streets weren’t too busy, and she’d found that it helped to think of the taller buildings as trees, with tershaya dwellings built up around them.

But then they’d reached an area called the Market District, which was full of shops and booths. It was also full of people—mostly humans and a few stoneborn—all pushing up against each other. Shavala had felt increasingly uncomfortable as people bumped into her, and had started finding it hard to breathe. Her friends had noticed the problem and had taken positions to either side of her.

Concerned by the number of people staring at her, Shavala had started concealing her sigil. She was better at making it disappear than Katrin—who was simply using the hood of her cloak—but if she forgot about it for too long, it would come back. People stared at her ears, too, even though she’d seen two other elves already. One had been a nilvasta who hadn’t noticed her, and the other had been one of her own people. Their eyes had met, and he’d given her a brief nod, but he hadn’t stopped to talk. He didn’t look familiar, and she wondered if he’d ever lived in the forest.

Finally, Corec led them to the left, down a side street. “The Tailors’ Quarter is this way,” he said. “Deshin’s shop should be there.”

This street was quieter, and Shavala was able to relax. “Tailors make clothes?” she asked. She’d never had occasion to use the word in the trade tongue, and wondered if she was translating it correctly.

“Yes. Tailors, seamstresses, dressmakers.” He pointed to a shop window with displays of trousers and work shirts.

“Women’s clothing is farther in,” Katrin said.

They continued walking, and Shavala found her eyes drawn to a shop that displayed only a single dress. The bodice was tight-fitting and embroidered with glittering sequins. The ruffled, floor-length skirt was somehow held outward in a circle, forming a cone. The entire dress was bright pink.

“Do human women actually wear dresses like that?” she asked.

“I think it’s a gown,” Katrin replied, “but I don’t know anyone who’d wear that. Who wears hoop skirts anymore?”

“We should keep going,” Corec said.

“Shavala only has those brown and tan tunics,” Katrin said. “Maybe she should get something a little more colorful.”

“I have other clothes,” Shavala felt compelled to explain. “I just couldn’t fit them in my pack.”

“Yes, but now you’ve got saddlebags.”

“Let’s talk to the wizard first,” Corec said, “then we can come back.”

They found the bookshop a few doors down and went in. There didn’t appear to be anyone else inside, but there were hundreds of books lining the shelves and tables, more than Shavala had ever seen in one place. Elven books were rare, since they had to be carefully copied by hand, but she’d heard that humans had some method for making many copies of the same book. She opened one that was sitting on a table near the entrance, but it was written in a language she couldn’t read. The letters were strangely blocky—even more so than human letters typically were—and the pages had slight smudges of ink. Each page also had a picture of some exotic animal, done in the same ink as the lettering. She thumbed through the book, looking at the pictures.