She had gained a skill? And mental resistance? Something fishy was going on here. Dawn let go of Aaron’s hand abruptly and took a step back. She tried to keep her face calm, but couldn’t tell how well she succeeded in that. Her head was throbbing and the light in the room seemed to hurt her eyes.

Aaron stepped away from his desk and said : “If you would wait here for a few moments, I’ll fetch your money.” He left the room and Dawn turned to the rangers. Before she could say anything, Grinna remarked. “I don’t see why he has such a bad reputation. He is very charming and polite. No trace of the stuffiness and the condescension you so often see in the nobility when they have to deal with us lowly commoners. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said he was willing to pay six gold for the books. Talk about a good price.”

Teren nodded. “You never know who spread the rumour that he is difficult. It may easily have been someone who had a fight with him.”

Dawn rubbed her temples nervously, hoping for the pain to lessen. Obviously Aaron had charmed the rangers. Better she didn’t say anything bad about him. Hopefully, he would be back with the money shortly and she could get out of here. To distract herself, she approached a bookshelf and started to look over the books it contained. They dealt with a mixture of topics from alchemy over herblore to magic. One of them, a slender tome with an embossed leather cover, was called ‘A guide to runes and their use in magic’.

Aaron stepped back into the room carrying a small leather purse. He saw the book that had aroused her interest and said. “I’m proud to have that one in my collection. Runic magic Is a rare skill, and books dealing with it are rarer still. It is a pity that the skill is so difficult to obtain. I heard that people have to study for years to get it. I would like to study it myself, but without an experienced mentor I don’t see much chance for success. Better to use my time more productively. Still, I hope that I may someday find a mentor and until then the book takes pride of place in my collection.”

Dawn just nodded quietly. Aaron counted out the money on his desk and shoved it over to Dawn. “As agreed six gold for the books. I’m very pleased to buy them.” He laid his hand on the tomes with proprietary pride, and then took up and rang a small silver bell that was sitting on the surface of the desk. The boy in red and black livery reappeared and Aaron said. “My servant will accompany you out. Have a nice evening.” With these words he concentrated on his new acquisitions and seemed to forget all about them.

Dawn grabbed her money and was thankful to escape his attention. She had registered that her skill in runic magic seemed to be a rarity, but the implications were lost on her at the moment. Her only wish now was to reach her bed and to lay down in a dark and quiet room. When they returned to Grinna’s home the cool evening air seemed to act against her headache and the painful throbbing behind her temples lessened a bit.

“You’re very quiet, Dawn. Is everything all right? Or have you just been overwhelmed by your new riches?” Grinna asked, as they left through the tower gate and found themselves in the lower part of the city once more.

“I seem to have acquired a headache,” Dawn answered softly.

“That’s too bad. Did you try to heal yourself?”

Dawn grimaced. “Do you know, I didn’t even think of that. Trying to heal myself, that is.” She softly shook her head and in the next moment cast Nurture on herself. The pain vanished and she took a deep breath, relieved. “I am an idiot.” She stated. “The headache is gone now. Whatever would I do without you Grinna.”

“It takes some time for the skills to be ingrained. It’s all still very new for you, don’t worry you’ll get used to it in time.” Grinna smiled at her.

“Now, do you have any plans for your newfound riches?” Teren asked. “You could live comfortably on that sum for some years.”

“Not yet. It’s come so unexpectedly. I mean, of course I counted on the books being worth something, but I never expected to get so much for them. The best I hoped for, was to get a bit of money to buy some new clothes and equipment.”

“Talking of money, you should stow that away in your ring.” Grinna told her. “I’d bet, another thing you didn’t come across in Greenriver village were pickpockets. In Atelang you have to keep an eye on your belongings if you are out on the streets.”

Dawn nodded. “I put it away already. The possibility of losing that much money was incentive enough. I guess, I will have to think about what I want to do now. I need to make some plans in any case. If I want to make my way as a wise woman, I need a mentor. It may not be easy to find someone, but at least I can pay for an education now.”

“Time enough to worry about that tomorrow. For now, let’s eat, drink and be merry.” With these words Grinna opened the door to her home and they entered the warm and cosy room downstairs.

Dawn woke up early the next morning. The evening before had indeed been merry. They had all enjoyed Yasema’s excellent dinner and had sat talking for some hours afterwards. Grinna and Teren had told stories from their past, including some hilarious mishaps during their time as rangers in training.

This morning she wanted to take some time to study. She needed to establish a routine for that or she would never get anywhere. Alchemy was out at the moment, she had no laboratory here and couldn’t exactly use Yasema’s kitchen to brew her medicines or tonics. So she took out her books on runic magic once more. She remembered Aaron’s words from last evening. He had said runic magic was a skill that was extremely hard to obtain. It had come very easy to her, but Aaron was a scholar and bound to know more about the subject than herself.

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Aaron himself was an enigma. He was a very sophisticated man and Dawn had found him charming. He had set her at ease with his love for books and his friendly ways. Nevertheless, she remembered that she had gotten the skill mental resistance and a severe headache after she had shaken his hand. Had he done something to her? Or tried to do something? It was hard to tell what that could have been, and of course she didn’t know anything about his path or his skills. She resolved not to meet him again. That shouldn’t be hard to do. It wasn’t as if she talked to people from the nobility any day.

She opened her book and began to study the third rune in her book, tracing the symbol for Gheira, the rune of transformation and exchange. When she was certain she had memorized the rune, she closed the book and thought about possible uses for the runes. Learning to draw single runes and the meaning for them was all well and good. But how exactly was she meant to use them? Unfortunately she didn’t know it instinctively, like she did with the skills she got with her blessing. Should she scratch the runes into the ground, as in the runic circles she had seen in the alchemy laboratory and in the room of the demon queen? And how exactly could she activate them? “Butchering people and using their blood is not the way to do it, that much I know at least.” She muttered. Sighing she stowed away her books for now and began to dress for the day. Maybe she would find some explanations in that other book with the diagrams and equations. For now, breakfast was waiting.

They ate their porridge in contented silence. Afterwards, Grinna said apologetically. “Unfortunately we won’t have time today for fighting lessons. Madden had some tasks for us, and as usual he wants it all to be done yesterday.”

“It’s not as if you were obligated to teach me every day, or even at all,” Dawn protested.

“Nevertheless, consistency is key when you are learning to wield a weapon. But I want to keep an eye on your training. In the first stages, it is much too easy to form wrong habits if you are training on your own.” Grinna wrinkled her nose. “Well, there’s no help for it. We’ll continue tomorrow. See you for dinner, don’t spend too much money at once.”

She stood up and left the house together with Teren. Yasema looked at Dawn and said. “Seems like we’re on our own today. Let’s clean up and head to the market afterwards. Grinna said you wanted to go shopping for some clothes.”

“That’s true. I’m looking forward to seeing the market. It seems a bit unreal, that I suddenly have my own money to spend, you know.” Dawn told her.

Yasema laughed. “Well, it is a nice kind of unreal, in that case.”

The did the dishes together and soon were on their way to the market place. When they arrived, Dawn was overwhelmed by the throng of people and the noise. Traders standing in front of their market stalls loudly advertised their merchandise. Housewives were threading their way along the stalls with huge baskets on their arms, greeting friends and acquaintances left and right. Some burly men in armor rudely shoved their through the crowd. Children were running to some stands selling cookies or candies.

Dawn was looking at the selection of goods with huge eyes. She had never seen shawls in such bright colours, spun so fine that they were translucent in the light. Or hair ornaments made of silver, depicting butterflies or flowers in filigree form.

Yaasema chuckled when she saw her amazement. “I think you need some time to look around first.” She declared. “Let me just buy some potatoes and leeks at the stall over there and then we’ll make our way around the market so you can have a good look at what is available. Wait here until I come back, will you?”

Dawn nodded and Yasema entered the queue in front of a vegetable stall, already talking animatedly to the woman standing in line before her.

She waited for a moment and then turned to her left, enticed by the smell of pastries that were sold at a stall there. The smell proved irresistible and she approached the stand and bought some of them for herself and Yasema, proudly paying with her very own money.

No sooner had she turned away from the stall with her package of pastries wrapped in paper, than a small hand grabbed the parcel from her hands and a young boy was running away with Dawn’s pastries.

“Hey,” she called out indignantly. “Give them back.”

But of course, the culprit didn’t even think about heeding her words. Without further thought, Dawn gave chase. But only a short distance later she had to admit defeat. The boy was smaller than her and knew the place much better. In moments he had vanished into the crowd. Fuming, she came to a halt and looked around her.

She was standing at the edge of the market place now and couldn’t see Yasema anymore. Biting her lip, she wondered what she should do now. She doubted she could find the way back to Yasema’s house on her own. And trying to find her in the crowd of people here would be almost impossible. Not the best situation to find herself in. Should she wait here in the market or would it be better to ask directions to the rangers?. Surely somebody there could tell her how to get back to Yasema’s house. Guiltily, she thought of Yasema who would expect to find Dawn where she had left her. Undoubtedly, she would be worried.

Sighing, she made her way to the edge of the crowd and into a small side alley. Turning to the market she tried to watch for Yasema. Perhaps she could still find her.

Suddenly, strong hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her deeper into the alley. A dirty handkerchief was pressed to the front of her face and she smelled a distinctively sweet odor. Everything faded to black.