Underneath the morning sky, the streets of Viemen’s market district were flooded with a sea of people. Eager patrons speeding from shop to shop, hoping to get their pick of the freshest vegetables and the juiciest cuts of meat. This particular portion of the town was nestled on the border between Old and New Viemen; the imaginary border between the territories of the Marquess Frederick Viemen and Sir Perry Mannigold. This area had been constructed during the war and was managed by the mayoral incumbent Julian Rothwell. Due to the ambiguity of its existence, and the uniqueness of its character, Viemen’s market district was considered to be its own entity.

“I can’t believe we have to be the ones to do the shopping…”

“You always complain, Ellis.”

“Come now, both of you, the cart isn’t going to pull itself.”

Ingrid stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for the two of them to stop bickering.

Ellis sighed, and with a rather obvious eye roll began pulling the wooden cart down the street.

“Why did Uncle Perry want us to do this again, Ingrid?”

“To build character,” she lied.

“How does pulling this stupid thing build character?” Ellis asked, mockingly.

“For one thing,” Ingrid started with a reprimanding tone, “It will help you learn to do things that must be done, even if you do not wish to do them.”

Ellis sucked his teeth at her.

“Hurry up you two, we need to head to the eastern end of the market.”

“But that’s so far!”

Ingrid shot Ellis a look.

“Fine…” he grumbled.

Satisfied, Ingrid rolled up the shopping list and tucked it under her arm. As the trio wound through the streets, dodging frantic shoppers and young children, Ingrid found herself biting her lip. It was a habit of hers; something she did when she was lost in thought.

Yesterday night, Perry had paid her a visit.

It was not unusual for a guild leader to approach his second in command with a query. But to request a private meeting after nightfall, when most of the staff had gone to bed?

That was unusual.

What’s more, Perry had come to her with a seemingly innocuous request.

“I need you to take Ellis and Mary into the market tomorrow. I will give you a list. It should take all day…I won’t expect you back until nightfall.”

It was posed as a suggestion, but Ingrid knew what was meant. She was to take the two of them into town and was not to return until after the sun had gone down.

For what purpose, she did not know.

This was not the only unusual thing Perry had done in these last few weeks. He had spent many nights awake in his room; she could tell from the dark circles under his eyes and the wax covered candelabras that sat on his desk. Perry would disappear at random points throughout the day, and return with Avenell, only to send him away as soon as Ingrid approached. What worried her most was that, if something was wrong, Perry still felt he couldn’t trust her enough to tell her about it.

And something was wrong.

The fact that Ingrid was tasked with keeping Ellis away from whatever it was, meant that it was serious to Perry.

“Ingrid?”

Ellis’ voice yanked her from her thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Where should we go?”

“What?”

Ellis pointed to the road.

They had hit a fork in the street, with a sign pointing in two opposite directions.

“Oh…” Ingrid looked down at the map. “We head east, toward the river.”

“What’s over there?” Mary asked.

“We need to pick up some supplies for the soldiers. The smithy is down by the river. The leather and metalworkers are in this district as well.”

“Oh!” Ellis said, suddenly remembering. “Mary, this is where Telhari took us to get our armor.”

Ingrid remembered seeing that armor on the day that the Starspawn had returned from Gate City. That was the first day she had met Telhari, in the tavern of the Lonely Song. Ever since that day, things had never been quite the same.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The group continued past the other shops and finally crossed the main road into the eastern market. The smell from the tanning solution floated down the street and grew stronger as they approached.

“Achoo!”

“Ew! Cover your mouth.”

“Sorry…” Ellis said as he wiped his nose with his forearm. “Ingrid?”

“Yes?”

“What else is on that list? Maybe we could split up and get it done faster?”

“Well…actually, it is easier this way,” she lied again. “I know everything on the list already, and it would take too much time to explain it all.”

Ellis grumbled to himself, but thankfully he didn’t press her any further.

“Ah, over here.”

Ingrid stopped in front of a small section of the road that veered off into a semi-circle, wrapping around an area of grass and dirt about twenty feet long. Half a dozen shops lined the perimeter, each one with their own small gathering of patrons— mostly sell-swords and ex-soldiers. Smoke clouds billowed up from the largest building, which was set close to the river and built up from a base of stone. The low roar of the river was audible beneath the sounds of the busy street.

“Head inside the tannery over there,” she said, pointing to a small shop adjacent to the forge. Ingrid then handed them a list scrawled onto a parchment. “Here. Give this to the shopkeep and get a price. Let me know what it is, and I will pay him. Anything that he cannot have ready immediately, we will pick up later today.”

The two nodded and jogged off to the store, excited to finally do something entertaining.

Inside the shop there were samples of different leathers out on display. At the end opposite the entrance, a large man with a stained shirt was standing behind a counter with his back to the door. Ellis and Mary walked over to the man and stood there expectantly until he stopped what he was doing to speak with them.

“What is it, you two?”

“We got a request.”

Mary handed the man the paper.

He took it cautiously and unfolded it, reading one line at a time.

“Hoh? You’re with that Perry’s Star-thing guild huh?”

“Starspawn,” Ellis corrected.

“Do you give discounts for bulk orders?” Mary asked.

The man laughed to himself— a hearty laugh from his chest. “Ai, little lady, I do.” He then wiped the dark colored oils from his fingers onto his clothing and stood up from his chair. “Let me go check the inventory in the back, see if I can’t get you two what you need.”

“Thank you, mister,” Mary said sweetly.

“I’m gonna go look around,” Ellis said as he drummed the counter with his fingers.

Ellis started to eye the leather samples on the shelves, playing with the small pieces of paper that were tied to the samples with string. He squinted at each one and tried to read them out loud to himself.

“B-Boy led…Lee…Leahth…”

“Look who it is!”

Ellis jumped at the sudden voice that called to him from over his shoulder.

“You’re that guy! From before.”

The man frowned.

“That hurts my feelings, Ellis.”

“Vrastus, was it?” Mary said in a stern tone as she came over to them.

“She remembers me,” he said with a smile.

Mary was not amused. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but she did not like this man. Not one bit.

Vrastus, seemingly oblivious to Mary’s glaring, continued to smile at the two of them.

“Where is your friend? The tall one?”

The two looked at each other.

“He’s…away right now,” Ellis said, unconvincingly.

“Finally got tired of you two nipping at his ankles?” Vrastus said with a laugh.

“No!”

“Are you sure?” Vrastus teased. “Sure he didn’t just lie and go back home?”

“He’ll be back in a few weeks!” Ellis said, “He’s just training, is all.”

“Well, whatever you say, kid.” Vrastus turned to leave but stopped as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “By the way, that was some fight back then— that knight versus your friend.”

Ellis got quiet.

“Y-yeah…”

“Pretty brave what you did, jumping in at the end like that. Stupid. But brave.”

“Don’t insult him!”

“It’s a complement, I promise,” Vrastus said, putting his hands up in defense. “In order to be brave, you have to be a little bit stupid.”

“Oi! You two!”

Ellis and Mary turned back to the counter as the shop keep waved them over.

“Looks like you’re needed.” Vrastus turned on his heels and waved to them. “See you around!”

“I hate that guy,” Mary spat.

Ellis looked at her in surprise.

“What!?”

“Nothing…I just never seen you get so angry is all.”

Mary felt her face become flush. She turned away from Ellis and marched back towards the counter.

Outside the tannery, Ingrid was seated on a bench, planning out the rest of their route through the market. As she thought quietly to herself, she could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. She turned to see Ellis and Mary walking towards her.

“Well?”

“He can get all of it, but it would probably take the whole day to cut and prepare.”

“That’s no trouble,” Ingrid said with a smile. “Tell him we will wait.”

“What!? We’ll lose the whole day!” Ellis whined.

Ingrid gave him a stern look.

Ellis tried to fight back, giving her his best look of confidence, but eventually he bit his cheek and turned away. Ingrid straightened her back, victorious.

“Now hurry up!” she said, clapping her hands together. “We have plenty more to do before the day is out.”

Ellis and Mary sighed heavily as they walked back to the cart. Ingrid followed close behind, running the list over with her eyes once more, making sure there was enough on it to keep them busy.

“Excuse me! Dame!”

Ingrid stopped, turning around to face the man who had called out to her.

“Can I help you, sir?”

Ellis and Mary noticed as well, stopping to see what was going on.

“Are you with that group? Sir Perry’s guild?”

Ingrid nodded.

“Yes, I work with the Starspawn Guild.”

“Please!” the man begged as he grabbed her arm, “I need your help!”