Lilly stuck her hand out, palm up. She held it there for a moment, waiting. The early morning sky was dark and overcast, with darker clouds to the west. If they continued on their course, it meant rain was coming soon. And no way was she letting today’s Paper get soaked and ruined.

Her hand remained dry—for now—but she didn’t want to take any chances. She had a normal location among the vendors, against the back wall of the Jolly Jester. Today, she would move her small operation closer to Godknight Tower, where there was more shelter should the rain come.

She scooped up her small stack of the Paper and hurried towards the Tower. There were only five copies, all done by hand and prepared the night before. That should have given Windham more than enough time to weave his magic and make her some more copies. But, so far, he hadn’t shown up.

She was more annoyed than worried. Whether she liked it or not, she relied on him. The Paper had only been up and running for about a month, but each time she had published a new entry, Windham had been ready and eager to help. That had allowed her to sell dozens of Papers almost every day instead of the small batch she was able to write out by hand.

But, she reminded herself, Windham was unpaid. Unrewarded in any way other than her company. She supposed, if she were being honest, she had been using that to her advantage. And, assuming his obvious feelings for her, that would keep him coming back.

She would have to pay him going forward, she decided. Money was no issue for her, being the daughter of an Elder, so paying Windham wouldn’t be a problem. But that would leave her beholden to him, and she didn’t like “owing” anyone. Especially not someone like him. And she certainly didn’t want a partner. This was her venture. Her business.

The streets were starting to fill with people who were, like her, getting a head start on their day. Safehaven was always busy, even at night, with the quietest time being in the last few hours before sunrise. Now, about an hour after sunrise, was when the city really started to come alive.

She had to dodge a horse and carriage, and pause as a line of school children passed in front of Godknight Tower, their instructor hurrying them along as they slowed to gaze up. Most of the other vendors in the Center were already set up—most before she had even arrived—with customers stopping to browse or buy. She was coming to know these vendors by name, and found most to be honest, good people.

She liked being among them. The “common people,” her father would probably say. She’d grown up around opulence and privilege but had always felt strangely out of place. She had never wanted for anything, which was great, she supposed. But at the same time, she had never earned anything either. Which was why the Paper was so important to her. Why she was determined to carve out her own path, her own future.

Lilly chose a spot, five Papers and all, at the base of Godknight Tower. It stood in the middle of the City Center, all activities revolving around it. Tath Crestward, an older fruit vendor she’d grown rather fond of, shot her an amused glance. Really? the look was saying. You’re gonna park there?

It was an unwritten rule that nobody sold anything from beneath the Tower. Not only was it perceived as disrespectful, but, with the Tower being the center of everyone’s attention, the location might give them an unfair advantage. Lilly could be as competitive as anyone, but today, all she cared about was staying dry once the rain came.

She held up her five flimsy parchments and shook them towards Tath, shrugging. He laughed and waved her away. Sure, sure.

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She was still worried about only having the five copies, and looked around one more time for any sign of Windham. Once he got here he would need to take a parchment with him and run off to make the copies. Which, while infinitely faster than writing them all out by hand, would take some time. Even if he arrived now, she’d probably—

Her thought was interrupted by a loud whoosh, followed by a gust of air hard enough to push her back a couple of steps. She sensed it before she saw it: something big, plummeting down right towards her. She looked up and saw that, no, it wasn’t some-thing plummeting. It was some-one, the Godknight, soaring down from above.

He landed a few feet in front of her with a ground-shaking crash. He struck the stone with such force that Lilly saw lines of cracked stone radiating out from beneath his feet. The Godknight was passionate about protecting Safehaven and keeping her perfect. Even a few cracks in the stone was surprisingly negligent of him.

Everyone and everything in the City Center momentarily stopped: the vendors, the horses, the tourists. All eyes turned towards the Godknight.

He was in a crouched position. ‘A fighting stance?’ Lilly wondered. Did he detect trouble? Was something happening somewhere? She didn’t understand how his senses worked. Nobody did. But he inexplicably just "knew" things.

He turned around once in a complete circle, looking every which way with a confused, concerned expression. He struck Lilly as a detective, sniffing out the latest clue to unravel the latest mystery.

He swept his gaze to the south. To the east. The west. To the north. Each time his expression grew more grave. Lilly had never seen the Godknight this way. It frightened her.

He gritted his teeth. He curled his hands into fists and started to shake. Lilly instinctively took a step backwards.

The Godknight leaned in one direction, then in another, as if he had not yet tracked his new clue to its source. He looked angry, confused, desperate. And, Lilly realized with mounting horror, afraid.

What in the Great Mother’s name was going on?

And then, as suddenly as he had come, he was gone, rocketing off into the air. Another gust of wind sent Lilly backwards. She watched him go, noted that he was heading north.

Once he was out of sight, she scanned the square. People were whispering to each other, slow to return to what they were doing. She heard a few nervous laughs. Saw a mother giving her frightened child some reassuring words.

Slowly, people started moving again. Had they seen what she had seen? The fear and uncertainty—two things she didn’t think he was capable of—on the Godknight’s face? If they had, would they so nonchalantly be going about their days?

Lilly wasn’t sure what to do next. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe she was overthinking it. There were an endless amount of reasons for the Godknight to hurry off like he had. Perhaps there was an avalanche in the mountains. Or a cat stuck in a tree. There was no way to know.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was different. The way he had behaved was different. And hadn’t she suspected there might be something wrong him? Hadn’t she just had—or at least tried to have—that conversation with her father?

Lilly couldn’t really shrug it off the way everyone else was. But there also wasn’t anything she could do about it. There was no point asking her father what was happening; he wouldn’t know until after it was over. And would he even share that information with her? He rarely had before, was less likely to do so now after hearing her concerns.

Reluctantly, she went back to the business at hand. Selling the Paper.

She didn’t have much luck, though. It’s hard to make sales when you were constantly watching the skies.