The streets were slippery, and Marianne had to walk with one hand on the Bath stone buildings in order to stay balanced. Her previous worry about the rogue had been replaced with the terrifying thought of dying in a pitiful way like slipping and hitting her head.

She pulled her hat tighter over her head, hoping it would offer some protection if she fell. She hopped along the pavement finding the least slippery spots to put her feet trying to find some sort of traction. She wondered how long this journey was going to take, twenty minutes minimum she thought.

She noticed a man with a hood that blocked any light from hitting his face, walking towards her on the other side of the road. His stride was purposeful, and she could not help but marvel at how he was not slipping at all as if the snow and ice did not exist. She shook her head and continued her treacherous journey.

She watched him walk into a side alley, nestled between buildings where the bins were usually stored. She turned her attention away until another man seemingly followed him into the same alley. This one was very fat and wore a tall top hat. A large jacket covered the man’s portly belly and a pair of glasses donned his large nose. He looked very important, Marianne thought.

This man was walking a lot slower and she could tell he was having the same trouble navigating the ice as her. She was thankful for a minute that it was not her who was weird but in fact the hooded man.

She was alone on the street, it was evening now as she had stayed later than usual to help Shiela reach the higher up shelves when packing the new products. Even still it was too empty, so she put it down to the rogue’s appearance scaring everyone into staying inside.

After managing to finally cross an especially slippery road she was about to cross the alley the two men had walked down just a minute ago, her turning was on that side of the road after all. She had not expected it to take this long to get such a small distance. She thought about using some fire magic to melt the ice but was respectful of the law that no magic should be used in public, expulsion would be the lightest punishment if someone caught her.

Suddenly a blue light ripped through the cold night. It was as fantastic as it was unbelievable, it was a supremely unnatural colour, brighter than the brightest summer’s day. Marianne let out a yelp, louder than was safe. She froze, having no idea what had occurred in the alley, she gradually reclaimed her sense of reason. She crossed the road again and hurried forward, terrified of thinking about what had happened in that alley, the rogue was at the forefront of her mind. She fell down multiple times, scuffing her knees and hand in the process but her terror drove her on.

When she eventually returned home her mother and father looked at her in shock. She was soaking wet; her clothes were ripped, and her jacket was off as soon as she walked through the door. She ran upstairs tearing off the freezing clothes, dried off, then put on the thickest set of pyjamas she had. Without stopping she sprinted back downstairs and planted herself firmly in front of the fire.

Her parents watched this process with worried faces. When she had finally settled down, they approached. “What’s the matter, darling?” Her mother put her arm around Marianne’s shoulders. Marianne stirred into life.

“Oh no, nothing. Just had a bit of a fright whilst walking home.”

“Bit of a fright?” her father exclaimed, “Mary you look at your legs, you look like you were dragged home!” Her mother looked at him fiercely, he got the hint.

“Honestly, I was just being silly. I thought I saw something and with all the talk of the rogue that I’ve been hearing… I just got scared. But nothing happened!”

“You’re certain?” her mother comforted her, trying to wrap her arms around her precious daughter as much as possible.

“I’m sure, Mum,” she said with a whimper.

Marianne went to bed that night thinking about what on earth she had seen. By the time her mother woke her up in the morning she had only slept a few hours, but she knew she had to get to work as Shiela was expecting her. She bathed and bandaged her knees and hands before getting dressed in an identical uniform to yesterdays. Shiela had got a few of them, Marianne was not sure where from but they fit her perfectly.

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She left the house after saying goodbye to her parents. They were worried but Marianne finished early today so it would still be light by the time she left. Marianne walked slowly despite being well prepared this time, wearing snow boots made it much easier to stay upright. She was still a little rattled from the previous night, but she had come up with a lot of explanations as she was trying to get to sleep that did not involve a rogue or a grisly murder.

As she thought this, she turned the corner to the main street and her worst nightmares suddenly became the most likely scenario. There was a cordon around the alley with Magic Control Regiment (MCR) officers standing inside and around it. There were very few people on the high street, an odd thing to witness on a Saturday morning. Marianne rushed to cross the road and ran to Shiela’s shop, she pushed open the door breathing heavily as she shut it behind her.

“Oh, deary me. You’re here.” Shiela said from her usual place behind the counter.

“What happened?” asked Marianne, looking through the window at the MCR officers down the road.

“My darling, you really should have told me about the rogue! I was so worried.” Shiela hugged Marianne tightly. “No one tells me anything these days,” she sighed.

“Sorry, Shiela.”

“Now, come here. We are leaving, I do not want to see whatever they are going to pull from that alley. An old friend of mine’s son has just moved here, what do you think about visiting him?”

Marianne was elated, any excuse to get off this street was a welcome one. She was also terrified to find out what had happened in the alley. The two of them hurried out the building, carefully avoiding looking towards the commotion down the road. Marianne made sure to provide ample support to Shiela as they trudged through the snow. “His name is Beau and the last time I saw him was, well, many years ago. He probably has absolutely no idea who I am.” She shrugged calmly. “But his mother was as close as family to me.”

“How long has it been since you last saw his mother?”

“It has also been many years. Unfortunately, she is dead now.”

“I’m sorry,” Marianne wrapped her arm a little tighter around Shiela.

“Nothing you’ve got to be sorry for, darling. Now if we just turn here,” Shiela took a sudden turn and within seconds stopped moving, “This is it,” she said.

“Just off the high street, which means he owns a shop?” asked Marianne, she had indeed never seen this shop before so it must be new,

“Indeed, you are right, he owns quite a marvelous shop, or so I have heard.” Shiela swelled up proudly. "Been all around the country with it he has."

“Well, let’s have a look then shall we. We can judge it for ourselves,” Marianne giggled.

“Indeed, we mustn't be so quick to believe hearsay.” Shiela also chuckled mischievously.

She walked in without knocking, after all, there was an open sign hanging on the door. There was a man silently tinkering away behind a desk that was cooped up in the corner at the back of the room, he was difficult to see as there was shelving in the way. The two of them browsed the shop, Shiela had turned shy suddenly and was completely out of her element in a shop like this. Marianne was slightly different, however. She was familiar with what this man sold. He sold magically engineered items or just magic items for short. They required an ambiguous name as there was so much variety. Marianne was not aware of a magic item shop in Bath until now despite it having a magic academy.

Shiela finally mustered up the courage to approach the man. “Hello, Beau,” she said. Quietly, as she was careful to not startle the man who could not see her thanks to his headgear and the glasses that had multiple lenses. Beau slowly put the instrument in his hand down then carefully put away whatever he was tinkering with. Finally, he moved at a normal pace and took off the headgear.

He looked at Shiela with a smile on his face. “How can I help?” he asked. Shiela was taken aback, this man had bright blue hair, more than any magician she’d ever seen. She knew that this phenomenon occurred when someone had regular contact with mana, but she’d never seen it to this degree, neither had Marianne who was peeking through the shelves at their interaction.

“My name is Shiela, I was told you would be coming here from Sam Daley,” at the mention of not only her name but then Sam Daley’s, Beau stood up.

“Shiela, you were my mother's friend?” he asked.

“That’s right. It’s lovely to see you again, all grown up like this,” Shiela said without reservation, her hand reaching out to Beau’s arm.

“Well, it’s lovely to see you too, although I can’t say I remember you. Although my Mother talked about you so much I feel like I do,” he smiled amicably and reached out his hand which Shiela batted aside and pulled him in for a hug. He laughed awkwardly but returned the embrace.

“You were very young my boy, you must have been two years old when I last saw you. You and your mother,” said Shiela, just happy to see the son of her best friend again.

Beau walked over to the open sign on the door and flipped it before shooting a glance at Marianne. “My name is Marianne, I came with Shiela,” she said, hoping he would not kick her out onto the street.

“Ah, nice to meet you, Marianne, I’m Beau,” he said and offered his hand. Marianne was glad he was not expecting a hug from her too.