Luckily, Dorothea did not fall and break her neck on the way down from the watchtower. It was a welcome relief to be back on the ground, though it was embarrassing that Rhys kept casting her concerned looks.

To distract him she asked, “Are you excited for trade routes to reopen? All that nice fish coming down from the mountain. Real…fishy.” Wow. She’d never noticed until now how only really talking to Shark had dulled her skill for casual conversation.

Still, he smiled. “I remember my mother, er, my stepmother that is, would say she’d smell the shipment coming a full day before it arrived. She’d actually be right from time to time, so that was crazy to younger me even though it was just a coincidence.”

Dorothea chuckled with him. “Um, where to now?” she asked, trying not to sound as awkward as she felt. Oddly enough, things seemed to have relaxed some after her freakout. It was as if he knew more what to do now that she’d shown him a baser human side. And truthfully, she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts just then.

Rhys put both hands in his pockets, wiping them on the sides of his pants first. For an army captain, he had a slightly begraddled appearance. His shirt was untucked, with three buttons down sitting apart. A lightweight russet-colored jacket had just a few too many wrinkles, and his thin black tie hung loose and somewhat crooked. Dark-brown hair, tied in a messy ponytail over his shoulder with a black ribbon, stuck up naturally in many places but was just barely on the right side of intentionally messy, like he’d combed it with his fingers and went out without looking at it.

“Well,” Rhys said after some thought, “if you actually want to see more, the market’s open right now. It’s always a…a time, is how I’ll put it,” he laughed.

“I’m cautiously excited.”

The dirt of the streets paled the bottoms and toes of their boots as they followed a straight path from the entrance. Dorothea noticed how calmly people moved, how they always stopped to wave at each other or cluster together to chat on the side of the road after a happy coincidental meeting. It all seemed so calm and friendly, again opposite to her expectations.

The noise around them swelled to a heavy din as they passed from the narrow street connected to the tower and entered a much wider stretch. Stall after stall of goods was set up on either side of the road for at least a mile. People laughed and talked of the steals they’d gotten as they moved in an established flow, collisions rarely occurring between packed bodies. Any bumps were met with laughter and sincere apology. All wasn’t entirely peaceful, however. Some haggled with the same refreshing politeness while others got red in the face, argued and swore. Merchants howled atop the noise to draw in customers. Sweet and savory food smells blended with odors of oil and incense and bitter smoke, making Dorothea’s head spin.

Rhys leaned down to talk in her ear, and she had to concentrate to parse out his words. “This is the market street. If you can’t ignore someone when they try to sell you something, I’d advise staying away or coming with a friend who can, or else you’ll be had. I got taken for my whole paycheck at a single stall once. Though that was years ago.”

Dorothea tilted her head up to reply, and surprise ran through her. This close, she noticed a thin scar on his jawline, just slightly paler on dark-tawny skin. He probably had more; Shark had their fair share too, now that she thought about it.

“What was it you just had to have?” she asked, glad he’d either not noticed or decided not to comment on her staring.

He motioned to the collar of his jacket where a pin rested. A turquoise disc was encircled by small golden waves, giving it the appearance of a strange, radiating sun. A white feather looped around the left side of this sun of sorts to flow off the top into a short, graceful sweep.

“That cost you so much?” Though lovely, it didn’t seem like it should have been so expensive.

“I got swindled,” Rhys laughed. “I was told it would bring me protection on the battlefield and ward the specter of death away. Obviously that’s impossible, but since I paid so much and won’t ever be able to sell it for a worthwhile return I wear it anyways. Got two more for each of my closest friends, too.” He sighed. “I wasn’t the smartest back then. Or now, really.”

Dorothea smiled. “That was wonderful of you, though.”

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He looked surprised. “Was it?”

“Of course.” It was such a precious thing to do for his friends. Besides, knowing he’d done something with such wishful thinking, something so human… She felt like she could trust him a bit more now, oddly enough. Soldiers were killers, but… Gods, she’d never thought that they could be just as human as she was too.

Once they had escaped the market unscathed and reentered the calmer roads bridging the circumference of the city, they were able to talk normally, reinstating the proper amount of space between them.

“Please don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way,” Rhys said, laughter in his voice again.

“That depends entirely on your choice of words.”

“Fair. Well… You’re not exactly what I expected. I thought the leader of Sirpo would be more… You’re kinder than I thought.”

Dorothea frowned, confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He smiled tightly. “Well, Sirpo is just so…uninvolved.”

“We won the right to be. ” The War of Blending had been waged to earn the right for neutrality and the mixing of Sacerians and Ghurians under the banner of Sirpo, but that seemed to be easily forgotten. “My mother was the spearhead for the War of Blending, you know. She believed people had the right to another choice; she wanted to protect that and make a place for it. It was Sacer and Ghuria that had to go and call for bloodshed over the issue…” And now it was up to Dorothea to safeguard what Ophelia had built.

Rhys studied the ground beneath their continuing footsteps. “Well, I guess I had some misconceptions. Sorry.”

“No, don’t be. You’re not the only one. Whenever I thought about what a soldier would be like, I… You’re different from what I imagined too.”

He smiled. “In a good way?”

“Yes.” He was just a normal person, one who had endured and survived a war ongoing for half a decade. Wait… “Excuse me, but how old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

So he’d been her age when the war had started. “May I ask… Do children still start their training young in Sacer? Sharkie, Shark I mean, they’ve told me a little about it.”

He shook his head, smiling. “You don’t need to concern yourself with us or the war, Dorothea. After we work a few things out with helping you, you can go back home and live peacefully.”

“I understand that, but…” There was a restlessness brewing inside her she couldn’t quite comprehend.

“But what about you? Isn’t it the same? You look very young to be the leader of one of the three territories.” He paused, eyes widening some. “Not that I’m not sure you’re capable. I’m just saying we’re in similar positions. Age doesn’t have much to do with doing what we need to do.”

His words didn’t exactly ring true. They were worlds apart, weren’t they? But in the end, it all came down to this: “I can only do my best for the sake of what I’m meant to protect,” Dorothea stated.

Rhys nodded. “That’s the mentality a lot of soldiers take too. Even when the circumstances aren’t the best, we do what we have to for our people. To put it simply.”

Too simple, in fact. It was strange how the human cost of war had never truly sunk in. It was real now, breathing and warm.

“But how can I not be troubled?” she said quietly. “When anything could happen to you all and I’d just…” Do nothing. Do absolutely nothing as always.

Rhys’ smile was gentle. “Yeah. You’re kind, Dorothea. I’m glad we’ve gotten the chance to chat.”

“Thank you. Likewise.” Dorothea said this with a smile, but there was still one thing she couldn’t allow herself to forget no matter what, especially not now.

He could only say she was kind because he didn’t know who she really was.

Once they got back to the Creed home, she sent Rhys off to give her the privacy he’d promised her as graciously as she could. All she wanted to do was talk with Shark and calm down, but there was a problem with that.

If Shark had gone off with Cerid, there was no telling what they were getting up to. Cerid and what the two of them had had was still special to Shark, so she didn’t want to get in their way. Still, with how tumultuous Shark’s emotions had to be in coming back here, she wanted to be sure they were okay.

She tiptoed down a hallway that seemed to lead to bedrooms. It was empty and soundless over here, so she had to guess this was where they’d run off to. After calling Shark’s name a few times, she heard a door open. Seconds later, they turned a corner and came bounding up to her with a grin.

“Hey! How’d it go?”

Choosing not to question the things she could easily tell that smile was covering up until they were ready, she stated, “We’re all set. But I’ll give you the details later.” She took their hand, squeezing it with reassurance. “Come on. Let’s find some food.”

They laughed. “Sure. Hey, I’ll make jambalaya when we get back. Sound good?”

Shark’s cooking was her favorite without a doubt. “Oh, and I’ll make you some new gloves. The old pair’s gotten too many holes.”

“My bad.” Shark paused, then gave another fake grin. “You know what they say about people who like spicy food?”

“Coming from you, I don’t want to know.”

These promises of regularity felt like nothing more than empty excuses.