I start backing away from the stranger. Just because he helped the child doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me. “I’m just going to the market. I swear I didn’t know he was a child when I stabbed him—”
“I know. Nico thinks he’s a shadow rogue. I’ve told him it’s going to get him killed one of these days.”
The man grins. It’s a little hard to recognize beneath all the scars, but I’m fairly certain it’s meant to be friendly.
“I didn’t mean to be in your way. I’ll just let you get back to, you know, whatever—wait, did you say shadow? He’s a shadow-born?” He’s so young. My own magic didn’t settle until I was sixteen. Nico is thirteen at best. It’s not impossible, but it’s rare.
“One of a few in this neighborhood,” says the man. “And the best at keeping up with the gossip.” He flips a coin in his hand. “For a price, of course.”
He pockets the coin and then holds out a hand to shake. It’s covered in healed cuts, some of them quite deep. “Soren. Thank you for staying and trying to help him.”
“It was nothing,” I say. It truly wasn’t, considering I’m the one who stabbed him in the first place.
I don’t offer him my name, and he doesn’t ask for it. He does have one question for me though.
“Your accent. Nithyria?”
I nod slowly. It’s not going to be possible to conceal my background here entirely, especially not when I’m dressed in our leathers. There aren’t many Nithyrians in the capital, althoughthat will be changing soon. Many of our people will be arriving for the festival.
Some of them might be bringing a few sharp objects along with them.
“I’d be careful in the market. There are some merchants who aren’t fond of your people.”
“I will,” I say. “I’m sorry again for the trouble.” I turn and walk towards the market, slightly worried that once my back is turned to him, he’ll pull a knife on me like Selarans are wont to do.
He doesn’t though. I’m halfway down the alley before he calls after me. “I could show you around.”
I stop and slowly turn to face him. Is this some kind of a trick?
He approaches then slows when I don’t reply. He holds up his hands to proclaim his innocence. “I don’t bite, I promise. I can show you which vendors to steer clear of.”
I pause. I don’t know why he would help me after what I’ve done to his…spy? His friend? I’m not sure, but I don’t read anything nefarious in his intentions.
What I do notice is his eyes lingering on my body.
I did say I was looking for someone to get into trouble with. I’d imagined a fire-born, but a nature-born would do. And I’ll admit that I find something appealing about his scars and the way that he helped the boy. And even if it doesn’t end up going that way, it would be nice to have a guide.
“Alright,” I say. “Lead the way.”
I give Soren a fake name—Hazel, a name I’d called one of my dolls when I was younger—and a somewhat ridiculous background story.
“I’m a traveling acrobat. I’m with a troupe performing in the Great Festival.”
I say this because it’s what I wanted to do the most as a child. A troupe of traveling performers came to the castle once a couple of years before the war began, and I begged my mother to let me leave with them the entire time they were in town.
Their lives seemed perfect. They went from town to town, all over the kingdom, and sometimes all over the world, and all they did was make people happy. I had always been fearless of heights, and my balance was pretty good. I thought I’d make a great acrobat. Though she refused to let me leave with them, Mother did let them teach me some of their routines.
It's enough to make a great lie.
“Will you perform in the palace?”
“I hope so,” I say. “That’s if we can manage to do well enough in the competition.”
I don’t actually know how the arts festival or competitions are going to work, but I doubt Soren does either.
It turns out he’s a merchant who imports rare items from overseas. It’s a competitive business, and so he keeps tabs on his competition with the help of the boy and other shadow-born. He knows these alleys well. I tell him he’d make a fine shadow-born himself, and he laughs far harder than my joke warrants.
And then he gets that look in his eye that tells me I was right when I noticed him looking at my body.
