Page 5 of A Wayward Movement

“You’re very kind.” Alina smiled warmly, but made no promises. She didn’t intend to accept hospitality she couldn’t return. The strict rules of etiquette her mother had taught her may have been intended for a very different lifestyle from the one she was living, but that didn’t mean she could just cast them off. They went too deep.

“Well, perhaps business will be better this week,” he went on optimistically. “With the group passing through toward the desert and all.” He smiled at her as he emptied another crate. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll need regular suppliers and can pay to send you on a scouting trip to the capital.”

Alina laughed. “It’s a generous thought, but I don’t think your family would thank me if I robbed them of the chance for a trip to the capital! And I have no desire to go there, anyway. I’d much rather stay here.”

Her companion looked incredulous for a moment, before sudden understanding crossed his features.

“Ah, of course, that’s where you lived with your parents, rest their souls, before you moved to this region. Too many painful memories there, my dear?”

Alina gave a pained smile, and thankfully the artisan let it drop, taking her silence as agreement.

It wasn’t true, though, Alina reflected, as she carefully displayed one of the commemorative plates on top of the stack. Only one memory from the capital was really painful, and even so, the emotions it stirred were too complex to be solely negative.

“I love you, Alina. I’ll love you forever.”

Alina winced as the memory flitted through her mind with uncomfortable clarity, the words impetuous and ridiculous, but the emotion in the speaker’s eyes embarrassingly convincing. Some part of her had believed it back then, foolish as that made her feel now. She could only be grateful that even at fourteen she’d had enough sense not to be swayed by tempestuous emotion. What a fool she would have made of herself if she’d taken him seriously.

It didn’t matter. It was all ancient history, and not the reason she was staying away from the capital. Or at least, so she told herself firmly any time those memories surfaced. The truth was, the capital wasn’t haunted by painful memories so much as by happy ones. She didn’t think she could bear to live a hand-to-mouth existence in the shadows of her former luxury. She’d learned to be content with her more modest life, but apparently she still had too much pride.

The morning passed quickly, Alina doing her best to earn her half day’s wages as she plied the artisan’s wares to the market-goers. She was sorry to receive lower wages, but the benefit of a shorter day meant that she would be able to have a longer time for lunch with Lilah when she came.

There were plenty of strangers in the market, but she could usually tell from their garb and demeanor which ones were workers from the desert project rather than visitors from surrounding towns. The morning shift was over and Lilah had just arrived when Alina saw a trio of workers go past, the workers themselves less remarkable than the wide berth they were given by the two women going the other way. Alina raised an eyebrow, surprised by the venom in the women’s eyes.

“Did you see that?” she asked Lilah.

The younger girl nodded, looking troubled. “I’m guessing those women are from Alton.”

Alina looked at her in inquiry, wondering what was remarkable about the next town over, situated just inside the forest.

“I’ve been hearing mutters about it all the way through the market,” Lilah said. “There was another disappearance. A teenage girl, one who grew up in the town.”

Alina’s heart sank. Another disappearance? And so close to their doorstep.

“That’s terrible,” she said hollowly. “Surprising that someone with a family nearby was targeted this time.”

Maybe she should make contact with Aunt Diana, check on the family. Their forest city was close to Alton.

“The girl didn’t have family there,” Lilah corrected. “Apparently her family moved away a couple of years ago, and she’d come back to visit friends. To a casual observer, she may have looked like a young, unattended traveler passing through and therefore an easy target, like the others. But her friends were quick to raise the alarm, and they’re furious that there’s been no success in finding out what happened to her.”

“Of course I’m not glad it happened,” Alina said. “But maybe this will be the push needed to get the crown to take the threat seriously.”

“I think a lot of people are hoping that,” Lilah agreed. “Apparently the lord’s bailiff has been taking down details from witnesses in Alton. He’s going to take a formal petition to the capital urgently.”

“That’s all well and good, but no matter how urgently it’s done, it will still be too late to save the poor girl just taken from Alton,” Alina said, troubled. “I’m done here.”

Leaving the artisan’s stall, the two girls made their way through the market. The report of the latest disappearance had put Alina on edge, and she let Lilah lead the search for food within their means. Alina’s attention was instead focused on making sure no unforeseen danger threatened her younger friend.

It was a good thing, too. If she hadn’t been so vigilant, she might have missed the sharp snap of a wooden support breaking as they passed down a line of food vendors. Alina saw the huge cauldron of scalding soup tip right toward an oblivious Lilah’s feet, but the crush of people had forced them to walk single file, and she wasn’t close enough to push her friend aside. Fortunately her magic sense was well-honed, latching on to the Dust created by the soup’s movement before her mind had formed the thought. Acting on instinct, she poured most of the resulting magic back into the liquid, directing the energy to change shape and take on a different function entirely.

The liquid responded to the force of her magic at once, and Alina could feel in her mind as the temperature cooled at a rapid pace no unmanipulated force of nature could achieve. Lilah’s gasp was one of surprise rather than pain as lukewarm soup poured over her feet and sloshed halfway up her legs.

Alina let out a long breath, relief making her own legs shake. Or perhaps that was just the effect of manipulating the volume of magic required to cool so much boiling liquid so quickly. She certainly hadn’t followed her advice to Benji from that morning. Urgent as the situation was, she’d barely used a trickle of the magic to bolster her own energy. It was no surprise she was tired, although her energy was far from depleted.

“Did you…?” Lilah’s half question drew Alina’s attention as the younger girl looked from the cauldron to her drenched legs, then up to Alina’s face. “You came to my rescue.”

The two girls met, Lilah giving her a grateful embrace before she was engulfed by the fussing of the food vendor and other onlookers. Alina stepped back, a sudden feeling of unease making her scan the crowd.

Most people were craning their necks to see what the fuss was surrounding Lilah. But with a jolt, Alina realized that one man’s eyes were fixed on her, their expression calculating. He was a stranger, but one she’d seen before.