AO 5 Ch 31

Chapter 31

After a night's rest and a morning debriefing with Uncle Valken and my anchors, I set off into the market with Eva in tow.

She held tightly to my arm as we walked glancing over at me every few seconds.

Emlyn had dropped her guard persona, now becoming Eva's anchor, while Aurelia remained mine and walked with Emlyn behind us. At the end of the day, Zuri needed to remain my accountant if we were to manage the mercantile part of our ruse.

Maribelle had scurried off into whatever shadows she could find to do her part. She would infiltrate the local lord's estate and scout. 

Uncle Valken was off to meet several of his confidants within the city, trying to re-establish communication. He was positioning himself as the hub in the current hub of the spoke and hub model that this cell of spies operated within.

Meanwhile, I had a far more exciting task. I was on the hunt for secret messages. 

"You seem excited," Eva said, clinging to my arm. 

"I am! We're going to find secret messages in the marketplace." I whispered with a bounce in my step.

"And plant some," Eva reminded me while patting her jacket down to make sure she still had the papers. 

It was crucial that we reignited the fire of this spy network. Likely after not having their messages taken or received for over a week, some of them would have gone to ground. Our job today was to rouse them back up and let them know it was okay. 

"So if we're engaged," I said, "and if you're going to be the noble while I'm just a merchant, what's my courting gift?" I asked, turning to her. The one in the relationship with the dominant noble house gave the courting gift to the other.

Both in reality with her being a princess and in our roles she was technically the one who should be getting me a courting gift.

"Well," Eva paused, "What would you like?" 

"That's not very romantic," I wrinkled my nose. "Come on, if you're supposed to be my fiancée, what did you get me? Don't worry. You don't have to match up to all of the incredible gifts that I got for my anchors. Also," I paused, "Technically speaking, in this whole ordeal, you're from a royal family and I'm from a mere noble house. You should be giving me a courting gift anyway."

Eva cleared her throat. "You have a fine point. Perhaps I got you a horse. Do you like horses?" 

"I don't like horses," I answered quickly. 

"What do you mean? You love Cyam!" She gestured at my shadow. 

"Yeah, duh. I love Cyam. I don't love horses," I looked at her strangely. "Cyam is my congratulations-you’re-a-mage horse. It has significant emotional and sentimental value," I rolled my eyes. "However, horses in general, I mean, yeah, they're kind of fun to ride. But compared to Cyam, all the other horses are boring. They have no value to me." 

I could see the wheels turning in Eva's head, her brows furrowing. "So even for a ruse, I have to come up with the perfect courting gift," she said. 

"Of course! It has to be authentic. Otherwise, how would it work? Remember, apparently I am a ‘bad actor’." I nodded along.

Eva's brows furrowed even further. "You're just making this difficult because you can." 

"No, I'm making sure we do it right," I said, sounding much like my foster mother once did. 

Eva chewed on her lip in thought.

I went back to watching the city, excited to see what she would come up with for my new gift.

My eyes watched the movement all around us. Despite being far different from Avente cities, it was still bustling with activity during the day. People moved around in a near endless stream. The bazaar up ahead roared with the cacophony of a thousand voices. Bright cloth hung over the top of every stall, like birds fighting for attention in the middle of mating season. They flapped and fluttered, capturing the attention of those passing by.

"Oh, look at that one!" I pointed out a stall filled with small rings that had colorful stones embedded in them. They weren't quite gemstones. I squinted at them. 

"Opals. They are a gem," Eva explained, "Though, not a very expensive one.”

“I always thought the gem had to be clear enough to see through to be called a gem." I replied.

I felt her tug my arm and pull me along. Clearly she wasn't interested in the stall and wanted to move deeper. 

"The stalls near the front of the market are never going to be the best," she told me.

I gestured forward for her to lead me and guide me. I did not know much about shopping beyond when Emlyn or my anchors had dragged me around more recently. There wasn’t exactly a market like this in the village.

"Is there anything you like?" Eva said quickly. 

Nothing was particularly catching my eye. I mean, there were plenty of things that I could obtain, but there was nothing I wanted. And certainly, there was nothing I needed. I was, at the end of the day, a fairly simple man, or so I liked to think. 

"Nothing speaks to me. Maybe we can find something tasty smelling. I'll get a bite." These places usually had a few vendors where I could take a break from being pulled around shopping.

Eva grumbled something under her breath that I didn't quite catch, only to continue pulling me along. 

I was scanning each and every shop with a certain dedication. Though I realized it seemed she was scanning the goods more than I expected. So, I let in as casually as I could. 

"What exactly are we looking for?" I asked.

"A few things," Eva said. "We don't have time to teach you all of the different ways we can communicate. However, if you look at the goods and there's something clearly green on the left and red on the right, with something black dividing them, that's a signal several of our communications use to say they have something worthwhile." 

I rubbed my hands together. I love a good secret message. "Alright, alright, I'll find it." My eyes scanned through fruit vendors with fruits I had never seen before. People selling clothes, jewelry, all manner of knickknacks, even several stalls dedicated to building materials. They had samples up front. I shrugged, wondering what holding a particular type of clay or brick was going to do to make a decision. Building something out of it was a far different endeavor than holding it in your hand. 

And then my eyes landed upon a store that sold trousers, very clearly lined up like Eva suggested. I pulled at her hand and pointed with my chin towards the vendor, trying to be as casual as I could. 

"What about that one? That could be it." I offered.

"Wonderful.” Her praise was oddly satisfying for me.

I was so excited we were being spies. Part of me wanted to tumble on the ground before jumping back to my feet, but that was liable to get me trampled in the busy market place.

“So is there a secret handshake? Perhaps you mispay for the goods with a token that tells them you're in the group?" I whispered all of this so that it wasn't heard amongst the crowd. It wasn't quite shoulder to shoulder, but given how early in the day it was, I expected it would be by the time the sun was high in the sky. 

Eva chuckled and walked up to the stall in question. "I'll have two green, three red, and I'd like to divide the colors amongst my children.”

“Red for the boys," the shopkeeper answered without hesitation. 

"No, red for the girls," Eva shot back quickly. "Green is far more suitable for the boys." She held onto my arm and leaned against me.

My face must have been strange because the merchant raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head, trying to get out of the sudden horror of having five children. I was far too young for that situation. 

The merchant handed over a folded-up letter to Eva. 

"I thought… it's been a while," was all she said.

Eva pocketed the letter. "There was a hiccup and it's being ironed out."

The shopkeeper's eyes drifted over behind me. It was a look I'd seen a hundred times by now when people were checking out my anchors, realizing what they were. 

"Ah, I see," she said quickly and incredibly respectfully. Then again, when Emlyn mean-mugged people, they tended to get very respectful very quickly. 

Eva then turned around and handed the woman another slip of paper, while at the same time checking to make sure there was no one near enough to listen to her. 

"On second thought, I don't think I'll buy any trousers." She patted the goods as if she was nothing but a simple shopper. 

"It's a shame, ma'am. They're the best here, but when you come back, I'm sure eventually you'll make a purchase."  She answered.

Eva clung to my arm, laughing as if I'd made some sort of brilliant joke and began to pull me along. "That's one down.” She said.

“Well, that was exciting," I wiggled my brows excitedly. “Let me guess, the notes are filled with cryptic messages that need a cipher.”

"Actually, yes, they do. They did require a cipher. However, the command in them was one that I am familiar enough with to not need the text to translate. It simply says that we are resuming communications."

"Will that woman need a cipher?" I asked.

"She has no idea what's on the letters," Eva said. "She can suspect all she wants, but there's always a good method of keeping a degree of separation. That way, if one of the contacts working through her gets found, she can disappear into the wind before they get to her. It'll cut off her section of the intelligence gathering, but it will preserve the whole.”

Like a lizard dropping its tail," I said quickly, thinking of one of my many pets over the years.

"Exactly." Eva smiled, and for the first time, I realized just how pretty her eyes were, especially when she smiled enough that her dimples showed. 

"Huh. Do all the Zenov’s have dimples?" I asked. “I don’t have any.”

"Blame your mother. You look far more like an Aldis than you do a Zinov," she kept her voice low.

"I think my mother would be flattered and also probably say something about how she was the dominant force of the relationship anyways."

Eva snorted. "Your father was not meek."

"You knew him?" My focus on the conversation grew tenfold.

"A little. I knew of him, certainly. However, he was already gone by the time I roamed the palace." She told me.

"Of course," I said quickly, a pang of loss striking me. The loss of parents never truly healed. The pain just became less frequent with time, though every now and then being reminded of them made the pain all the more fresh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean..." Eva must have seen my expression change.

"It's fine." I held up my hand before she could continue apologizing. That was another effect of losing parents over time, growing tired of hearing people apologize for your parents' death when they had absolutely nothing to do with it. People just tended to apologize as a way to fill the awkward silence.

Instead, I sought a change in conversation. "Have you come up with an idea for my courting gift yet?"

"Well, if your interest in those trousers was any indication, I probably shouldn't get that for you.” She offered.

“True. Trousers are not my forte. Besides, once I go back to my noble house, they pretty much do all the shopping for me so that I'm in house colors all the time," I rolled my eyes.

"You are a very important member and representative of your house," Eva said poignantly.

I waved her comment away. "I know. But I don't want to go back and get put in some sort of case, like a trophy to be displayed. After leaving the village, it's like the whole world has opened up to me. It would be an absolute shame to get stuck in a single city for the rest of my life. Heck, I'm half hoping that Izzy shows up at some point and sweeps me away on a pirate ship." I pinched one eye closed, screwed up my mouth with a finger like it was a hook in front of me. “Arg.”

"You'd make a terrible pirate," Eva laughed. "Pretty sure if you said 'arg' to any of the pirates on Izzy's ship, and you would find out quickly how difficult it was to keep your intestines inside your guts with a sword wound."

I had my mouth half open for a rebuttal before snapping it closed. "Good point. Still, it sounds nice. I don't think I'll get seasick. And at the end of the day, it would be wonderful to see more of the world."

"How about Zenovia?" Eva offered, not at all subtle.

Amid the crowd, our conversation was completely crushed by everyone talking and moving around. Not to mention we were keeping our voices low, especially when naming things that might not be part of normal conversation.

"I would absolutely love to see Zenovia, perhaps some of my father's family. But," I hedged, "I don't know if I want to get snapped up in any other politics. If I'm honest, my current situation has already worn the welcome mat for political squabbles quite a bit. The mat is so worn, I don’t think it could clean another pair of boots."

"I don't want to be a bootmatt," Eva said quickly, her arm tightening around mine. "But I will likely have to return as soon as the war is complete. And, at that time, the offer stands, you're welcome to come with me or meet me there at a later date. I would welcome you with open arms and happily show you anything I could about your father's family or our history."

I paused, my mind stopping on something. "Like the goddess you guys use for bonding?”

Eva paused at the random question but then answered, “Sure, she has plenty of temples."

I knew from Missy that the goddess that Zenovians likely worshiped was none other than Freya, the same one that was causing mischief in Garrish and seemed to be after Missy. 

"How do you feel about the goddess?" I asked. 

Eva shrugged. "It's a thing you pray to when you're either really desperate or when there's a tradition that requires it. It's not like I'm ever going to be a priestess." 

I chuckled, suddenly dressing Eva up in a priestess outfit in my mind, only for my mind to fall into the gutter as it imagined her in said outfit bent over some compromising places. I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Yeah, you'll never be a priestess." My palms suddenly felt a little sweaty and so did the spot where our arms intertwined. I untangled them and wiped my hands on my trousers. 

Eva looked disappointed at my actions.

"I just need to give my arm a rest," I made an excuse. "But as for... Seeing Zenovia, I think I would very much appreciate that one day. I just don't know when that day will come."

"Fair enough," Eva said. "I'll count a rain check if that's all you're willing to give me." 

I grinned at her. "Well, you are my fiancé right now, so maybe I should up that to a promise. I'll go to Zenovia eventually, and when I do, I will look you up Eva."

Her lips spread into a beautiful smile, and I swallowed before turning away, paying attention to where we were going.

I started looking for more stalls that might be arranged such that they were open for communication. 

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Guards shouted, parting the crowd.

Grabbing Eva's arm, I pulled her with me so that as the crowd parted, we didn't get separated. 

She had a goofy grin on her face when I checked to see if she was alright. 

"Coming through! Out of the way!" A team of guards shoved their way through the market. Each and every one of them was a big, burly man, suited up in chain mail, with a club on one hip and sword on the other. They wore a round cap helmet that looked much like a larger version of the studs on their leather gauntlets. They grabbed shoulders as they pushed those who were too slow apart, all heading for a stall. 

I looked at the stall. It certainly wasn't one that we had recently contacted, so at least that was safe. The guards continued to shout and push people away. I pulled Eva, wanting to see what was happening, and we certainly weren't alone. It seemed one of the universals, no matter which country we were in, was gawking when something was going down nearby.

"On the orders of Lord Tybalt, you are hereby sentenced with treason," one of the guards shouted, reading from a scroll, as three others jumped forward and grabbed a pretty woman running the stall. They dragged her forcibly over the front, knocking the wares aside. An older man who had been behind the stall with her was shouting and tried to grab her ankle, only for a club to smash down on his hand, forcing him to let her go. 

The guards quickly suppressed the woman, holding her arms behind her back in such a way that it forced her shoulders forward and gave them easy leverage to shove her where they wanted. "Interfering with the arrest is good enough to get you landed in jail as well," the man with the scroll said as he rolled it up. "Men, take him." 

The woman struggled and began to scream. "Grandpa! Grandpa, leave me alone! If you get arrested too, who's going to look after Grandma?" 

The man, however, had far too resolute an expression. He knew he was never going to let his granddaughter go alone, as she was right now.

I bit my lip, and Eva glanced at me. "I know you want to save them, but not right now."

"It's going to be harder after this.” I frowned

“Don’t worry, I have another idea," Eva said, a smile brimming on her face. "How about we follow where they're going? There's a good chance that this lady is going to be taken to the same place as the one we are interested in finding." 

I pursed my lips and thought for just a brief moment before nodding. "Can we follow them discreetly enough?"

Eva tapped at the corner of her eyes. "If we get somewhere secluded, we can easily follow them in the darkness."

A grin spread across my face as I followed her train of thought. Dark magic, of course, would make tracking them a piece of cake. "That's good. I think I needed to practice a little anyways." I grinned back at her. 

"Why don't we head out, and after we're done, we can see what you finally come up with for my courting gift?" I offered.

Eva shook her head, like she was exasperated with me. "Truth be told, I've already realized what I could get you. However, it's not something we could talk about publicly, and I'm going to have to make it." 

"Can't talk about it publicly? And you're going to have to make it?" My eyebrows rose as, once again, my mind fell headfirst into the gutter.