Lilliad 27

The market of Ulante was a gleaming jewel that made Lilli’s hands itch. The air was richly scented with spices and the scent of hot bread. Occasional pieces of floating sand caught the light and glittered, where they had been blown away from merchant displays.

“Any place will do,” Elathor said to themself, squinting around the bustling market.

Despite saying that, the groups followed for a good twenty minutes as Elathor searched for the correct place to replenish their funds by selling off things.

“Oh, here we are.” Elathor bustled ahead, intent on a large scaly person presiding over an eclectic stall. Lilli felt something crunch underfoot and looked down. She turned her foot over to examine the sole, and found nothing. She frowned.

By the time she looked up, she had fallen behind. Curiously, most of the party was still standing with her, not Elathor. She blinked at them uncertainly.

“Hello, I would like gold,” Elathor’s voice carried. There was a cacophonous clatter as they emptied an entire burlap sack full of ancient artifacts onto the wooden counter.

Lill winced at the unmistakable sound of glass breaking. She glanced over to see outright horror on the merchant’s face.

She had a sinking feeling.

Elathor continued on blithely, shuffling around pieces and listing prices for each.

The merchant made eye contact with someone behind Lilli. She wheeled around to see that someone in a cloak was leaving the square at a fast clip.

“I don’t think this is good,” she said under her breath.

Benk made a low sound of agreement, a hand on the hilt of his weapon. “We should go,” he said quietly. “Step back.”

Ser Alcuin looked around sharply, scanning the crowd. Most of the hustle of commerce was continuing on without noticing them.

“What is wrong?” The knight asked.

“The wizard is drawing too much attention,” Arelt said in a calm, measured tone. “I think we should all stay back and see what develops. There will be no prying Elathor away from the stall.”

“And this is an ancient artifact I took from the same city, look, it’s got a family crest, if they exist they’d pay a lot for it,” Elathor’s voice carried above the crowd

Benk actually snorted. “That would be the only way to make even more noise,” he agreed. “We should hang back and observe.”

“And this-“ Elathor paused, and then threw something over their shoulder. It hit a passing child in the head and then clattered to the stones. “Never mind, that’s no good.”

“Or we could leave,” someone said quietly. Lilli wasn’t sure who it was. She also wasn’t sure they were wrong. Her intuition was telling her that this was not a good place to be, despite the way the shopkeeper was nodding along with Elathor’s recitations.

A woman in a blue cloak literally melted out of a wall.

Lilli stared.

The strange woman had golden shoulder pauldrons that matched her sharp eyes. She scanned the area and then bee lined for Elathor. The way she walked was EERIE.

Rather, Lilli internally corrected, the way the stranger moved was eerie. The witch wasn’t walking. She moved in some odd, smooth fashion that did not require the use of her legs.

“Excuse me,” she said. Her voice cut through the crowd and silenced it. Hundreds of people turned to look at her. The woman was tapping on Elathor’s shoulder.

‘Oh, shit,’ Lilli thought.

“Where did you get these treasures?” She asked pleasantly.

Elathor turned around to look at her. “What- oh, these?” They gestured at the glittering mess on the counter. “I took them from the homes of dead people in a sunken city. I intend to exchange them for currency to fund my travel and also research.”

There was a moment of perfect silence wherein the woman’s warm expression did not slip, but she was probably processing that bit of bluntness. “I see,” she said. “You are under arrest under suspicion of grave robbing.”

“What?” Elathor sounded more confused than indignant. “No, I told you, I took these from dead people. That’s not robbery.”

“Guards,” the woman said. And then Elathor was in handcuffs.