“Oh... umm...” Arion glanced at his watch. “My sheep’s up first—I’ve got to get her ready.”
Collin clenched his jaw, but before he could press further, Arion was already disappearing into the crowd.
“We’ll be there to cheer you on!” Aries called after him. “River, you coming?”
River jerked his thumb behind him, scowling fiercely. “I’ll catch up later. Gotta check on my cousin—make sure those fellows aren’t getting too friendly, if you know what I mean.”
Aries chuckled, clapping River’s shoulder. “Relax, let them have their fun. It’s a celebration day!”
Collin glanced toward the clock tower, curious what had River so on edge. Nic was deep in conversation with Helen, his attention entirely on her—that was no surprise. But then—oh, Uriah and the twins. They were shamelessly putting their best moves on a couple of Daughters of Venus, and one of them was River’s cousin, Eunia.
Collin and Aries made their way through the crowded fair, leaving Nic, Uriah, and the twins to flirt and River to keep them in check.
On every street, vendors lined the pathways with carts, tables, tents, and booths. Collin left Aries at a stall piled with colorful cloth while he went in search of honey.
After buying two jars of honey and some beeswax from the impatient bee man, Collin wandered over to a table full of books and writing supplies.
“Are you trading, buying, or just browsing today, young man?” the merchant asked lazily from his seat behind the table.
“Browsing.” Collin scanned the titles, many of which he’d already read. New books were rare—sailors only visited once a year—but he always checked.
A stack of five or six identical books at the end of the table caught his eye. He picked one up and flipped open the olive-green leather cover. On the first page, in graceful script, it read:
Annals of a Lady
Author Unknown
Published 590
“To my dearest friend; my beloved lady.”
Collin flipped through the thick pages, lingering on the beautiful print. “Is this new?”
“Indeed! I hear it’s a bestseller in the Blue Isles. I only managed to get seven copies. Captain Hector said he’d try to bring more next season, but no promises.”
Collin plunged his hand into his pocket. “I’d better buy it now before they’re all gone.”
After paying for the book and a bottle of ink, he returned to Aries, who was still agonizing over the piles of fabric.
“What color do you think this is?” Aries asked, frowning in concentration.
Collin shrugged, barely glancing at it. “No idea. Purple?”
“No.” Aries picked up another bolt and squinted at it. “This one’s purple. That one’s... I don’t know.”
Collin shifted his weight and sighed, watching a herd of goats being shuffled toward the competition rings. His jaw tightened. “It looks purple to me. Just—another purple. Pick one and let’s move on.”
Aries raked a hand through his hair. “Hadria told me to get purple cloth, but how am I supposed to know which purple she meant? Is there really a difference between purple, violet, lavender, berry—”
Collin let out a sharp groan, his arms flinging up in defeat. “For heaven’s sake! They’re all very lovely! Every last one is aggressively purple! I’m sure Hadria will survive whichever royal shade you bless her with—can we please just choose and leave?”
Aries still looked torn, eyes scanning the fabric table like it held state secrets. Collin pinched the bridge of his nose as Aries flagged down the vendor. “Excuse me, can you help me?”
Collin waved vaguely. “I’ll be somewhere in the market, pretending I have better friends.”
Collin smiled politely to passersby, shaking his head at vendors who called to him with baskets of handmade goods, dried fruits, beans, and spiced meats. Some were tolerable, but others bordered on aggressive. One woman followed him for nearly a hundred feet, thrusting cologne samples under his nose until his eyes watered from the assault. Another, draped in beads, shoved charms into his hands, insisting he needed protection from evil spirits.
Finally nearing the end of vendor row, he quickened his pace, the jars of honey clinking in his bag.
