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I pay the merchant and tell him to hold it. I will have a cart come to deliver it for me. Satisfied at last I leave the tent. My two followers are close. I take off to arrange a cart and one of them follows me while the other ducks into the merchant's tent.
Good. Follow the trail I am leaving. Exactly what I want of you.
Seeing my hastily construed plan come together makes my steps feel lighter. Not only do I have the hope that Niyah has introduced but for the first time since all of this began, I’m beginning to feel as if I might pull it off.
I work my way through the crowds to the far side of the market. As I get to the outer edges the crowd thins some making it easier to move. I don’t bother trying to lose the tail, they are right where I want them. The second having rejoined the other a short time ago.
“Bhoja? What are you doing out at this time of day,” Dosata says.
Dosata is a friend. We grew up together and both joined the City Guard at the same time. Unfortunately, he was wounded in a skirmish with the lizards, messing up his leg and forcing him to retire. He is sitting before his table and working on a wheel when I approach.
“I need to rent a cart for a delivery,” I say.
“When?” he asks, setting his tools down.
He turns around, dragging his left leg with his hand.
“Soon as possible, actually,” I say. “I purchased a new bed and need it delivered.”
I move over next to him and lean against the workbench. He coughs and clears his throat.
“Today is hard,” he says.
“I need a cart badly,” I whisper without moving my lips. “I’ll pay extra.”
The last I say out loud for all other ears. He doesn’t look in my direction, but crosses his arms over his chest and looks disgusted.
“You push our friendship,” he grouses. “I have other customers. All my carts are spoken for until tomorrow.” He lowers his head and whispers. “How bad?”
“Bad,” I whisper back. “Don’t want to involve you.”
We continue debating loudly interspersing the actual negotiation in near silent whispers. It’s a trick we learned in the Guard. There were many long, boring nights of standing guard during which we would be given demerits if we talked or broke discipline. He and I developed a skill of conversing without our superiors being any the wiser.
The show continues and he plays his part perfectly. I notice my tails watching from across the way. They don’t show any unusual interest and I feel safe in assuming they see exactly what we want them to see. Me arguing over a price for renting a cart.
“Fine,” Dosata huffs, “this is the last time I let you pull the friendship card on me. Got it?”
“I think you owe me more than one cart rental!” I say raising my own voice and throwing my hands up in the air.
“One cart rental?” he shouts back.
We carry on a bit longer for the show. As we do I see that he spots those tailing me and indicates as much to me.
“Fine,” I agree at last. “Last time, but I need it within an hour.”
“Fine,” he growls.
He calls one of his employees over and issues the order. I walk away, heading for home. I move slowly to make sure my ruse is holding and it does. One of them runs into Dosata and the other tags along. When I turn back around I scan the marketplace and something catches my eye.
What? Impossible. How could she?
It was only a flash of color that stood out but that hair holds my attention. I fight my way through the crowd rage boiling over into my head. I growl and push, shoving people out of the way. Between two people I see her again. Moving into one of the more permanent shops.
“Get out of the way,” I growl, grabbing one of them by the shoulder and pulling them to the side.
He tries to fight but when he sees my armor and rank he growls and moves aside instead. I step between them and then rush into the shop. Anger is boiling over and making my vision narrow down to her. I can’t believe she left the house. I thought she was smarter than this.
My heart is hammering in my chest and it feels as if the shop is closing in around me. There. I spot her right around a display. I all but run down the aisle of merchandise. I grab her shoulder and roughly spin her around.
