After All This Time - Book 3

Four

I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and took his hand, letting him lead me through the busy streets towards the bazaar. We were able to travel through the city relatively unnoticed in our cloaks, most people presuming we must have been visiting from a neighboring nation. We slowed as we neared the entrance to the bazaar, my hand slipping from Snape's as I reached up to pull my hood back a bit.

"So who exactly are we meeting tonight?" I asked him.

"Maria the Jewess."

"Wait wait wait" I said, stooping dead in my tracks. "Are we meeting..."

"A Jewish woman in a mosque in Instanbul? Yes" he replied plainly. "She is here gathering a few things, just like we are going to right now."

Snape took ahold of my hand again and walked off into the mass of people, weaving his way from vendor to vendor. Occasionally he would stop to buy a few spices or other odd ingredients, and each time he would conduct his transactions in what sounded to be perfect Turkish. I watched quietly as he would barter with them for small bags of spices or vials of mysterious liquids. He amazed me, the way he went about all of this so nonchalantly.

"If you see anything you want, just let me know" he said as we left our seventh vendor.

"How about something from there" I said, pointing to a booth full of Turkish jewelry and scarves.

"Of course" he sighed. "Why would you ever be interested in rare potion ingredients when there is jewelry nearby."

Hand in hand we walked across the way to the vendor. The walls of the small booth were lined with beautiful scarves and linens, each adorned with intricate embroidery and unique patterns and colors. The tables of the small space were crammed with jewelry: bracelets, necklaces, headpieces, and everything in between. A small man popped out from the booth as we neared it, waving us in.

"Come, come" he said, pulling us from the mass of people behind us. "Anything you want for your beautiful bride" he said, smiling at the two of us.

"Oh, uh..."

"Thank you" Snape said, cutting me off. He gently pushed me in towards the tables, telling me to pick out whatever I wanted. I didn't argue any further and turned my attention to the jewelry infront of me. I picked up a few bracelets, trying them on and admiring them before putting them back down. I went from table to table, my fingers gently running over the jewelry until they stopped on one specific bracelet. I picked it up, a circle of deep blue beads each separated by a gold band.

"The evil eye" the man said, coming up next to me. He gestured to the bracelet in my hand. Each blue bead had an eye on it, which he told me was used to cleanse curses and ward off those with evil intentions. "You cannot buy it for yourself though" he said, taking the bracelet from me and handing it to Snape. "It is only effective if another buys it for you to protect you."

Snape took the bracelet from him, looking it over in his hand. "How about a scarf to match as well."

"Stay" the man said as he scurried off around the corner. He came back seconds later with a deep blue scarf covered in delicate, gold embroidery. He showed it to me, pointing out the delicate flowers and the eye sewn into the bottom corner, before handing it to Snape.

"Is this all?" Snape asked me. I nodded, about to pull out my wallet from my pocket when Snape reached into his and pulled out a wad of cash. He turned to the shop owner, speaking to him in Turkish and handing him a few bills. We bade him good day and left the booth, entering back into the mass of people moving down the way. I slipped my hand around his arm as we went, making sure to not loose him. "Here" he suddenly said, slipping the bracelet around my hand on his arm. "Do you want..."