Under the Roses

4 - The Streets at the Fabled Markets

RAPUNZEL

"So, how are you going to find this witch?" said Ruben from where he sat on Rapunzel's shoulder. "Are you just going to go around asking, 'Hey, who's a witch?' That's the easiest way to find one—and get arrested."

Rapunzel shot him a glare. "That's what you're here for." She kicked a tree branch and shoved another out of her face. She generally liked living in the forest, but it was kind of a pain when she wanted to go to the city. She had to walk through all the trees and dirt, avoiding all those nasty plants and bugs.

"Me? What could I possibly do?" Ruben yelped a little as Rapunzel walked by a branch that nearly took off the top of his head. "Hey, watch out! I'm precious!"

Rapunzel snorted. "Aren't you, like, in all this underground business?"

"I am not!" Ruben said indignantly. "How could you say such a thing?"

"You're literally a faerie. That automatically puts you in the 'underground' category."

"I've never heard of faeries who lived underground."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "I mean, you're magical or whatever, right? So you probably know other magical people."

Ruben fell suspiciously silent.

"Ha," she said as she stepped out of the forest into the streets of Milen. It was one of the busiest cities in the whole of Eilyste, which made sense, considering it was the capital. And it was the middle of the day. There were huge throngs of people rushing here and there as if they were late for something. "So, where do we go?"

Ruben mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"What do I get out of this?"

"If you do this, I'll never ask you for anything again. Ever."

"That's what you always say," he grumbled. He gave a bereaved sigh. "Fine. Let's go to the market." He jumped off her shoulder and took off across the street.

"Hey—!" Rapunzel ran after him, narrowly escaping a carriage being pulled by two silver horses. The driver yelled something incomprehensible at her.

"Watch out!" Ruben said gleefully. He always seemed to cheer up when Rapunzel almost died. "Look both ways before crossing the street!"

"Are you trying to kill me?" she cried, ducking beneath a strangely low street sign. "And why do we need to go to the market? Are we going to buy a witch or something?"

"No, of course not!" Ruben said, still running. He looked like a tiny mouse, hard to spot as Rapunzel weaved through the crowd. She half-hoped that someone would just step on him already. "That's trafficking! We're going to the flea market."

"What's a flea market? People go to a market to buy fleas?"

Ruben laughed. "Honestly, you need to go out more. It's a market where you buy secondhand stuff."

"Why would you want to do that?" she said, grimacing. "People are so weird. And why are we going there, when we need to find a witch?"

"I know of a guy, but to get to him, we've got to get some tickets."

"So who is this guy? A witch?"

"He's not a witch, but he knows of them. Witches have different specialties, so he'll help you find the right one. And witches are always coming and going; they don't tend to stay in one place. He's the one in the know. This guy rules the magical community around here."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Rapunzel said suspiciously. "Seems like you are in all this underground business."

"There is no 'underground business,'" Ruben huffed. "He just knows a lot of people, and he's got a lot of connections. He's seen all, done all, and knows all."