Allegiance

Chapter 13

Arthur and Tessia continued to walk around the magic shop, looking at the various items on the shelves. Tessia looked to her left and abruptly stopped when something caught her eye. Looking to his right, Arthur didn't notice she had stopped and suddenly ran into her.

"Oof," Arthur commented and backed up a few steps, surprised to see Tessia had stopped walking. "Sorry about that."

Tessia looked back at Arthur over her shoulder with a smile, "Don't be; I'm the one who suddenly stopped, after all."

Tessia's smile faded, and she looked back at the shelf with intrigue. Arthur curiously followed her gaze, seeing she was eyeing a teal leaf pendant that had a silver chain.

"Oh, that's pretty," Arthur commented.

Tessia looked at Arthur and smiled again, "Yeah." She shrugged, "I'm not sure it would look good on me, though. Plus, I don't know what kind of enchantment it has."

"Hmmm," Arthur hummed, thinking and looking back at the necklace. He shrugged casually, "Well, we can always ask the shopkeeper about the enchantment. And," Arthur's lips curved into a smile, and he looked at Tessia, seeing her eyeing the necklace again. "The necklace matches your eyes, so I think it would look beautiful on you."

Tessia's head snapped toward Arthur, with her brows raised and lips partially agape, feeling genuinely surprised by his comment. She gave a small, warm smile, with her cheeks turning a little red, "Thanks." She looked back at the necklace, thinking about getting it, but couldn't decide. She sighed and shrugged, "I'll think about it."

Tessia clasped her hands to the small of her back and continued walking forward, looking to her left and right at all the magic items. Arthur was about to follow her when Sylvie suddenly hit Arthur on top of his head with her paw.

'Ow!' Arthur said, flinching from her sneak attack. 'What the hell, Sylv?'

'Get the necklace,' Sylvie ordered.

'What?' Arthur said, confused. 'She said she was going to think about it.'

Sylvie mentally sighed and rolled her eyes, 'Papa, she obviously likes it, especially since you commented that you liked it. Now, get the damn necklace.'

Arthur looked at the necklace with a raised brow, thinking about what Sylvie said, 'Are you su-'

'GET IT!!!' Sylvie yelled.

'OKAY!' Arthur yelled back.

Arthur looked down the aisle, seeing Tessia preoccupied with a palm-sized black box magic item. With her distracted, Arthur quickly and subtly grabbed the necklace off the shelf and hid it in his pocket. With the necklace secured, Arthur quickened his pace and approached Tessia.

"What do you think this does?" Tessia curiously asked and looked back at Arthur, seeing him standing behind her.

Arthur looked at the item inquisitively, seeing it was a small black square box with hinges on the side, showing it could be opened. Arthur shrugged, "Maybe it's used to contain something."

Sylvie mentally facepalmed, 'Papa, you're an idiot.'

Tessia's lips curved in an amused smile, "A box? Used to contain something? I never would have guessed."

Arthur chuckled and sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I don't know. It's the first thing I thought of."

Tessia giggled and looked at the box in her hands curiously, "Well, let's see if this box contains anything."

Tessia opened the black box, which revealed a small blue gem that shone brightly. Tessia's eyes widened in amazement, thinking how beautiful the gem was. "Oh wow, this is beau-"