Heir of the Sword

24 | Fructus

Fructus {Fruit}

"Come on, let's go to the market. We're only here for a few more days so we might as well make the most of it." Yasmin tried persuading Silvia and Arya.

Normally, it would be Silvia who would propose such an idea but she seemed to have taken the lost pretty hard on herself. Therefore, Yasmin had made it upon herself to be the voice of reason and try to cheer her up. Yasmin's eyes met with Arya's. She was trying to plead the latter to agree with the plan so they could take Silvia out and allow her a breather.

"That's an excellent idea," Arya commented. "It would be wonderful to feel the breeze once more. It's as though I have become trapped in this castle."

Silvia looked up in surprise to see that Arya had also agreed with the plan. That only left Silvia. Both Yasmin and Arya gave her a look that said she better comply and under their scrutiny she grudgingly agreed.

The three went off to the market palace. Arya had not gotten a good look at the market place since the day she had received the ocarina from the old lady. She had the instrument safely locked up inside her room and she had not played it ever since that day in the faithful garden. Aaron had brought up her leaf whistle melody in one of their conversations but she had merely responded that it was something she had learned when she was younger. Arya did not feel complied to tell Aaron that the tune had been a small part of a beautiful piece on the ocarina.

"Oh that look's interesting."

Arya looked down to see that Yasmin had grabbed her hand and was dragging her towards a specific stall. The woman was young and her black hair had been pulled tightly into a bun which was fastened with a beautiful pin and various flowers. Her skin was pale and her lips were painted a bright red. Her stall was filled with various long dresses, umbrellas and fans.

Yasmin looked curiously at the clothing before she felt it under her finger. "It's so soft," she whispered.

The women nodded. "It's called a kimono," she said with a thick accent.

Arya had been trying to guess where the woman was from but now it made sense. She must be Japanese and she probably came with her emperor. They looked around for a few more seconds before moving onto the next stall.

As they walked around the market, sampling different treats and meals from around the world, Arya noticed that Silvia was now smiling and laughing alongside Yasmin. It gave her an unexpected warmness to see that the red head back to her usual self.

"Hey Yasmin, who was the man you were waving at yesterday?" Arya asked.

Yasmin looked up surprised that Arya had asked her such a question. "That's my uncle, he came from Egypt to watch my matches as well as attend to business with the King."

"So are you loyalty?" Silvia asked her bluntly.

"Technically no because he is actually my mother's brother in law but many consider us to be royalty although we aren't." Yasmin explained.

Arya nodded finally understanding the situation. The two of them talked more about Yasmin's background but something else caught Arya's attention. She turned around to see a red cloak but the blond strands escaping the hood were unmistakable.

"Is that Lady Zelie?" Silvia asked in a hushed whisper.

Yasmin turned to see where Silvia was pointing.

"Don't do that," Arya hissed. "You're drawing attention."

Silvia immediately dropped her finger. "It's her, isn't it?"