Bits and Pieces

Followed (and the Start of a Story)

"Lovely weather out today, no?"

"Mhm."

The weather actually wasn't that lovely. It was sweltering to the point where the back of Al's vest was soaked with sweat. But that wasn't what bothered him. He looked expectantly at Akayel for any more responses, any more replies that would indicate she no longer held anything against him.

She remained silent.

"...How long are you going to treat me like this?"

"Until the day you pay for damages in full."

He scoffed, spluttered, and flung a hand into the air. "Aya, you know that I don't have that kind of money!"

"Then make that kind of money."

"With my line of work?" Al laid his arms on the counter and leaned closer, taking some comfort in the sparse shade of his friend's small shop. "You're better off asking a farmer."

"I could, only a farmer wasn't the one who blew up my storehouse."

He lifted a finger to argue...only to bring it back down again, closing his mouth as he did so. Uneasy silence settled in the atmosphere again. The steady chatter of the crowd did nothing to fill it. And speaking of the crowd--

"Ahah, er, Aya. Would you be so kind as to do me at least one, small favor?"

She only answered with a grunt.

"Can you search the crowd behind me for an old hag in a...dark gray cloak? Give her a little wave when you see her."

He saw her turn to face him with a raised eyebrow, her gaze met with a pleading face and a small, innocent smile plastered across it. He hadn't turned around to check himself, but he had the slightest feeling in his sweaty back that he was being watched. From the one person he had seen following him around all day. No, for the past three days. Suspicious.

Her eyes locked onto someone in the menagerie of merchants and travelers. She gave a tentative wave.