Friend of the Dragons

Chapter Five - At Market

LILAC'S POV

You sigh mentally and turn to properly look at Elea.  She's looking at you like she expects a response, so you say, "Oh, hello.  ...I'm Lilac."

Elea nods.  "You new to Norrle?"

"I've been here a few times.  I'm here to trade," you say curtly, hoping she will get the hint and go away.

"Hmm.  What are you looking for?  I know the best market stalls for a lot of things."

At least she doesn't seem to recognize you.  "I know spots to go.  I'll be fine," you say, continuing in the annoyed tone.

"All right..." she says after a moment, shrugging.  "You're so rude."

"I'm not here to socialize, or make friends when I'll only be staying for a few hours," you say.

Elea gives you an irritated look, but she finally walks off.  You head to your first destination: the food stall.  You trade for several things before moving on to the other stalls.

After a few hours, you finally feel like you're done shopping.  You really hate market days - everyone keeps trying to talk to you, and you don't feel like socializing.

You start walking back to the town gates, but a snippet of conversation catches your attention with the word, "Dragon."  You walk over.  "What's this about dragons?"

"Oh, hi," a man says.  "Yeah, we were talking about the dragon attack.  My neighbor was killed."

You nod slowly.  "I've heard.  I'm not a resident, but it's hard to not hear about dragon attacks," you say, watching the speakers carefully.

"Well, have you heard the other bit of news?" the man asks.

"...I don't think so?" you reply, frowning.

"Someone spotted a girl on one of the dragons.  Definitely not kidnapped - the girl kept switching dragons."

'Crap,' you think.  'I was spotted.'  You'll have to figure out what to do about that.  "Who spotted her?"

"I've heard it was Elea Flores.  Though, I'm not sure you've heard of her."

You try to keep from looking startled, but now you can't help but wonder if Elea did, in fact, recognize you.  "I see."  After a long pause, you say, "I...should probably get going...I was only here to shop; your conversation just...caught my interest."

You hurry now, back to the kingdom limits, so you can figure out what to do about this.