Elven Legacy

Chapter 99

Noah

"Since when do you like cherries?" Fenek asked, Noah somehow catching all his hand signs despite the fact that they were elbowing their way through a very narrow and thickly populated market alley.

Noah shoved the fistful of red berries he'd just stolen down his sack. "I've always loved them." Which wasn't really true, and maybe he'd told Fen as much at some other market in the past. Fen had an annoyingly good memory for these random things.

They'd left Azuria four days ago now, and the past two nights they'd camped outside, eating pheasant the first night and rabbit the second – game caught by Jaden and Fenek. But tonight, Noah had felt like visiting the city of Lyr, which looked big on his map.

Turned out Lyr was pretty big in real life too, and it had these impressive vast markets and an even more incredible amount of people in the streets. They wore vibrant colors, and their jewelry – piercings, necklaces and rings – shimmered with the last rays of the sun.

The competition was fierce to check out the vendors' stalls even though a drizzle had started to fall. A timid rainbow decorated the sky, though no one was looking up to admire it.

"C'mon," he signed to Fenek, "I think those are cheese buns over there." Noah pushed his way forward in the throng, his Nimisian friend following so close he sometimes stepped on the back of his shoes.

The myriad aromas were almost dizzying. Strange southern fruits, bowls of colorful spices Noah couldn't name, tea leaves, coffee beans, and vegetables so unfamiliar he'd bet most Felleran chefs wouldn't know what to do with them. Then roasted meats on display, making Noah's stomach growl plaintively, not that anyone could've heard over the hubbub of so many shoppers packed together.

There were plants, herbs, more mysterious spices, pastries, chocolate, and some fish sellers, since Lyr had a harbor stretching across its south side. The people themselves smelled like sweat and obnoxious perfumes. A faint trace of garbage wafted from tiny side alleys.

Noah managed to squeeze past some slow older men and – holding Fenek by the arm to help him along – he snatched a cheese bun from the edge of the stall counter, shoving that in his sack too and holding back a grin. He used to do this sort of thing all the time back when he was a kid in Quickrivers. Orphanage meals were mostly sad, and besides, sneaking out and stealing food passed the time.

Sure, he was twenty-one now and this wasn't very adult-like behavior. But he didn't feel too guilty about it, considering they were still in the Azurian Empire and Noah had rid these people of the worst emperor in the history of Azuria, free of charge.

Okay, so Noah wasn't particularly well-versed in the history of Azuria, but he was pretty sure that if he asked historians about it, they'd agree with him. Nicking a few snacks seemed a meager reward.

The next stall to catch his eye had a beckoning display of nut pastries, and Noah just so happened to know someone who was really into those. Pulling Fenek along, he meandered around the stall's narrow table and waited until everyone was too busy trying to become the first person in line. Then he darted his hand and stole one, dropped it in the sack which hung from his shoulder. He grinned at Fenek, who rolled his eyes.

"And you're supposed to be the big brother," Fenek had his fists together and index fingers pointing in opposite directions, shaking his head disapprovingly for emphasis.

Noah just grinned at him some more, probably further proving Fen's point. Until a rain drop fell in his eye and Noah blinked and shook it away. He glanced at the sky and sulked at the clouds. They'd been lucky with their camping weather so far, it looked like that was—