Memory Trail | Open Novella Contest 2020 |

Chapter 4

Lyla laughed as she took a seat right next to Tylissa. 

"I knew I'd find you here" she said. "It's your favourite spot for fishing. I have to say you're not wrong. All those people walking around the stalls, all those different memories. It makes you tingle with the anticipation of the perfect discovery"

Tylissa chuckled. From her perspective, Lyla was as different from her as oil was from water. Bright and bubbly, with long, blong hair and piercing blue eyes, she was a ray of sunshine compaired to which, her own brown locks and green eyes seemed almost dull. She had wondered many times what it was that drew her best friend to her, other than the fact that they shared the same branch of magic, but, in the end of the day, Lyla was the only person Tylissa would trust with her life, and it seemed the feeling was mutual.

"Spacing out again, are we?" Lyla playfully asked her.

Tylissa sighed. "What do you want today Lyla. You know that it is not safe for us to be seen together during our work hours"

"What, I can't stop and have a chat with my best friend while I'm working?" asked Lyla in mock offence. "I find that preposterous, surely you jest!" she said in an overly dramatic tone.

A small smile formed on Tylissa's mouth. "It is dangerous though" she said. "If anyone knew what we were up to... I don't think you would like the inside of a dungeon, not for long anyway"

"Still, I made you smile" Lyla said laughing. "And besides, you look suspicious already, what with the way you lurk in the shadows of the doorway. You must learn to be more natural" and with a flick of her wrist and a few muttered words she quickly copied a memory of a passing man and was holding a shining golden pearl in her hand in a matter of seconds.

"Are you insane?" Tylissa asked while quickly looking around to see if anyone had noticed them. "What if somebody saw?"

"Then we would run, dear" Lyla answered casually, while pocketing the pearl.

"Aren't you going to look at that?" Tylissa asked.

"No need. If it is a memory, it is always important and Madame will find a use for it. Besides" she said, her expression getting serious "if you don't take risks, you will never live properly, or learn anything, keep that in mind Tylissa."

Tylissa turned to look at her friend. Lyla's face had a very sombre expression and her usual smile was gone.

"What are you talking about? Learn what?" she asked concerned.

Like a cloud moving away from the sun, Lyla's face cleared and her smile was back in place. "Nothing you need to worry yourself about" she said brightly. "Now, what have you managed to catch so far?"

Tylissa sighed "Nothing much" she answered, while looking inside her purse where the memories she had copied rested inside the pearls. "An affair, a lullaby, a couple of snapshots of various high society balls, but nothing major"

"A lullaby? That is an unusual memory" Lyla said. "It won't sell for much in the shop."

"It's not for the shop, that one is for personal use" Tylissa answered.

"Oh, okay" Lyla said, understanding immediately.

As orphans, the chances of motherly love were always extremely thin. Children raised by the city had to work for the city when they were old enough, and thus they were send to the various guilds and shipyards when they turned eleven. It was a cruel fate, and very few children survived the harsh conditions of the guilds. Tylissa was lucky to escape after four years and even luckier to be found and raised by the Madame when she almost starved to death after having lived in the streets for several months.