In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 34: Louis' Contribution~

"You weren't complaining when you were being cooled off with water from my ripped clothing," she answered evenly, doing her best to control her temper. How dare he be that ungrateful! She was already anxious from the unfamiliar atmosphere, but she had a feeling he was needling her on purpose, maybe as a test.

Just as she suspected, he chuckled. "That's true. It was for a good cause, but regardless, my entourage is expected to dress properly."

The rest of the walk was in silence and she felt her anger melt away as she once again stared at the sights around her.

The city was thriving. There was no other way to describe it. Despite a hard winter experienced across the nations, people here were selling wares in little stands on the streets. Especially note-worthy were the artists' stands, holding exquisite pottery and paintings. Even in Elysium only the nobles and Royals could afford such trinkets and trivial items. Here, a baker was seen crossing the street to buy a purely aesthetic jar from a potter. The jar was simply too small to serve any purpose. At one point, she saw a stand where a man was clearly tattooing another. She almost stopped to watch the process, but didn't want to show how curious she was about it. It definitely was no oddity to have a tattoo here, but neither was it strange for someone to not have them. It varied widely. The two tattooed men in front of her fit in well, and so did she. The concept was strange to her.

Also of note were the number of temples. Although the Cheshire people served only one god, there were multiple temples on a single street, whereas in Elysium there was one temple per town or city, where several gods were worshipped in separate antechambers.

"Why are there so many temples?"

"They're called chapels in Cheshire," Zayn corrected her quickly. "They worship a singular god, Ornan, but they all seem to disagree on the best way to do so. They visit the chapel that agrees with their individual viewpoint."

"That doesn't seem practical."

"It's worked for them so far." Louis gave his input now.

"It appears so."

They walked on in silence and Kalysta continued analyzing the things around her until Louis led them to a seamstress's shop.

"Beatrice!" he called, walking in without knocking. Zayn and Kalysta followed.

A woman turned from a display of fabric as they stepped into the main room. She was slightly older, probably 30 years of age.

Louis held his arms out as he approached as if expecting a warm welcome, but he stopped halfway at the look she gave him. She had put her hands on her hips and glared at him. It was evident that she was not as happy to see him as he had been hoping.

"Oh, look who's returned!" Her voice was sultry, even in anger, and Kalysta could see she was considerably beautiful. She was filled out, but not uneven in size, her enviable figure proportioned in all the right places. Although short, she gave off a feeling of authority, even in the face of these men. "You're gone for a year and I don't get to hear anything?" she continued. "Not a letter? Not a message at all? Don't come in here expecting a kiss and a cuddle after that." She turned back to the display and yanked lengths of cloth at random, straightening already well-hung fabric.

Louis sighed and walked forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and putting his head over her left shoulder. The woman resisted initially, but Kalysta watched in surprise and a bit of disgust as Louis whispered in her ear and Beatrice's demeanor softened. She seemed to relax into his embrace, resting her head back on his shoulder. He placed a languid kiss to her cheek, whispered something else, and she let out a very feminine giggle.