Eden at Yuletide // Lindensea 4

X. Red Rose Lane

Everyone in Camden knows that the best place for a hot drink in the market district is The Red Rose Coffee House on the corner of Market Square and Red Rose Lane. Due to the popularity of the coffee house, it was packed to the rafters, but they had set up a kiosk outside, where a pink-cheeked young woman with a ready smile was busily serving a line of customers.

Maeve and Eden found themselves a quiet place to stand under the eaves of The Red Rose, where they could hug their thick white mugs close for warmth, and still get a good view of the square. There was a handy little aperture in the wall where they could place their mugs if they chose.

"I wonder where the others are," Eden mused, watching the marshmallow slowly dissolve in her hot chocolate before taking her first sip.

"They've probably taken their visitor to see the big shops on Great Market Street, on the other side of the square," Maeve said, nodding to where the street continued.

"Then we should be able to see them when they come back easily enough," Eden said.

"That old sailor seemed to recognise you," Maeve said, looking at Eden over the rim of her coffee mug. "Have you ever seen him before?"

"I don't think so," Eden said, wrinkling her brow. "He said he used to sail on a cutter that was out of Sutton harbour."

"Ever been to Sutton?" Maeve asked casually.

"No. Well – twice. Father and I sailed to Armorica the summer before last, and we took ship at Sutton and came back the same way," Eden said. "But we were only there a short time, and I don't remember meeting anyone."

"Hm. Well, I'll have someone look into it anyway," Maeve said. "Can't be too careful."

"How did you become a bodyguard?" Eden asked, who had been very curious about this.

"I got my start at sixteen, hunting outlaws in the forest and collecting the bounties," Maeve grinned. "That was three years ago."

"I've always thought outlaws sound rather splendid," Eden confessed. "Whenever you read about them in books, they only become outlaws out of necessity, and do all they can to help people. Like Lady Rubina Wood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor."

"That's only true if the monarch is cruel and unjust," Maeve pointed out. "Our king is honest, and the laws of our land are fair, so anyone who defies them is bound to be a pretty bad lot."

"What do you need to do to hunt outlaws?" Eden wondered.

"Keep your mouth shut," was the quick retort.

For a moment Eden's black eyes flashed in anger, then she realised the import of Maeve's words. "You mean, so they can't hear you?"

"Yes – you have to remember to look and listen, and to do that you need to be quiet," Maeve said. "Look around the square, and tell me what things you notice."

Eden put her mug down, and tried to keep herself completely motionless, imagining she was tracking outlaws in a forest. Even her mind had to be as still as the lake on a day with no wind, ready to receive information. At first it was just a busy square, crowds of people going this way and that, their chatter nothing but background noise.

Then something got her attention. A pretty dark-haired girl, perhaps a couple of years older than Eden, dressed in the cheap finery of a flame red dress. She was holding onto an unhappy looking shabby boy of about eleven. He was thin and pale, with hair so fair it was almost white, and a pink rim around his eyes that made Eden think he had recently been crying. He reminded her of a white mouse she had once kept as a pet.

"Those two," Eden said, staring straight at them rather than pointing. "They don't fit together."

"Why's that?" Maeve asked with interest.