The Strings That Attach

Chapter Four

"Melia!" Elidy jumps on the bed and goes to shake me awake. Nylisa always lets me sleep in an extra hour and will help get the younger ones away. I probably still only got four hours of sleep.

"Hey, Elidy," I groan out.

"Today's the day you said you would take me; come on!" He tugs at my arm to get me moving.

"Okay, okay. Let me get up and ready. Give me thirty minutes, and I'll make us breakfast." He looks at me and nods. "Go play for a little while," I say, pointing to the most pathetic toy box ever. I look over at Nylisa and then at the bathroom, signaling her to go in with me. I go in and lock it behind us.

"Is Dad up yet?" I ask her quietly.

"Not yet; what do you want?" She talks just as quietly.

"I'm going to tell you what happened last night, and you cannot freak out," I look at her solemnly.

"The shop owner won't let you back in. Goddess, I knew you would get us banned from the only place we could ever afford to shop." I let her rant at me because I deserve this right now.

"Please let me explain. A man who saw me in the store when I stole it paid the man extra to ensure I wouldn't be banned." She drops her arms and looks at me with a confused expression. "Then, when I went to work last night, he sat at one of my tables. He saved me from a creepy man and said," I lowered my voice to be as quiet as possible, "I looked like I needed this, and then shoved three gold coins into my hand."

Her eyes go so wide you can see the veins in the back. "Three! You're sure they were gold, not copper?"

"I can tell the difference between gold and copper coins." I leave out the part where I think the man is stalking me.

"If we keep it secret, this could last us months." She is already doing the math to determine how to make it last as long as possible.

"That's why only you and I will know about it. I have it hidden with all the secret money," I smile at her, and she smiles back. She looks proud of me, a feeling I didn't know I needed.

I wore regular town clothes, including a tan and black skirt with a matching simple top. Both items have rips and are slightly too small, but I make do. I could convince Nylisa that a new outfit for everyone would be a good idea.

"Okay, let me get ready for work," she says, and I give her a small salute.

"I'll have breakfast ready for you when you're done," I tell her, heading back into the room. "Alright, guys, I'll grab you when breakfast is done."

After breakfast, the three kids say goodbye to Nylisa as she heads to work. I make sure the other two are dressed, and I grab a small pouch for coins and a larger bag to carry anything we may buy.

"You guys ready?" I do my head count as they come over. I pick up Alsira. She was getting too heavy to carry, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to her in the crowded town. I grab Elidy's hand and head out the door.

"Are you ready to make your claim on why he should teach you?" I ask him to have a conversation. He tells me all about the plan for the walk down there.

As soon as I turn the corner, I do a quick pause. There's no way that's him. At the blacksmith, I was just about to go to. Elidy pulls on my hand to get me moving again, and I shake my head and move again.

"Come on, I need to go see him." He's basically jumping up and down. I giggle at him and continue walking over there.

When the blacksmith emerges from the back of his cart, he looks between us, "Welcome! Who was here first?" The man whose name I still don't know motions for me to go first. I gulp and walk up to the blacksmith.

"Hi, what's your name?" I ask first.

"Well, I'm Smend!" He says very sweetly. It takes me aback because he is a massive, burly man. He is probably a foot taller than me and has short-shaven hair with a slight grey color. He also has enormous muscles. "Been a traveling blacksmith since twelve but decided to settle in Kratos. It's a beautifully cold kingdom, isn't it? Norwich is plenty busy, and I make great money." He does like to talk.

"Well, great to meet you, Smend!" I shake his hand, but he almost pulls me down with how hard of a shake it is. "My brother Elidy has come to talk to you about working under you, and I wanted to make sure he wasn't lying to me."

"Elidy! Oh yes, ma'am, I would love to talk, but let me help this gentleman quickly."

"No, please, I'm just looking. Please go on," my mysterious stalker says.

"Okay, well, tell me what you two would be doing," I question Smend.

"Ah yell, I will teach young Elidy here how to be a blacksmith for free; once he has done training in six months, he can start working under me, and I'll pay him a portion of my earnings for his help."

"Well, that sounds like an amazing opportunity for him. Thank you so much."

"Of course, he seems very interested in the art of the blacksmith. Sir, if you are still not ready, I would love to take this young man to the back and show him around," He asks the two of us.

"I'm still looking," he grumbles.

"Sounds good. We will be right back," he tells me, pulling Elidy along.

Once they are out of view, I finally set Alsira down and keep her close. I rest my head in my hand, contemplating confronting the man, but the intrusive thoughts win.

"I don't even know your name, so if you're going to stalk me, I feel like I should at least know that," I spit out at him while keeping Alsira distracted.

"Will it make you feel better?" He taunts.

"Yes, actually."

He chuckles, making me shiver a little, "Okay, you can call me Riv."

"Riv, really, that's not a real name," I look at him but look away again. He's too beautiful.

"No, it's not my real name, but it's what you can call me." I scoff and give up. I started to look at the beautiful knives displayed, and I thought it would be helpful to have one for protection, especially when I have such an open stalker.

I know I won't get one, but nothing is better than talking to my stalker.

"Which is your favorite?" I jump as he is now standing closer to me.

"I guess that purple one over there." I point to a beautiful silver dagger with a decorative black handle and pretty purple stones all along it.

"Fitting," he points to my hair.

I scoff since people always make fun of the way I like purple.

"What?" He asks.

"Nothing. I always get a reaction like that when I mention purple."

"I didn't mean it badly; I just meant that purple is your color. It suits you a lot," he says, and my heart flutters slightly.

"Oh, sorry, I don't usually receive nice comments." Why am I saying that?

"That's bad on people then because you deserve it."

I blush so hard, and all I can do is hope not to notice. Finally, Smend and Elidy return. "Oh great, Elidy, are you ready to leave?" I ask, trying to get out of there.

"Yep, he said I can start tomorrow!" He smiles so wide.

"Good, let's head ou-" I get cut off by "Riv."

"Can I buy that purple dagger there?" He asks Smeld, who looks shocked.

"I haven't been able to sell that one yet, but it's pretty expensive. It's three silvers." He smiles sheepishly. "Gems made straight from the king himself."

I started to walk away because I could not afford it and shouldn't even try. Two minutes later, someone runs past me and grabs my hand. They let it go again in a split second, left something in my hand, and disappeared into the crowd. I investigated my hand and saw the knife I was asking for. I gasp and close my palm. The weapon feels like it was made for my hand. I place it in my pouch and continue walking. We hit a couple of markets for food and supplies and went home. This is definitely a story to tell Ash tonight.