The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 6: Marketplaces

The day was overcast but it certainly hadn't put any kind of damper on the day's trade. Eliska could feel the sweat on her back as she headed into yet another marketplace, basket with embroidered cloth held tightly in her hands as she navigated the crowds. It might have seemed silly to others if they'd known what she was doing, but she'd learned that checking the marketplaces for rumours was one of the best ways to get information. She'd overheard more than one crucial piece of information in the past.

As much as she'd have liked to head into the Grand Bazaar, Eliska certainly didn't have space there rented, and as a woman selling her wares, unlikely to get one. She'd heard there another day as a shopper to gather that crop of rumours. For now, the more public ones were what she was investigating.

Eliska slid around two arguing men and then by a merchant with cages of chickens. A little farther up she spotted what she was looking for, a small empty space between two other merchants. Working her way through the press of bodies, more than one who could have used a visit to the hamam, Eliska finally reached the clear area and sat herself down after a quick glance at the stalls to either side of her.

One was obviously a sausage seller, his wares heaped up around him on the wheeled wooden stall he had in place of a normal cart. On her other side was a man who had nothing but papers in front of him. It took her watching him for several moments to realize he was a scribe, writing down things in a fine hand for those who wanted it or for those few who couldn't write themselves. Which was rare enough thanks to the women in Eliska's family who had opened many a temple with the understanding that any child who wished to could learn to read and write.

She was glad that neither were involved in the clothing trade in any way. She had less of a chance of being sent packing that way, especially as a lone woman. The look the scribe gave her was friendly, the one the sausage man flashed was resigned. With their tacit acceptance, Eliska carefully laid out her cloths in front of her after first laying down a sheet of undyed cotton to protect them from the dirt of the ground.

Once she had everything arranged to her liking, she retrieved her current work in progress, spreading it across her lap before threading her needle and getting to work. With her eyes focused on her cloth, her respectable dress and the fact she was engaged in a time honoured female craft, Eliska effectively disappeared. Most people's eyes slide right past her, only a few glancing at her wares, and only a small handful of those giving her even a cursory look. Just the way she liked it.

Her hands knew what to do so Eliska was free to focus on the snatches of conversation she could hear all around. Most she dismissed, she wasn't much concerned who was potentially stepping out with who, who was courting who, or that so-and-so's child was an absolute terror. She was far more interested in the things spoken of more quietly, with looks around, and the things spoken with real emotion.

"-did it! I know he did!" said one young woman, face crumpling up while the other woman she spoke to shushed her. "I won't! He's taken up with that creature again, is probably off drinking in one of those awful foreign ale houses."

Eliska made a face inward and turned her attention elsewhere, her face outwardly serene as her hands kept up their steady movement. The next thing she heard had her glancing surreptitiously upwards to see who had spoken. "...disappeared last night and no one's seen him since," said the man with the thick mustache, facing his friend as they both stood in front of the vegetable seller on the other side of the scribe.

"He's probably just wandered off again and gotten lost. He'll turn up soon enough," his friend replied, shaking his head.

"No! This isn't like him. My great-uncle has never been gone for more than a couple of hours, and never at night. And he doesn't wander off and get lost. He just goes for long walks and visits friends of his."