Erland Gale took in a long breath. The outdoor market was choked in crowds and many of the light skinned Rehta were giving his dark complexion a startled glance. He made his way through the familiar market to the stand of one of his merchants.
There were only about a 100 or so of his people scattered among the Rehtara islands, dispersed from a shipwreck a couple years ago. Rehtara was beautiful, and the markets were excellent, leaving him inclined to stay. Erland was a businessman. And his foreign skin combined with his quick rise in status left many native Rehta not too fond of him.
"Excuse me?" A woman spoke to the merchant Erland was currently checking up on. He looked up at her as the merchant moved to help her. Her pale skin luminesced in the sunlight, and her long turquoise hair swayed with the breeze.
"How much hinau fruit will this much get me?" She held out her hand to the merchant with some coins in her palm.
The merchant took the coins and weighed out the appropriate amount of berries. He wrapped them in a dark purple cloth and handed them to the woman with a thank you. She smiled, but she looked a little disappointed, like she was hoping her money would have gotten her a little more.
As the woman's back turned, Erland fished some money from his pocket.
-----
Ila walked away from the fruit stand in the outdoor market, putting the hinau berries in the purple cloth in her bag. As she was nearing the edge of the market, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around quickly to see who was.
"Woah there! Sorry about that," a man with dark umber hair was behind her, no doubt he was the one who had touched her shoulder. She stared at him silently waiting for him to say something.
"Um..." Her silence seemed to be making him uncomfortable. "I saw you at the fruit stand," he followed her from there? That's really creepy. "I got you this," he said, holding up a purple cloth identical to the one in her bag.
"Did you... Buy me berries?" She was surprised. He must be really perceptive if he could tell she didn't have enough berries just from watching her. She took the cloth from his hands.
"Wow, thank you," Ila said to the man.
"Would you like me to walk you home?" He asked her nervously. She considered it a moment.
"Yes, that would be nice," she replied, smiling genuinely.
