Apothecary

Chapter 21

The morning dawned surprisingly cheerfully, though the skies overhead were an ominous overcast. I was already half-awake and going through the motions of opening up the shop before I remembered the ball. I glanced at the grey sky as I locked the front door, half-expecting it to start pouring as soon as I stepped foot out onto the street. But Nayru seemed to be feeling merciful today, for no rain fell.

People milled about on the back streets in the usual Castle Town way, as I made my own way towards South Road--how many were invited to the ball? I wondered as I walked. How many were even aware that there was a ball at all?  I stepped off the back streets and brushed by Dargero's springwater shop with a wave. He and Koro both called out a greeting as I passed, but I had no time to stop and talk today--if I were late Eliza would have my head.

The instant I stepped into Telma's Bar, Eliza swept me off towards the tailors' to see about something to wear. Thanks to Ethan's foreknowledge, she'd managed to place a couple of dresses on hold for the both of us a week before the public announcement of the ball, so there was no rush. They were simple dresses, two linen kirtles dyed with woad's blue and indigo.

In the end we settled on renting the dresses out for the night; while cheaper than outright buying them, it still cost us a sizable amount of Rupees. But we didn't complain; we had our dresses, and we had been granted the privilege of attending a royal ball. This was an opportunity--the money could be replaced. By the time we swung back around to the bar, it seemed as though the rest of the Resistance had awoken. Ethan was talking animatedly with Shad when we returned (it seemed to be something about Selthrus' recent patrol scheduling), and I was informed by Telma that Link had headed out to South Road--most likely around Jovani's house. Eliza elected to stay at the bar and speak with Ethan and Telma about the Resistance, so I went out to find him. The hero in question was actually hanging around the infamous apple stands, debating whether or not to buy anything, but as soon he spotted me he dashed over, and we went for a walk around East Road to pass the time.

We passed Jovani's house and Link stopped dead in his tracks. I walked along for a few more minutes before I realized, and turned around to see Link holding his hand out to a cat that had walked up from Jovani's yard.

"Heya, Gengle! You remember me, right?" The cat seemingly purred his approval.

"Link, you can't just go picking up cats and carrying them around Castle Town!"

"Says who?" Link shot back defiantly while at the same time scooping up Gengle.

"I...do..." I said, quickly realizing how idiotic that sounded. Gengle was purring loudly. "But..." I struggled for a good rebuttal. "But they're not your cats!"

"Doesn't mean I can't pick them up." Link said stubbornly, somehow attracting three more. I was about to retort how one can't just go around snatching people's cats, when suddenly the whole situation struck me and I burst out laughing. Here I was, about to have an argument with the Hero of Twilight about a bunch of city cats. I'd never thought I'd see the day...

"Oh, goddesses, this is silly." I said between chuckles, and dropped the whole subject. Link had carefully put Gengle down in Jovani's yard, and we both stood watching as the other cats encircled him, looking for all the world like a neighborhood council. I wondered what their meetings would be about. "So these are Jovani's famous statute-breaking cats Selthrus was going on about, huh?" I knelt and scratched behind Gengle's ears absentmindedly.

"The very same." Link rolled his eyes. "I will never understand that man's obsession with rules."

"Jovani..." I said thoughtfully. "You know, one of the first things I heard when I moved here was how happy everyone was that Jovani was around again. You have anything to do with that?"