The Seamstress

CHAPTER FOUR

"So, what's your name?" Rehan glanced at his new companion as he led her through the streets of the capital to the nicer side of town. The way her green eyes widened in wonder, it seemed as if she had never even been on this side of town before. Part of him wanted to add, "or should I wait until after we buy the ring first?" but he figured he had already offended her enough. In his experience, people he had met with a stutter usually just had problems being too nervous or shy, but the extreme way she spoke, he wondered if there was another cause. Not that it was any of his business.

She seemed like a nice enough woman—probably five years younger than him, which put her in her early twenties—and she was quite a beauty too. If it wasn't for her stutter, Rehan guessed a beautiful and nice woman like her would have probably already been married by now. "K—K—K—Kae."

"I'm Rehan." He gestured to a street on the right. As she followed close beside him, their footsteps thudded on the cobblestones. Where the tavern had been, the stones had all been cracked and riddled with mud, but here, they were neatly paved, without a trace of dirt on them. "Why is your husband not accompanying you?" he asked. It was more out of curiosity and he figured it was the politest way to find out if she truly was married or not. If she wasn't...

Well, Rehan hadn't spent near enough time in the tavern with a woman's company. If Kae was unmarried, she would have to do and he had no doubt it wouldn't be too difficult to convince her along their journey.

Kae glanced down at the stones. "N—n—n—n—n—not m—m—m—m—married."

Rehan clicked his tongue and then pointed to a two story shop down the road. "Here it is. I've been here a few times before. The place has plenty of enchanted items." Nothing he was personally interested in. Mostly jewelry that could take away beauty spots or blemishes, fix stutters and other speech problems, change the color of one's hair, eyes, or even skin, in some extreme cases. At the door to the shop, Rehan paused and glanced down at her. It was the first time he realized she was a good foot, foot and a half shorter than him. "Why have you never been here before? You never answered me before."

Kae's eyes glistened and her face turned bright red. "N—n—n—no m—m—m—m—m—m—m—m—money. I—if i—it's y—y—y—y—y—y—y—y—y—y..." Kae sighed and glared at the ground, crossing her arms over her chest. Rehan swore he saw tears falling from her eyes, but she looked away from him and refused to meet his gaze again.

Rehan placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. It really wasn't any of my business." It really wasn't, but he had a bad habit of sticking his nose where it didn't belong. He supposed it came from working as a mercenary after being a soldier in an army. Rehan always wanted to make sure the work he did was honest and fair, never for any questionable means. Which meant he tended to ask a lot of questions—way more than other mercenaries like him.

Kae finally glanced back up at him but her shoulder stayed tense beneath him. With his free hand, he opened the door to the shop and steered her inside. When they both stepped through the doorway, he released her shoulder and glanced around the shop.

The blue-skinned female owner glanced at him. "Haven't seen you back here in a while Rehan." Her eyes landed on Kae. "Want something nice for your lady here?"

Rehan decided not to correct her, though he didn't miss Kae's cheeks blushing. She didn't bother correcting the owner either, but he suspected it had more to do with her stutter. "Do you have any items with speech-correction spells on them? Stutters in particular."

The blue-skinned woman shot Kae a quick glance before reaching onto a shelf behind her. "I have a few—two rings and a necklace." She sat them both down onto the counter in front of her. "This one is more of an emotional-solving problem." Her hand touched the necklace and one ring. "Whereas this last ring will correct the speech based on brain activity. The spell on it isn't as strong though."