Tales of Avalon: The Maid and the Falcon

✧ Chapter 20: Streets of Namah ✧

"Aya, ragamuffin, are you going to pack up or are you going to wait for the watch to do it for you?"  Startled, Tena jumped and looked around to see that the sun was setting and the market was slowly emptying.  Beside her, the mat seller shook his graying head.  "Hope you've got food at home, guttersnipe, because the food stalls shut down half an hour ago."

Tena sighed and nodded; she'd hoped to buy a skewer of grilled meat on her way home, but that would have to wait for tomorrow.  Plain bread and vegetables would do for tonight, and she had those already.

"Thanks, birdsnest man."

"Aya...."  He sighed and shook his head but lingered after his mats were packed up to make sure Tena packed her things safely.  "Do you need someone to walk you home?"

After a moment, Tena shook her head.  "It's still light enough out.  I should be fine.  Thank you though."

"I'll bother you again tomorrow, then."  The mat seller set off down his usual route, and Tena slipped like a shadow through the streets toward her home.

Abruptly, she stopped, her woven shoes noiseless on the road.  In an alleyway ahead were several figures.  A few of them she recognized as members of Evak who frequented this road; this was not a fight she could win.

Tena was already planning a different route to reach her home when she recognized the other figure.  Is that... the northwoman?  The woman's voice sounded soft in comparison to the others, but she seemed to be disagreeing with them.  Oh, poor lady.  She seems fresh off the boat, and the first thing she runs into is Evak?  Even so, there was no point in getting involved.  Tena knew her presence wouldn't help the northwoman anyway.

A soft scraping noise sounded, followed by the whistle of blade in air.  That whistle sounded four times; Tena closed her eyes and turned her head away.  Four times?  They didn't need to stab her four times!  Once was enough!  Against her will she found her eyes opening to look.

There was only one figure in the alley now, wrapped in a cloak.  A glimmering flash of gold winked in her hand; Tena felt a chill down her spine.

"M-miss?"

The hooded figure turned, seeming unhurried.  "Yes?"

"Did... did you kill them?"

"Not yet." 

The calm and factual nature of the northwoman's statement felt like a slap.  Tena felt her hand glide over her mouth.  "You can't!"

"Why not?"  The woman looked over Tena carefully, as if noting where she could have hidden a knife.  "Are they friends of yours?"

"No, they're just... they're part of Evak.  If you kill them... Evak won't let you go."

"What's Evak?"

"An organization... they have a lot of power and they have ties to the–"  Tena shook her head.  "Never mind.  Just don't do it.  I have to go before they realize I was involved."

"Hm."  The northwoman paused for a moment, observing the lumps lying in the alley, and Tena hurried down the street.

It wasn't long before Tena realized the northwoman was following her.  She quickened her pace and dodged through the maze of streets but couldn't seem to get rid of the hooded figure.  Why did I ever get involved?  She'd just been trying to spare the northwoman some trouble; look where that was getting her.

With a gasp Tena stopped short; the hooded figure was now in front of her.  How did she... wait.  No, the northwoman was behind her still, and she had also stopped.  This was someone else.

"Aya, sir, please let me past; I need to go home before it gets dark." Tena begged, her whole face turning sweet and concerned.  Please, please, just mess with the northwoman and let me go home.

"Now that's funny."  Tena's heart sank at the stranger's amused voice.  "You both have traces, and you want me to ignore you?  What, did you overcharge her for it?"

"For what?"

"Oh really?  Do you pick so many pockets you don't remember which things you've pawned off?"

Tena began to step backward, hoping to at least buy herself time.  She wanted to glance at the northwoman, but it seemed unwise to take her eyes off the hooded man in front of her.  After what felt like forever, she had worked her way behind the northwoman and away from the hooded man in front of them.  Both of them seemed locked in a motionless duel fought purely by a grim stare.

The blue tropical twilight shattered into a thousand shards, pierced by a flash of yellow-white light.  Tena's unprepared eyes wavered as blobs floated in front of them, and she heard the northwoman grunt in surprise or pain.  She expected the northwoman to fall or walk away, but instead she simply kept her stare on the hooded man and shuffled to the left, scraping her feet on the ground.

"You..."  The low voice of the hooded man shook with suppressed anger.  "This isn't over."  Tena blinked and he was gone, or perhaps he had vanished into the dancing blobs in her vision.  The northwoman sighed and held a hand to her head.

"What... did you do?  Was he drunk?  What happened?"

The northwoman shook her head.  "Never mind.  Where would I find a good inn?"

Tena's heart sank.  "There... aren't any good ones around here.  They're all down by the docks.  Are you leaving?"

"Why?  Does it matter where I go?"

Tena lowered her head, feeling her face grow warm.  "I... don't get a say, but we lost a lot of time to that, and... Aya, it's getting dark.  Namah isn't very safe at night."

"You want me to take you home, then?"  The northwoman's cold voice sounded faintly amused, but Tena nodded.

"Could you?"

"If you can put me up for the night."

"I only have bread and vegetables."

The northwoman shrugged.  "That's no problem."

Tena nodded hesitantly.  "Between the person who paid me fairly and walking home in the dark... I'll do it."

The northwoman nodded and held out a hand.  "Breathe.  Don't fold up, and don't let yourself shake."

Tena nodded and clasped the northwoman's hand, a northern custom.  "I should say my name now, I think?"

"That's how it's usually done."

"Then I am Tena."

"Peregrine."

Tena led the way to her home, wondering how she had ended up in such a strange situation.  She slept very little that night.