A tall man with long blond hair had appeared next to Tracou. Pointed ears, angled slightly backward, jutted out from either side of the man's head. The humans Tracou had seen with blond hair were about as pale as Tracou was, but this man was tan. The man also had strangely shaped eyes—a shape Tracou had never seen before. This was particularly odd because, as a dezmek, Tracou was an expert on strange eyes. His clothes stood out, too. He was wearing white robes with green embroidery on the bottom and he was carrying a bag made from the same cloth.
"An elf?" Tracou spat, not realizing he had said it out loud.
The elf appeared flustered. He had difficulty making eye contact.
"Oh, um... excuse me," the elf said, sounding like he had to force each word out. His Aodehsh was accented. Oddly, he was still looking at Tracou and not the vendor.
"What?"
"Mm..." The elf grimaced. "I didn't realize you were a dezmek before I got close."
Tracou watched him, blinking slowly.
Now, it wasn't a surprise for someone to not know whether someone was a dezmek until they got close. The biggest marker of a dezmek, what separated them from other races on the continent, was their eyes. Unlike humans and elves, who had eyes with round pupils, dezmek had eyes with slit pupils. This allowed them to see in the dark better than humans and elves. Their irises took up the majority of their visible eyeball, which forced dezmek to stare straight at anything they wanted to see. Many dezmek had white hair, like Tracou did, but he was wearing a hat so that would be easy to miss.
Regardless, this elf had a lot of gall to come up to him and then say something more than, 'Oh, my mistake.'
Tracou huffed. "Why are you talking to me?"
"Well..." The elf trailed off with a frown. "You were arguing with this person about the price of this fabric, right?"
"Yes." Tracou said, wary. If it came down to it, he might end up buying this fabric at full price just so this elf couldn't get his hands on it.
"Can you not afford it?"
Tracou's face turned scarlet. Just who did this elf think he was, insulting him like this? In public, no less! He might not be a king, but Tracou wasn't some peasant.
"How dare you?! I'm not some vagabond! Do you think I'm accosting this man about his fabric, is that it?"
The elf wilted, expression pained. "No! No, that's not—"
"Maybe you're just stupid, then! Have you never heard of haggling?"
For several moments, the elf was quiet. Then he shook his head.
The majority of his anger fled Tracou's body. Not all of it, though. Part of that anger he held onto in the pit of his stomach, just in case.
"Haggling is when someone discusses the price with a merchant until they reach a price they both agree on. It's normal and even so I can afford it at full price, if I wanted!"
With a wince, the elf nodded. "I see... I didn't know that."
The clear regret on the elf's face made Tracou feel something he didn't care to put a name to. He ignored it, preferring the anger he had kept instead.
"But now I don't want it. I'll think about how I was accused of being penniless every time I look at it."
Without giving a second glance to the vendor, Tracou marched away.
"Ah, wait!"
The elf was following him.
Tracou sped up his pace, but he was no match for the elf's longer legs. Abruptly coming to a stop, Tracou whirled around just in time to see the elf nearly collide with him.
"Please, ah, please wait."
"I am waiting," Tracou said, crossing his arms over his chest.
The elf's eyes widened. Then he straightened up and gave Tracou a slight bow.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you."
Elves were weird. Or maybe it was just this one. Tracou eyed him coolly, but this apology made the last dregs of anger he had kept evaporate.
"You should be sorry," he said limply.
Silence. The elf had chased after him to apologize and wasn't leaving. In fact, it looked like he was expecting something. If he was expecting some kind of apology back, he absolutely wasn't going to get it. He could chase Tracou out to sea and still get nothing.
It was unbelievably awkward.
"Hey, elf. Is this your first time outside of your country?"
"Yes, it is," he said, sounding almost proud.
Come to think of it, the elf was dusty. His clothes were turning brown. To the discerning eye of someone who very much valued nice clothing, what the elf was wearing was high quality. The elf himself had bags under his eyes. As far as he knew, the capital of the Elven Kingdom was weeks and weeks away from Shalen. It was possible that the elf had no idea how traveling was normally done.
"And you're alone?"
"Yes."
Tracou made an unpleasant noise in the back of his throat.
"You're asking to get into fights, you know. Or get taken advantage of. You think these humans won't take you for all your worth?"
A small gasp escaped the elf's mouth. "They would do that?"
Everyone knew humans, if given half a chance, would steal anything from anyone. Even an elf should know this. He spoke Aodehsh fine, but he didn't know about haggling or thieves. Just what were they teaching people in the Elven Kingdom? This was pathetic.
"You really need help, don't you?"
The elf kept his eyes on Tracou and nodded once. "Will you help me?"
Helping an elf wasn't on the list of things Tracou wanted to do. He traveled to Shalen by himself and he had intended to stay that way. Still, if he left the elf alone, he could end up robbed or worse. This was a gathering of merchants, but criminals could slip in. Elves were rare. Something bad could happen. It wasn't Tracou's responsibility, of course. But seeing this possibly helpless elf fidget in front of him was just too much. He couldn't ignore it.
Plus this was an abnormal event. A dezmek like him hardly saw elves, let alone spoke to them.
"I'll help you."
The elf took a few steps toward Tracou. "Thank you! Oh, I've been so lonely by myself."
Without warning, the elf suddenly grabbed one of Tracou's gloved hands with both of his own. Tracou stared at their hands, wholly unused to this kind of behavior.
"I'm in your debt," the elf said, sounding entirely too pleased.
"Um... okay."
The elf leaned down, forcing Tracou to confront the difference in their heights. Tracou only came up to the base of the elf's neck.
"I'm glad you're the one helping me. Are all dezmek as cute as you are?" the elf asked without even the barest hint of shame.
"Wh—?!" Tracou choked, half of his gasped question not even getting out of his mouth in time. Just moments ago this elf had been insulting him and now he was... What was he doing, exactly? He was holding his hand and calling him cute. Maybe this was normal elf protocol, but to Tracou it was almost too much to handle.
The elf observed Tracou's reaction with a detached amusement, as though he had nothing to do with it. "You must be a special case," he concluded.
"If anyone's a special case around here, it certainly isn't me!"
This gave the elf pause. He searched Tracou's face for more information, but found nothing.
"Are you complimenting me?"
"I'm insulting you."
"Oh, how mean." Despite the words he used, the elf was still smiling. "What's your name, little dezmek?"
There was no limit to how annoying this elf could be.
"It's Tracou. And don't call me that!"
"...Don't call you Tracou?" the elf asked, his head tilted.
"No, don't call me little dezmek!"
The formerly confused expression of the elf cracked, revealing itself to be a facade, and the elf chuckled.
The elf was laughing at him! Tracou's expression tightened.
"How would you like it if I just called you big elf?"
Several seconds ticked by as the elf considered his proposition. It seemed like an easy question to Tracou, who absolutely would have hated it, but apparently he was wrong.
"I wouldn't mind it, if that's what you wanted to call me. But my name is Pendaer."
"Tch. Could you let go of my hand, Pendaer?" Tracou wiggled his fingers, glad that he had worn gloves.
Pendaer dutifully let go of him.
Tracou, being the only child of a noble house, was not used to helping other people. Being helped was easy, but he wasn't sure where to start with helping someone else. Explaining how everything worked would take time. It might be better to start small and work his way upward.
"Are you hungry?" Tracou asked.
"Yes. Very."
Perfect. Tracou could solve this.
"There are some people selling food a little ways away. Oh, that reminds me... do you have money?"
Reaching into his bag, Pendaer produced a smaller bag, bulging with coins. "I do."
That was good. If Pendaer had been penniless then helping him out would have eaten into his spending money.
"Great. Let's go."
With that, Tracou was off. He tended to start and stop sharply, which seemed to catch Pendaer off guard. But soon he was walking alongside him.
If Pendaer hadn't been so tall, Tracou might have been concerned about him getting lost. Dezmek were shorter than the average human and elves were even taller than humans were. That height of Pendaer's was earning them glances which turned into stares when they saw his pointed ears.
Other stalls had set up as Tracou was haggling with the merchant. Now there were people angling for the dinner crowd, selling pork, bread, fruit, and soup. It was still too warm for soup, but maybe he could convince the seller to lower the price a bit because of that. Then again, it would mean eating soup during the summer. Bread would probably be the cheapest, but soup would taste better. The pork was another possibility. It was a bit warm for meat, too, and it wouldn't be as cheap as soup. Fruit was always a solid choice, but it would definitely be the most expensive.
As Tracou mulled the choices over, Pendaer watched him. He just openly stared at him as though he was waiting for him to do a trick. It soon became intolerable.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking."
Pendaer hummed softly, looking at the stalls of food. "What do you want to eat?"
"That's what I'm thinking about."
"Oh." A pause. "They have pears, over there," Pendaer said, pointing to the fruit stand.
Pouting, Tracou looked over where Pendaer was pointing. They did have pears. They had a variety of berries, too. And, of course, the apples from earlier.
"You want to eat some pears?"
"And maybe some bread."
"Not any meat?"
Pendaer shook his head. "Elves don't eat meat."
Tracou scoffed. "You're going to have a hard time, then. Humans eat meat constantly."
"Do you?"
"When the mood strikes me."
"Mm... Well, I won't."
"Suit yourself."
Clearly this gave them only two options. The pork was obviously out and who knew what, exactly, the soup had in it. Heaving a sigh, Tracou walked over to the fruit stand, Pendaer close behind him.
Tracou figured they could stand to buy enough to save some for later. He asked for some apples, which were a dezmek favorite, and some pears. When he reached for his own bag of coin, Pendaer jolted, startling Tracou and the vendor both.
"Ah! Let me pay!" he nearly shouted.
"Fine."
Appeased, Pendaer handed Tracou the sack of coins. Tracou eyed him for a moment before opening the bag. Truly, this elf would be helpless without him.
Inside the bag were gold coins. And not just any gold coins—Elvish gold coins. These coins were the only currency elves accepted, making them exceptionally valuable to anyone who wanted to buy something from them. Elves produced some of the best decorative items like pottery, artwork, and even smaller things like combs on the continent. Even one coin was worth much more than some fruit.
"Idiot! You can't use those here," Tracou hissed, shoving the bag back into Pendaer's hands.
Crestfallen, Pendaer grimaced at his sack of, apparently, useless coins.
Tracou paid for the fruit himself, gathered them in his arms, and turned around. After a beat, the elf opened his larger bag and Tracou set each bit of fruit in there one by one. He then darted over to the bread stall, with Pendaer ambling behind him.
When Tracou was satisfied with what they had bought, he found them a place to sit down under a tree. He decided that he was pretty pleased with himself. It was okay that his plans were disrupted because, without his intervention, an elf might have gotten robbed or worse.
Glancing over at the elf, Tracou found that he wasn't eating. He was staring at his pear. If he stared any harder, it might burst into flame.
"I thought you were hungry."
Pendaer blinked once and then turned towards Tracou, looking at him as though he had never seen him before.
"Oh... I am." He took a lethargic bite of the pear, chewed, and then swallowed it. His body stilled as he retreated into himself again.
Perhaps this was normal. An elf mood swing. Or, maybe, elves didn't need to eat as much as humans or dezmek did. Elves lived for a long time, often reaching three hundred years before they died. Maybe every bodily process was stretched out that long.
"Do elves not need to eat?"
"We do," Pendaer said, frowning at his pear.
"Is the pear bad?"
"No, it's good."
"What's the problem, then?" Tracou grumbled.
Pendaer glanced at Tracou and then returned his eyes to the pear.
"I was thinking of buying you something to thank you, but if my coins are worthless, then..." A smile that didn't reach Pendaer's eyes appeared on his face. "Then I need your help more than I thought I did."
Now that he understood the problem, Tracou let out a short, relieved breath. "Your coins aren't worthless. They're worth too much! You can't use one of those coins on some fruit."
The two men stared at each other. Suddenly, Pendaer slumped back against the tree and let out a single laugh.
"That means I could have bought that fabric for you?"
"You could have, yes."
"How many coins would it take, do you think?"
Tracou squeezed his eyes closed, trying to picture how much aj one Elvish coin was worth. This was the first time he had ever seen Elvish coins. He would just have to guess.
"I think maybe three? But if it were me, I would offer him two and see if he agreed."
"Really?" The elf's previous funk had totally left him. He smiled brightly. "I could go and get it now."
"I told you: I don't want it."
"Are you sure? I watched the two of you speak for a while and you looked like you wanted it..."
Tracou pressed his lips into a thin line, gently biting the inside of them before speaking. "Was it that obvious?"
Pendaer nodded, now eating his pear in earnest.
"Even so, I don't want it now."
"I think you would look nice in that fabric."
"You're only saying that so I'll let you buy it for me. I don't want it."
"Something else, then. Just let me know and I'll get it for you, okay?"
"Hmph. I don't want anything from you."
Somehow, the idea of letting this elf buy something for him was unpalatable. Tracou had his own money. If Pendaer bought him something, it would be like Tracou couldn't take care of himself, which he obviously could. It was Pendaer who needed help. This lone elf had somehow wandered into another country without knowing anything important, despite knowing the language.
"Anyway. Why are you here? You don't know how much your coin is worth... And you're by yourself, even."
"Ah... I wanted to travel."
Things were quiet for a time as Tracou waited for Pendaer to elaborate, but he was finished.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Why by yourself?"
"It would be difficult for me to bring many people along. Is it strange, for me to be alone? You're alone, aren't you?" Pendaer's eyes suddenly widened. "You are alone, right?"
"I know what I'm doing, so it's not a problem if I'm alone. You look like you walked here."
"I walked part of the way, but sometimes I would see another group traveling and I would ride with them."
"Why not stick with them?"
"None of them were going as far as I was going. I was brought to the border... then I walked."
Just hearing that made Tracou's feet hurt. The Elven Kingdom was the largest country on the continent. Even after that, Shalen was much closer to the border with Dezmer than with the Elven Kingdom, meaning that Pendaer had to walk a significant distance.
"I don't get it. You have money and nice clothes, so it's not like you're a peasant. You should have at least bought a horse."
Suddenly sheepish, Pendaer turned away. He mumbled something.
"What?"
"...don't know how to ride a horse..."
There was no end to what this elf did not know.
"But enough about me," Pendaer declared suddenly. "Why are you here, Tracou?"
"Me?" Tracou asked, taken aback by the question. "I came here for the Gathering of Merchants."
"The what?"
Breathing slowly out of his nose, Tracou gestured towards the stalls. "That over there. It only happens once a year."
Pendaer nodded once, twice, and then his head stopped in the middle of his third nod. "Can you not buy things in your country?"
Tracou felt his face heat up. First Pendaer had accused him of having no money and now he was accusing Dezmer of being poor. Obviously Dezmer had nowhere near the wealth the Elven Kingdom or even Aodehn, but it wasn't some wasteland.
"Of course I can buy things in Dezmer! I can buy Dezmerian things. But coming here, I can buy things from other countries. Obviously!"
Instead of looking embarrassed, like he should, Pendaer was grinning at him.
"You're funny. People can buy things anywhere," he said.
Tracou's face was definitely pink now. Every so often the elf stuck his leg out to trip Tracou and he had fallen for it twice so far. Gritting his teeth, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his entire body away from Pendaer.
"Hmph!"
"Aw, don't be angry," Pendaer said, sounding far too cheerful.
That wasn't even close to enough to satisfy Tracou. His nose in the air, he peered back briefly at Pendaer.
"I didn't know elves were so childish," Tracou said, pouting.
That didn't seem to bother Pendaer in the least. In fact, his grin got wider.
The elf scooted closer to him. "How old are you?"
There was a pause as Tracou made Pendaer wait just for the sake of it. "Twenty-two."
"Oh! Hmm... I'm not sure how much that is in elf terms."
Tracou scoffed. "How old are you, then?"
"I'm seventy-nine," Pendaer said as though it was obvious.
Turning back towards the elf, Tracou took a good look at him. Pendaer looked young. He was obviously an adult, but he had no blemishes aside from those bags under his eyes. Those were likely caused by exhaustion, so if Pendaer rested for a while and ate well they should go away. His hair, while stupidly long and dirty after who knew how long without a bath, wasn't ragged. It should have been, considering how long it was. Still, he probably would have looked more handsome with shorter hair. Not that his face was bad. Tracou had always heard that elves were feminine, but Pendaer was definitely male. He had a strong jaw and wide shoulders. The only thing he was lacking in was facial and body hair, but everyone knew elves couldn't grow that. Dezmek couldn't either.
Ultimately, Pendaer could pass as someone in their early twenties.
This scrutiny had rendered Pendaer unable to make eye contact with Tracou.
"How long are you going to stare at me?"
With a start, Tracou turned away again. "I was just trying to see how old you were! You don't look seventy-nine."
"I'm an elf."
"Yes, I know."
"And you're a dezmek."
"I know that, too."
"You're the first dezmek I've met."
"And you're the first elf I've met. Where are you going with this?"
"Maybe to bed," the elf said, the last word transforming into a yawn. "Sitting like this is making all that walking catch up to me."
By now, the sun had met the horizon. It was still too early to sleep, in Tracou's opinion, but Pendaer probably hadn't been getting decent sleep out on the road.
"Where are you sleeping tonight? An inn?"
"Oh, I don't know yet."
"You—..." Tracou cut himself off with a harsh frown. This was the night before the Gathering of Merchants! Tracou had managed to find a bed, but doubtless more people had arrived after him and taken up the rest of them. "We should have gotten you a bed instead of wasting time sitting here," Tracou groaned.
Pendaer eyed Tracou, mild discomfort on his face. "What about you, Tracou?"
"What? I paid for a bed already."
"Oh! Then there's no problem," Mirthal said with a smile. "We can share."
It was common for dezmek to share a bed when it was cold, but it was summer now! Sharing a bed would only make them sweaty. It was probably better than letting Pendaer sleep outside, but the way Pendaer just assumed that Tracou would let him share was frustrating.
"What makes you think that I'll share my bed with you?"
Pendaer looked at Tracou like he was telling him that the moon was coming down to lecture him on proper combing techniques.
"What?"
"Maybe I'll make you sleep outside."
The same uncomprehending expression dominated Pendaer's face. The mere thought of Tracou not letting him sleep in his bed was so far beyond the scope of his understanding that it took him a solid minute to parse it.
"But... what will I do?" he asked, sounding dazed.
Tracou grunted, unable to make eye contact with Pendaer.
"I'll let you share my bed. You're lucky I'm so nice!"
The world was set back to normal again for Pendaer. "I am," he said with a wide smile.
That response made Tracou pout. He wasn't supposed to just agree like it was nothing. It was embarrassing!
"I could let you sleep outside."
"You could."
"You're helpless without me!"
"You're right."
This was frustrating for reasons Tracou couldn't put his finger on.
"Don't just agree! Have some pride!"
Pendaer's eyebrows lifted. "You want me to disagree with you?"
Tracou huffed. "Let's just go."
"Okay."
It was twilight by the time they arrived at the inn. Their bed was but one in a room full of them. Each bed had a little trunk at the front of it where people could put their things, which Tracou had already used to put some of his sets of clothes. He directed the elf to his bed—their bed—and told him to put his bag in the chest, which he did. Pendaer then took his shoes off and got into bed. "It's still early," Tracou said, looking around at the rest of the room. There was one other man sleeping, but otherwise they were alone. When a large amount of humans gathered in one place it usually meant that they would find a tavern.
"I'm tired."
"You don't have any clothes to sleep in?"
Pendaer shook his head. He was lying on his stomach, making shaking his head difficult, but he was dedicated to not speaking.
None of Tracou's clothing would fit Pendaer. There was nothing else for Tracou to do, but there was still time to go outside and at least look for other clothes for Pendaer. It would give them a chance to have his clothes washed. He had agreed to help Pendaer without much thought. Was this what watching children was like? It was nothing but problems and spending money.
Unfortunately, the stalls were almost all either shut down for the evening or in the process of packing up their inventory. Tracou had gone outside for nothing. Going to a tavern wasn't a good idea if he wanted to get up early to check out the stands tomorrow morning.
With nothing to do, he might as well just go back to the inn.
As he approached the inn, he noticed another abnormally tall man with pointed ears—doubtless another elf. He had a horse by his side. The elf had an elegant air that Pendaer didn't possess. Even his face was more refined, with delicate features. His eyes were the same shape as Pendaer's. Though the light was dwindling, Tracou could clearly see that the elf's hair was blue. How could an elf or anyone else have blue hair? Unlike his hair, his eyebrows were a pale blond.
Before he could think better of it, Tracou was already speaking. Both Pendaer and this other elf might like to know that one of their countrymen was nearby.
"Good evening!"
The elf paused to look at him. His thin upper lip curled and he began to walk away.
"Ah, wait! You're an elf, aren't you?"
Stopping in his tracks, the elf still staunchly faced away from Tracou.
"You have no idea who you're talking to, dezmek," the elf said, spitting the last word out of his mouth as if it tasted foul. "Don't speak to me."
Tracou was soon left in the dust as the elf went on his way.
How rude! Compared to Pendaer, the blue haired elf was infuriating. Dezmek weren't exactly respected like elves were, but they were still people. There was no reason for him to react so poorly.
He spent some time fuming before finally going back inside the inn. More of the beds were full now, including his own. Pendaer had stretched out, seemingly claiming it as his.
After changing into his bedclothes and putting his wand into the chest for the night, Tracou pushed Pendaer back to his own side. This forced a pathetic whine from Pendaer, but he didn't fight it. Tracou settled into bed, curling up as far away from Pendaer as he could manage.