17. Yvonne

17

YVONNE

“Remember, it’s best to not draw any more attention to us than necessary,” I say. I doubt we’ll run into anyone in the market at this hour who’ll recognize me. But Oarus on his own will draw suspicious eyes. We need to be smart.

“Yes, I know,” Oarus responds. “And don’t worry. Just like in the water, I’ll be here to protect you at all times.”

I nod as we continue to wander further into the marketplace. Our long, dark cloaks are the only thing disguising us in the moonlight.

One would think the place would be a ghost town this time of night, but it’s as busy as in the day. Vendors hawk their wares at passersby. Shoppers haggle over the prices. Street performers sing and play songs, hoping for a spare coin to be tossed their way.

Oarus and I blend right in. We don’t even seem to be the only ones disguising our identity under cloaks. We hurry past some eight-foot-tall beast under a cloak examining a flowery dress with a large, hairy hand.

The two of us browse a variety of stalls in the market. My knees go weak as I feel the impossibly soft wool from a land far away knitted into a gorgeous scarf. Oarus marvels at the painting of a long-forgotten king. We’re both nearly blinded by the glow of the beautiful jewelry on sale at every other booth, from all parts of the world.

“Does the pretty lady like what she sees?” asks the vendor at one of the jewelry booths. He looks like a normal human. But when he smiles, a set of razor-sharp teeth glisten in the moonlight. “Would you like to buy something?”

“Maybe another time,” I said kindly before shuffling off. Oarus follows me.

“Why didn’t you buy something? Did you find him scary? I could protect you.”

“What? No. No, I didn’t buy anything because I don’t have much money to my name. In fact, I have none at all. But that’s okay. Sometimes it’s just nice to look.”

When I used to have money, it was only for the essentials. But sometimes I can’t help myself. I like to look at all the fancy and expensive items for sale and dream.

I dream about getting to wear a gorgeous, flowy dress as I descend into a ball full of high society, glittery jewelry adoring each of my fingers and my neck. But that will never be a reality for me, and it’s something I came to terms with a long time ago.

“Perhaps,” Oarus mumbles. “But maybe you deserve to treat yourself tonight.”

Oarus then pulls his hand out of his cloak to reveal a giant fist full of shiny coins. It’s more money than I’ve ever seen at once with my own eyes. My former masters would never let me have access to that much of their money.

“What? Oarus, where did you –? Whose money is that?”

“It’s mine.”

“How do you have money?”

“On occasion, I trade with the humans and others with coins to spend. Casein, gems from the oceans. Some of the coins I’ve found on my own in shipwrecks or lost on the beach, that sort of thing. Mainly I’ve kept them for collecting purposes, but I’m sure you’ll find a better use for them.”

“Oh, Oarus, I couldn’t possibly take your money from you.”

“I insist. Buy something nice.”

“Okay,” I say with a shy smile. No one has ever treated me like this, just freely giving me a small fortune to do with whatever I’d like.

I take as many coins from him as my hands can carry. My attention immediately turns to a stall selling beautiful sundresses. I’ve never had fabric so fine touch my skin before… and now is my chance.

“Hmm,” says the old woman selling the dresses. “Got your eye on one?”

“Oh… Um…” I immediately sense I’m out of my element. They’re all so beautiful, I don’t even know where to begin. “What… What would you recommend?”

“Let me see,” she says as she looks me up and down. “How about this one?”

The old woman produces a light brown dress with golden tones. The dress flaps enticingly in the night wind.

“It’ll match nicely with both your hair and eyes,” she explains to me. “Trust me, you’ll look beautiful. Bound to catch the eye of whatever lucky gentleman is in your life.”

For a split second, my mind wanders to Oarus. I wonder if he’d like it. Or maybe I’m even hoping he will… But I push that thought out of my head.

“I’ll take it,” I say. I want to look beautiful.

I hand the woman some coins and collect the dress from her. When I turn around, I find Oarus standing right behind me.

“That’s a lovely piece of clothing,” he remarks.

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to buy? Do you need more coins from me?”

“Well, I was thinking about checking out –”

“I got you some things,” he blurts out.

“Oh?”

Oarus first pulls out a small bronze flower. It looks dazzling in the moonlight. Without a word, he carefully puts it in my hair.

“Oarus… It’s…”

He then pulls out a necklace. It’s a gold chain with a pearl in the center. A simple piece to some, I suppose, but to me, it’s perfect. Oarus puts it around my neck.

“I thought they might look nice on you,” he says. “I was right.”

I feel myself standing closer to him than I ever wanted to before, wishing his hands would linger on me longer as he adorns me with the jewelry.

Before I can act on this, Oarus starts to sniff the air.

“Follow me,” he commands.

The next hour or so is spent with Oarus dragging me from booth to booth at the market. But not to buy jewelry or expensive dresses. Instead, he treats me to all the delicious food the market has to offer.

It’s no secret that I have not had a lot of good food in my life. The delicacies are never wasted on the slaves. But still, I doubt there is anywhere in the world with food better than this.

First, we enjoy roasted suru on a stick, seasoned with spices from all four corners of the map. Then casein caught in the very sea Oarus taught me to swim in. It’s followed by a sweet treat made from the eggs of some creature I’ve never even heard of before.

Flavors I never could’ve ever imagined in my wildest dreams dance across my tongue. I feel almost drunk on all the exotic tastes, and then I feel legitimately drunk off the wonderfully expensive wine Oarus buys a bottle of.

I am prepared to do this all night, to try all this amazing food and a few dishes twice until the sun rises. But I should’ve known this wouldn’t be able to last. Nothing good in my life truly can.

On the far end of the market, I see them. My body goes completely cold and stiff. My hand reaches out to grab Oarus’ cloak, and I tug on it to get his attention.

“What is it?” he asks before he follows my eyeline. “Who are they?”

Oarus sees them, too. Over by the vendors selling newly captured and broken slaves are some of my old tormentors. Workers at my former master’s household. Even from this distance, I can recognize the cruel faces of men who didn’t even deem me worthy to know their names.

Men who saw me, the only person below them in the cruel hierarchy of the manor, as a perfect target. All their frustration and anger at the cruelty they were faced with by Tyrus got directed at me. And I had to deal with it all.

They must be shopping for my replacement. Someone new to torture. I wonder if they heard what happened to me after the master sold me off. Did they smile or laugh hearing about me jumping to my presumed death?

“Speak to me, Yvonne,” Oarus commands. “Who are they to you?”

“They… They also used to work for my old master. The one before I was sold to work in the mines. The ones who spent years…”

Oarus doesn’t need me to finish the thought. He’s smart enough to fill in the blanks. These guys are bad news, to say the least.

I see the look in his eyes shift, from concern for me to hatred for these men. He looks away from me and toward them. His hands curl into fists.

Before Oarus can take a full step toward them, I’m moving in front of him. I place a hand on Oarus’ chest to keep him back.

“Don’t do anything, Oarus.”

“They were cruel to you, weren’t they? For how many years?”

I don’t answer him.

“Why should they be allowed to keep breathing after that?”

His chest rises against my hand with angry breaths. “I could tear them all apart,” he continues. “Tear them apart and have us back in the cavern before any guards arrive. I could –”

“No, Oarus,” I plead. “Don’t do anything like that, please. We can’t confront them.”

“Why not? The swift death I’ll give them is more than they deserve.”

“We can’t be drawing attention to ourselves like that. Please, let’s just go back to the cavern where it’s just us. No one else to worry about.”

“But –!” he tries to protest.

“No, Oarus. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth risking getting recognized or captured or followed back to the caverns. Please, let’s just go.”

Oarus stops pressing against my hands. He finally looks away at the men and back at me. The rage still infects his eyes, but I can tell he’s standing down.

He takes my arm and starts leading me out of the market. Only a few eyes are on us, but I doubt anyone knows what almost just happened.

Still, it was too close. If we get found out, if anyone discovers where I’ve been, I don’t even want to think about what might happen.