Dark Days by Leonie Rogers

Author:Leonie Rogers [Rogers, Leonie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - young adult
Publisher: Hague Publishing
Published: 2022-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one: Differences

In the end, Andiss had Kazari and Sendar continue in Athos the following day, while he and Javon roved towards Seraph. Accordingly, they made their way down to the market again, once again shopping for supplies for the chapel house, and also to replenish those they’d used on their trek. Andiss had also given them permission to ride out to Dari’s farm in the afternoon. “You can catch up on the local gossip,” he’d said. “Friends will often know if anything’s amiss, and you can sense there, Kaz.” Unspoken were the words: And you can reassure yourself that there are no gorgones close to your family.

As they entered the market, Kazari smiled at the cheerful bustle, its very normality reassuring her.

“Come on, the cheese we need is over in that corner.” She tugged at Sendar’s arm and drew him towards the cheese seller. Rounds of hard and soft cheeses sat in neat rows on her stall, and there was a small plate in front of each cheese, offering samples to prospective buyers.

“Kazari!” The aproned woman bustled forward, wiping her hands on a clean rag.

“Hello, Mahsi! I told Sendar that you have the best cheeses,” said Kazari, clasping the woman’s hands.

Mahsi smiled, eyes crinkling, and proffered one of the plates. “Here, try this one.”

Kazari took a piece and handed it to Sendar, and then turned back to Mahsi. “We need cheese for the road, Mahsi – something that will keep for days in a saddle bag.”

“Then you’ll be wanting these – I’ve several different ones, and they’re all waxed, so they’ll travel well. Taste them first, and then make your selection.”

Kazari chatted to Mahsi while they tasted the various offerings. The cheesemaker was full of the gossip of the town, and her cheeses were just as good as Kazari had remembered. She arranged for Mahsi to deliver a variety of the cheeses, waxed in small rounds, to the chapel house, and then they wandered the market making the rest of their purchases.

Savoury smells wafted from one end, where vendors filled flat bread with hot slivers of peppery meat and fried onions, and Kazari dragged Sendar over to them, holding two fingers up to the man cooking on the corner. He smiled and nodded.

“You have to try these, Sendar!” she urged, handing him one of the hot snacks. Then she licked her fingers as hot meat juices dripped from the bread, and took her own first bite. Savoury flavours burst on her tongue, and she smiled around her mouthful as Sendar murmured his own appreciation through a mouthful. As Kazari finished her last piece, she caught a glimpse of the stranger she’d seen at the bakery. He was leaving the tinsmith’s stall, carrying another hessian bag. She elbowed Sendar. “Look! It’s him!”

“Who?” asked Sendar, through a mouthful.

“The stranger,” Kazari replied. “Over at the tinsmith’s.” He followed her head nod with a glance.

“And? He still looks pretty normal to me.”

“Excuse me, Hendry, but who is the man at the tinsmith’s?” asked Kazari politely.

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