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The wanderer scowled as he strode through the streets. It was such a meaningless errand. Any one of the dozens of Akademiya scholars or other hangers-on could have done it instead. There were always people clustered around the entrance to the Sanctuary of Surasthana—or at least, as close as the guards would let them get. One of them could have done this, and would have been honoured.
He pushed open both doors to the Grand Bazaar, smiling a little as both of them hit the walls of the passageway simultaneously. He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t.
He was terse with the vendor, but tried to stay on the right side of rudeness. It wouldn’t do to antagonize the woman, not when he needed her cooperation. She wasn’t the enemy. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, just discourage the idle chatter that so many merchants seemed to delight in.
He thought he’d done well, but then he noticed her selecting nuts from various points in the display, not the ones on top, or at the back, or anything like that. Nothing predictable.
He narrowed his gaze. He wasn’t accustomed to paying close attention to food. He didn’t need to eat, so what was the point? But he prided himself on being observant, when he had to be.
She was giving him the worst of the nuts.
He almost pulled out his catalyst right then and there. How dare she? It would serve her right, to feel the force of his wrath.
Instead, he said, “They are for Lesser Lord Kusunali.”
At once, the woman’s demeanour changed. “Oh! Why didn’t you say so? I’ll make sure to get the best of the nuts for her.” She tried to be subtle as she set aside all of the ones she had selected thus far. She ought to be begging forgiveness, but he would have to settle for better service.
“Are—are you one of the palace servants?” the vendor asked, looking hesitantly at him.
“Hmph,” he replied. It was none of her business who he was.
It didn’t help that he wasn’t sure what the answer to the question would have been.
At least she stopped pestering him with questions, and handed over the bag. “No charge, not for Lesser Lord Kusunali,” she said, as he pulled out his bag of mora.
It was tempting, really tempting. Why should the likes of him or her have to pay for such petty things as a handful of Ajilenakh nuts?
But Nahida had given him the money for this purchase. She wouldn’t want him to bring it back to her unused.
Angrily, he pulled out the payment. “That isn’t necessary,” he answered, dropping the coins on the table. Before the vendor had a chance to reply, he turned around and left.
The bag was bigger than he’d expected. He couldn’t hide it. Not that there was anything wrong with walking through the streets with a bag of Ajilenakh nuts. Many others carried purchases of their own, equally mundane. If any strangers noticed him, it was because of the scowl, not the bag.
But it was different with the ones who knew him. Every time he passed an acquaintance, his scowl deepened. It felt like they were all staring at him, at the bag of nuts.
Knowing.
Knowing that he would never buy nuts like this, not for himself. The nuts were tolerable, like most human food, but he had no particular fondness for them.
Nahida, on the other hand, had a well-known passion for candied Ajilenakh nuts. Nahida liked to make her own, saying that the ones from the shops were never sweet enough.
All food was unnecessary, but the amount of sugar that went into Nahida’s creations made him gag.
He imagined the people thinking to themselves. “There goes the archon’s little lapdog,” they would say to each other. “Isn’t it pathetic how he lets himself be ordered around by a child?”
Of course, she wasn’t a child, any more than he was the teenager he appeared to be. But she looked like a child, and sometimes acted like a child, and that was what people saw.
Pathetic. That’s all he was now. Pathetic.
He walked through the Akademiya. Who had designed this miserable city, that the only way up to the Sanctuary of Surasthana involved walking through the Akademiya? There were too many scholars here who knew him. It would have been so much easier just to hover, just to climb the tree. But he couldn’t have done it without being seen, and that would have only made him look more ridiculous. Besides, it would probably have been slower, and that meant more time out in the open.
Although, knowing how winding the pathways were, maybe it would have been faster to climb, after all. Wretched city.
He made his way through the Garden of Razan. Little would-be scholars scattered at the sight of him. He smiled. At least some people still found him intimidating.
Finally, he reached the Sanctuary. The guards let him past, and he was sure he saw a smile on their faces. He scowled back.
But when he stepped inside, he couldn’t hold the scowl quite as deeply. Nahida sat on the floor, a cooking pot in front of her, preparing the rest of the ingredients. When she saw him, a smile lit up her face.
“You brought the nuts!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
“Here,” he answered, trying to be gruff.
She took the nuts, then gave him a hug.
He tensed. What was that for?
“Thank-you,” she said. “I know you don’t like going to the market.”
And the worst part? He was glad when she said that. He was glad to have pleased her. He’d been her captive so long he was starting to become what she wanted him to be.
Still, he would hold onto his dignity. “Whatever,” he answered. “It’s not a big deal.”
She giggled, and hugged him harder. Then she took his hand. “Come,” she said, pulling him forward. “You can chop the nuts.”