Mason approached the shopkeeper and brought out one of his necklaces - a high-quality diamond necklace he'd purchased some months ago in his world. As he stretched it to the man he hope it worth a reasonable price in this world. "I would like to sell this," he said.
The man collected the necklace and inspected it with his one eye. He looked surprised, as evidenced by his reaction. "The design… rare and unique," he said almost in a whisper. "Never seen something like this before. Where'd you get it?"
"Are you buying it or not?" Mason demanded.
"I will give you five gold coins for this," the man replied after a long pause. "That is the best offer you can ever get here in Vin Town. Are you going for it?"
"No, you swindler! We definitely are not!" Amie shouted from behind. "The necklace is rare and more valuable than that."
"Seven then. Seven gold coins," the man offered.
"No!" Amie declined as she grabbed Mason's hand. "There are tons of jewelry shop in this town who would offer reasonable price for the necklace," she whispered to Mason.
"How much do you want!?" the shop-keeper groaned.
"Thirty gold coins," Amie replied.
"Thirty what?" The shop-keeper exclaimed. "That is enough to buy a house, you thief!"
"Let's go," Amie said to Mason, nudging him on. "We will find a another shop soon."
"I will give you twenty," the shop-keeper proposed. However, Amie didn't reply; she and Mason kept going. "Twenty five then!" The man shouted, on and on until his voice faded into the distance.
"He increased it," Mason wondered. "If he knew the necklace's value in the first place why did he propose five coins?"
"He is a swindler. Men like that comes to our village disguised as traders hoping to find easy victims," Amie said. "I've learned to trust no one. My father had firmly ingrained those words in my mind."
She stared at Mason for a moment and faced forward. "I'm the only one you can trust," she said and glanced to check if their luggage was still secured to their mount.
"Over there," Mason brought her attention to a shop a few meters away. It was a large jewelry shop with ladies standing in front and inside. The shop-keeper was a big woman with large eyes and gray and black hair.
Amie handed over her horse to the shop guard and entered with Mason. The ladies in and in front of the shop regarded Mason and gasped in awe. Most of them tried to approach him but Amie stopped them with little more than a gentle tap of her swordhilt.
The shop-keeper inspected Mason's necklace with her magnifying glass and gasped. She brought out a gingling pouch and place it in the desk. "This is fifty gold coins. Do we have a deal?" she asked.
"Oh my goodness! Fifty gold coins?" Mason muttered under his breath. He didn't know the value of gold coins in this world, however, according to the one-eyed jewel seller they met earlier, thirty coins are enough to buy a house.
"We were offered seventy the previous shop we visited," Amie said to the shop-keeper. "We definitely cannot settle for less."
The woman stared intensely at Amie and Mason for a long while before slamming another pouch on the desk. "Another fifty should cut it," she said. "That is all I can offer. So do we have a deal?"
"Certainly indubitably," Amie said and grabbed the pouches. "Let's go, Mason," she whispered to her visibly astounded companion, and off they went.
After walking for sometime in the bazaar, the duo finally spotted a large three story building a stone-throw away, out of the marketplace. As they neared Mason could now make out what the building was.
It was a tavern, with the name "Salacious Maiden Inn" on the board on top of the door. A sigh escaped Mason's lips as he felt a cold touch of liquid on his skin. Rain? He glanced and saw Amie handing over their mount to the inn ostler.
After that the duo hurried into the inn. Once inside, warmth embraced them, the source, a large hearth at the back of the room. A pleasant food aroma wafted to their noses, a testament to a large pot from the fireplace.
The common room was large and bright, with almost all the tables under the wooden roof taken. Mostly by plainly-dressed merchants and well-to-do farmers and craftsfolk.
Amie brought Mason's attention to an empty table at the back of the room. "Let us take that before someone else does." She led him there.
Glances and long stares followed the pair as they made for the table. A blonde lady approached their table, smiling welcomely. "What is your order, honorable guests?" she cooed.
"Honorable? Nonsense!" A portly man at the adjacent table spat, and his two comrade burst into laughter. "Devil's bones! Vanaih! Seems something is wrong with your barmaid!" he shouted at a woman standing beside the fireplace. More laughter.
"Mind your business, busybones," the barmaid hissed. She turned back to Mason and her smile returned. "What should I serve you?" she asked.
"What do you want to eat?" Amie whispered to Mason, her suspicion eyes never leaving the barmaid.
Mason wasn't sure if the food he normally eats in his world existed here in Africlaux. "Anything is fine," he whispered back to Amie.
"Give us two bowls of chicken soup," Amie told the bartender.
"Ale?" the barmaid asked.
"Aye, two cups," she replied and the barmaid left at once.
At one corner of the room sat a pretty lady in a blue cape. Out of her headwear poured out her long misty-white hair. Her purple eyes was fixed on the cup filled with a pale brown liquid in front of her.
Mason almost didn't notice a finely-crafted bow and a quiver of arrows on her lap.
"You wouldn't want to mess with that one," Amie whispered to him. "Do not stare too long either. She's an elf."
"How did you know?" Mason asked, brows soaring.
"Her eyes and hair. Look at her bow also. The design and style, it is not so difficult to recognize."
"But I see no pointed…" Mason abandoned the sentence when he realized its insignificance. Apparently, the lady was wearing a headwear which covered her ears.
"You've seen them before?" he asked.
"Once, about a week prior. I and my sister, during our time as Watchers. A party of them was traveling on their giant birds," Amie recalled. "My father assumed they must be hunting. Said unless when necessary, daytime travel is rare for the elves, especially with that large-scale deployment."
"Hunting?"
"Perhaps," Amie shrugged. "The Wedge is off limit to them, but they transversed it anyway. Whatever they were hunting must be powerful or dangerous."
The barmaid arrived with a wooden tray and began to serve them.
"Keep your eyes on the table if you do not want to lose them," Amie warned her. But the barmaid hissed and rolled her eyes. "I'm Shilly, call me if you need anything else," she whispered to Mason before leaving, winking lasciviously.
As she headed for the fireplace, a half-drunk gruffy man swung his hand for her posterior but missed. Losing his balance he fell to the ground, igniting a wave of laughter in the room.
Mason took a spoonful of the soup in front of him and moaned satisfactorily. "Thank God, food at last!" he muttered under his breath.
Apparently, Mason and Amie hadn't eaten anything since morning. The rest of the world became muffled to them as they devoured their meals hungrily.
"Shilly, come sing for us with that beautiful voice o'yers!" An old man, probably a farmer called.
"Not today, old man," Shilly replied. She placed the tray she was holding on a large wooden desk separating the fireplace area from the rest of the room.
"Entertain our customers, Shilly," Vanaih said. "They need to keep drinking to make us a fortune."
"Oh, indeed," Shilly said, as though she just realized. She headed for a slightly raised platform in front of the room. She looked at the busy Mason's direction, smiled and began to tap her feet against the ground to gain rhythm.
Surprisingly, men in the room followed her lead, some clapping while some simply imitating her. Satisfied with the results, she began to sing;
Oh, behold Hargarus!
A god who abandoned his realm,
Descended to roam the Earth,
And fell in love with a girl.
One who neglected his godhood,
Chased the pleasure of the flesh,
A love humans never welcomed,
They tied him to the Vin Town square.
Oh, behold Hargarus!
Helpless god trapped in the flesh,
Burned alive with his girl,
And cast to eternal rest…
Even before Shilly could finish the song the men in the room had joined her. The song struck a cord in Mason, evoking a dormant feeling. An extreme sadness.
He glanced over at Amie sitting beside him and saw her teary eyes. "Why are you crying?" he asked.
"I'm not, you are," Amie replied.
"I'm not. Why would I…" Mason trailed off as he touched his cheeks and found tears streaming down. Amie also did the same and realized her own tears.
"What is wrong with us?" Amie whispered.
"I'm not sure. The song is not even melancholic enough to make one cry," Mason wondered as he wiped his tears. He knew the great sadness in his heart was caused by the song, but he couldn't fathom why.