Chapter 11 - Chapter 11 – The Merchant's Bargain (And a Crack That Whispers Names)

The next morning started with commerce, not catastrophe.Havenford's market square buzzed louder than usual, merchants unpacking crates from a new caravan that had rolled in at dawn. Spices from the eastern hills, cloth dyed in colors that didn't occur naturally, jars of something that smelled like honey and lightning.I was helping Garron restock his stall when Perrin—the mayor's aide—found me, slightly out of breath, papers clutched under one arm."Kai," he said. "A word. Merchant trouble.""Define 'trouble,'" I said, setting down a sack of potatoes."The kind that pays in gold but smells like bad decisions," he replied.We wove through the crowd to a stall draped in deep red cloth, where a man in layered silks stood arguing with two Guild adventurers. He was tall, thin, with a beard trimmed to precision and rings on every finger that caught the sun like warnings.Harven loomed nearby, face set in the "I'm counting to ten before I throw someone out" expression."...not my problem if your shrine can't handle a little resonance," the merchant was saying. "My wares are genuine. Tested. Approved by three temples before yours."One adventurer—a burly woman with an axe—crossed her arms."Your 'genuine' mirror made the shrine cat hiss for an hour," she said."Cats are unreliable judges," the merchant replied smoothly.I caught Harven's eye.He jerked his head: Your mess now.Perrin leaned close."His name's Voren," he murmured. "From Westhaven. Deals in enchanted goods. Usually harmless. But this shipment has Aria twitchy, and half the Guard won't go near it."The ward stone in my pocket gave a single, lazy pulse—not hot, not urgent, just... noting something.I stepped forward."Problem?" I asked.Voren turned, sizing me up in one practiced glance."Ah," he said. "The cart-lifter. Silver rank already, I hear. Excellent." He extended a hand heavy with rings. "Voren of Westhaven. Specialist in curios for the discerning adventurer.""Kai," I said, shaking briefly. His grip was cool, dry, calculated. "What's the issue?"He gestured grandly to his stall: glass orbs, etched amulets, a dagger that hummed faintly when you looked at it wrong."Local superstition," he said. "My latest acquisition—a scrying mirror—resonates a touch too strongly with their shrine. The caretaker objects. I assure you, it's perfectly safe.""Resonates how?" I asked.His smile didn't waver."Shows... echoes," he said. "Faint glimpses of places not-quite-here. The shrine apparently finds them distracting."I glanced at the adventurers.They parted, revealing the mirror: a hand-sized oval of polished black glass in a silver frame carved with angular runes.It looked harmless.Until I looked into it.Not at the surface.Through.For a heartbeat, my reflection stared back.Then the glass rippled, and I saw——myself.Standing in the Lobby.Rhea mid-laugh beside me, silver hair catching impossible light.The shrine's hum spiked in my chest.The image snapped back to my face.Voren watched me closely."See?" he said. "Perfectly safe. Just... spirited."[That was no scrying mirror.] MMA said sharply. [That's a shard of deliberate bleed-through. Someone—or something—tied it to your Lobby resonance.]"Meaning?" I thought.[You're being targeted. Or at least, observed.]The ward stone pulsed again, hotter.Aria appeared at the edge of the crowd, robe sleeves pushed up, expression somewhere between fury and focus.She met my eyes.I nodded once."Voren," I said, keeping my voice light. "Mind if I test it properly?""Be my guest," he said, eyes glinting. "If it passes your inspection, even the shrine girl will concede."Aria stepped forward as I picked up the mirror.The crowd hushed.I didn't activate it with magic.I used the bloodline.Just a nudge of Authority, the same way I'd closed the tear under the mill."Show me," I murmured. "Not reflections. Truth."The glass screamed.Not sound.Vibration.A jagged crack split its surface—not physical, but a fracture in the image itself. Through it poured fragments: the Lobby's glowing orb, Rhea's goggles, Havenford's square from above, the cracked sky, my own hand reaching toward a door in a wall.And behind it all, faint but growing clearer: eyes.Not human.Not demonic.Watching.Names whispered through the break, layered and distant:Kai Arden...Number One...Bridge...The mirror shattered in my hand.Not crumbled.Exploded outward—shards flying like angry wasps.I snapped up a barrier of raw Authority, thin but absolute. The glass stopped an inch from my skin, hung there trembling, then dissolved into black mist that vanished before it could touch anyone.Silence.Voren's face was pale, but his eyes were calculating.Aria exhaled sharply."That," she said, "was not a scrying mirror."Harven cracked his knuckles."Guild confiscates the stall," he growled. "Perrin, call the Guard."Voren raised his hands, rings glinting innocently."Gentlemen, lady," he said, "a misunderstanding. These are legitimate wares from a temple contact in the capital. If they react strongly to your anomalies, perhaps your town has the problem?"I set the largest remaining shard on the stall.It pulsed faintly, like a dying heart."You're not wrong," I said. "But your temple contact is either incompetent or lying. This wasn't enchanted for scrying. It was built to listen.""To what?" Harven demanded.I met Voren's eyes."To me," I said.The crowd murmured.Voren smiled thinly."High praise," he said. "But I assure you, I deal only in profit, not pursuit."[He's lying.] MMA said. [Not about profit. About knowing what it was.]"Probably got it cheap from a shady priest," I thought. "But someone higher up the chain does know."Aria touched the shard.The shrine's hum echoed in her bones; I could feel it."This came from the fractures," she said quietly. "Not made here. Found there."Voren's composure slipped, just a fraction."Speculation," he said."Truth," she countered.Harven stepped closer."You're not banned," he told Voren. "Yet. But that stall stays. You can collect your other goods after inspection. Understood?"Voren bowed slightly."As the Guildmaster wishes."Perrin herded him away with surprising firmness for a paperwork man.The crowd dispersed slowly, buzzing with the kind of gossip that would fuel Havenford for weeks.Aria turned to me."They're looking for you," she said."Not just demons," I agreed.Harven clapped my shoulder."Good catch," he said. "Silver rank justified."Lyse appeared from nowhere, grinning."That was amazing," she said. "You made it explode without touching it!"Sara, behind her, looked more concerned."Are you alright?" she asked.The faint pressure in my temples said "no," but I nodded."Fine," I said. "Just... getting popular."[Worldline Observers – Attention Level: Elevated.] MMA reported silently."Great," I thought.Aria picked up the shard carefully, wrapping it in cloth."This goes to the shrine," she said. "We'll contain it.""Need backup?" I asked."Not yet," she said. "But... check the Lobby soon. If it was listening, your other friend might have felt it too."Rhea.I nodded.Later, in my room, the door shimmered brighter than usual, as if annoyed.I stepped through.The orb pulsed erratically, threads to both worlds flickering."Rhea?" I called.The blue shimmer appeared almost immediately.She stepped out, goggles down, expression grim."Your mirror blew up?" she asked without preamble."News travels fast," I said."Not news," she said. "My relay spiked the same time yours did. HUD flagged it as 'quantum observer breach.'"She pulled a small device from her pocket—a flat slate that glowed faintly."Look."The screen showed a wireframe of the relay... and a tiny, persistent blip labeled EXT-01 INTRUSION."Someone listened through your mirror," she said. "And pinged my end too. They got a snapshot of the Lobby. Us. The connections."My stomach sank."Not good," I said."Understatement," she said. "Central's already sniffing around my section. If they trace it back to me...""You need an out," I finished.She met my eyes."Not yet," she said. "But soon. And Kai?""Yeah?""Whoever's watching," she said, "they're not just curious anymore. They know your name."The weight of that settled cold in my chest.[Confirmed.] MMA said. [Higher-order contact imminent.]"Time to level up," I thought."Time to get serious," I said aloud.Rhea nodded."Stay alive, Bloodline Boy," she said. "I've got your back from orbit.""Stay sharp, Ring Gremlin," I replied. "I've got your door."She vanished.Back in Havenford, the cracked sky seemed lower.But now, I had a team.Here: Aria, Harven, Lyse, Sara, Rel, Lena.Out there: Rhea.And coming: whoever whispered my name through broken glass."Bring it," I murmured, touching the door one last time before heading downstairs.The multiverse wasn't playing anymore.Neither was I. �