Page 110 of The Study of Magic
When Valek reached the market, he paused as an idea struck him. He furrowed his brow in confusion and wandered through the stands selling goods. Picking up a few items, he shook his head and replaced them when the sellers started haggling. Soon enough, Yelena’s little entrepreneur, Fisk, appeared.
“Kind sir, do you need some assistance?” he asked.
“I do. Can you provide me with a few helpers. I need a distraction.”
Fisk crossed his arms. “I don’t do anything illegal.”
“You won’t. Just a little commotion like you did earlier for my friend Yelena.”
He squinted his light brown eyes. “Friend? Prove it.”
“She wears a butterfly pendent that is black with silver streaks.”
“She keeps that mostly hidden under her tunic. How do you know about it?”
Boy, this kid was definitely not a dupe. “I carved it for her. How do you know about it?” he countered.
Fisk smiled. “She fingers the lump whenever she’s thinking. I asked her about it and she showed it to me. Okay, you’re legit. How many helpers do you need?”
“Four should do it.”
“It’ll cost you two silvers.”
“Agreed.”
“Ha! I would have done it for one silver. You need to learn how to bargain.”
Valek would have given him a gold if asked. The kid was delightful. No wonder Yelena liked him. “Noted for next time.”
Fisk laughed and raced off to find three of his friends. When they assembled, Valek told them what he needed. Fisk gave Valek a shrewd look, but he grinned in anticipation.
“Sounds fun,” the boy said. “I wanna be the tattler.”
“You got it.”
They headed to the west gate. Before the gate became visible, Valek paid Fisk and the boy hung back. Valek continued walking with the kids. Two boys and a girl who had dressed in their nicest clothes in order to work as helpers in the market. They still looked a bit shabby, but Valek found most adults didn’t really look closely at children.
When they neared the gate, the girl grabbed his hand. “I’m so excited we’re going to visit Grandmom!” she squealed.
The boys agreed. “She makes the best pie, doesn’t she Dad?”
“She does indeed.” Valek smiled indulgently at his “children.” “Don’t forget, your Uncle Vincent promised to take you fishing.”
The guards asked a few standard questions, but one keen-eyed man asked Valek to come into the guardhouse for a safety check. No doubt wanting to pull on his nose and hair to test if he wore a disguise.
He gave the guard a puzzled look and signaled surreptitiously to Fisk. “But my children…”
“They’ll be fine, we’ll watch them for ya.”
“Hey! Hey!” Fisk shouted, running toward the gate and waving his arms. “Hey!”
“What’s that kid yelling about?”
“Hey! That man…” he puffed, “The one…everyone’s looking for! Just robbed the bakery down the street!” He gestured wildly. “He grabbed a loaf of bread!”
Valek and his children were promptly forgotten as two of the guards took off in the indicated direction. He nodded a thanks at Fisk and continued through the gate. The children accompanied him outside of the Citadel to the south entrance, so they could return to the market.
However, before the kids could cross through, a group of soldiers exited followed by the Wannabe King riding on a brown horse. Valek yanked the children out of the way and hoped no one would bother to give them more than a glance. Thankfully, the unit was in a hurry, and Cahil didn’t look back as they disappeared down the road toward the plains. The last time Valek had been here, they’d caught him. He shivered at how close he’d come to a repeat performance.
