They continued to watch her as she turned back to the dairy farmer. Saleria purchased a small wheel of it, tucked it into the string bag she had brought, and moved on to the next stall. Thankfully, that last couple didn’t follow her. Saleria made a few more purchases, wandered the market stalls and the shops that ringed the square, then finally found her erstwhile new assistant still haggling over several vials in the glazier’s shop. Both he and the glass merchant, Denisor, glanced up at her arrival.
Denisor smiled and waved briefly, Aradin lifted his chin in greeting, and the two men concluded their bartering. The last of the vials went into the straw-padded crate on the counter, more straw was piled on top, and a lid was settled overall. Sealing it with a spell, Aradin lifted the crate to the ground and swept the folds of his Witchcloak around it, making the crate vanish in that odd, seemingly magicless way of his. The glass merchant blinked, then shook it off and looked at her.
“And what can I do for you, Your Holiness? A bit of glass for your home?” Denisor asked her.
“I’m here to see him, actually,” Saleria said, nodding at the foreigner. “Have you everything you need, Aradin?”
“I could use a few more things, but I have enough to start,” he told her. He nodded at the merchant and held open the front door for Saleria. “I can come back for the rest tomorrow. You said earlier that you attend to the last tree right before your evening walk?”
“Yes. I use the energies siphoned from it to strengthen the wardings on the Grove wall, so that hopefully nothing can escape while I rest overnight,” she said. “You are welcome to join me in my evening rounds, since you’ve behaved well so far.”
“I would like that. Will we be visiting the Bower?” Aradin asked her, taking no offense at her words. He knew they stemmed from the protective nature of her job.
She nodded. “We can, if we go now.”
“Then let’s do that,” he agreed, smiling at her.
Unaccountably, Saleria felt her cheeks heat. There shouldn’t be any reason for her to blush just because a man smiled at her, but he did smile at her, and she did blush. Swallowing, she turned away, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
(Adorable,) Teral observed. (Did you see how her cheeks turned pink?)
He wasn’t the only one. Aradin kept smiling as he followed the Guardian of the Grove. (Indeed. Do you think it’d be wrong to mix our quest with some pleasure, now that it looks like we’ll be working with her on more than just the Convocation problem?)
(From the way Priestess Tenathe tried to get me into bed with her, at least some of their priesthood doesn’t have any issues with chastity or celibacy,) Teral pointed out. (But a single blush does not make a fully welcomed attraction, either.)
(I’m just glad you didn’t take Tenathe up on that offer,) Aradin muttered mentally. (Older women are fine, but when she went on that rant against the people of Nightfall, that would’ve been awkward, trying to extract either of us from her affections as well as denying her the position of representing Katan.)
(Affections had nothing to do with it,) Teral chuckled. (More like plain old lust, if you ask me.)
(So to speak,) Aradin amended dryly. (I do want to ask her, but I’m not sure what the right timing of it should be.)
(Opportunities can present themselves, but sometimes a man has to simply seize a good enough moment and make a gentle inquiry. I suggest in private, though,) Teral cautioned him.
(Private-private, or will you be around?) Aradin joked lightly. He had to dodge around a clutch of elderly women coming from a side street, which forced him to hurry to catch up with their hostess.
(Well, I’d like to know the results,) Teral said, his mental tone the equivalent of a wry shrug. (But if you want me to leave, I can. I believe it should be nighttime in Darkhana by now, so I could always go meet up with the others in the Dark.)
(I don’t mean to kick you out,) Aradin said, mindful of his Guide’s rights and needs.
(I know, but we can report that we finally have a potential priestess to represent the Katani people. Or rather, I can first query the Dark on my way to the gathering to see if she is the best match, now that we have a candidate again,) his Guide offered. (With the previous potential candidate, Tenathe didn’t know about the people of Nightfall and the Katani king’s opposition to their efforts when I first asked if she thought she could be a representative of her people to the Gods, but the moment she threw her fit, that parameter changed everything. This one does know . . . more or less.)
(Let me ask her formally before you go,) Aradin said. Clearing his throat, he spoke quietly, pitching his voice for Saleria’s ears as they turned the corner toward her home. “Saleria . . . the country which has the potential for the thing I mentioned . . . they are considered a foe by your nation’s king. Would that make you hesitate to represent your people, if in doing so your very presence helped them succeed in their task?”