5 Rainy Day

The cloudy sky was a grayish blue as the sun was nowhere to be seen. The wind blew harshly as crows cawed and squawked furiously. This, however, did not stop the merchants and patrons at the marketplace from conducting business with one another as they carried on with their busy day.

"What do you think of this, Sir Saphrin?" Asked Lutiera as she held up a puffy, orange dress with vertical strips of golden colored lace on the skirt.

Saphrin gazed at the dress, not really paying attention to the design, "Looks fine, I guess." She shrugged.

Lutiera put the dress down and frowned, "You don't like it, do you?"

The lass shook her head, "I'm sorry, Madam. I don't know much about dresses. I think the color looks nice but that's about it."

Lutiera looked down and sighed, "It's alright, dear. I don't expect a man like yourself to care much about fashion anyways."

While holding several bags, Caspery looked over at the dress. She piped up with a smile, "I think it looks lovely!"

Lutiera shot her a fowl look, "Nobody asked you, slave girl!"

"I'm sorry, Madam." Caspery looked down and frowned.

Lutiera looked at Saphrin and pointed to a stand nearby, "I'm going to look at some accessories over there. Care to join me?"

Saphrin nodded, "I will in a moment."

The noble maiden left to go to the other shop, leaving Saphrin and Caspery by themselves. The lass placed her hand on Caspery's shoulder, "I'm sorry, dear."

Caspery lifted her head and sighed, "It's alright, Saphrin. It's something I've been dealing with since I was a young girl."

Saphrin shook her head, "No! I don't like the way she treats you. This has to end!" She said furiously.

Caspery looked at the lass, "How do you plan on achieving that? The only way for her to stop treating me like her footstool is if I wasn't a slave anymore which is never going to happen since slaves are expensive so the Ferdims are reluctant to let me go. Not to mention the fact that I don't have another place to stay."

Saphrin let go of her shoulder and sighed, *I'll find a way.* She thought.

An hour had passed and a light rumble could be heard from above as the sky had gotten darker.

Caspery, who was now holding a few extra bags, looked over at Lutiera.

"Madam Ferdim," she called out, "I think it's going to rain soon."

Lutiera rolled her eyes as she examined the different tapestries from one vendor, "Bishop Teyor says that today will be sunny and warm."

"According to FitzRoy," said Saphrin, reading off of the local newspaper, "There's a storm warning today." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small umbrella, "Good thing I came prepared."

Lutiera turned to face her, "That FitzRoy is just a quack. Father says that anyone who disagrees with the bishop is a heretic and not to be trusted."

Saphrin just shrugged, "Suit yourself, Madam."

Caspery looked over at another stand as something caught her eye. There was a large quilt on display. It was dark brown with tiny, golden hexagons on the front. The hexagons had dark red outlines while the edges of the quilt were embroidered with golden stitchings. Saphrin noticed Caspery admiring it.

"Cute quilt," Saphrin smiled at her.

Caspery sighed, "Yeah it is."

"What's wrong?"

"Well," she started, "That style is very common in my home country. My mother made many quilts like that before she passed away."

"Oh I'm sorry, dear." Saphrin frowned, "Do you still have some from her?"

Caspery looked down and shook her head, "No. All my luggage and documents were thrown away after I was roped into slavery."

Saphrin gasped, "That's terrible!" She placed her hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Caspery. I really wish there was something I could do to help."

The slave girl looked up at the lass with a sad smile, "Thank you, Saphrin."

A loud boom of thunder could be heard seconds before the sky began to pour.

"Eek!" Screeched Lutiera as her clothes became drenched, "Where is my parasol!?"

Caspery put an armful of bags down before reaching into her own bag and pulling out an umbrella.

"Give me that!" Lutiera demanded as she snatched the umbrella from Caspery's hand and opened it. "I'm leaving!" She said right before storming away from the marketplace. Saphrin opened her umbrella and looked at Caspery, "Get in!"

After quickly picking up the bags, Caspery got under the umbrella with her. Her headscarf was so wet that her sea green hair could be seen through the cloth. Along with that, the outline of her pointed ears could be seen through the wet, clingy cloth.

"Caspery," Saphrin spoke softly while lifting an eyebrow, "You're an elf?"

The slave girl gasped as she dropped the bags again and covered her ears.

She began to panic, "What? I-"

Saphrin placed her hand on Caspery's hand and smiled, "Don't worry. I don't care what you are," she then caressed her face, "I won't treat you any less, even if you were a lizard woman."

Caspery blushed as she got lost in Saphrin's reassuring words and calm eyes.

"Really?" She asked shyly.

Saphrin nodded as she let go of her face and put her hand on Caspery's back, "Yes, dear."

The two women moved closer to one another until there wasn't even an inch in between their wet clothes. They gazed into each other's eyes as Saphrin slowly wrapped her arm around Caspery's torso to keep her warm.

"What on Gaia's green earth is taking those two so long!?" Yelled Lutiera who was walking through the market looking for them.

Hearing her voice suddenly snapped the two women back to reality. Lutiera approached the two of them. She saw her shopping bags on the ground, drenched in the rain.

"Pick those up!" She screamed at Caspery, "How dare you let those get wet! No supper for you tonight!"

Caspery frowned and turned to pick up the wet bags.

Saphrin stopped her and faced Lutiera, "It wasn't her fault, Madam. I was the one who dropped them." She then began picking up the bags.

Lutiera's expression went from furious to shocked, "You dropped them? How?"

"The ground was so wet that I slipped and grabbed Caspery before I fell to the ground."

Lutiera gasped, "Oh dear! I'm so sorry, Sir Saphrin. Are you alright?"

Saphrin nodded, "Yes I am, Madam. Also, I think you owe Caspery an apology."

"What?! An apology for what?" She huffed.

"For accusing her of something she did not do." Said Saphrin.

"I shall do no such thing!" Lutiera stomped her foot.

"Refusing to listen to a knight, eh? That's not very ladylike of you, Madam. I'm sure your mother would like to hear about this and how you were acting out in public."

Lutiera crossed her arms and then sighed in defeat, "Alright, alright," she faced Caspery, "I'm sorry, slave girl." She apologized halfheartedly.

"Caspery," said Saphrin, "Her name is Caspery, not slave girl."

Lutiera sighed, "Fine! I'm sorry, *Caspery*."

Saphrin smirked, "Much better."

"Can we go now?" Lutiera asked in frustration.

The lass nodded, "Sure!"

"Finally!" Said Lutiera before leaving the market again.

Caspery stood there in confusion. Did Lutiera really just apologize to me? She wondered as she looked over at Saphrin who was still smirking.

"You're welcome, dear," Saphrin chuckled.

"Oh," Caspery smiled, "Thank you, Sir Saphrin."

The two women held each other's wet hands before leaving the marketplace.