Chapter 13 - The Market

Jenny followed Rowan as he led the way through the streets, when he finally stopped, they had reached a very different part of the city.

Jenny would lie if she said she had never heard of this place, but she would also lie if she said it had been the way she had expected it to. She had imagined that the streets in this part of town would be small and crowded. That the people walking the streets would be somewhat dirty looking and that the merchants would look somewhat evil, with an untrustworthy smile, that told you, that if you had made a deal with them, it was most certainly not in your favour.

"Let me present to you: The Market!" Rowan said and gestured broadly with his arm.

"The market?" Jenny said and tilted her head a little, "well, that's a clever name," she said sarcastically.

Rowan smiled, "I admit it is not terribly glamorous, but only about twenty per cent of the people who come here are that glamourous themselves."

"Twenty per cent…" Jenny said out loud to herself.

"You will see them here in the afternoon, evening, and night. Around this time of day, people with a good amount of money, who want to buy something send their servants."

Jenny nodded, "I see," and remembered that she sent Maia out to… She stopped thinking about the group she fell into before she could feel more uncomfortable than she already did.

"Now, I think we "park" the horses so we can blend in slightly better – that is if you don't mind?" Rowan said as he jumped off his horse.

Jenny stood out of the saddle as well, with assistance from Rowan. "Of course not."

"Although," Rowan added, "you look somewhat apart from most people here." He smiled kindly at her, and his efforts were rewarded with a slight blush from Jenny.

"I don't think I look that different," she began, but he stopped her.

"You just don't notice the difference between you and the rest of us," he said with a somewhat tragic smile, "oh no," he paused, "don't worry about it. It's all right," he quickly said as he saw Jenny's face-expression change to something quite confused, worried, or hurt. He wasn't entirely sure. "You simply haven't learned to spot the difference; you will learn it the more time you spend here. You learn to quickly assess how much money people have based on their appearance and the way they speak. You learn whom you should stay away from, even though they have plenty of money, but you might not like what you have to do for them." He smiled kindly, trying to reassure Jenny that it was completely understandable that she could not see this. "And I can assure you, you definitely don't look like someone I would avoid," he said, and his flirting smile returned to his face, "I would do anything you would ask from me." He moved closer to Jenny and reached behind her to take the lead of her horse as well.

Jenny blinked a couple of times and smiled back at him, "all right, let's go then."

Rowan found a place where the horses could rest, and they continued walking down the streets of The Market.

Merchants called on them – or more precisely Jenny – as they walked, and Jenny found her head turning back and forth from one colourfully decorated stand to the next.

"What are they selling exactly?" she asked after some time, as she had gathered bravery enough to hear the answer, "I don't see that much on display."

Rowan nodded, "they only display… let's call it legal wares. But what they really profit from would be under the counter."

Jenny nodded, "I figured as much – but what exactly are they selling under the counter?"

Rowan said nothing for a moment before he took a deep breath and answered her, "it differs, but in general, most of it is… harmless." He paused again. "Some sell 'Magic items', 'relics', and the likes, with outlandish claims. I would be very careful, with buying and using those items."

Jenny nodded again and continued listening as she was distracted by a huge mirror on display and the merchant quickly made his way over, seemingly preparing a grand speech.

"Others sell medicine and miracle cures. Others still sell food of somewhat questionable origin," he said as they moved on before the merchant could make his sales pitch.

The merchant yelled after them as he began, "This mirror is quite a discovery. You have great taste miss, great taste I must say…" His words mumbled with the rest of the commotion as they continued.

"And others," he said as they stopped at the end of the street in front of a grand open space somewhat resembling an outdoor theatre with covered stands to the back, "others sell people." The smile disappeared from his face for a moment before he quickly regained himself and turned towards Jenny with a grin.

"Allow me to introduce you to the grandest place at The Market."