Chapter 13

Sylverion led them through the city to a house on top of a hill. He opened the door and led them inside. "Let me give you a quick tour," he said. "To the left we have the living room. To the right we have the kitchen. Bathroom down the hallway to the right, dining room straight ahead. The bedrooms are also down to the right." He pointed and gestured while showing them around. They stopped outside of one of the bedrooms. "I'm sorry I don't have enough rooms. Catia, Caine, you'll have to share. Signe, this is yours," he said and opened the door to a tiny room with a double bed and a little wardrobe. A chair next to the bed acted as a nightstand. He turned around to the door on the opposite side. "This is yours," he said and le Caine and Catia inside. The room had two single beds and a nightstand in between them. "The wardrobe is behind the door."

      "The bathroom is here," he said and opened the door next to their room. "And this is my room," he said, pointing at the door next to Signe's. "That is, of course, off limits. I hope you can respect that." They all nodded. "Well then," he said. "I didn't get a lot of sleep since I was waiting for you, so I'll head to bed. If you need anything, don't be afraid to knock." Sylverion bowed again and disappeared into his room. An awkward silence fell upon them. Signe looked down at the floor, not knowing what to do now. But it felt like a waste of time sitting in her room all day. "I'm going to head out. I haven't been in Hirin in ages." She closed the door to her bedroom and headed out, not caring if Caine and Catia followed her or not.

      It was nice of Sylverion to offer them a place to stay. The old Sylverion wouldn't have cared. She wondered what had changed. Tor had said he was one of his allies, but when did Sylverion ever do something that didn't benefit himself? Last time they met, Sylverion had left her to die. If it wasn't for Tor showing up as fast as he did, she would've been dead.

      Putting her life in the hands of a guy like Sylverion, made Signe want to throw up. But she didn't have much of a choice now. And with only savings to her name, she was bound to run out of money at some point. She couldn't just go and buy a house or find somewhere else to live. At least she didn't have anything of value to trade for a house. She sighed, still wondering how her life had turned so complicated.

      A hand on her shoulder stopped the train of thoughts. Caine walked up behind her. "Everything okay?" he asked. Signe smiled. "Hirin is such a beautiful city. I just wish we came here for other reasons." Caine shrugged. Signe grabbed his hand without thinking. At the start of her training, she had often come here to meditate. The peace and quiet helped her calm her mind. "Come," she said and dragged him towards her old meditation spot on the wall surrounding the city. Spaced out around the city were watchtowers, and her hiding spot was in a place right at one of the watchtowers, but at a turn so guards on the other towers couldn't see her.

      She climbed up on the wall and sat down. "Why are we here?" Caine asked. Signe smiled and patted on the spot next to her. "Just listen," she said and closed her eyes. She could hear the birds chirp, could feel the mild breeze blow around her. Besides her, she could feel Caine's energy get calmer.

      They sat next to each other in silence for a long time. No words were needed. Signe emptied her mind, let all thoughts and feelings stream out of her. Whatever thoughts wanted to take a hold in her mind, she gently let stream past, like a leaf in a river. As soon as it was past her, it was too late to reach out to it, and whatever it was would be gone. But at the same time, it was so peaceful, watching the thoughts float by.

      When her mind was completely empty, completely silent, at peace, she knew that she had achieved what so many assassins before her had never experienced before. Tor had called it the Ultimate State. It was a state of peacefulness and calmness where the body and mind was one. A state where the warriors senses were heightened. It empowered them in ways beyond most people's understanding. But most importantly, it made you almost invincible. It was hard to beat someone in their Ultimate State.

      This was the first time Signe had experienced the Ultimate State, and she realized that finally her mind was at peace. Finally she was calm, collected, a state of mind she had strived so hard to achieve, but because of her habit of spiraling, she thought she would never experience. She took her time to appreciate this state of mind before she opened her eyes and looked at Caine. He sat with his hands on his knees, slightly leaned forward. His head was hanging, and she could see a tear running down his cheek. She wanted to wipe it away but resisted the urge to do so.

      As if he could feel her gaze, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Then he quickly blinked away the tear and jumped down from the wall. Signe didn't say anything. Whatever he had experienced during this session, was something for him only. If he wanted to share it, he could, but it would be rude of her to ask. Meditation was one the most personal actions a person could do and disturbing it or asking about their experience would be considered rude.

      Signe jumped down after him and started to walk back. Even though it hadn't felt that long – meditation often did that to her – hours had passed since they had left Sylverion's house, and the sun stood high on the sky. It was going to be a nice, warm day.

      "I was thinking," Signe began. Caine kept his eyes on her. "Maybe we should buy new clothes. We kind of don't fit in with the clothing style here." She looked at Caine's clothes: old, rough, cheap materials. Here in Hirin they were wearing silk and cotton during summer, and wool during winter. She didn't think Caine owned anything else than linen clothes.

      Caine shrugged but didn't say anything. Signe led them back to Sylverion's house. Catia was sitting on the stairs outside of the house, reading a book. Caine walked over and kissed his sister on the forehead. "We'll be heading out to the market," he said. "Come with us."

      "But we don't have any money," she said and closed the book. Caine whispered something to her, and her eyes widened. "I can't let you do that." Catia stood up, and Signe held up a hand. "I'm paying. It's only fair. I got you into this mess after all. Besides, we need to look for work. No way we let Sylverion pay for everything, and without jobs we will eat through my savings fast." Caine and Catia nodded. "Okay," Caine said. "Let's go."

      They headed to the city center. The market was almost as big as the one in Kaldria, but the fruits and vegetables were fresher. It was as if they were enhanced by the magic in the city. Signe looked at Caine and Catia, and she could see that their skin had gotten a new glow to it. She looked down at her own hands and could see her hands glowing too. When she looked around, she could see that everyone had that same glow.

      They reached the back side of the market, and Catia immediately headed to the clothing part. They had clothes in all sorts of materials, from cheap linen to the finest silk. Catia held up a purple linen shirt. "What do you think?" she asked. Caine walked over with a smile on his face. "It will look amazing on you." Catia turned to Signe, waiting for her approval. "Are you sure you want a linen shirt?" Signe asked. "I was thinking something in the direction of a wool dress and a cloak for the winter." Signe held up a bright purple dress made of wool and a dark purple cloak. "What about this one? You can pick another dress too if you want. Or if you want a shirt and a pair of pants. But please, we have enough money for you to buy something else than clothes made of linen."

      Catia put the shirt back, her eyes big and watery. "I… I've never had new clothes," she said while taking the dress from her. "I've never had anything this pretty." Signe smiled. "Now, go choose a second set of clothes, work clothes preferably." Catia thanked her again and walked off to find more clothes to try.

      "That was really nice of you." Caine came closer. "New clothes were a luxury we could never afford."

      "Everyone deserves new clothes once in a while," Signe replied while picking out her own cloak. She went with a black one made of wool with golden silk edges. "What about you? We should fins something for you too."

      Caine shrugged. "I was never into shopping," he said uncomfortably. Signe turned around and motioned for him to follow her to the male clothes. She picked out a nice dark blue shirt made of wool, a pair of black pants made of soft leather, a white silk shirt and a cloak similar to hers. "Try these." She handed him the clothes and showed him the dressing rooms, which were just blankets hung up to protect them from view. Caine stepped in and came out shortly after in his new pants and wool shirt.

      "What do you think?" he asked. Signe walked closer to fix the collar on his shirt. "I think the clothes look very good on you."

      "Thank you. But are you sure you have enough money for all this? My sister is still out there picking out more clothes."

      Signe smiled reassuringly. "I do have plenty of money saved up. But we still need to find work. I can only do so much to get us going, but eventually it will run out."

      "I promise you we will both work hard. That's the least we can do after you saved us."

      "It's true," Catia said. She approached them with a bunch more clothes in her arms. "I wanted to try this." She handed the clothes over to Caine. "Help me, please." Caine chuckled. "I have to apologize for my sister. She's gone a little crazy." Catia peeked outside of the dressing room. "Excuse me? When we're first going shopping let me have some fun." She stepped outside and showed them the purple dress Signe picked out. She looked beautiful in it, and it really worked well with her dark brown hair. "Definitely that one," Signe said. "Catia, that dress looks amazing on you!"

      "Thank you!" Catia exclaimed and walked back in. She picked out another set of clothes and shortly after she came out wearing bright brown soft leather pants and a bright blue silk shirt. "For work," she said. "If I ever find something."

      "What did you do back in Kaldria?" Signe asked. Catia disappeared back into the dressing room, trying out more clothes. "I worked in the flower shop. It was easy work, just preparing the flowers for the bouquet and getting rid of the bad ones. I can also assemble simple bouquets myself."

      "Perfect. I'll see what I can do. Maybe Sylverion can be of help too. By the way, did you pick out a cloak? We're going into colder days so you should buy something warm." Catia held up a purple cloak. "but Signe, are you sure? I mean, it's too much. We can't possibly let you buy us all this."

      "You have time to pay me back if that makes you feel better. It's not like we're leaving this city any time soon. Let's say, when you've worked back the money and if you still feel like paying me back, feel free to do so. For now, it's a gift." Catia's eyes sparkled at Signe's words. "Thank you!" She embraced Signe and picked out the two sets of clothes she wanted to buy. Signe handed her the money to pay, and she went on her way to find the salesman.

      "You're too kind," Caine said. "There's no way we can repay you for this." He went back into the dressing room to change back to his own clothes. Signe could see him through a gap in the curtains. He was standing with the back towards her in underwear and the shirt. She watched him reach for his pants. For a slender guy he was very muscular. His shoulders were broad, but not bulky. He had the type of muscles you got by working hard, not by exercising.

      When he took off his shirt, she could see five whiplashes on his back. The lines were long and straight, but the scars had healed uneven. Caine turned around and smiled when he noticed she was looking at him.

      Caine came out of the dressing room and handed her the clothes he didn't want to buy. They walked back to the stalls at the market and left the clothes there while Caine paid for the rest. "Truth to be told," Signe started," finding us a safe place to stay is not the only reason we're here."

      "What is it then?"

      "Remember when we went to Tor? When I told you about the prophecy Rosea was talking about? He mentioned a very powerful High Elf that lives here. We need to find her. We need to find out what it all means."

      "But the city is so big. How will we find her?"

      "We find her the same way I found you, by tracking. Or we ask Sylverion. But I rather keep him in the dark for now. Anyways, and Elf that powerful surely has a stronger aura than most people."

      "Aura?"

      "Energy signature. That's how you find sorcerers. Unless she shielded her magic. But I doubt she did. There's no danger here."

      Caine looked confused. They started to walk towards the food market. "So that's how you knew it was me? You read my aura?"

      Signe nodded. "You said you could too, didn't you?" Caine nodded. "I can feel it, but I can't channel it. I can't focus it anywhere. But I can feel you… Your signature I mean," he added quickly. "Teach me," he said. "I want to learn."

      "Close your eyes," she said. "Imagine that your energy flows outwards, reaching out to other energy sources, that you're searching for something – someone. Do you feel it?"

      Caine nodded. "I think so." Signe smiled. She could feel his energy reaching for her. She closed her eyes and reached out to him too, felt his energy calling for hers. She let his dark, chaotic magic embrace her, and reached out to him with her hand, and touched his, and the darkness in both their powers mixed together in a dark, electric cloud.

      Signe stepped back and the cloud disappeared. People around them had stopped doing what they were doing and were just looking at them. Some of them started to whisper to each other, and Signe knew that they had made a mistake. So much for trying to blend in. "We should go," she said and quickly grabbed his hand. She dragged him out of the crowded area and behind an empty stall.

      "What was that?" he asked, looking down at their hands. Signe quickly dropped his hand, not realizing she was still holding it. "Stupidity," she said angrily. "I shouldn't have done that. Now they will know we're here. And it's just a matter of time before the Council sends Adriel to lure us out. So, so stupid." Caine patted her back, trying to calm her down. "But we're safe here, right? They can't enter the city."

      "No, they can't. But they can wait for us to exit it."