"I already said I have never heard of that weapon before," the old man said, waving the pair away with a dismissive flick of his hand.
Annamarie sighed dramatically, shoulders slumping as she turned to Serena with a mournful look. "I could swear to the goddess that this was the place I saw it."
It was well past noon, nearly evening, and the pair still had not found the elusive knife. It took so much convincing for Darius to let Serena out. He immediately said no, the reason being that it was too early to be seen out in public.
Getting permission to leave in the first place had been a trial. Darius had said no without missing a beat, his voice flat with finality. "Too early to be seen out in public," he’d said, like it was law.
They bickered a bit– well, she bickered and he only budged after she leaned in and kissed his cheek. That was when Serena noticed the flicker in his expression, that slight pause, the way his ears turned red. A weakness, perhaps.
Even then, he insisted someone else accompany her beyond Anna. But after more prodding and eye-rolls, she was finally let out...with a bag of coins pressed into her hands and no room for protest.
"Are you sure it was this man who sold it long ago?" Serena asked, adjusting the strap of the satchel slung over her shoulder.
"Uhm," Anna flashed an awkward smile, her voice sing-song and far from convincing. "Perhaps... my memory for this sort is not good."
Serena sighed and ran her fingers along her temple. "Well, we’ve no one to ask now."
Anna huffed and turned back to the man, folding her arms. "C’mon, just jog your memory. You’re not that old."
The old man looked unimpressed and rolled his eyes, which elicited a laugh from Serena. The blonde woman turned away when Anna looked at her with a glare.
Serena cleared her throat and stepped in. "Kind sir, could you point us in the direction of people who sell weapons?"
Serena blinked and then exchanged a glance with Anna. She leaned over and whispered, "He may be hard of hearing."
"Oh..." Anna nodded. The brunette turned to the man and wore a mischievous-looking smile, which scared Serena.
Before Serena could stop Annamarie, she had walked closer and yelled, "Do you have a hunter’s blade with a golden hilt?"
The old man narrowed his eyes and remained silent, as though he was sifting through mental maps. "I have never heard of that."
"I’m not looking for some relic or anything," Anna muttered under her breath, clearly annoyed.
The man rose from his stool, and Serena immediately pulled Anna back by the arm with a strained smile. "Sorry for disturbing you. My friend has... hearing issues."
The old man raised his brow and looked unimpressed with the woman. Serena let out an awkward laugh and pulled a reluctant Anna away from the stand.
"Hey, hey..." Anna protested. "I had him!"
"It did not seem like he had it, and an argument would have achieved nothing," Serena said.
Annamarie sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I need that knife though, but where do we look? I do not fancy going all the way to Ficus on foot."
Serena hummed in acknowledgement and looked at the sky, the sun had begun to dip. "I have an idea, let’s go to Longdale."
"Longdale?" Anna perked up and her eyes had a little shine to them. "You are smart, how could I have forgotten about there."
Serena chuckled and the two women were on their way to the large city. Anna had walked quickly and the other woman found it difficult to keep up, but she had to not to disappoint Anna.
Serena gasped when she saw the city, it was still bustling and wolves walked which way. The stone buildings looked more beautiful than the last time. A part of her wanted to linger and look at the streets and take her time to go through the ins and outs.
The last time she was here was on an invite to the Infirmary by the senior healers, she wondered how they were. She noted it down to visit sometime in the four days she had before the Dawnbreak delegate arrived.
She walked quicker when Anna tugged on her sleeve. "Where do you live, Anna?" Serena asked out of the blue.
"Oh, me? Well, I live in Thornridge," Anna replied brightly. "It’s the last town before the borders, before lots and lots of trees." She grinned. "Since I became a scout, I’m hardly there. Too much letter-delivering, so I stay closer to town now."
Serena nodded and sighed. Ironshade sounded so massive and she had only been to two of the towns in it. Barely anyway, the first was so short-lived that she could forget about it in a dream if not for running into Beatrice. And Longdale was more like a passing breeze.
The air was warm and the breeze tickled Serena’s cheeks every now and then. She pushed her hair behind her ear.
"Do you miss home?" Serena asked.
"It’s not going anywhere, is it? That’s a strange question," Anna replied with a laugh.
Serena squeezed her hands together and forced out a laugh as well. "Oh, do not pay me any attention."
Serena exhaled once Anna had set her sight on something else. She cursed inwardly and shook her head. What sort of question was that anyway? Of course Anna would visit every now and then, but Serena on the other hand missed home dearly, so much so that it hurt.
At this time she would have been packing up from the clinic since it was downtime and her shift had come to an end. The shelves would have been dusted and everything would be arranged and she would make her final rounds and say goodbye to all the patients.
She might have stopped by at her brother’s house and checked in on him. Maybe Theodore might have finally made a move on Anissa and asked for her hand in marriage. Serena shut her eyes briefly and sighed. She wanted to go home.
"I think we should start from the people who look like they are about to close. They will be more willing to let go of their goods for any price we name," Anna said.
"Annamarie?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novelꞁire.net