Eden watched as the city guards questioned people for their reports and arrested the mercenaries. Elia had killed all but two of them.
A thick white rope held the crowds back as the guards cleaned up the mess inside the tent. The festival still continued but the magic show was clearly postponed.
"You told those mercenaries where to find him, didn't you?" A voice interrupted his thoughts.
Eden flinched guiltily before turning to face his accuser. It was Elia. She stared at him with those cold red eyes associated with the forsaken ones. They say it's bad luck to look into their eyes, but he found these kind of sayings to be rather superstitious and hold no factual value. The strange woman must've evaded the city guards, otherwise she'd clearly be on a one way trip to the dungeons by now.
"Yes." he admitted. "I wanted to test you, but it was all under control, really. I was following you. Plus Devlin could have used magic and defeated those thugs easily."
"And yet, Devlin didn't know about your little...test." Elia was smoking a cigarette. Her delivery guy disguise was gone now and she was wearing her normal dark trench coat and wide brimmed hat. Not exactly the most feminine clothes. From a distance she might've been mistaken for a small man. Maybe that was the point. "Tell me the truth. You approached me outside the city on purpose." It was a statement not a question.
"Actually, no." Eden corrected her. He smiled sheepishly."I really was in trouble with that spider. Thank you very much. Like you said, I accidentally walked into it's home."
Elia's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know you've been following me for quite sometime but you always kept your distance. Tell me, what made you decide to trust me?" she asked.
Eden felt his own eyes widen in response to her question. In all that time he'd been observing her, she'd given no sign she was aware that she was being followed.
Elia was still waiting for an answer. Her dark hair, cropped to her chin, curled around her face and her sharp red eyes sparked with a fierce predatory intelligence. She would have been pretty if it weren't for her permanently sour expression.
"When you saved me from that spider," Eden answered. He had been watching this strange woman ever since he'd first heard about the strange newcomer asking about his friend, Devlin. "and because I sensed no intention to kill from you when I mentioned the Chief mage. Only desperation. And, well, I owe you one, so I wanted to help you." he paused.
Eden hated to admit it but it bugged him that she knew he'd been following her so he said,"Ok, I'll bite. How did you know I was following you?"
Shrugging, she took a puff of her cigarette and blew out smoke. "It was easy. You never wore any disguises and I kept seeing you every time I turned a corner. You're lousy at stalking people." she flicked her cigarette to ground and crushed it with the toe of her boot.
Eden felt his face turn red. "I wasn't stalking you," he stammered, "I was investigating you. There's a difference!"
"Yeah." she sniffed. "The same difference between the meaning of potato and potahto."
His jaw tightened adamantly. "Hey. The only reason I was stalking you was because you were asking about my friend!"
"So you admit to stalking me."
Eden was about to reply to that when Devlin walked up to them. He was a handsome man in his late twenties with brown hair and hazel eyes women non stop adore. He was also one of Eden's oldest friends and one of the most laid back people he knew, though Devlin's been busy lately. Well, busier than usual.
"Alright," he said tiredly, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I have taken care of the city guards. As for the magic show, they're going to have to go on without me. An unfortunate turn of events, I agree, though to be honest, I think the hosts were relieved that I resigned after this little incident." he told Eden.
"As for you," he turned to Elia and flipped on the charm. "You have my thanks for saving me from those goons, my lady. People have been after my head ever since the king elected me for the esteemed Chief mage's position." He stuck a hand for Elia to shake. "And I'm afraid I am clearly at a disadvantage here; no doubt you know my name, but I don't know yours."
"Elia." she answered but refused to shake his hand.
"Elia, that's a lovely name." Devlin was still polite as he withdrew his hand. "I'm sure we have a lot to discuss so why don't you accompany us to my humble home."
She eyed him quietly then said, "Fair enough."
It took a long ride in Devlin's carriage. He lived far far away in the residential area for the richer percentage of the population at Khore.
Devlin asked a couple of questions and tried to make conversation with Elia but she kept her lips pursed and only grunted or nodded in reply. Finally Devlin turned to Eden.
"How did you two meet?" he asked.
In a low voice, Eden summarized the long boring story of how Elia had been asking too many questions about Devlin and how Eden had decided to investigate her.
"She saved me when I ran into a giant forest spider." He ended with a shrug and a sigh. Only seemed like yesterday...oh wait, it was yesterday. How slow time seemed to go by these days.
Devlin lowered his voice so Elia wouldn't hear. "And you told her where to find me?" His worry was understandable. There were too many people out to kill him these days. Like the mercenaries Elia had just taken out.
"I sensed her intentions. She doesn't want to kill you." Eden assured him. "I think she needs your help."
"Hmm." Devlin didn't reply but Eden knew he trusted his instincts.
Eden's stomach grumbled and they rode in silence. He couldn't wait to get home. He hadn't been able to get any snacks while he had been following Elia at the festival. Eden's mouth watered as he anticipated the food waiting at Devlin's mansion home.
Devlin had one of the best chefs in Khore working for him, and her sweet cakes were to die for.
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