Friends in Low Places

[Naia Shahrizai]

I watched as Sin picked out several candies, and I had a moment of reverie, imagining offering one to Sarielle. I had the thought of offering one to Balta, but that thought made me feel instantly guilty, so I discarded it. After all, without him, I wouldn't even be able to pay for these candies!

My thoughts were interrupted by Sin stepping up to hand the Tsingano woman the candies. She wrapped them in a box whose quality belied the look of the shop, and I wondered how carefully cultivated this rundown place was, after all. I looked at the woman with new eyes, suspicious ones, but then she reached under the counter and pulled out something that caught my attention immediately.

It was a little blue purse, dark blue, that almost seemed to pulse with an inner light. I felt a bit foolish at the thought; after all, this was a candy shop, but I felt as if I were being presented with something illicit. Perhaps it was the mood of the place, which I was more sure than ever was carefully cultivated, but even with that knowledge, I seemed to be under her spell.

"Kusheth's Gem..." I breathed, plucking the purse from her hand as if it were a holy relic. I couldn't wait to eat one, but I decided that this wasn't really the place for it. Instead, I tucked the little purse inside of my larger one that held my coin. Luckily it was payday, so I could afford the steep price for the Kushiel's Apples. I might have quibbled at the amount she quoted me, but for some reason it seemed inappropriate, so I simply paid and took the box that held my little prank.

I didn't even rankle at her words of warning to Sin, and really she was probably right. I might not have the bite of others in my family, but befriending me might not be the smartest thing Sin ever did. Well, I was certainly not going to dissuade him, however. Not that I would admit it to anyone, but I was lonely since coming to the City.

I paid the woman for the candy, then turned to Sin, "Anything else?" I was feeling generous, for once.

[Sinclair nó Valerian]

"Her charity's never charity," I warned when we got out of the store. "I figure you'd have realized by the price she has on everything, but at the same time, it is also worth it. Just... well, I know I can't keep you from eating it." Mere curiosity alone, if not for the Tsigano's mysterious nature would have driven her to it, I was sure. She was a lot like me in more ways than one and I knew that I never side stepped from challenge. "Just... mm, well, I suppose someone will be working hard."

Then again, she was nobility, what did she know of working hard? I shook my head at Naia's offer for I knew nothing came without a price and I did not want to see the in between items that I would have to pay for with one piece of candy.

"Well, that's that." I said and gave her a light smile. "You'll have to tell me about what happened sometime." It was my way of asking where I could see her next to at least hear what she did with this. She knew she could spot me in Valerian House, but I was sure anywhere else would have been better to meet than there.

Maybe she wasn't bad, for a Shahrizai, but a Shahrizai was what they were and I would not forget it.

[Naia Shahrizai]

If anything, Sin's warning only made me more curious about the little treat that I'd been given. I also had a mind to try the Kushiel's Apple again, just because I wanted to make certain I could stand it long enough to have one at the same time as my sister, and pretend that it didn't bother me in the least.

Out in the night air, I began to feel more at ease, less under the spell of the shop. We began to walk through Night's Doorstep, and I had to force myself not to look back and make certain that the place was still there. Stop being so foolish, I told myself, thinking that Sin obviously frequented the place, and so there was nothing to worry about. Even that thought was a tad ridiculous and I had to take a deep breath to clear my head.

Sin's words penetrated my bemused thoughts and I couldn't stop a small frown from furrowing my brow. Were these his parting words? I was a bit disappointed, as I hardly wanted to go home just yet. Still, I supposed I couldn't force him to keep me company all night, and so I simply smiled slowly and said, "I work over at El Parra, in the Artisan's District, if you want to stop in and have a drink and hear the tale."

[Sinclair nó Valerian]

I did not want to spend too much time with the Shahrizai girl. As a front, my head said it was because of the Tsigano's warning, not to mention my own prejudice against them and just because I wanted a friend to have more business did not change that. However, somewhere, I knew it was because I was afraid of what this relationship would turn out to be. In any other circumstances, had we been anyone else, I knew something was there, but not here, not now. Not in this time.

I would not, however, be able to stay away to hear of what she did to her Shahrizai kin, for it was something I had been longing to do and did not have the guts or the gall to do it, for I did not have a death wish as of yet. "El Parra," I mused to myself to make sure that I did not forget it and nodded as I placed my hands in my pocket, thumbing my own Kushiel's Apples as I watched her. "I'll remember that, Naia Shahrizai."

With that, I turned to leave, calm and slow though I longed to burst out into a run. Friendly she may have been, but that did not make me unwary of the claws that I knew she had retracted, if only for a moment.