"I suppose I just assumed on the basis of normality," she chuckled and shook her head slowly. "But you were never one for the norm, were you, Eli?"

"How could you possibly say such a thing, I am the only substance of normal in your entire being!"

"Of course you are," Aldyth rolled her eyes and moved her gaze toward the window, where the outside world appeared much warmer than it actually was. In that moment, she looked younger, more like a child than the old woman who's eyes she'd started to possess. Shadows of worry weaved in and out of her cheekbones as if her blood were washing the substance from her body.

I left her alone then, as it felt like the better thing to do. There had hardly ever been a time in the past where her mouth would fall silent to the yearnings in her heart. In fact it had only happened but once before, on the eve that Noah and she realized that their parents were never coming back.

My feet creaked against old wooden panels as I light stepped to the other side of the store. It was a roomy place, despite its small size with oil lamps stacked neatly beside a wall of books that read in more than languages than I could identify. My eyes scrolled over the titles. A History of Four Parts, the Philosophy of Silence, Advanced Mallet Techniques, Breeding Habits of Atrixes and Dragons, How to Care For Your Instrument: A Manuel by Hacer of Áshen, Snow: A Guide for Dingots...

I was about to select one of the books and flip through the pages when I heard Aldyth's voice calling faintly from across the store. With one final glance at the shelf, I hurried back through the clutter and space to find my comrade bent low over an open book. "What are you doing?" I asked as I came closer.

She wordlessly lifted a brittle page whose color shone dark against her skin. "I don't really know," she admitted as she let the page fall before handing me the book. "It was the one that Cwen was knocking around earlier..."

I shifted my eyes downward; sprawled across the browning paper was a life-like sketch of a young girl with messy blonde hair and eyes that shone despite the bold ink strokes. "Cwen," I murmured as the likeliness of the child smiled back at me.

Aldyth moved to hover over my shoulder as I flipped quickly through the pages. On each time-worn paper we found an almost fluid image staring back at us. A single slender woman dominated the first sections of the book. Warm eyes, light brown hair and a loving smile, she looked like she could have been replaced the sun in the world of the artist. In several of the images, the woman was dressed in dark, form fitting slacks under a thick, but short padded jerkin that couldn't have been tailored in anything less than royalty.

There came a sketch, a few dozen pages in, where the woman had her face cast down toward a little bundle bundle in her arms, a baby. Aldyth and I shared a look as I skipped ahead a handful of sheets. The woman was older in the next pictures, and an elder teenaged girl, whom I assumed must have been the baby in the earlier sketches, stood smiling confidently at her side. They were both wearing the dark uniform, the necks of the thick jerkins rising high against their throats. The girl bore the uncanny likeliness of an older, more matured Cwen.

Suddenly someone coughed from behind us. Aldyth and I whirled around to find the store owner glaring down at us with a bemused expression upon his face. "Find anything interesting, the two of you?"

"Sorry, we didn't mean to peer where we weren't welcomed but -- " Aldyth said quickly.

"The drawings are excellent," I interjected before she could make things sound much worse than it was. "We are sorry, if that's consolidation."

"At ease, childs," he chuckled and set a pile of fabric down on a chair to his right. "I wouldn't leave my things out if I minded so much at people looking at them." Despite his kind words, the store owner gently parted the two of us and grabbed the book from the table before we could turn to look again. "I am glad that you like them."

"Did you draw those?" I asked as I picked up a woolen tunic and tanned leather breeches that looked like they had seen better days. Aldyth stared longingly at me for a moment before folding a heavy winter dress over her arm.

The store owner nodded and hugged the book to his chest. "That I did."

"If you don't mind us asking then," Aldyth started. "But who are the ones in the drawings? There seems to only be two people."

"Three," he corrected. "There aren't quite as many pictures of little Cwenlin." He flipped open the book in his arms and smiled sadly. "The blond one, she's Cwen's sister, Faylinn, my other daughter -- she hasn't been home in a long time."

"And what of the other woman? The one that takes up most of the pages?"

For the first time, his eyes truly seemed to harden. "That is Githa, my wife."

"Is she with Faylinn?"

"She's gone." His mouth hardened and we both knew that that the subject was closed to further discussion. He quickly turned back and swept to the other side of the store and when he returned the book was nowhere to be seen. "All tangents aside, is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"The hunt grows scarce with the winter," I immediately slipped back into a mode of responsibility. "Is there any food you can spare for the road?"

The man slowly shook his head with the kind of heaviness that came with great regret. "I'm sorry, but no. The harvest has been," he paused and tilted his head to one side. "...difficult... this year. Cwenlin and I must keep every drop that we have."

"That's alright," I whispered. "You must do what you must."

He appeared to analyze my silence for a moment before holding up a hand for us to wait. With a speed I would have associated more with an elf than a human, he ran to his desk by the entrance of the store and came back with a small pouch in his hands. "I'll sell you this and the clothes for two silver banders."

"What is it?" I asked as I took the pouch from him and pulled back the drawstring. A small, stoppered bottle full of clear liquid fell into my palm.

"Magic," he breathed. "Liquefied in the forges of the West Cardinal. In times of most dire uncertainty, this will provide your solution with but a few drops."

I was about to call out the insanity of his words, that it was an outrageous price for what was probably just a vial of water, but Aldyth quickly silenced me with a look. "Won't you need the magic for yourself, sir?"

"It's not mine to use," he shook his head again. "But if one purchases it; it becomes rightfully yours to use as you may."

"Throw in a three pairs of gloves -- one of them must be of good leather -- and a couple decent scarves and you've got yourself a deal." Aldyth replied confidently before I could get a word.

The store owner seemed to crumble in relief. "Of course, of course. Excuse while I go find some."

"What was that?" I hissed once he was out of hearing range.

"He needs the money, Eli." She replied as she tucked the vial into her cloak. "More than we do. So what if he's slipping us some crazed story about magic water -- it doesn't matter so long as he can feed his girl, no?"

"No..."

A few moments later, the store owner returned with the rest of our things folded neatly in a pile. I counted out the silver and handed it him with a sure nod. "Thank you, um..."

"Hyde," he replied and in that moment I saw that his daughter had his eyes. "My name is Hyde. Thank you. Thank you."

A/N
Let's see now long I'm content with that cover.