[UNEDITED]

***

Ridgie lingered to chat with his fans for a while and then caught up with his friends in the Cave of St. Cube. As always, it was very noisy there. The beast-drivers were playing dice, rings or cards and the street merchants were touting the animal treats, saddles, and harness loudly. The water-carriers were disposing their glass tanks, which were bounded by iron hoops (otherwise they could not be levitated—all the spells "slipped" off from the famous abyss glass, bys-glas) and so thin that they almost did not cast shadows.

Having frightened away all the living creatures, Enaor was lapping up water from one of the gutters alone with his thoughts. Talia was keeping her eye on him and Fargon, who had bought a package of chocolate-covered raisins and now, having squatted down, was giving them to the children. The local boys and girls happily stretched out their hands for the dainties, and the newcomers stayed away from his—who knows what might come into the head of this big mister?

"I'm so sorry. I could not even imagine that everything would turn like this," Ridgie said apologetically to Talia.

"And it's not surprising, considering that you didn't give either us or yourself time to think properly about all possibilities. And now, after my copy was burnt to ashes, how will we find out who had ordered this red-haired masterpiece?" The an Kamian sighed. "Well, what's done is done. Did you manage to mouse out anything interesting?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't. Your copy was caught in the basement, near the treasury. She resisted, scorched the hip of one of the guards, and scratched the face of another."

"Did they manage to heal his wounds?"

"With great difficulty, but yes. That's why I believed that she is not you—no one can heal scratches made by Alaean claws," Ridgie added without a smile.

"Very funny!" Talia snorted. "Eh, this body was so well-made! It's too bad I lost it! Even if we couldn't learn anything by examining it, it worth the price itself—"

"Don't tell me you would "wear" it!" Ridgie winced.

"Of course not," said the an Kamian, wiping the lipstick off his cheek. "But I could have remodeled its features and then sell it at a very high price to some body manufacturer."

"I hope I've been able to compensate you for your loss," Ridgie asked derisively, squinting at the purse that Pabvak gave to her.

"Yes, a bit. But don't expect me to give you a commission for your labors. Yes, yes, Ridgie, button up your big pocket!" Talia wrapped her coat closer around her, hiding away her treasure.

Suddenly, a pale green peddler with a tray full of beads appeared near Talia as if from under the ground. The Alae recoiled, and he smiled to her cheerfully, so his flat, extremely wide nostrils flared and spread across his cheeks.

"Do you want teeth?" he asked, with an unexpectedly high pitched voice.

Talia raised an eyebrow, wondering what is he talking about.

"Would my lady like to buy some cookies? Oh, I have excellent, healthy, shiny ones! Just take a look at this strand!" He picked up the short necklace with a black claw and handed it to the an Kamian. "Only the clean, healthy elven teeth, sparkling, smooth as Tanaean pearls. And there are human ones, dyed in multiple colors. The central tooth is even encrusted with a ruby! Would you like to take a closer look at them? Yes? Of course yes! Which one, the elven or the human?"

"Well... Do you happen to have a half-elven one?" Talia asked, suppressing a laugh.

"Ooh, no, I don't. Although—" The peddler rummaged through his softly tapping necklaces and pulled out a long strand. "I have this one! Look, the elven teeth here alternate with the human teeth. Half them are elven, and other half are human, so we can say that this strand as a whole is half-elven!" He smiled broadly at his own joke; the yellow tooth stamps in his mouth looked much worse than those which he was selling. "Buy it and as a gift you will receive this charming ring for your little finger! The ring with a diamond of the first water! A genuine brilliandt!"

"A briliantd?!" sternly asked him Fargon, rising to his full height.

"Not "td", but "dt"," Talia corrected him, choking with laughter.

"What a shame! I've strictly forbidden you to fool the buyers!" the Ador lashed out at the peddler.

"I'm n-not trying to f-fool anyone! It's just a m-misunderstanding," babbled the unfortunate merchant.

"It is a misdoing! A flagrant, willful misdoing! I gave you and your children a work, and in reward you are defaming me, smirching my fair name with all of this!"

The peddler couldn't think of anything better than to dash away, flinging up his heels and losing his teeth.

"Ridgie, why don't you catch up with him and challenge him to a duel? I'm sure, Fargon will appreciate it," asked Enaor, licking water from his mustache.

_____________

[1] Abyss Glass (bys-glas)—the strongest material in Enhiarg. Magic cannot pass through it. It also makes the use of certain racial ("non magical") abilities of children of the Nae considerably more difficult, telepathic abilities in particular. It is manufactured solely in the Abyss city of Laennes; the method of production is kept strictly secret. Levies on carrying bys-glas out of Lennes are extremely high, even by Naeric standards. This mostly concerns weapons and armor, everyday goods to a lesser extent.