Jayna watched. She tried to look inside the wagon, but didn’t see anything there.
No movement. Nothing obvious.
Distantly, she could still feel the linking spell she had placed on Rosal, and knew he was on the other side of the gate. After using the bloodstone to create his own enchantments, he had secured his place with his family, so she suspected he was in the mansion itself.
Ever since the night when the ruling dular had been attacked by the Order of Norej, Jayna had not seen Rosal, though she still worried about him. He had acted out of a desire to please his father, and a desire to be something he wasn’t. The bloodstone had given him that ability, but there had to be a price. There was always a price. Her experience with Rosal, however, suggested he wouldn’t even be aware of that.
Jayna lingered for a bit longer than she had intended. The dragon stone ring continued to stay constricted, calling to her.
She couldn’t wait here any longer.
She followed the energy within it, and as she did, she found it guiding her. There was a bit more energy within the ring now, and this time, as it continued to squeeze, it seemed to shuffle her beyond the courtyard, and from there, she followed the street. A line of merchant wagons stood on the outskirts of the city.
She soon found herself heading toward a traditional dular market. Not the midnight market where dular had to hide their enchantments, but one where they sold or traded what they made openly. She slowed as she neared it. It was midday, early enough that she wouldn’t have expected it to be quite as vibrant as this.
Jayna moved through the periphery of the market. She passed Molly, the dular who liked to claim she had more powerful enchantments than she actually did. It surprised her that she sold her enchantments in the daytime as well. The heavyset woman shot her a look. She recognized Jayna.
Jayna grinned at her. She headed over to her and leaned down, resting her hands on her booth.
“The last time you were here, the entire market burned. They blame you.”
Jayna just chuckled. “I’m surprised you chose a wooden booth. Considering your enchantments are as powerful as they are, I would’ve expected you to want something that wouldn’t burn. Maybe stone,” she said sarcastically.
Molly leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you aren’t going to purchase anything, you might as well move on.”
“Who said I wasn’t going to purchase anything?”
“You don’t need to make fun of my enchantments.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Jayna said and meant it. It wasn’t about upsetting this woman. What did she care if the woman deceived her way to higher profits? It wasn’t her responsibility to supervise the dular market.
She stepped back, twisting the dragon stone ring. The constriction had eased, but there was still a little bit of pressure within the ring. Not as much, though—certainly not enough to make her feel the same urgency as it had before.
“You’re taunting me,” Molly said.
“Do you sell much?”
“I sell enough.”
“Have you tried changing the substrate?”
“What?”
“The substrate of what you place your enchantments on. Have you tried changing it?”
“Now you think you know better than I do?”
Jayna shrugged. “I don’t know more than you do, but I do understand placing enchantments.”
“You aren’t dular.”
“Nope.”
“Then leave.”
Jayna merely shrugged, stepping back. She didn’t know why she was pushing Molly. It wasn’t that she disliked the woman, though Molly had been nasty to her when Jayna had been here before. Maybe it was only about that, but maybe it was more than that. She did feel Molly took advantage of others who might not have much money to spend and didn’t feel comfortable heading into the market itself.
“Good luck,” Jayna said.
“I don’t need luck,” Molly said. “I sell well enough. At least, I did before you destroyed the market.”
Jayna considered saying something to her before thinking better of it. She headed onward and passed by another booth before she heard a voice call out. Jayna paused and turned back. A young girl with mousy brown hair sat on a chair behind the booth. She was happy to see her again, having last seen the girl when the market had been attacked.
Jayna smiled at her. “You.”
The girl grinned. “You came back.”
“I did. I have to tell you that your enchantments are quite impressive.”
“They are?”
Jayna nodded quickly. “And very useful. I hope you have been doing well here.”
“Not as well as I wanted. My parents are letting me keep selling, but they don’t like it.”
“Because they don’t think your enchantments are safe?”
“It’s not so much they don’t think they’re safe,” she said. “It’s just . . . Well, we’re taught to create, not destroy. At least, my family would rather see me create and not destroy. The kind of power I put into an enchantment isn’t meant for creation.”
“It’s not entirely meant for destruction either,” Jayna said. “Have your parents ever seen the effect of one of your enchantments?”
“All they see is the violence.”
“Do they see anything else?” Jayna looked along the inside of the marketplace. The ring constricted briefly, but not long enough for her to get a sense of which way she needed to go. It was possible that whatever dark power was out there had already moved on. “Have they seen how your enchantments don’t actually destroy anything?”
Having experienced the effect of her enchantment firsthand, Jayna understood there was a benefit to it: Those who might otherwise be destroyed while using magic were only knocked back.
The enchantments may be violent, but they were nonlethal. There was an advantage to using that kind of magic, though perhaps only to people like herself, and people who cared about such things.
“I’m trying to come up with another way to use my enchantments,” the girl said. “I’m supposed to find a way that won’t destroy.”
“That’s why you’re out here in the daytime market,” Jayna said.
“Not many want to sell at night. Too dangerous. Most fear the Society will attack.”
Jayna frowned at that suggestion. How bad had it gotten? “You don’t have to worry anyway. Your kind of magic is wonderful. And incredibly useful.”
She smiled at Jayna. “Thank you.”
Jayna shrugged. “You don’t have to thank me. Just keep making what you’re making.”
More than that, Jayna believed that the girl’s kind of magic was going to be necessary in the days and weeks to come. If they were dealing with some sort of violent force, some sort of darkness, then having her power, such as it was, would be valuable.
Jayna reached into her pocket and flipped through some of her coins before settling on a silver. “Here. I would take more.”
The girl’s eyes widened. “That’s too much!” She pocketed the coins and Jayna chuckled. “I have something for you.” She reached under the counter, then pulled out a black lacquered box and opened it. She sorted through it, grabbing several different enchantments before handing them to Jayna.