Jayna couldn’t even refute that. “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.”
He looked down at his feet. “My feet are fine.”
“Maybe I said something that upset you.”
She glanced over to Eva, who rested on the counter, eyes closed, a bit of faint smoke trailing around her face. It was almost as if the energy around her continued to flow, swirling, as if she were trying to call upon the power within her but not wanting to be seen drawing on that energy. Jayna thought the two of them would have worked better together when it came to getting information from Telluminder, but seeing Eva like this left her thinking that maybe she wasn’t going to be an ally in her search for information.
Telluminder hadn’t responded to her last statement, so Jayna pressed on. “I suppose you don’t need the money, then.”
Telluminder straightened and frowned at her. “Money?”
“I was in the market for some different enchantments.” She shrugged, glancing over to Eva for a moment before turning her attention back to Telluminder. “But there are other shops like yours I could get them from. I don’t need to waste my time here.” She started to turn, then Telluminder grabbed her arm, turning her back to face him.
“We don’t need to be too hasty,” he said.
“We don’t,” Jayna said.
“Perhaps I let the rumors about you influence my opinion a little bit more than I should have,” he said.
“What exactly were the rumors about me?”
“Why, the rumors say that Jayna Aguelon has decided to rule the city.”
Jayna started to smile, and she glanced over to Eva again, but she remained motionless. When she turned her attention back to Telluminder, she shook her head, trying to hide her concern. “I have no interest in ruling. All I’ve been trying to do is help the city.”
“By destroying things?”
“I didn’t destroy anything. If nothing else, I protected the city.”
“What makes you think that?” Telluminder asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I prevented a dangerous attack in the city.” Twice, she didn’t add, but didn’t think she needed to justify herself, and certainly not to a man like Telluminder. Perhaps she should have sent Eva looking for the information without her. It might’ve been easier.
Still, she remembered what Telluminder had known when she had been here before. He did have access to knowledge and information she couldn’t get anywhere else. She had to think that if anybody knew anything useful about the twelve followers along with Sarenoth, it would have to be him, but at the same time, he was also quirky, something Jayna had far too much experience with.
There were others who might be useful as well, but Jayna was less inclined to go to Master Raollet, though it might give her a chance to ask about whether he had hired other thugs to come after her.
“You stopped it?” Telluminder asked, cocking his head and glancing from her to Eva. “That’s not what everybody says.”
“Then everybody is wrong,” Jayna said. “We stopped it.”
He left the shield, hopped back around the counter, climbed up on his tall stool, and leaned forward. Now that he was at a height more equal to hers, she was forced to look in his eyes.
“What are you here for?” he asked.
“I was here to ask a few questions, but apparently I came to the wrong place.”
“You said you were here to spend money.”
“I can spend money,” Jayna said, “but I need to make sure that it’s money well spent.” She wasn’t above buying information, especially if it helped guide her. “How do I know you’re worth it?”
Telluminder leaned forward and flashed his yellowed teeth at her. “Who else would put up with you?” He shook his head. “It’s because of you that the dular are less inclined to work with me. They blame you for what happened in the city.”
Was that the reason for his irritation? “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t tell anybody not to work with you.”
“You don’t have to tell them,” Telluminder said. “They make their own choices, much like I have made my own choice. When I offered you help before, I apparently chose sides.” He glanced over to Eva before turning his attention back to Jayna. “And in the eyes of those within the city, it has turned me into someone who cannot be trusted.”
Jayna turned away from him, and she found a sculpture with a long feather trailing out of its side resting up against the wall. She didn’t touch it, knowing how Telluminder might react, but she could see the pattern-work along its surface. Another enchantment.
How many of the items within the shop were enchanted?
Better yet, what was the purpose of some of these items?
“You have quite a few weapons here.”
“Of course I do.”
Jayna started to laugh, turning. “You say that as if it should be unsurprising.”
“What else does an enchantment offer than an opportunity to attack?” Telluminder asked.
“Most people within the city claim the enchantments are simply designed to offer protection, not act as offensive weapons.”
And not all enchantments worked in those ways either. There were some that offered better hearing or sight, assistance that was beneficial to people as they grew older. Some offered a hint of strength, valuable for those who had become feeble. There were enchantments that could be used for nefarious purposes as well. Speed. Strength, in the wrong setting. Even hearing and sight could be misused.
And then there were other enchantments, like the ones Jayna now had in her pouch, the ones the little girl had given her. There was not much else those enchantments could be used for besides attacking.
There were other ways of creating enchantments, linking magic in very specific manners, but too many people thought to use violence in their creation.
“As you have seen, the type of enchantments I have acquired are older.”
“Do you even know what they’ll do?” she asked, pausing in front of a spear.
“I know what most of them do,” he said.
Jayna turned away from studying the spear and grinned at him. “Most?”
“Not all are quite as obvious as others,” he said. “Some of the purposes of the items have been lost to time.” He nodded toward the center of the shop. “Take the shield, for example. You might think it’s simply an intriguing enchantment, and perhaps it is, but it’s also an item that reflects a history of our people.”
“Our people?”
He glowered at her for a moment. “As you can see from the markings along the surface of the shield, there is an intention behind it. You can learn much from the type of markings, much about the people. What they celebrate. What they fear. What they thought they needed to defend themselves against.”
Jayna glanced at the spear again before turning slightly to look at the shield. He was right. She hadn’t given much thought to that before, but knowing what a person had been afraid of would offer insight into them.
“What have you learned?”
“Most of the items from within Nelar reflect fear of the El’aras.”
Jayna took a deep breath, but the humidity in the air made it difficult for her to inhale fully. The shop had a strange, almost bitter odor to it as well, which added to her discomfort. “You said most.”