Chapter 7
SPARROW
The Everend Markets were larger than the entirety of Hillstowe and so very, very busy.
I was glad that Elowin was with me because I didn’t quite fear getting lost in the crowd when he was always right there.
Not only did he seem to know exactly where he was going, but he moved with the kind of confidence and purpose that meant others stepped around him instead of knocking into him.
If I’d been on my own, I would have been rattled around like a skittle, I was sure—mostly because I kept stopping to look at things and getting distracted.
Every stall we passed was new and exciting, even the food stalls!
I wouldn’t have thought there was anything exotic at all about roasted chestnuts, but Elowin bought us a paper cone of the nuts and they were sprinkled with nutmeg and some sort of citrus zest and were nothing like the ones I’d had before at home.
I chewed slowly, savoring the taste as Elowin led me forward through the crowds.
There was so much to see! We passed stalls offering mouthwatering charred meat on wooden skewers, some sort of fried dough, and ears of corn dripping in butter, and I had to force myself not to stop at every single vendor and empty my purse.
And the food wasn’t the only thing that caught my attention.
In Hillstowe, the clothing was plain and serviceable.
But here, elves dressed in a mix of different colors and eye-catching styles, from billowing shirts in purples and blues to fitted trousers with laces down the sides and no shirts at all and everything in between.
A woman passed us wearing tight leggings.
They were bright green apart from the places where there was no fabric at all, just white lace.
A couple up ahead of us caught my eye, and I was sure I stared quite rudely, but I couldn’t stop looking.
Both men wore caramel-colored leggings in a fabric that looked wonderfully soft, and it wrapped itself around their bottoms like a well-fitting glove.
Not that I was looking at their bottoms, of course!
Their clothing fascinated me, that was all.
Their shirts were linen and the color of cranberries.
One of them wore a long sleeveless vest over the top in a fetching shade of forest green and the other a similar vest in a lighter shade.
The combined effect was quite enchanting.
We made our way forward, and Elowin placed one hand on my shoulder and kept me close as he steered me along the narrow laneways between the stalls, his palm warm and comforting.
I spent some time lingering around the tents where they were selling magic, fascinated by the array of enchantments on offer.
As well as the more practical spells—there was one to make chickens lay—there were plenty of items that seemed to exist purely for entertainment’s sake, like a kettle that whistled a different tune every time it boiled.
Eventually we made our way to the road that led to the inn where the prince would be staying, and I was secretly relieved to leave the market behind for now. I had never seen so many elves in one place before, and although the atmosphere was jovial enough, the press of bodies was overwhelming.
“Oh,” I said, looking around me at the park Elowin had led us into, a respite from the crowds. “Is that…”
The words, and my breath, trailed off in wonder.
It was a large stone shrine surrounded by beautifully kept trees and shrubs.
It wasn’t exciting like the markets, or even as beautiful as the large pavilions—just a large stone shrine that was older than anything else around it.
As old as the continent itself, perhaps.
It commemorated the birthplace of the very first elves, and my breath caught in astonishment to see it in the flesh instead of just reading about it in books.
It took a moment to find my words again. “Is that the shrine?”
Elowin nodded, a faint smile on his face as though my astonishment brought him happiness. As though he was pleased that he got to see my reaction. I was glad, once again, that he was here with me. “Do you want to have a closer look?”
“Oh no,” I said, suddenly conscious of my travel-stained clothes, my fingers sticky from the chestnuts, and my braided hair.
The shrine was sacred and I was currently too grubby to approach it in good conscience.
“That is, not today. Oh! And I need to brush my hair out before I meet the prince! And change my clothes!”
I paused and thought about the fashionable elves I’d seen earlier and the clothes I had packed.
It was painfully clear to me now how outdated they were, and my heart sank at the thought of meeting my future husband looking like some relic from the past. But it couldn’t be helped.
I could only trust that my impeccable manners and my magic would charm him enough that he would look past my attire.
“What’s wrong?” Elowin asked.
“My clothes,” I said. “They’re not right, are they?”
“Give me another look,” he said, taking my pack off. He set it on the ground and gestured to it.
I opened it with a growing sense of trepidation, first removing my books and then discovering my finest clothes underneath, slightly flattened but no worse for the journey.
I pulled my shirt out first, and Elowin’s expression remained unchanged.
Then the doublet followed, and he gave a slight wince.
“It’s velvet,” I said miserably, my fingertips brushing the fabric.
“It’s a lot,” he said, gesturing at the ruffles. There were a lot of ruffles, rows and rows of them. And somehow the contrasting orange and green panels didn’t look splendid like I’d thought back in Hillstowe. They looked rather garish instead.
“It’s not what genteel elves wear nowadays, is it?” I asked.
He winced again. “Let’s take a look at the leggings and—” He caught a glimpse of them. “No. No, it’s definitely not what any elves wear nowadays, but that doesn’t matter.”
I shoved the clothes back in the pack and blinked back sudden tears. “No, I know. The prince will look past that, and I do have the longest hair of anyone I’ve seen.”
Elowin let out a breath and held my gaze. “Sparrow, your hair doesn’t matter either. You are you, and that is all that matters.”
Mien, manners, and magic. My parents, and Elowin, were right. Heartened, I refastened the straps on my pack and held it out to him. He took it with a smile and slung it over his shoulder.
“But if you like,” he said gently, “we can buy you some new clothes.”
Relief washed over me. “Yes! I would like that! I mean, of course I know that noble Prince Aldian would not be so shallow as to judge me on my velvet doublet, but I would feel better—more confident, that is—in something new.”
“Come on then,” Elowin said with a smile. “I know just the place.”
We headed back into the bustle of the market.
“Elowin!” a woman exclaimed as we reached a clothing stall on the southern end of the market. “You made it! Teon was sure you’d get distracted by a new type of seed, or a special kind of sheep, and we’d never see you again!”
They embraced, and Elowin rolled his eyes. “Sparrow, this is my sister, Rowan. Rowan, this is Sparrow. He’s the Fyreham Lathian.”
Rowan smiled and held out her hand for me to shake.
She was almost as tall as her brother, and her eyes were the same shade of green as his.
She wore her dark hair braided down her back.
Extraordinarily, though, the hair on the sides of her head was cut short and dyed pink, like the plumage of a pink-browed rosefinch. It looked lovely.
“So you’re the reason Elowin’s late to the market and couldn’t help me set up my stall,” she said, though she was smiling. “I had to beg Teon’s help instead. Luckily, they’re a better worker than Elowin.”
“Isn’t Teon supposed to be guarding Aldian?” Elowin asked.
“Oh, please,” Rowan said. “As though Aldian doesn’t have enough guards that he can’t afford to spare a few here and there. He let Teon come early with me. He’s been delayed, by the way, if you didn’t already know. He’s not expected until tomorrow at the earliest.”
I didn’t know whether or not I ought to be disappointed that our meeting would be delayed. Surely, it was only my nerves that made me glad, and not the fact that it meant spending more time with Elowin.
Elowin shrugged. “Well, we’ll make do without him, I suppose. I’m sure we can find some way to entertain ourselves.” He smiled at me, and my stomach flipped in a strangely pleasant manner. “Maybe a balloon ride?”
I gasped at the thought of it, both thrilling and terrifying at the same time, and wondered if Elowin would hold my hand if I was scared. I was certain he would. And perhaps… perhaps he would even hold my hand if I wasn’t scared?
While I was sorting through that complicated and dangerous idea, Elowin clapped me on the shoulder. “In the meantime, Sparrow needs some new clothes, and I figured you could help him with that.”
“Of course!” She gave me a smile that was an echo of her brother’s. “What are you looking for?” She steered me over to a hanging rail that was filled with clothing of all colors, and I stared, overwhelmed with choice.
I pulled out a sage green tunic and held it up. I thought it was quite fetching, but what did I know? I put it back. “I don’t know what I need,” I said helplessly.
Elowin placed a hand on my shoulder, more gently this time. “Don’t worry. Rowan is the best at what she does. She’ll have you dressed fit for a prince in no time.”
Rowan exchanged a look with Elowin, then made me turn around slowly twice while she looked me over. “You’re a pretty one, no mistake,” she said.
My face grew hot. “Oh no, I’m not really. Plain but pleasing, that’s what my mother always called me. But my hair is the longest of anyone in all of Hillstowe, and anyone I’ve seen here.”
Rowan blinked slowly like a cat. “What do you mean?”
I felt my braid anxiously. “It’s longer when it’s loose!”
A tiny divot appeared in her forehead as her brows tugged together. “No, I mean, what do you mean you’re not pretty? I think you are. Elowin, what do you think?”
My face was already burning. Now I was afraid it would burst into flames.
“He’s pretty,” Elowin said, sounding a little gruff. I couldn’t read his expression because it was suddenly very important that I stared at the ground instead. “Now find him some clothes, Rowan, and tell us all the news from the market. What’s this year’s scandal?”
“Hmm.” Rowan picked up the sage green tunic I’d put back and held it up against me.
Then she took a sky blue one and did the same.
Then she held them both up at the same time, some silent calculation taking place behind her shrewd gaze.
“Well, the big news is that someone very important has gotten engaged to an elf from a settlement that nobody has even heard of, and of course the parents are apoplectic! Thanafern from the inn says that he heard it’s a noble elf from Dun Steorra whose parents are on the council, but I think he’s talking bullshit as usual. ”
“What’s bullshit?” Elowin asked. “That they’re from Dun Steorra or the whole thing?”
Rowan shrugged. “The whole thing, probably, but it’s fun to speculate.” She set the sage green tunic down. “The blue definitely goes best.”
I took the blue tunic, marveling at the narrow panels down each side that were made of lace. They reminded me of the fretwork in the grand pavilions I’d seen earlier. “Won’t it be cold?”
Rowan winked. “Charmed thread. You could wear it in the middle of winter, and the cold couldn’t touch you.”
“Oh!” I said reverently, stroking the fabric. “How wonderful!”
I was going to ask her more about the charmed thread, but at that moment someone else stepped into the shade of the stall, exclaimed, “Elowin!” in a delighted and familiar tone, and stepped forward and kissed him.
And every word in my head dropped right out again as I stared at them both in shock.