I breathed in deeply, aromas of exotic spices, baking bread, and syrupy sweets competing with the odor of the Felinae Fish Market; a collection of stalls selling fresh seafood. It was the only store of its kind in the Bazaar; a market within a market. The Felinae requested a dispensation to knock out the walls between the ground floors of three buildings just to make space for it. They received that dispensation because the rest of the Bazaar knew that the smell of one giant seafood market was easier to escape than that of several small seafood shops invading every stretch. Despite the offensive odor, everyone went to the Felinae Fish Market for their seafood; the Cats always had the best and freshest selection.
The men wrinkled their noses as we passed the market's open arches, but Kas and I just grinned. It was just another scent of the Bazaar—a place I had called home for many years—and I loved it as much as the aroma of ferh—a drink the Dwarves made. Speaking of which...
“Hold up, Kas,” I called as I veered right toward a Dwarf who was rolling his Fehr cart—a little metal thing with a steel carafe that stood taller than the Dwarf himself—through the street, searching for customers.
The Dwarf stopped when he spotted me heading his way. He didn't smile—Dwarves don't generally grin without good reason—but he did nod politely.
“Anyone else want a cup?” I looked back at the group over my shoulder.
“I would like to try some,” Saif said eagerly. “It smells intriguing.”
“One for me too,” Gage added as he joined us.
“Three, please,” I said to the Dwarf.
The short, bearded man nodded again and filled three paper cups from the spigot of his carafe. Steaming, thick, sweet, golden liquid filled them. He handed the cups to me, and I passed them to the men before taking my own and handing some money to the Dwarf.
“No charge, Your Majesty,” the Dwarf said gruffly. “You saved my brother during the Satyr attack.”
I paused. I didn't know this particular Dwarf but I did remember several of his kind fighting in the group I'd led through the Bazaar that day.
“Thank you, but if I saved your brother it was only because he stood by me in battle and helped to give me the chance to save a lot of people.” I put the money in the man's hand and closed his fingers around it. “We saved this place together, which means that there's no debt. But I'll gladly accept your friendship, Mr... ?”
“Call me Terol, if you please.” The Dwarf smiled, and I took that as the gift it was. “I'm honored to call you friend, Your Majesty.”
“Elaria,” I insisted. “It's nice to meet you, Terol. Tell your brother I wish him well.”
I lifted my cup in salute, and he nodded to me before moving on.
“You are a born leader, Queen Elaria,” Saif noted.
“Saif, we're away from your court, could we dispense with titles?” I lifted a brow at him.
“Happily,” he agreed then took a sip of his drink. He made a pleased sound. “This is fantastic!”
“Stick with us, Saif,” Kas declared as he threw an arm around Saif's shoulders. “We'll show you the best the Bazaar has to offer.”
Saif's brows rose in delight.
“Kasteo, we don't have time for a tour,” I chided him. “The ferh will have to do for now.”
“Fine. You're no fun,” Kasteo huffed and let Saif go. “Just because there's a looming apocalypse, it shouldn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.”
“The Cat has a point.” Declan slid up beside me gracefully and took my arm. “If we waited for a trouble-free time to enjoy ourselves, we'd never do so.”
“True, and I'm all for taking our little pleasures where and when we can find them,” I conceded. “But not right now.”
“I am content to wait,” Saif offered.
“Good, because we've arrived.” I waved a hand forward.
Our group wove through the crowd and stepped up to a shop with a small front window and a bright blue door. The window had a single word painted on it—Kujitia—and lights shone down on the jewelry displayed behind it. Although sunlight filtered down from above, the Bazaar buildings were all several stories high and crossed with walkways. Not to mention the traffic of flying Beneathers. The ground level tended to be shady at best. But gems thrived in spotlights and the artificial light directed upon them set them to sparkling like nothing else but magic could have. Even I paused to admire the display.
No bell jingled when we entered. It wasn't necessary; the proprietress was always in the main room when her shop was open. Shani stood behind one of the jewelry cases, ringing up a purchase for a Swan-Shifter. The delicately beautiful Swan took one look at my large party—both in numbers and in physicality—and shrank back.
“Easy, Linella,” Shani cooed. “Don't you recognize the Zone heroes? That's Elaria Tanager and her illustrious lovers.”
“Illustrious,” Declan murmured gleefully. “I like that.”
“Oh,” Linella whispered with some awe. “Hello.”
“Hi, Linella, nice to meet you,” I said with a bright smile. “We'll just wait over here till you're done.” I moved to the far end of the shop so we wouldn't crowd her.
Bird-Shifters tend to be skittish, even the predator birds can get jumpy. I'd only met one who wasn't, but she still
