Page 18 of Starlit Bargains

“About what?” Kai mumbled, reluctantly sitting up and running a hand through his disheveled hair.

“About strange lights in the forest last night. About shadows moving against the wind. About a certain visitor fromThornhaven who was seen returning to the village in the wee hours.” She flitted to hover directly in front of his face. “They're talking about you, in case that wasn't clear.”

That woke him fully. “Already? It's barely morning.”

“Small villages run on gossip and suspicion,” Briar said sagely. “And you're providing both in abundance.”

Kai sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Wonderful. So much for keeping a low profile.”

After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, Kai made his way downstairs to the tavern's common room. Conversation noticeably dimmed as he entered, several pairs of eyes tracking his movement across the room to an empty table. He smiled and nodded at no one in particular, determined to act as normal as possible despite the obvious scrutiny.

The tavern keeper, a portly man with an impressive mustache, approached his table with a mug of something steaming and a plate of bread and cheese.

“Morning,” the man said, his tone carefully neutral. “Sleep well?”

“Like the dead,” Kai replied cheerfully. “Though I had the strangest dreams.”

The tavern keeper's expression tightened almost imperceptibly. “Did you now? What about?”

“Can't remember,” Kai lied smoothly. “Something about flying, I think. Or falling. You know how dreams are—gone as soon as you try to recall them.”

“Indeed.” The man lingered a moment longer than necessary. “There was some excitement in the village last night. Strange lights in the old temple ruins. Some say they saw shadows moving where shadows shouldn't be.”

Kai took a bite of bread, chewing thoughtfully. “Is that unusual around here? I got the impression Mistwood was known for... peculiarities.”

“We have our share of oddities,” the tavern keeper acknowledged. “But last night was different. Last night felt like...” he hesitated, “like something waking up.”

The phrasing was too similar to what Eliar had said to be coincidence. Kai maintained his expression of mild interest, though his pulse quickened slightly. “Sounds ominous.”

“Perhaps.” The man studied him for a moment longer. “Particularly when the disturbance coincides with the arrival of an outsider.”

“You think I had something to do with it?” Kai asked, injecting just the right amount of surprise into his voice. “I was here all night. Ask your night porter—he saw me come in before sunset.”

It was a lie, of course, but one he'd prepared for. He'd made sure to make himself visible entering the tavern early in the evening, before slipping out again to meet at the well.

The tavern keeper's mustache twitched. “Of course,” he said, clearly not believing it but unable to disprove the claim. “Just village talk. Pay it no mind.”

As the man walked away, Briar emerged from Kai's collar where she'd been hiding, keeping her voice to a whisper only he could hear. “Smooth. But they're definitely suspicious.”

“Let them be,” Kai murmured back, taking a sip of the hot cider. “Without proof, suspicion is just gossip.”

After finishing his breakfast, Kai ventured out into the village proper. The market was in full swing, but unlike the previous day, there was a distinct tension in the air. Conversations paused as he passed, resuming in hushed tones once he was just out of earshot. Children who had played freely near him before were now called back to their parents' sides with sharp warnings.

“This is going well,” Briar commented from her hiding place.

They were making their way toward a stall selling rare inks when Kai spotted a familiar figure across the marketplace. Theireyes met, and her expression transformed from mild irritation to something far more dangerous. Before Kai could duck down another path, she was cutting through the crowd with surprising agility for someone her age, her gaze locked on him like a predator that had spotted prey.

“Wonderful,” Kai muttered under his breath. “Just the reunion I was hoping to avoid.”

“Maybe she's forgiven you for the fire?” Briar suggested without much conviction.

“Somehow I doubt that.”

Madam Wisteria reached him, and without preamble, grabbed his arm with a grip surprising in its strength. Her eyes, sharper than they'd seemed in her shop, narrowed to accusatory slits.

“You,” she hissed, voice low but intense. “I knew there was something wrong about you from the moment you entered my shop. But this—” She gestured vaguely toward the forest. “You've stirred the sleeper.”

Kai blinked, genuinely caught off guard by the accusation. This wasn't about the lavender incident at all. “I'm sorry?”

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