"I'm sorry."
These were the first words Erwand uttered after Lilynn had told him that he came extremely close to her in his sleep. She did not tell him that the reason she didn't wake him up was because it felt good. Really good, in fact.
"I must have been having a nightmare or something," he tried saving himself.
"I don't care. I hope we will get to a better town where there are at least separate beds."
Erwand just laughed at her while munching at a herb-flavored bread.
"This is what you signed up for, silly lady."
How dare he call a demoness a silly lady!
Lilynn took a few steps with anger.
"Not so fast, Lilynn. You still do not look completely unsuspicious," he warned her.
Oh no, of course. She still had the funeral dress on.
"Try this," Erwand whipped out a cloak out of the cart. Lilynn put it on. It was completely black and perfectly hid her body with a hood on its top. She was ready to wander the streets.
Erwand got a little ball out of his belt satchel and threw it at the carriage. Then, he mumbled something that Lilynn could not understand. The little ball let out a beam of light that slowly covered the cart and the horses. It soon faded away, and everything looked as if nothing happened.
"What was that?," Lilynn wondered.
"That little thing was filled with a spell-amplifying potion. I am the one who invented it. As soon as it broke on the ground, the potion covered my stuff. Then, like a sponge, it soaked in the spell I said, which was an anti-theft spell. The result is the same as if I had enchanted the whole thing, but this takes much less energy. Enchanting is hard, but alchemy is all about tricks. If someone tries to steal anything, their hand gets zapped. Pretty cool, right? Even better than making the whole thing invisible."
Lilynn tried to follow him, but she had a lot to learn about magic and alchemy. They went on to discover what the town had to offer.
The town around them already woke up. The people were getting ready for the harvesting season, handing tools like scythes and sickles to one another. Some were preparing their horses and carriages. From young to old, everyone took their part in the preparations.
Everything felt peaceful. People with families were able to cultivate the land around them to sell grains and feed their family members. But she assumed those alone were left without help. Lilynn knew very well that as a lonely, abandoned young girl this possibility is nonexistent. People like her could only get low-paying, exhausting jobs usually at the estates of wealthy men.
Erwand walked by her side with a straight face. He had the leather armor back on his body again, making him look more muscular and somewhat menacing. As they were passing by the townspeople, it suddenly struck Lilynn that they must see them as a married couple.
She did not mind. As long as nobody knew her real demoness identity, all was good.
They were a couple of an alchemist knight and a mysterious shadow lady.
In the centre of the town, a large market was being held. Endless rows of vendors and booths were standing with colorful textiles on their tops. Lilynn could see raw fish in a barrel, exotic fruits and spices, magical crystals and even lucky charms. The sellers were advertising their products with loud words, shouting at the bypassers.
"We need to get food and new clothes for you." Erwand reminded her. "I can get us the food supply for our journey, can you manage the clothing for yourself?
Lilynn nodded.
"I can take care of myself." She glanced down to her hand, right where a demonic blade appeared the day before.
"Alright. We will meet right here, at the market's entrance" he said, and from his pocket pulled out a small satchel. It was full of coins. He poured a few gold and silver ones into Lilynn's hand, who hid them in her cloak's secret pocket.
He then disappeared into the crowd of people.
Lilynn decided to get a closer look at what these sellers had to offer. She passed a few particularly exciting ones. One of them was selling "Anti-Demon Talismans", as his sign said, and had a table full of weird-looking jewellery, most of which were just gemstones in a metal frame.
"Would you like to keep the demons away, young lady?" the seller asked. He held up a talisman with a green crystal in the middle. "This one protects you from them."
Lilynn was only a few steps away from the man holding up the talisman, but she could not sense anything strange or alerting. This must be a scam.
"No, thank you."
She walked to the next seller. It was just an old woman with a lot of pigeons sitting in cages. Finally, after a few other strange sellers, she finally found a clothing vendor. There were both male and female clothes hanging from a long pipe.
"Welcome! Please, look around and see what you like! I am here to help you!", a young lady walked toward her. She was younger than Lilynn, looking at her with big, sparkly eyes.
"Thank you, I will manage," Lilynn said. The girl beside her was suddenly nervously looking behind herself as if to check something.
Lilynn pulled the hood tighter on her head – perhaps the seller lady saw her red eyes, ready to alert others. But she did not. She let out a forced smile at Lilynn. It was somewhat creepy and Lilynn could not be sure if anyone else was looking at her. But if she left without a word, that might make her look even more strange.
She started to pick random dresses out of the bunch. Most of them were in a light, brownish or yellowish color. She had to choose something that would not look too unusual.
She picked a brown dress. It was a simple, yet well-crafted long dress with short sleeves. But as soon as Lilynn turned it to see how its back looked, she discovered a big torn next to the skirt part.
The seller lady gasped and took the dress out of her hands. Again, she looked towards the back of the booth, where the entrance of a stone building stood. Next to that door, a small window was in the wall. It was more like a vent hole than a proper window, but one could easily peek through that and see the whole booth.
"Hand it to me, I will fix it. Please, chose another one," she said at the end.
Something was not right. Lilynn looked at the young lady more closely and discovered that her wrists and lower arm that her clothes did not cover were full of bruises.