As awe-inspiring as seeing Hindra from a distance was, walking the streets of the city was even more so. These were no dirt roads, but wide cobblestone streets that could easily fit two of our troupe’s wagons abreast. The city also boasted a vast sewer system that stretched out beneath the entirety of the city and a small army of street cleaners prevented the foul smells that I had been subjected to in Loden. Instead, the air was scented with the products of the various food stands that we passed as Vesha and Korine led me to our destination.

The people of Hindra took pride in their city and kingdom, and it showed from the bright blue and gold banners that hung from eaves and fluttered in the breeze. I also saw a fair number of non-human people walking the streets and they were treated as friends, neighbors, and honored customers as we made our way through the market district. Even our small group was barely given the occasional second glance; the tall and imposing Salamander leading the way followed by three of us in Voyager clothing, although only Korine looked like what most people would expect a Voyager to look like with her dark skin and hair, somewhat short stature, and her ears mostly covered by her colorful scarf.

The other two in our current group were of course me and Kalara, and the blue-haired Elven girl was clutching tightly to my hand for fear of getting lost in the crowds. Zenna had finished several sets of clothes for her yesterday and now she was dressed much like any other young Voyager girl, complete with a scarf wrapped around her head to hide her pointed ears. Not that it helped her stand out any less with her sky-blue hair and eyes. Just as my own colorful scarf would hide neither my long lavender hair nor the wings twitching nervously at my back.

Since we were with Vesha and did not have a way to cast a glamour on anyone except myself, I decided to remain unglamoured as well. As striking as Kalara and I were with our unique hair colors and my wings, other than the occasional second glance, people did not seem bothered by our appearances. Vesha stood out just as much with her bright crimson hair and draconian features anyway, and she was imposing enough that even the most curious thought twice before bothering us.

The four of us had set out as soon as the troupe finished setting up camp, while my grandparents and Master Nirlyn headed to the local soldiers’ barracks to inform the proper authorities about our trouble on the road from Loden and the fate of the travelling menagerie. I had been reluctant to bring Kalara into such a large city when I too was a stranger to it, but the girl still seemed reluctant to let me out of her sight and I had no way to communicate that she would be safe with the other children.

The children were also headed into the city to pick some pockets anyway, with Shava going along with them in case there was trouble. At one time, she would have been picking pockets alongside them, and I recalled her being a very adept cutpurse when we first met, but our grandparents were trying to show her that her new status as a blade bearer came with responsibilities, and today hers was to keep the little ones safe and out of any more trouble than purse-snatching. She was too memorable for thievery anyway with Fal’hevar strapped to her hip. Not many Voyagers wore weapons so brazenly, but she could not exactly hide it and our bonds with our weapons required us to keep them close.

As for the four of us, we were headed toward the shop of Lady Arinade, the enchanter that I had been referred to on Loden. We also wanted to visit the apothecary that my fellow apprentices had been telling me about for most of our walk through the city streets. Only half of my attention was on the wonders they were telling me about though since was trying to pay attention to which streets we were following and keeping my hand firmly grasping Kalara’s.

It would be far too easy to get lost in such a vast city, or to lose my new charge, and I did not wish for either to happen. As we walked, and I half paid attention to what my fellow apprentices were telling me about the wonderful concoctions at the apothecary, I kept a tally of potential busking locations along with the ever-growing list of streets and landmarks that I was committing to memory. “This is the Avenue of Mystic Delights,” Korine finally said as we turned from one busy street onto another. “Here is where we will find your enchanter as well as others like her, alchemists, apothecaries, and others selling magical services.”

Well-made stone and wood buildings lined the cobblestone street and signs stood over the doors, probably to advertise whatever services that they offered, though I had not yet progressed well enough on my letters to read some of them. Some of the shops bore large windows displaying magical items, artifacts, or items that had obvious enchantments meant to catch the eye, such as a dress that had wings on the back that almost looked like mine and would occasionally flutter. I harbored mixed feelings about that dress.

The dress was very simple, making the wings all the more eye-catching, but I felt a resentment arise in my heart at the thought of humans pretending to be Fae, and a Faerie in particular. I could sense the same feeling coming from Sharai. On the other hand, Kalara’s gaze was locked upon it as we looked in the window, and she was reluctant to leave. Her sky-blue eyes only left the dress for a moment, to look at my wings, before returning to the mannequin that bore the dress.

-It is a magical illusion, much like a glamour, and a good one too. They look remarkably lifelike,- Sharai admitted grudgingly.

Noticing that we were no longer at their side, Vesha and Korine returned to where we stood to look inside at what had captured our attention. “Huh, interesting enchantment,” Vesha offered as she glanced at the wings. “They’ve captured little Kalara’s attention, have they? Thirty-five silver is a fair price for such an interesting and realistic illusion, going by appearances alone, though I wonder if it is a temporary or permanent illusion. Still, I’ve seen much worse quality being sold for more.”

I looked down at little Kalara, her eyes still fixed on the wings in the shop window and let out a sigh. “Let us go inside, I would like to ask the shopkeeper some questions.”

Both of my fellow apprentices failed to properly cover the smirks on their faces. Three days and it seemed that Kalara already had me wrapped around her finger, this did not bode well for the future. They seemed to know it as well as I did, though Vesha leaned over to kiss me tenderly on the cheek as she whispered, “You’re so sweet, Honey.”

I bent over to pick Kalara up and the three of us stepped into the shop, where an Ilari woman stood behind the counter. Ilari vaguely resemble androgynous humans in general shape and facial features, but have plum-colored skin, long feathered tails, legs that end in hooves rather than feet, flat noses, sheep-like ears, and feathers in place of hair. This one had bright amber eyes and a mix of blue, green, and turquoise feathers on her head and tail, and the lack of large curled golden horns poking from her head feathers marked her as a female.

I was not surprised to see that a non-human owned the shop since the only humans who could work magic were those who were mana-touched. The Ilari also had a reputation as talented enchanters and magic-users, so finding one here was not surprising, though I had never seen one in person before, I only heard about them from others in the troupe. “Please, feel free to look around, I will be with you in a moment,” she offered as she looked over a book on the counter.

We made our way to the dress in the window, and I held out my free hand to tentatively touch one of the wings. To my surprise, it felt solid, though the texture felt wrong, almost scaly while mine were soft and smooth to the touch, like flower petals. I quickly approached the Ilari at the counter and began to ask, “About the wings on that dress…”

The woman’s eyes went wide as she looked up from her ledgers and began to stammer, “A…apologies L-lady Fae… I… just… Faerie wings are so lovely. I.. imitation is the…”

I quickly cut off her hurried apology. “Is the enchantment permanent or temporary? Can you customize the size, color, and texture? The texture on those feels wrong.”

Her amber eyes remained wide as she stammered, “M-my Lady?”

“The little one here wants wings of her own, it seems,” I told her with a sigh. “Those are very lovely and, except for the texture, quite realistic.”

“My apologies, I have never spoken with a Faerie before, only seen one from a distance in my youth,” she admitted after taking a deep breath to calm herself. “She led me out of the forest when I was lost, and I have been fascinated by your kind since. I am Dewblossom, and this is my shop. I strive for only the best of illusions, my Lady.”

“Please, call me Kaelyn,” I told her. “Now about the wings?”

“Aye, Lady Kaelyn, the illusion is permanent and can be bound to an item of clothing, a piece of jewelry, or any other trinket that the wearer keeps upon their person. I can change the color, size, shape, and texture to whatever my client wishes. I also sell some simple trinkets, should you need something to bind the spell to,” she offered, now all business as she looked at the young girl in my arms. “It is sweet that your daughter wishes to be more like you.”

I attempted to ignore the adding of ‘Lady’ before my name and the implication that I was Kalara’s mother. The way that Kalara clung to me and followed me everywhere like a lost duckling, I was probably going to have to get used to such assumptions. After discussing what I wanted and reluctantly allowing Dewblossom to gently feel one of my wings to get the texture right, I chose a simple wooden totem that was carved in the shape of a leaf and attached to a length of leather cord to place the enchantment upon.

I was worried at first that Kalara might not react well to having something put around her neck after the collar, so I bought two matching totems for seven coppers each and showed her that they were safe by putting one around my own neck first. Then I sat her on the counter and placed the other totem on her, while cooing reassuringly, so Dewblossom could imbed the illusion into the totem and attune it to Kalara. The illusory wings were azure in color, and I was very happy with the texture when I experimentally touched them.

It was the look on Kalara’s face as she looked at and reached back to touch her new illusory appendages that truly warmed my heart though. The smile on her face and the look of wonder in her eyes as we left the shop and continued on our way made the thirty silver and fourteen coppers that I paid well worth it. It was the first time that I had seen her so happy, and her giggles as Vesha picked her up and held over the crowd as we walked to make believe that Kalara was flying was a moment that I thought I would treasure forever.

Our next stop was the apothecary and alchemy shop owned by a friend of the troupe; a Puka named Ulvar. He was tall, slight of build, and slightly pale and he resembled a human if one did not count the crimson eyes and long hare-like ears atop his head that matched his raven hair for color. Puka are distantly related to the Fae, or so Sharai told me once I had been introduced to him. He seemed like a kind man and knew both Korine and Vesha well enough to greet them both cheerfully by name as we entered his sweet-scented shop. If he was surprised by the company that the pair was keeping, he did not show it.

We spent quite a while in Ulvar’s Apothecary and Alchemy, while Korine and Vesha introduced me to the various, salves, soaps, creams, lotions, hair cleansers, perfumes, eye and lip colors, and various other products that the Puka sold to keep women happy, healthy, and looking their best. It was a good thing that Korine had brought wicker shopping baskets along for the three of us because she and Vesha took the opportunity to stock up on everything that they usually bought when at Ulvar’s, and they insisted that I do the same for myself and get some soaps and hair products that Ulvar made for children for Kalara as well.

Vesha was sweet enough to carry my basket as well as her own as we made our way from Ulvar’s Apothecary and Alchemy to Arinade’s Enchantments. Kalara seemed to be getting tired so I was carrying her now, and carrying a heavy basket as well would have been awkward. Thankfully, it did not take us very long to find the shop in question. It did not have a large shop window to display its wares like many of the shops on the Avenue of Mystic Delights, but it did display a large sign with lovely green script that Korine and Vesha assured me spelled out the name of the shop we were searching for.

Adjusting Kalara in my arms and Neva’kul on my hip, I led the way into the shop. The sound of a bell rang out as we passed the threshold into the shop and a moment later a green curtain at the rear of the shop was pushed aside as a tall, slender, and attractive human woman with pink hair stepped through. “Welcome to Arinade’s Enchantments, how can I help you today?”

I stopped and stared for a moment. I had not sensed her magic among the various magical items in her shop. In fact, there were so many enchantments on this street that I had stopped trying to distinguish one from another. The magic that covered Arinade felt familiar though, and it should since it was one of the magical abilities that I possessed and had worked hard enough on to become adept with. She was wearing a glamour, and I was almost certain that she was a Faerie.