Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1)(34)

Her plan seemed good. She was prepared. Why, then, did she feel so utterly daunted when she entered the market?

She stood quietly, a rock in the stream of human traffic flooding down the street. It was such an enormous expanse, covered in tents, pens, buildings, and people. There were no cobblestones here, only sand and dirt with the occasional patch of grass, and there didn’t appear to be much reason or direction to the arrangement of buildings. The arbitrary streets had simply been made where people felt like going. Merchants yelled out what they sold, banners waved in the wind, and entertainers vied for attention. It was an orgy of color and motion.

“Wow,” Parlin said quietly.

Vivenna turned, shaking off her stupor. “Weren’t you just here?”

“Yeah,” Parlin said, eyes a little glazed over. “Wow again.”

Vivenna shook her head. “Let’s go to the restaurant.”

Parlin nodded. “This way.”

Vivenna followed him, annoyed. This was Hallandren—she shouldn’t be awed by it. She should be disgusted. Yet she was so overwhelmed that it was hard to feel anything beyond a slight sense of sickness. She’d never realized how much she took Idris’s beautiful simplicity for granted.

Parlin’s familiar presence was welcome as the powerful wave of scents, sounds, and sights tried to drown her. In some places the crowds grew so thick that they had to shove their way through. On occasion, Vivenna found herself on the edge of panic, pressed in by dirty, repulsively colored bodies. Blessedly, the restaurant wasn’t too far in, and they arrived just when she thought the sheer excess of the place would make her scream. On its signboard out front, the restaurant had a picture of a boat sailing merrily. If the scents coming from inside were any indication, then the ship represented the restaurant’s cuisine: fish. Vivenna barely kept herself from gagging. She’d eaten fish several times in preparation for her life in Hallandren. She’d never grown to like it.

Parlin walked in, immediately stepping to the side and crouching, almost like a wolf, as he let his eyes adjust to the dimness. Vivenna gave the restaurant keeper the fake name Lemex knew to call her by. The restaurant keeper eyed Parlin, then shrugged and led the two of them to one of the tables on the far side of the room. Vivenna sat down; despite her training, she was a little uncertain what one did at a restaurant. It seemed significant to her that places like restaurants could exist in Hallandren—places meant to feed not travelers, but the locals who couldn’t be bothered to prepare their own food and dine at their own homes.

Parlin didn’t sit, but remained standing beside her chair, watching the room. He looked as tense as she felt. “Vivenna,” he said softly, leaning down. “Your hair.”

She started, realizing that her hair had lightened from the trauma of pushing her way through the crowd. It hadn’t bleached completely white—she was far too well trained for that—but it had grown whiter, as if it had been powdered.

Feeling a jolt of paranoia, Vivenna replaced the shawl on her head, looking away as the restaurant owner approached to take their order. A short list of meals was scratched into the table, and Parlin finally sat down, drawing the restaurant owner’s attention away from Vivenna.

You’re better than this, she told herself sternly. You’ve studied Hallandren for most of your life. Her hair darkened, returning to its brown. The change was subtle enough that if someone had been watching, they would have probably thought it to be a trick of the light. She kept the shawl up, feeling ashamed. One walk through the market, and she lost control?

Think of Siri, she told herself. That gave her strength. Her mission was impromptu, even reckless, but it was important. Calm once again, she put the shawl back down and waited while Parlin chose a dish—a seafood stew—and the innkeeper walked away.

“Now what?” Parlin asked.

“We wait,” Vivenna said. “In my letter, I told Lemex to check the restaurant each day at noon. We will sit here until he arrives.”

Parlin nodded, fidgeting.

“What is it?” Vivenna asked calmly.

He glanced toward the door. “I don’t trust this place, Vivenna. I can’t smell anything but bodies and spices, can’t hear anything but the chatter of people. There’s no wind, no trees, no rivers, just . . . people.”

“I know.”

“I want to go back outside,” he said.

“What?” she said. “Why?”

“If you aren’t familiar with a place,” he said awkwardly, “you need to become familiar with it.” He gave no other explanation.

Vivenna felt a stab of fear at the thought of being left alone. However, it wasn’t proper to demand Parlin stay and attend her. “Do you promise to stay close?”

He nodded.

“Then go.”

He did, walking from the room. He didn’t move like one of the Hallandren—his motions were too fluid, too much like a prowling beast. Perhaps I should have sent him back with the others. But the thought of being completely alone had been too much. She needed someone to help her find Lemex. As it was, she felt that she was probably taking too great a risk at entering the city with only one guard, even one as skilled as Parlin.

But it was done. No use worrying now. She sat, arms folded on the table, thinking. Back in Idris, her plan to save Siri had seemed simpler. Now the true nature of it lay before her. Somehow, she had to get into the Court of Gods and sneak her sister out. How would one accomplish something so audacious? Surely the Court of Gods would be well guarded.