“Where in this market am I supposed to find some milk?” Eileen didn’t know why people kept moving where shops were.

Although it had been about fourteen years since she had roamed the streets of Teodes. She supposed it was natural for some things to change when over a decade had passed. But surely the vendors should stay in relatively the same area. Surely that wasn’t too big of an ask?

“I think that it was somewhere past the next street,” Ayla replied, staring pointedly at the map her mother had given her.

When Eileen had asked her to accompany her to go grocery shopping last night, she had told her that she didn’t do enough to know where everything was. So, she had had to ask her mother for the layout map she sometimes used if the goods weren’t delivered. Eileen couldn’t have them delivered for obvious reasons, she was profusely thankful for Miriam Westford’s meticulous organization.

“But you said that a few steps back too,” Eileen pointed out, even as she followed her friend’s instructions.

Ayla had never really been good at following instructions and was very much easily distracted. They’d already been taken off track multiple times and the day hadn’t even really started. Although Eileen didn’t really mind that about her.

A small smile pulled her lips as she watched Aylasquint at the map before glancing at the busy street around them. She had to admit it was even a little fun. To go out with her friend without having to be in a disguise.

Well, in a disguise that wasn’t too far from herself to be more exact. The straight black hair and the thin yet opaque veil covering her face was still a disguise. A necessary one, but a disguise all the same. She looked too much like her family without it.

Her smile turned more wry. Not that Kiran Knightwood did not look like a Devencrux as well, but her features were Knightwood enough to distract from it. Besides everyone knew that she was an only child, so they were unlikely to suspect a man as they would a woman. A foolishness she was currently grateful for.

“I think that we should just wander around and see if we come across it.” Eileen decided that it was better to keep moving and took the navigating disc from Ayla before she accidentally broke it. “Milk isn’t the only thing I need to buy anyway.”

Ayla pursed her lips but ultimately didn’t refute the suggestion and as they picked up a meat skewer a few vendors over, her hesitance was forgotten. And if Eileen had subtly directed them towards it for that exact purpose, then no one needed to know. While eating, her thoughts turned towards the conversation they’d had prior to planning this outing.

She wanted to sigh again at Ayla’s reason for the surprise kiss. To sell the act, as she’d put it. Eileen could see that it was one of the reasons that Ayla had done it, but she also had a feeling that it wasn’t the main one. She’d almost pointed that out to her friend, but one look at her face had stopped her from vocalizing it.

Ayla truly believed the words. She didn’t think there was any other possible reason for her actions than what she’d said. She didn’t know. And if she hadn’t come to the conclusion on her own than Eileen was certainly not going to tell her. Nothing good comes from rushing these things.

So instead, she’d made her promise her that she’d give Eileen a warning before doing any such things in the future. She’d also had to reassure her friend that she wasn’t about to up and leave her for it. It made Eileen feel a sense of helplessness to note that while Ayla was very good at guessing other people’s emotions, when it came to her own she was practically clueless.

Eileen didn’t know whether she had even noticed that her face conveyed her relief clearly when given reassurance. Regardless, they’d quickly moved on from the instance and instead moved on to other things. Like where in this gods be damned street they could find milk.

A part of her felt like they should have it at any grocery as they did in Calguren, but they didn’t. It had been much easier to shop there as the milk had preservative charms placed on the bottles. Here the hot weather and general lack of trust in the supposed witchcraft didn’t make that an option.

Instead the milk was placed in specialized cellars with cooling vaults to keep them fresh. Never mind that to transport it from the country to a city so far away would involve some type of witchcraft. The nearest dairy farm was days away from the city and cooling vaults were impractical on an moving vehicle. But everyone seemed to simply ignore that part.

It made Eileen’s blood boil to think about the prejudice practitioners would face in this part of Teodes. Even in Ezim, she knew the fear of witchcraft was prevalent even as they benefited from its products. She knew that grandpa had tried to fix the issue while he’d been living in Teodes. In fact it was already better than the blatant persecution they would have faced a few decades ago.

But that didn’t mean the distaste for the group of people was gone. And with what had happened fourteen years ago, her grandfather had understandably left them to fix it on their own. Eileen could hardly hold it against him that he’d chosen a more peaceful retirement after the chaos of his life before it.

Change didn’t happen over night. The thought was the only thing stopping her from starting on yet another task. She’d already gotten herself enough of those at it was. Eileen didn’t think adding to it was healthy or feasible at the moment.

The thought of adding more to her plate made her mind turn towards one she’d been trying to avoid. The state of her investigation. A part of why she was glad for this trip was that it helped her avoid thinking about the lack of progress in that aspect. Simply going off the conversation she’d overheard didn’t make it easy to find the town.

So she had to message her grandfather to see if he could find anything on this mystery lead. He hadn’t gotten back to her, which meant he was still looking. He had however sent a note to tell her that he’d send her the progress notes by tonight or the next morning. She simply had to distract herself until then.

“Found it!”Ayla excitedly exclaims after another ten minutes of searching.

Eileen sighs in relief after seeing the neon sign with the dairy logo on it. “Thank the gods.”

She didn’t know why they had decided to hide the shop so far down the road. It was practically enclosed by all manner of shops and you had to squeeze through crowds of people to get to it. Eileen decidedly to mentally note the location for future reference and walked in to the surprisingly brightly coloured shop.

When they walked out a few minutes later, the milk wasn’t the only thing she had in her space bag. They’d found an assortment of flavored milks as well, in addition to foreign ice creams, and cream cheese. Not wanting to wander too much, Eileen had decided to purchase any other item on her list she could find.

Although she should have known they’d buy much more than they needed when she’d seen that sale sign. Eileen could admit they’d gone overboard by purchasing an assortment of milks, ice-creams, and cheeses along with the regular milk. However, she couldn’t quite bring herself to regret it when the total had only come to a 300 silvers instead of the gold it otherwise would have.

Even if it would take a little rearranging to fit into her cooling cabinets and ice-preserving box. It meant less shopping in the future in the inevitable case that Ayla would come over. And less shopping in general.

“Thank all the gods for space bags,” Ayla says as they walk out, “I can’t imagine how much of a nightmare it would be to carry all of that otherwise.”

Eileen laughed, nodding at the statement. It was certainly easier to buy in bulk when it would ultimately weigh virtually nothing when placed within a space bag. But the fact that Ayla brought it up as often as she could was amusing. Even more so when Eileen knew it was because it was built from research into astronomy, and modified to form a bag. ‘A perfect meld of science and magic’, as her father had called it.

And so did Ayla.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she didn’t notice the approaching man until he was only a few steps in front of her. She would have ran into him as she turned to tell Ayla they might need to buy new clothes as well, if it weren’t for her friend pulling her back in time.

“Fancy seeing you here.” The voice would have made her jump if she wasn’t busy righting herself after the near whiplash she’d gotten from the sudden movements.

Eileen could hear Ayla let out a polite laugh. “It certainly is. I didn’t expect to run into you again quite so soon.”

“Neither did I.” Eileen would roll her eyes at words if she didn’t have more self control. He continues before her eyes can finish focusing, “Who’s your friend?”

Raiden Redthorn is standing in front of her once again. And she internally groans as it reminds her of their last conversation. The only thing that stops her from doing it out loud is that he hasn’t technically met her yet. Not this version of her at least.

“Who are you?” Eileen doesn’t mean for it to, but her voice comes out a pitch higher than it normally is. She internally winces at the bluntness she hears in her tone as she asks it.

“You don’t know who I am?” This seems to surprise him more than it had when she hadn’t known who he was asKiran.

“No?” She instinctively turns her head to the side in question. “Should I?”

His face scrunches in an expression that looks to be a cross between bewilderment and annoyance. It seems, Eileen notes with no small amount of amusement, that he wants to say yes. It amuses her even more when he instead replies with an introduction instead.

“Raiden Redthorn.” He holds out a hand for her to shake, and Eileen is hit with a distinct sense of deja vu. A feeling that grows even stronger as she quickly shakes it before withdrawing.

Eileen knows he’s waiting for her to reveal her name in return, but she honestly doesn’t know what name to give. Of course she could tell him it was Alice or Ellen, as she’d done multiple times on missions, but that would create a trail. It would be easier to give a random one, but he knew she was friends with Ayla so it wouldn’t suffice.

She might not have plans to stay for longer than necessary, but Ayla’s life was in Teodes and it would bring too much attention to her. Especially when Eileen still didn’t know whether there were people around her involved in her parents’ deaths. A type of attention, the wrong kind, that might seep towards her family as well.

Eileen felt as if she was growing more paranoid by the day with thoughts like this, but that didn’t make it any less true. Also, a part of her felt a little guilty about the fact that he seemed to want her to join his group. It was more of a cult and he had technically asked Kiran, but she had an inkling it was a personal one for him.

So although she still felt it sounded more like a cult, she didn’t want to lie to him to that degree. It had already been awkward enough to avoid him after he’d declared he’d make Kiran join his cult - er - club. Eileen hadn’t stuck around too long after, instead telling him it was growing late and leading Ayla out of the door.

She hadn’t been expecting to see him quite so soon either. Especially not when she was out on the streets with Ayla. He was starting to seem more persistent, since a part of her felt like he might have been wandering around for a purpose. Another part called that part paranoid and told it to stop spiraling.

Seeing as Eileen didn’t have much proof of it other than a vague feeling, she conceded to giving him the benefit of the doubt. It was unlikely. She should stop thinking like that or she definitely would turn into her grandfather. Still, what name could she give-

“And what is-”

“Lenora.” Ayla interrupted both Eileen’s thoughts and Redthorn’s thinly veiled annoyance laced question.

They both turned to her in surprise. Eileen did not trust the mischievous glint in her eyes before she turned back to look at Raiden Redthorn. It spelled nothing good.

“Her name is Lenora,”Aylawas telling him. “Lenora Divine. I call her Nora for short.”

Eileen almost choked. Lenora Divine. Lenora Divine? For hell’s sake! As it happened sometimes, increasingly often in the past few days with Ayla, Eileen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Only Ayla would think introducing her with her middle name was good idea.

Oh gods. What was she thinking? No. She knew exactly what Ayla was thinking. That’s what was causing the headache forming. Ayla knew how much she hated lying and had most likely wanted to help. Eileen knew she probably thought using her middle name and a last name that sounded similar to her real name was clever.

Truth be told, it was. But that didn’t make it any less dangerous. But then again. People were oblivious enough, that it probably wouldn’t even cause them to blink an eye. That is if she didn’t act like a Devencrux. For a second she didn’t know how to do that with Redthorn, but then…

“Lenora Divine.” Raiden Redthorn tested the name before turning to face her, “It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Divine.” He was smiling, but something in the way he was going it irked her.

It only took a second for her to establish why it was. He was looking at her in a way that suggested he thought she was an air-head. Perhaps it was because she’d inadvertently made her voice sound that way or that she’d taken too long to answer. However, she didn’t really care about the whys at the moment.

Annoyance bubbled underneath her skin, making her widen her smile and tilt her head to the side slightly. Her eyes wider in an innocuous expression. Suddenly she knew exactly how she was going to act.