Chapter 74 – The Black Market

Who goes to a black market without any money? Of course, it wasn’t exactly fair that she had to buy back her stolen necklace, but there was no other choice.

Especially when the alternative was losing it forever.

In reality, Levisia only assumed that Pel didn’t have any money. For all she knew, he could have some riches stashed away somewhere. But he seemed the sort to spend his wealth freely, or was unable to.

“What’s that?” Pel gestured to Levisia’s bag that she was holding close to her body. After losing her necklace, she really did not want to have something else stolen from her.

“I’ll show you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

Levisia unknotted her bag so Pel could peek inside. Inside were a handful of shiny gems.

“Where did you get these from?”

“Oh, from…” she blurted out, cutting herself off when she realised where they came from. They were actually a gift from Elizabeth; something she couldn’t just send back. There was only one other option she could do, one that would be beneficial to her. She had to sell them all.

“I swear to you, these aren’t stolen.”

Later on, if Elizabeth asks where the jewels have gone, Levisia would be in trouble. She pushed that particular thought to the back of her mind, opting to worry about it later.

Pel glared at her suspiciously, reaching out to take the pouch. But not a chance. Before his hand could reach it, she yanked it back toward herself.

“You can’t just take my pouch, Pel Please, it has to stay with me.”

Pel raised his eyebrows, but let the matter drop. Content that he was going to behave himself, Levisia breathed a sigh of relief and fastened her bag back.

“So, how do you want to do it? How are we going to sneak into the black market? We can’t just turn up as ourselves, right?”

“No, we can’t get in by ourselves. But Hector will know how. Come on, let’s go pay him a visit.”

* * *

. When Pel and Levisia stopped by the rest area, they startled Hobb who was mid yawn. He leapt to his feet, knocking his chair backwards and tripping over a table leg.

“Welcome.” he stammered, clearing his throat. “How can I help you?”

“What is this uproar?”

Everyone in the rest area looked back at them when Hobb shouted out loudly, including Hector. Hector, who had come to investigate the sound of the chair hitting the floor, greeted them with a brief nod.

“Pel, Your Royal Highness. Welcome.”

Levisia gave a small wave, feeling awkward at being addressed by her royal title. She much preferred people using her real name.

Hector seemed to know what they were about to ask him, as he motioned for them to sit at a table. Hobb brought out some tea as they sat down. Levisia took a sip from her cup as Hector , placed some folded-up black paper on the table. The word “Chess” was written on the outside in embossed silver writing.

“These are your invitations to the Chess black market. I knew you would be needing a way to get in, so I went ahead and prepared everything ahead of time for you. Here, you’ll need these, as well.” Hector presented some masks. Two covered the face, whilst two only covered half the face. They were simple colours, too: two black and two white.

“Masks?” Pel asked as Hector lined the masks on the table.

“Because everything is shrouded in secrecy, everyone who attends must wear a mask. So, I brought some that don’t stand out. Choose one.”

Levisia lifted her eyes from the invitation and stared at the tabletop. A total of four masks were presented. Pel reached for a white mask that covered the entire face, and Levisia reached for a black mask that covered half the face. Pel quickly swapped it out for the black full mask, snatching the other one away.

Levisia opened her mouth to protest, but Pel merely held out his hand.

“You’ll be easily recognised in this mask, so go for the one that covers your face. Here, I’ll show you.” He slipped on the black mask Levisia had originally chosen.