Annie was sitting on the side of the bed, leaning forward with her head in her hands. Shadow was sitting behind her, rubbing her on the back with her paws. Jonas was sitting in a chair, head leaned back against the wall.

Kirrik had gone off on his own before Annie had opened the letter, so he wasn’t there.

“So.” Jonas began,” when you told me you had permission—"

“I did have permission! Or at least, I thought I did.” Annie said miserably.

“It really doesn’t sound like he was under that impression,” Jonas stated.

“There must have been some sort of miscommunication. I should have known it was odd when he agreed so readily.” Annie admitted dismally.

‘I’m sure he’ll understand! He can’t be too mad if it was just a misunderstanding, right?’ Shadow wrote. She was allowed to use her shadows in the room, and didn’t want to bother with the tablets while she was busy with the back rub. Or what she assumed was a back rub. She’d heard back rubs mentioned as a comforting thing but had never actually seen anyone give one, so she was improvising.

“That… the innkeeper had the letter for over two months. He probably sent one to every innkeeper in the town. I wouldn't be surprised if the guards had copies but just failed to recognize me, considering how... late I am. The count will strip me of my position when I get back, if not worse,“ Annie lamented.

‘You don’t know that! It might be fine once you explain. You said he was a reasonable person.’ Shadow asserted.

Shadow had absolutely no idea what Count Edmire might or might not do, but she was doing her best to comfort her mom.

The letter had been a not-particularly kindly-worded order. It essentially informed Annie that she was to return from her unauthorized trip and resume her work immediately, but with more words and threats.

Annie had been gone from Glossa for over three months at this point.

She let out a deep sigh and reached behind her back, patting one of Shadow’s paws, before sitting up straight, patting the bed beside her.

Shadow abandoned her back-rubbing and sat beside her mom. She leaned on her side and gave her a small smile.

Annie chuckled a little.

“Thanks, Shadow. Perhaps you’re right. Not very much we can do about it at this point regardless.” Annie stated wearily.

Jonas grunted.

“Suppose that’s true enough. Still, this is one hell of a misunderstanding.” Jonas said with a shake of his head.

Shadow looked away from her mom and shot her uncle a glare.

Jonas met her eyes, and then looked aside, letting out a sigh of his own.

“Sorry. It’s just me being worried, too. The only reason I could get away from my duties was Annie’s say so. If she’s lost her backing, I might be in hot water as well.” He explained.

Shadow slumped a bit.

‘You’ll both be fine! I’m sure it will all be better when you explain things! You did lots of good research stuff, right? He shouldn’t mind if it happened in a forest rather than in a building!’ Shadow hoped.

Annie gave her an odd look.

“That’s not quite… It’s more the fact that…” Annie gave her a helpless smile. “Honestly? That’s not a bad idea. Talk about our field research. Come up with something valuable there. Perhaps he’d be more understanding if we have something to show as soon as we get back.” She looked down at the ground, her brows furrowed.

“Maybe I could come up with something worthwhile on the tatzelwurm we fought. I’m sure it’s related. I’ll…” Annie looked up at Shadow and Jonas.

“How about you two go get supplies together. Give Shadow some experience in a market. I’ll stay here and try to work on some sort of coherent theory to present while I have access to a table. Please grab some more ink and another notebook while you’re at it. I’ve almost filled mine.” Annie said, fishing some coins out of her coin purse and handing them over to Jonas.

He took a breath and nodded, reaching out and taking the coins. He checked the count and slipped them into his own pouch.

“Right. Well!” He exclaimed, patting his sides, then looking over at Shadow with a big smile, visibly forcing down his concerns. “What do you say, Shadow? Ready to visit a real market?” he asked.

Shadow’s eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly, quickly hopping off the bed and testing her rear legs and back. They felt good enough after the short rest on the bed. Worst case she’d have to walk around on all fours. Considering how little people had paid attention to her on the way here, she was feeling less worried about anyone seeing through her disguise, even if she did have to rest her back for a little while.

She checked to make sure her clothes and pouches were in place then collected her tablets and walked over to Jonas. She spared one more worried look over at her mom.

‘You’ll be okay?’ Shadow asked.

Annie smiled at her.

“I’ll be fine. Go. Have fun. Stay safe.” She assured, waving them off.

Shadow gave her mom a nod, and she and Jonas headed out the door.

Entering the market was like entering a whole different world. All the stalls that had been missing in the main thoroughfare could be found here, with their owners shouting and waving at potential customers, or having heated shouting matches with people.

Shadow took it all in with wide eyes and perked ears. Even the smells here were more overwhelming than they had been, although somewhat less awful. She was still making an effort not to breathe through her nose.

“Stick close and say no to anyone trying to sell you anything. Keep an eye out for bread and cheese, or any meat you’d be interested in. Might pick up some fruit too.” Jonas instructed.

Shadow nodded at him and followed closely as he worked his way into the crowd. The people were even more dense here. She could barely see anything aside from people due to the sheer press of bodies around her.

“Cloth! Cloth here! Best weave you’ll find, and rich colors too!”

“Rope! Tight bound and reliable! Apothecary treated, it’ll never rot!”

“Charms! Get a frost charm to keep cool in what’s sure to be a hot summer!”

Shadow looked on in awe, getting glimpses of all manner of different wares. She really wanted to go and look at some of them, but dutifully kept close to Jonas’s side for fear she’d never find him again if she wandered off.

Jonas finally made his way to a stall selling bread. He leaned down next to her ear.

“Alright, pay attention. I’ll show you how to properly haggle. Annie’s terrible at it, but you should learn how to get a fair price on what you buy.” Jonas explained, before straightening up and locking eyes with the vendor.

“You! Good sir! Are you looking for some of the best quality bread you can find outside of the king’s own bakeries?” The vendor extorted, motioning Jonas over.

Jonas planted himself in front of the stall.

“Yes, I’m looking for bread. We’ll be traveling so I want some with a good crust.” Jonas glanced over the assembled piles of bread.

“Don’t see what so special about yours though.” He grabbed a loaf of bread and held it close. “Looks as mealy as any other loaf.” Jonas complained.

“It’s all in the baking! It’ll be the best bread you’ve tasted,” the vendor assured. “And here, I have just the batch for you! Good crusts on all of them.” He said, shifting some loaves forward that seemed harder and darker than the rest.

Jonas grunted at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I need twenty loaves. How much?”

The vendor took a moment to think.

“That’d be… 60 copper for the finest bread in Leeside.” He explained with a smile.

Jonas gave a sharp laugh.

“60! I could get twice that amount for 60. I’ll give you 30.” Jonas shot back.

The bread vendor looked affronted.

“30!? Ridiculous. You couldn’t even get normal loaves for 30, let alone my fine baking. You’ll have to do better than that!” the vendor yelled.

“Well let me try a piece, then! You say it’s so good, the taste should speak for itself, right?” Jonas demanded, arms crossed, glaring at the man.

Shadow stared back and forth between the two yelling men. This was haggling? They seemed so angry!

The vendor spun around to slice a chunk off of some bread behind him, but Jonas demanded that his sample come from the bread he’d be buying. After some more back and forth and a concession on Jonas’s part that the vendor's bread was, in fact, better than average, they settled on 48 copper for the lot.

Jonas wrapped the bread in a bundle and put it in his backpack, before looking over at Shadow with a satisfied smile.

“See? That’s how haggling is done.” Jonas explained.

Shadow just stared at him wide-eyed. There had been a couple of points she’d readied herself for the fight she’d thought was about to break out.

“Good bread, though,” Jonas stated, as happy as could be.

A look over at the vendor revealed him cheerfully calling out at passersby.

She could hardly believe they’d been red in the face and half screaming at each other 30 seconds ago.

‘I’m not sure I like haggling.’ Shadow wrote.

“Hah! Most people don’t, but you’ve got to learn! Come on! You’re next!” Jonas shouted, slapping her on the shoulder before heading into the crowd again.

Wait. What?

Shadow chased after her uncle, struggling to get to where he could see her tablets.

‘I have to haggle!?’ she questioned worriedly.

“Yup! It’ll be good practice. There’s a butcher! You can buy some food for yourself! You’ve been practicing with the coins?” Jonas asked, heading off toward a stall that had many cuts of meat hanging from it.

Shadow slowly nodded. She had been practicing with Annie’s coins. As long as they were in a coin purse, she could work a coin in between the knuckles on her paw and squeeze it well enough to pick it up that way. She still wasn’t very good at it though. Working it into place correctly still took a while.

“Great! Here’s the coin purse.” He took it off himself and tied it onto her belt. “Buy a couple of chickens. Don’t pay more than a silver each, but you start by offering 70 copper. I’ll watch from back here!”

Shadow stared at him, then down at the coin purse at her belt.

“Well, go on!” Jonas encouraged.

Shadow turned and started stiffly walking toward the butcher.

I guess I’ll finally get to talk to someone, at least…