Just like the other times Tianna had visited, the town of Belleas was lively and full of busy people and plenty of merchants and special customers. If there was one major difference it would be all of the eager street salesmen who were convinced she was on a date. It was to the point that it seemed odd she had been able to quietly pass through before.

“Young man, wouldn’t you like to have matching charms with your precious lady?” an elderly lady called with a bright smile, “I guarantee the enchantments are first rate. There are even matching pairs with different attachments if you can’t agree on just one.”

Tianna expected Jerath to ignore her like all of the others, but he led Tianna over to the booth and examined the charms carefully. “This one looks useful,” he commented, picking up a bluish silver bracelet.

“Ah, you have a fine eye. If either one of you is in trouble, you can use your matching charms to call for each other. Protection charms have become quite the romantic sensation recently,” The old woman pressed. She seemed determined to have them purchase something before they left since something had caught their eye.

Jerath looked over at Tianna. “It’s not a bad idea. What do you think?” he asked, “You never know when an emergency will arise.”

“How much are they?” Tianna asked hesitantly.

Jerath smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I can easily cover the cost,” he promised and quickly bought the set before Tianna could stop him, “We should keep an eye out for other useful goods while we are here. It will be hard to find most of these things once we leave.”

“Right,” Tianna agreed.

Looking around the market for useful things was a lot more fun than she expected. Jerath bought her a few outfits and an enchanted knife for self defense. Tianna flinched every time she heard the price of these items, but Jerath seemed unconcerned.

As they stepped out of the weapon store, a sign advertising portal devices caught Tianna’s eye. She had never owned one but she had heard of them. With a portal device you could travel anywhere in the blink of an eye. That being said, they were probably ridiculously expensive. Chances were even Jerath wouldn’t be able to casually purchase one.

Tianna quickly looked around for something else. Maybe not a portal device, but better transportation might be nice. As she looked around her eyes caught sight of familiar jet black hair and she paused.

“What is it?” Jerath asked.

“I think that is Ruena,” Tianna whispered.

Jerath followed her gaze. “Looks like it. Don’t worry. There is no reason for her to recognize you. You are in a disguise designed by Soral himself.”

“Right,” Tianna said, “So just ignore her?”

As they discussed what to do Ruena walked directly to the store Tianna had been eyeing earlier. When she got closer Tianna felt an odd pull. It was an odd feeling, like she was connected to Ruena in some way. Before she noticed Tianna found her feet moving forward. Jerath quickly caught her arm, but Ruena had already noticed them.

“Do you need something?” she asked.

“Sorry for disturbing you,” Jerath said quickly, “My wife wanted to go to that store but I think we are a bit short on cash.”

Tianna couldn’t help but react strangely when Jerath suddenly referred to her as his wife. She managed to play along by stating her true feelings. “I thought a portal device might be useful but people like us can only dream of that kind of convenience.”

“Are you travelling to a large city?” Ruena asked and walked over to them, “If you are there are more affordable portal devices that are one use items. Belleas mostly sells those set to here and the capital but there are a few other destinations.”

“One use… Does that mean there are different levels of portal devices?” Tianna asked.

“There are,” Ruena answered, “There are one use, one way, two way, and the most expensive are those you can set yourself. Those can last for quite a long time if they are well taken care of, though the amount of magic batteries they take to power them long term can be expensive as well.”

Tianna was a little surprised. “You know a lot about portal devices.”

Ruena chuckled. “Of course. I am the one who invented them.”

“Oh,” Tianna replied, feeling instantly embarrassed. She glanced over at Jerath and saw that he looked very on edge despite his earlier assurance that Tianna would be fine since she was in disguise.

“What is your name?” Ruena asked. Tianna felt Jerath stiffen at the unexpected question.

“Tarina,” Tianna answered. It was the name she had come up with after thinking about Soral’s advice.

“I like you, Tarina,” Ruena said and pressed a portal device into her hand, “Come visit me sometime. That is a one way portal device that leads to my workplace. Don’t let yourself be held back by your situation.”

Ruena left after ruffling Tianna’s hair. Tianna stared at the portal device in her hand and glanced at Jerath.

“A portal device, huh,” Jerath muttered, “Keep it, but don’t use it except in emergency. It might be good to buy a one use portal device to the capital just in case. That way if we are followed again we can go directly to our destination. I would like to avoid it, though, since tracking portals is relatively easy.”

“Ruena is a lot nicer than I thought she would be,” Tianna muttered, “She reminds me of my mother.”

“Just be careful,” Jerath warned, “She likes Tarina, not Tianna.”

Tianna flinched slightly. “Right. I will keep that in mind.”

Jerath purchased a one use portal device to the capital and they continued to wander through Belleas. They did not see Ruena again, but Tianna heard a surprising amount of rumors about the Black Wolf. Most of those rumors revolved around his collection of prophecies and how he was known for following prophecies precisely.

It made Tianna a bit uncomfortable. Was she being chased and hunted just because of some prophecy? How far would the Black Wolf go to follow those prophecies?

“I need to do something,” Tianna muttered, then looked over at Jerath, “Once we get back, let’s talk to the Belleas employees about contacting Merila.”