“Yeah! I swear I saw her over there!”

“You better hurry or something bad could happen!”

“Maybe it’s too late? Should we just call the authorities instead?”

A flurry of voices overwhelmed Emiyn and he had to fight the urge to just curl up in a corner. His magic was crying to break free and he swore that the wind was starting to pick up while they stood in the city streets. Sulburi was a busy area but now that it was evening things were quieter, a result of the changing seasons. Even if Oba did not get cold like most other countries there were less travelers as the harvests were over and many traders retired to spend time with their families during this time. Others were more superstitious and believed that the earlier darkness could bring spirits or misfortune to those who dared to stay out in it, a result of the Yaeli’s beliefs slowly integrating themselves into society and another result of just having so many thieves living in the dark alleyways. The capital was not the safest place as Emiyn was quickly learning after coming to stay with his mother for a while. He had business with some merchants that would take him away soon but it did not lessen his concern for the woman who was slowly getting closer to him. While he originally had ignored her existence because she had never truly been apart of his life save for various gifts left at his grandparent’s home in Matori the woman had popped up again and begged him to visit her in Oba. Emiyn had eventually caved and came to visit her so that they could finally and truly meet. He had not seen the woman since she had left him as a baby and honestly he couldn’t even recognize her when he first saw her. But now? He cared a little bit after a couple of months living with the woman in the Oban manor. It was enough to make him run whenever some of her Oban lover’s nephews and nieces had come yelling at him that she was in danger. Emiyn hadn’t wanted to follow them originally but then they had showed him a scarf which did belong to his mother. Now he had to push forward into a strange place in the dark of the night to try and find her. “You are certain that she went this way?” He asked with a frown before turning around to look at the trio of teens. They had never been kind to him and were very haughty for noble children. It wasn’t so surprising that they didn’t like him, especially since they were afraid that he would be stealing his mother’s attention from their uncle who had given her so much. He was lower trash after all and far from their level. His mother was more of a pet so they could tolerate her in a strange, twisted way almost like a nanny or something similar. Emiyn, however, was a stranger and definitely not welcomed so he should have realized that they were messing with him. But of course his concern once again blinded him to the treachery of others and when he chased them down the alley it was only after the rope tripped him that he realized he had fallen for a trick. It wasn’t one of those haha friendly tricks of the season either but one that had him tumbling forward and scrapping the palms of his hands against the rough stone floor. A crate fell on top of him and he could hear the loud giggling. “Look! Maybe we can ship him back to where he belongs?”

“Better yet! Send him somewhere further away.” Emiyn could only grimace as he heard more giggling and he struggled to keep behaved. He wanted to set the box on fire and then throw something back at them but he resisted for the sake of his mother. If he caused trouble what if it came back and hurt her? At least she’s fine. Closing his eyes, Emiyn counted to himself as he waited for the trio to leave. He could climb out later whenever they were far enough away because he did not want to deal with them anymore tonight. Season of trickery indeed….I should have known. At least I just have to survive one more week here before getting into even more trouble. A sigh left his lips again as he leaned back against the crate and cradled his throbbing hands on his lap.

[761]