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The K’sheng seller begins rearranging his remaining bundles. He appears indifferent, but Nessa watches his hands.

“I have to go,” she says.

“Nessa.”

She turns and disappears into the market without a proper goodbye.

I consider following her.

One Morwen’thir guard has moved closer because of the wagon congestion. The other waits near the well. If I pursue Nessa with them, her fear may deepen. I need a quieter opportunity to speak with her.

I look down at the waxed bundle in my basket.

The rirzed scent rises through the wrapping, familiar and clean. The blossoms passed every test available to me here. Nothing proves the herbs are unsafe.

Nothing explains Nessa’s lies either.

I return to the trusted vendor and ask about frost damage. The old woman behind the counter snorts.

“My crop is sound,” she says. “Who claimed otherwise?”

“Market gossip.”

“Gossip does not know rirzed.”

I believe her.

The guards fall into position when I leave the market. Neither mentions the plain-cloaked man or the wagon that divided the western row. I assume the disruption was another ordinary market inconvenience.

Nessa is frightened. The K’sheng debt remains open. She directed me toward a stranger and lied to keep me away from a vendor we both trust.

I cannot identify the reason.

The wrapped herbs rest beneath my hand as I carry them toward Morwen’thir Stronghold.

With every step, my unease grows.

22

RHYSANDIR

The surveillance report reaches me the following morning.

Joran places it beside the neptherium war table before the first training bell. The parchment carries two seals, one from the human scout in Lowtown and another from the Miou watcher stationed along the southern road.

“The market exchange occurred yesterday,” he says.

I break the first seal.

The scout’s account begins when Fiona entered Nessa’s stall. He observed from the abandoned wool counter across the lane. Nessa appeared pale, watched the southern entrance repeatedly, and left her own counter with Fiona after a short conversation.

They approached the trusted herb seller first.

Nessa redirected Fiona before she reached the stall.

The report identifies the second seller as a K’sheng trader who leased his counter six days ago. His license lists dried roots, medicinal flowers, and mountain teas. No previous trade record connects him directly to Varrus.

That absence proves little.