THE SNAKE CHARMER

Whither dost thou hide from the magic of my flute-call? In what moonlight-tangled meshes of perfume, Where the clustering keovas guard the squirrel's slumber, Where the deep woods glimmer with the jasmine's bloom?

- SAROJINI NAIDO

Akira's POV

"Do you even know your way around the main city?" the midget asks breaking the silence. We have been walking aimlessly around the city after getting off the carriage. 

Of course I know my way around this damn market that smells strongly of rotten fish, I come here all the time for walks! See that cheery little lady throwing her trash in her downstairs neighbor's balcony? Yes, I take Jasmine tea at her house all the time.

Isolde suggested the experience will be more authentic if we walk on foot in this overcrowded marketplace with equal amount of people and cattle.  

I didn't realize there were so many bloody cows in Azura!! And they were just roaming freely on the streets!! 

So far this little adventure of ours has gone disastrously. People here have about as much manner as Lilura's prince, they just push aside anyone on their way by bumping hard on the shoulders.

 Oh and everyone is obnoxiously loud and spit flies onto my face every time I try to have a word with them. 

One even burped on my face!!!

 For some reason, the pot-bellied shop keepers keep scratching under their clothes publicly!

Over all, these people had enough manners to give my mother a heart-attack.

If the people were bad then the place is worse. Every single corner somehow strongly smells of the horse crap that was dumped on Eboni. 

There are feral cats just sleeping on the footpaths as if they own it.

 Children are running around with no supervision and they were half or non- clothed for some reason.

Is it a commoner tradition to not bother with children's clothing? Do they stay naked or half-naked all the time? Or is it to a specific age? Do they have a coming of age ceremony where they finally allow children to wear decent clothes?

Everything was too loud, too crowded or too smelly. My senses were getting overwhelmed. 

Honestly, this whole journey has been triggering my flight or fight response for a while now. 

I swear, another person bumps to me or calls me "Pretty boy in mama's robs", I am stabbing them with my father's sword which I had borrowed without permission.

Ok, fine I might've technically stolen it from his office but hey, I would've inherited it soon enough since you know...

"Do I look like someone who frequents this hellhole?" I ask , holding back the anger I was feeling at the blissfully ignorant people who are particularly fond of smelling like they haven't heard of showers in this life. 

"Hellhole?" Isolde sounds offended at my remark for some reason. "This is the best marketplace I have seen in my life!" she supplies in an indigent voice.

"Are you sure about that?" I ask, truly not believing her statement. She just gives me a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, the prices are so reasonable. I mean, I know I can bargain to make the eggs a bit cheaper. But look at the flour!! It's only two and a half minar!! And, and, and guess the price of one bucket of dry manure?" she clapped her hand in excitement.

"I do not know and I do not want to know!!! Why would you even buy something like that in the first place?" I ask, horrified for a second at the thought.

Please, tell me it's not for consumption. I know people were poor but definitely not that poor!!

"To cook, what else?" 

Sol, these people had it tough.

"It doesn't taste bad?" I ask, now genuinely curious.

"No, it tastes alright," she says nonchalantly. 

How?

"But it's...it's..." how do I say this without not judgmental about her financial conditions?

"But what?" she raises an eyebrow.

"No, It's fine. Sounds amazing!" I give a smile too just to be careful.

Wow, commoners do live a hard life.

"Why are you standing like an idiot? You're not Sol's statue, get moving, do something!" Isolde shouts at me suddenly. I see her walking ahead of me.

Now what has gotten her riled up?

And what is her problem with Sol? 

 Instead of asking question which will probably be dodged again, I simply follow her instruction.  I feel like I shouldn't rile her up that much.

"Wow," Isolde exclaims for the thousandth time after seeing a dingy little restaurant tucked away underneath a flowery balcony. It was an ancient thing with it's crooked nameboard and a awfully painted door. 

Sol, this girl was easily impressed.

Then why doesn't she look that much impressed by you? My scoundrel of an inner conscious mocks me again.

"You are particularly fond of small shops, huh?" I ask in a curious tone, hoping she would reveal about herself finally.

"Hmm, mama had a little tailoring shop," she says absentmindedly, without moving her awestruck gaze from the shop.

Her mom, huh?

"Had? Your mom doesn't have it anymore?" I press further.

"Hmm?" Her trance breaks and she looks confusedly at me. "No, she doesn't."

"We should look for The Light Night," she says before I could any more questions.

Why does she keep doing that??

"What is that?" 

"Esme's family's  restaurant," she says simply before starting to walk towards a passerby lady for directions.

We get back to walking immediately towards Esme's family restaurant. We find it soon after considering it was one of the biggest and most eye-catching establishment in the city. It was so flashy with it's lights and name board, It's honestly blinding.

Yup, definitely Esmeralda's family owned place.

We walked inside and I was truly marveled at how much crystal one can use to decorate a restaurant. There were sparkling crystals everywhere; the curtains, the table clothes, the utensils. Even on the outfits of the staff. 

"Are they running a Jewelry side business?" I ask midget who was taking in the interior with awe-struck eyes since we walked in.

This girl was truly easily impressed. 

"What? What do you mean?" she frowns at my question.

I sighed. She definitely didn't get the joke.

"Nothing. Where is Her Bitchiness?" I ask instead.

"Hey, she's my friend!" shed stomps my foot again.

"Fine, where is her friendly bitchiness ?" 

"I don't know, maybe- hey is that Flirty Snake Boy talking to Esme?" she point towards a seat at the back corner.

Flirty who now?

I look towards where her fingers were pointing.

I had to blink a few times to make sure I was seeing right.

Naeem was sitting with a scowl on his face and Esmeralda was taking his order with a extremely off-putting cheery attitude.

I start to walk towards the table and drag a surprised midget by hand through the bustling crowd in the restaurant. 

Damn, her hands were cold. Was she this cold when I held her hand before?

"What on Sol's temple are you doing here?" I ask Naeem as soon we reach the table.

Naeem looks flustered for a moment and starts to fumble around with his stupid snake.

"Well, I... you see, I am here for...well, the food!" he says, waving his hands around, "The food is great here!" 

"Pardon me, Sir but you just said you'd rather eat a necromancer's dissected rat than eat the food here," Esme deadpans. 

Naeem attempts to retaliate but the girl looks away to the midget standing next to me. "Hello, Izzy, what are you doing here and that too with the mini dragon?" she hugs the midget tightly, flashing a genuine smile .

What did she just call me??

"Oh, we are here to investigate something," midget says, hugging her back. She looks at me with questioning gaze and I shake my head in a negative. "To investigate the manure prices, yeah...."

Very convincing, midget.

"Oh, Okay...." Esme looks unconvinced but lets it go. "Sit down, why don't you?" she quickly points to the table and motions us to sit down. I pull out a chair for Isolde but she just sits on the next seat.

Huh? Is she mad at me again?

"And you, Sir? Do you wish to order something?" she snaps at Naeem, the smile still intact on her face.

"Eww, don't talk to me. what if people think we know each other?" Naeem says with a dramatic flip of his long jet-black hair.

"Respectfully go to hell, sir," she says, very cheerfully and then shifts her attention towards us. "And you, detectives duo?" 

"Umm, just some water for me and Isolde?" 

"Well, um, get me one of the delicious pasta your grandma makes," Isolde says with a smile.

Naeem takes a sharp breath at that and everyone looks at him.

"Now what, asshole?" Esme asks annoyed, still maintaining the smile.

"Are you supposed to talk to customers like that?" he says while patting his snake.

"Are you supposed to leave house wearing that much black?" Esme said with the brightest smile.

"Are you seriously supposed to be the one who inherits this business?" Naeem said with a glare.

"I am supposed to be a lot things but I live to disappoint you," Esme said, again with a disturbing smile.

"I will have nothing, at least nothing that will pass though your hands," Naeem declared.

"Well, than I guess that would be it, My lady and lords. I shall take your leave now. Please enjoy your lunch," with that Esme just swirls on her feet and leaves to get our orders.

"Customer service is going downhills," Naeem said with a sigh.

"Well, customers are going downhills too. They somehow keep being rude to people, specially the owner of the restaurant they wish to get service from," the midget hisses out to my surprise.

Naeem looks taken back at the comment. He glares at her and then an ominous smirk makes it's way across his face.

He tilts his head and starts to hum a low tone, barely audible at first. The snake wrapped around his neck starts to sway gently with the soft rhythm. It starts to slowly slither across the table, still swaying with the tone towards  a confused looking Isolde, holding it's sickening yellow eyes at her. I look at Naeem questioningly to see his eyes reflecting the same shade of sinister yellow. The playful smirk almost seemed that of twisted pleasure and feral joy.

The soft humming gets louder and more distorted, now almost sounding like a bee buzzing. It was constantly getting louder, giving me a horrible head-ache. The snake's slippery tongue constantly lets out predatory hiss at the midget. I look towards the other customers to see they were looking at us with sleepy expressions, as if drunk on something they swayed gently. They all seem in some kind of trance.

Everything around me felt stupefied. Like Medusa herself has cast her venomous gaze upon us and from the looks of it, none of us were Perseus enough.

I look towards Isolde to brake her out of the intense eye contact with the reptile only to see her pale white skin now looking even paler. Her whole body was shaking and lips quivering with sobs. Her haunted eyes looked at the snake as if something out of a nightmare.

That's when I notice the haunting inky vine-like markings on her hands that seem to be blossoming from inside her pale white body.

GLOSSARY

*Pied Piper of Hamelin: The character of legends from the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. According to the legend, the town was infested by rats, so they called  a pied piper who would charm all the rats with the music of his pied piper and drown them in a river in exchange of a pay. However, the towns people refused to pay after he had finished doing the job. So in rage, he charmed all the children with his pied piper and made them follow him into the unknown. In some version, the children were never seen again and in some, they were drowned similar to the rats.

*Medusa: One of the three monstrous Gorgons, Medusa is generally described to be a female with alive venomous snakes as hair. Those who gazed into her eyes would turn into stones. She was slain by Perseus.

*Perseus: The mythological Greek hero who was slayer of Medusa. He was the son of God Zeus and the mortal Danae as well the great-grandfather of Heracles or Hercules.

So how do you like this chapter?  I am sorry in advance if you find too many mistakes. I have exams, so I don't really have the time to proof-read. I am updating because I am receiving messages from eager readers. 

BTW, what are your thoughts on Naeem? 

So hope you like this. And please remember to vote and comment.