Since the prince's sudden departure earlier that afternoon, the market square had returned to its normal level of hustle and bustle. The heat only grew as the day went on and drove the customers away one by one.

Even Hettie's shop looked deserted despite the wide open door and windows that beckoned in the inconsistent breeze. Earlier she'd stepped out to attach a windchime. Small beads of hematite and moonstone hung from the thin strings, interspersed with seashells. Its chimes were so soft they could have been mistaken for birds bouncing across the roof.

Vom looked outside to check the sun's position. There were still deliveries to be made. The sudden influx of customers earlier had taken most of his time and attention. For once in what seemed like an age, his bag was full of gold and his shelves had empty spaces on them. He could see the dust built up from the neglect and hurriedly brushed some of it away.

A sudden commotion from outside pulled his attention away from his sudden need to clean. A small woman was sprinting away from The Cedar Scroll with a bottle clutched in her hands.

"Thief! Come back here," Hettie screamed from the door of her shop. Her hair was like a wild cloud around her head that crackled with electricity as she swung herself out of her shop and onto the street. She stumbled once and dropped to a knee with a solid thud.

Some people turned their heads but no one moved. Only one person shifted as if to give chase but dropped back when they saw the growing distance.

Vom was used to being several heads above most people in town. Even when he was still growing he'd easily matched the height of any grown man he came across. From early on he'd learned that if he was going to play with the other children he'd have to hold back on his exceptional physical skills.

His long legs devoured the street like a starved hound and he was on top of the thief in seconds. They only had time to turn and look at him with terror before they dropped the potion bottle and dipped down a side street.

Behind him, Hettie screamed and flung her hands out, sending a wave of magic over him. Time slowed for a second as the bottle plummeted towards the ground. It froze in mid air only inches from the ground. Pink liquid sloshed over the stopper and sprinkled the ground. Patchouli and jasmine filled the air around Vom.

"Did it break?" Hettie gasped out between greedy gulps for air. She hobbled to stand to Vom's side and grabbed his forearm to keep herself steady. "Don't touch it," she warned, tugging on his arm to pull him further away.

Hettie scooted around him and conjured a small ball of water in her right hand. People gasped in amazement around them. Magic was common in the big cities where people ran off to study the arts, both mundane and the occult. Out in the smaller towns like Frostford, magic walked the line between forbidden and admired. To do something so flashy somewhere public was a questionable decision.

The water smothered the small puddle that had formed from the leaking bottle. Warm air washed over them as both liquids combined and rose from the ground. Hettie wrapped the bottle into a silk handkerchief and carried it in her left hand while her left continued to manipulate the ball of water ahead of her.

Vom stepped into her shop behind her.. His large frame blocked out the questioning stares. In the five months she'd been there, he'd never set foot in The Cedar Scroll. People wandered in and out all day with brightly colored jars and crystals wrapped with herbs. Somehow when it was contained in a physical object, magic became acceptable for everyday use no matter the use.

"What was in the bottle?" Vom asked, stepping around a toppled shelf of herbal sachets. Sage, rosemary, and cedar stood out as the most prominent smells.

Back at the counter, Hettie was lowering the jar into the plush purple cushion resting in an oaken box. "Love potion," she said between her mutterings of profanity. She lowered the drops of the azure potion contained in the swirling water into a cast iron cauldron. Two crescent moons decorated the side facing them and they glowed with the same azure shimmer the potion had.

"That idiot," Hettie began, gesturing angrily at the direction her would-be thief had run off in, "wanted to buy a love potion. When I told her she couldn't take it out of the shop she grabbed it and ran." She turned to the cauldron and plucked another smaller vial from the same box the love potion was in.

Three drops of the putrid green liquid fell into the cauldron and a puff of yellow smoke rose like a cloud.

"I have several questions," Vom said. He was already lifting the fallen shelf back to its proper place. The spilled sachets filled his arms and spread across the counter when he dropped them.

"There's always questions," Hettie sighed. The static was quickly fading from her tawny hair so that it lay limp down her back. "Ask away then."

"You sell actual love potions? Isn't that asking for trouble?" The half-orc's nimble fingers began to sort through the loose herbs and arrange them in separate piles.

"It's not like that. Cordis Desiderium only builds on affection and attraction that already exists. It can't create feelings from nothing. That would be part of the dark craft and completely illegal," she said the last part with such venom it could have melted through her quartz and granite counter.

The herb piles grew and Hettie began to remake the sachets. Each piece that went in was inspected by the witch before it went into one of the leather pouches arranged in a neat row.

"So if it's not illegal and apparently not a big deal, why didn't you just sell it to her?" Vom leaned against the counter on his right elbow. The herb sorting was veering into magic territory which was most definitely not his comfort zone.

Hettie paused, a sprig of rosemary between her fingers. "The rule in my shop is that it must be done between two consenting adults and I must visually and verbally confirm that everyone is on board with the fun times ahead." The rosemary spun like a baton when she opened her hand, palm up. "Plus there's always that possibility someone will have an adverse reaction and will need a dose of the antidote." She pointed to the smaller black vials in the box.

"I still don't see why they can't just take it home. If the potion can't create feelings, how harmful could it be?"

Steely gray eyes locked onto him. "Have you ever felt something for someone you knew you shouldn't? People repress feelings everyday. They aren't inherently bad until they act on them and normally they'll fade away on their own. Cordis Desiderium will enhance those feelings, like a campfire spreading across a summer field."

Vom nodded and averted his eyes away from her unwavering gaze. "Why not destroy it all together?"

"I don't actually remember asking for your advice regarding my business," Hettie said.

"I just stopped a thief for you," he sputtered.

"Yes, and thank you very much for that. That doesn't give you the right to tell me how to run my shop," she retorted. The cauldron burbled and spat out another yellow cloud. "Isn't it about time you went home?

"I believe you're right," Vom snapped.

The heavy cedar door slammed behind him, echoing up and down the deserted street. The last slivers of sunlight caught the crystals in Hettie's windchime to decorate the ground in a multitude of colors. Twilight wrapped over every building between him and home. Every step he took echoed Hettie's fingers tapping across the counter as she gathered herbs.

A large barn owl soared overhead, landing on a branch to watch him pass by. It twisted its head to keep him in sight but flew away before he was out of sight. Its noiseless feathers caught the light from the rising moon like flashes of silver.

Chapter WC: 1354
Total WC: 2828