The Tales of Scora

Chapter Eight

"Arvad?!" The couple exclaimed in unison, wide grins on their faces.

"The one and only." The traveling merchant grinned, winking as he adjusted his large backpack.

"Wait a second, how did you find this place?" Ailia asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"I just go where the wind takes me, my friend." He winked again. Okay, what's going on with that? Raelyn tried her best to hide her perturbed expression, not wanting to offend the man who was offering to help.

"...Alrighty then, anyway, you said you have lion's mane?" Ailia asked, smiling expectantly.

"Yes."

Silence.

"...Can we have it?" Drago asked.

"Only if you pay a small fee." Arvad winked. Again?! Raelyn thought, before clearing her throat.

"How much, sir?" She asked.

"See, I like that one." He pointed to the royal, smiling and winking again. Seriously, what?! "She called me sir and everything."

"Yeah, yeah, she's royal and proper, whatever; how much for the lion's mane, please? I beg of you." Ailia pleaded.

"Well, I'd be willing to give it to you in exchange for only one simple thing."

"Wait, really?"

"If," he began, before dramatically pointing to a drawing of a reddish-purple plant, the flowers clustered together to form bulbous spikes. "You have any red amaranth, I will gladly give to you the mushroom."

"Arvad, they're out of season." Ailia deadpanned.

"But—"

"They are out of season." Drago emphasized, adopting a similar expression to his fiance's.

"Fifty gold." Arvad grumbled.

Silence. For the second time.

"I'm sorry, what?" Rydel asked, his signature dumbfounded smile on his face.

"You heard me. Fifty gold. Lion's mane isn't easy to find, nowadays." He winked. Alright, this is getting out of hand.

"Where on earth are we supposed to find fifty gold?!" Ailia exclaimed frantically, searching for her coin purse. "I have like, seven!"

"Nine here," Drago said.

"Why do you have more than me?" Ailia questioned.

"Does that really matter right now?" Drago retorted.

"Five here." Rydel added.

"Fifteen." Beira said. Rydel raised a brow.

"Aren't you like... rich?" He asked.

"Yeah, but do you think I carry all of my gold on me? No."

Raelyn and Rivka stood back and watched the others scramble to come up with the money to pay for the lion's mane, all of them forgetting two very important things: the fact that they were currently traveling with two queens, who both were supplied with a very nice supply of currency.

Raelyn cleared her throat, shutting up everyone's rambling as they watched her and Rivka step forward, both holding out a decent sized pile of gold coins for the merchant. Raelyn eyed the younger, forcing Rivka to back down and step away. "Here you are, sir. Fifty gold." She said, placing the money in his palm.