The rotunda had a way of making things look smaller in the light. People hunched over their trades like they were hiding from the world.
They found a small trading circle by a broken pillar. The seller had a stack of odd things: rope, a map with shaky lines, and a jar of water that shimmered faintly. The price for the water was three tokens. Kael watched the hands move, the quick trades, the way people measured each other.
Riven's stomach complained loud enough to be rude. "If this map doesn't get us out of here, I'm trading the author."
A kid offered them a map for two tokens — a scribble of tunnels with maybe useful markings. Seren eyed it, then ran a careful finger along the lines. "Might be useful," she wrote and handed the scrap to Kael. He handed a token. The kid smiled like he'd won a small war.
Riven bargained like a drunk. He grew louder and louder, making jokes the way a man uses noise to hide the fact he's nervous. At one stall he tried to charm a merchant into adding a stolen jar of jam. The merchant laughed, then sneaked a blade where Riven's coin had been when he wasn't looking. Riven's coin slid into the merchant's sleeve like a secret.
"Oi!" Riven cried when he noticed. He grabbed for it but flailing. Kael tugged him away, low and hard: Not here.
Seren hid the kid's map in her sleeve and shoved a scrap at Kael: Watch pockets. She gave Riven a look that said idiot and then be careful.
They moved on, and Kael felt lighter with the map tucked away. Small things matter here. Routes, a seam, a seam of light—things that can save you if you remember them.
At a stall selling stew, Riven bargained with his usual charm. He ended up with a bowl that smelled like a cathedral floor. He chewed and pretended it was fine. Seren wrote a note: Don't eat that and laughed with her eyes whenever Riven made the face like he was eating shit disguised as stew..
Later, someone bumped into Kael hard. He turned — quick and sharp — and saw a hand slip a coin into a sleeve. The man was gone into the crowd before Kael could move.
Seeing that, Riven started swearing furiously.
"Thieves," Riven spat. "I'll cut his hands with my sword"
Kael grabbed his arm. "Not worth it. Debts are worse than steeling here."
They backed away and watched the man trade the coin at a stall. The ledger at the market's board scratched itself and added another tiny line.
Seren shrugged small and wrote: We're watched. Not worth a fight now. She folded the paper small and stuffed it in Kael's hand.
Kael stared at it. "We need more tokens," he said quietly. "We can't keep trading nothing."
Riven glared at him, then ducked his head. "Yeah. Fine. I'll get more tomorrow. Promise."
Kael didn't trust promises. He trusted things that were bought and counted. But he also trusted Riven's ridiculous grin. That had to count for something.
They left the market with less coin than they'd had and a map that might be useful later. On the way out, Kael saw Lyra watching from a high stall, her fingers tapping tokens together like she was counting birds. She gave him a small nod, like an offer and a threat.
A long sound rolled through the market.
BOOOONG.
The stall owners froze, mouths open. Then the market's noise came flooding back like a river. People shrugged and started trading again. The Labyrinth notes everything, but it doesn't always act fast.
Kael slid his hand into his pocket and found it oddly empty. He'd been robbed, but they'd gained a map and a learning experience. That had to be worth something.