<div> Chapter 57: Chapter 57
 Corrie shot her a glance. "The fourth."
 "I’m sure she’ll get used to it. She hasn’t been spending money for long, after all."
 Alistar wanted to sigh as well. Apparently, Anice had never paid for anything until the two of them had met. Because of this, she was something of a nightmare to any struggling stall owner or failing businessman in Mayhaven.
 "Makes you wonder how much she’s saved up." Woods was nearly done with his sugar stick, most of which had been grinded into nothingness by his slightly yellow teeth. "She’s been getting allowance for almost a year. I wonder if she’ll actually get that staff that she’s always blabbering about."
 "Staff?" said Alistar, unwittingly drawing the attention of the other kids. "What kind of staff does she want?"
 "Wait, you’re telling me she hasn’t brought it up to you yet?" The chubby boy appeared genuinely surprised. "It’s all she ever talks about. She wants one of those magical staffs with a magic crystal on it."
 Jaden snorted. "The staff she wants costs two golden lucets. That’s like ninety silver half-lucets."
 "Eighty."
 "Don’t correct me, Corrie."
 The shorter, quieter boy rolled his eyes but didn’t seem bothered by his friend’s attitude.
 Alistar was quite surprised to hear that Anice wanted to make such an expensive purchase, and even more so that she hadn’t told him about it. Could it be that she was self-conscious about the fact that he had already come into his magical awareness, yet she, the older of the two, hadn’t?
 "I hope she gets it," said Lily, the triplet in the white dress. "The crystal is so pretty. It’s the same orange as a sunset."
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 </div> "So, a dark orange?"
 "Mm," said the girl, putting finger to lip in mock-thought. "Orange-orange."
 Alistar wondered after the size of the crystal. Generally, the larger a crystal was the more magical energy it could hold. The more energy that was naturally stored, the brighter its shade would become. Touching a hand to the head of his mother’s locket, he wondered why his crystal was so small, and how its body could be such a clear, rosy shade. Even more mysterious was that before he had plucked it from the scaly stem of the strange flower that he and Kaila had found in that crevice, it had been giving off a bright bluish light that had only disappeared after it had come into contact with his blood.
 "What’s that?" asked Helen, who was still walking beside Alistar.
 Following her gaze, he clenched the locket that rested beneath his tunic, the metal warm from contact with his chest. "It’s a locket that used to belong to my mama. Uncle Caedmon gifted it to me."
 "Can I see it?"
 He nodded without thinking, lifting it carefully to showcase the beautiful scene that had been carved onto its oval face of gleaming silver.
 "How pretty!" exclaimed the girl, making to grab the locket to get a better look at the image of a butterfly that was flitting between a patch of wildflowers.
 He instinctively tucked it back beneath his tunic, heart pounding as he realized that the only thing that would have separated Helen from certain death just now was a thin layer of silver. This is where he hid his strange crystal, after all, which fit snugly inside of the interior compartment.
 "S—sorry," he said, his face heating. "It’s very important to me, so I don’t let anyone else touch it."
 "Oh, okay," said the girl, drawing her hand back with a bit of discomfort on her fair face. "I’m sorry, I didn’t know."
 "No, it’s not your fault. I’m just strange, I guess."
 The girl showcased some wit by quickly changing the subject. "You know, you’ve got a lot more muscle than the other boys." Jabbing a finger at his arm, she said, "Wow, it’s like my finger just touched a plank of wood."
 "Really? Let me try."
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 </div> Rose, the triplet that wore her chestnut hair in a ponytail, ran over and began to poke him here and there. "Hey, you’re right. It’s completely different than when we poke Woods."
 Before he knew it, all of the girls had gathered around him and begun to poke at his arms, back and torso. He wanted them to stop, but embarrassed as he was it was virtually impossible for him to voice a word of protest. What was worse, he got the feeling that the girls knew that they were making him uncomfortable, and that they were taking pleasure in it.
 "Hey, get away from Alie!"
 Anice and Emely had just returned, the former running over to shove at her friends with angry arms.
 "Why do you care?" said Lessa. "He doesn’t seem to mind it."
 "He doesn’t like it."
 Lily frowned when she made to continue and Anice gave her hand a stinging slap.
 "If you want to poke someone, go poke Zech or Jaden."
 "It’s not the same," said Lily, rubbing at her hand. "We’ve already poked them a thousand times."
 As the girls began to bicker, Alistar slipped out of the rough encirclement and retreated over to the other boys, who had been watching with mixed expressions while the girls had been teasing him.
 "Why do they want to poke me so badly?" he asked Zech, though it was a rock-faced Jaden that answered.
 "How should I know?" The boy stormed past him with angry strides, bumping shoulders with him as he walked away from the group.
 Zech called after him, asking where he was going, but Jaden was swallowed up by the crowded market square without turning to answer.
 "Hehe, he’s probably mad that Lily was giving Alistar so much attention."
 Looking at Woods, Alistar asked, "Why would that make him mad?"
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 </div> "Because he likes her, obviously."
 "What do you mean?"
 "I mean he wants to marry her. Seeing her touching you like that, he probably wants to give you a good beating now." Pulling a piece of jerky out of a pocket and taking a rough bite, the boy sighed. "Yeah, even as we speak he’s probably thinking about how he’s gonna get yah."
 "No he’s not," snapped Zech. "Don’t listen to him, Alistar. He just wants you guys to fight so he can have something fun to watch. Jaden’s probably just a bit jealous."
 Alistar had a sick feeling in his stomach, a mixture of worry and uneasiness.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 "I was just saying..."
 The girls came over and took the lead, making their way toward a distant corner of the marketplace. Alistar followed behind with a befuddled mind, wondering if Jaden really did want to fight him. He felt a bit helpless. The last thing he needed was to earn the animosity of one of Anice’s friends, especially since he was trying to befriend them all.
 They browsed around the market for half an hour more, at which point he excused himself and hurried home. He was a bit confused by what had happened earlier, mostly because he had only ever played with Kaila in Crystellum and wasn’t sure what was normal behavior for kids outside of the mines.
 After retreating to his room and sitting in silence for a short while, Alistar found himself blushing as he recalled what had happened earlier. Uncomfortable as it had made him, he had to admit that it hadn’t been entirely unpleasant. Confusingly, he had quite liked the attention.
 Thinking about Jaden, his face lost its flush and quickly warped into a frown. He had promised his mother that he would do his best to make as many friends as he could once he had begun a new life outside of the mines, and he sincerely hoped to keep this promise. He didn’t want any trouble with the boy, or anyone else for that matter, and could only resolve to try his best to diffuse the disagreement.
 Setting aside his complicated thoughts, he retrieved a book from his work desk and attempted to calm himself with a rigorous session of self-study, hoping that things between him and the others would develop in a positive direction.
 This awkward memory had taken place about a month ago, and thus far Jaden hadn’t shown any signs of holding what had happened against him. Granted, Alistar had only seen the boy a few times since then and hadn’t spoken much with him. Whether or not there was any bad blood between them, he would surely find out tomorrow if he decided to take Zech up on his invitation.</div>
 

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Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Chapter 57 Corrie shot her a glance. "The fourth." "I’m sure she’ll get used to it. She hasn’t been spending money for long, after all." Alistar wanted to sigh as well. Apparently, Anice had never paid for anything until the two of them had met. Because of this, she was something of a nightmare to any struggling stall owner or failing businessman in Mayhaven. "Makes you wonder how much she’s saved up." Woods was nearly done with his sugar stick, most of which had been grinded into...

Son of a slave

Chapter 57

Son of a slave - Chapter 57