"Remy! Eli!"
Islinda shouted in the market like a woman who had lost her mind, not that she cared. She wasn’t worried that they lost their way or something because Remy knew the way home, rather she panicked over what her step-sister might have done with Eli.
Had this been her plan all along? Get close to the boy, lower her defenses, and then do away with Eli when she least expects it. Islinda clenched her hand as she stared hopelessly around the market, her sister wouldn’t dare! There would be her wrath to bear if Eli was in any form of danger. If only she knew the reverse was the case.
The market was extra busy today with people from other villages intermixing with them and making it more difficult for her to find her betrayer of a sister in the crowd. She had just passed through a loud merchant prompting his goods when he suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.
Startled, she wrung out of his grasp and sidestepped him, but not without a warning glare. It was typical of bold traders to touch customers to get their attention and Islinda hated it. Nor does she have the time for this.
She was just about to move on, when he pointed out, "You’re a hunter, right?"
Islinda stopped and narrowed her gaze at him, "Obviously." She hinted at the bow slung over her shoulder.
She intentionally came to the market with her weapon for a purpose, to scare away the leering men. Just like the trader who touched her without her permission, some other men tend to make things difficult for a young lady.
Islinda knew she was beautiful, with her rich and soft chestnut brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders in waves, and innocent-looking hazel eyes that were said to melt the heart of the hardest of men. She had high cheekbones and a bow-shaped mouth that Valerie loved kissing. Why did she have to think of him at a time like this?
Tall, slim yet muscular from her years of hard labor and her occupation, it still didn’t hide the curves of her body. Yet Islinda did not let her beauty get into her head and had to contend with one or two remarks from men. Some of them tend to take their admiration too far, which was why her arrows were there to remind them that she was as dangerous as much as she looked innocent.
Islinda found herself staring at the man curiously, she had not seen him around before which meant he was not from her village and he was quite fine. However, Islinda was not attracted to him, not when she had Valerie whose beauty could not be compared to the common man. He was enough for her.
However, what caught her attention more was his wagon filled with weapons on display. He was a weapons dealer, she realized and the man must have found out that he finally caught her attention because he moved to introducing himself.
"I’m Marcus, my lady and you must be?" He inquired for her name.
Islinda frowned slightly, shifting uncomfortably on the balls of her feet. This was not what she was here for, she needed to find Eli.
Yet, she spat out, "Islinda. Anything else?"
"I have the finest weapons you can ever find -"
"No, not interested." His words spurred her into making a move finally. Her priority was finding her sister before she does something to Eli, not purchasing a weapon from some weapon seller.
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