#aneva

Ben had told her, "I'm going to check the gates, you go check the gardens. If he hasn't booked it already he might just be sitting on a rock thinkin' about it first... it's an atronach thing." He waved his hand emphatically at her confused expression and urged her to hurry, before trotting down the road.Needless to say, Imogen did not feel the need to check the gardens. Arik had threatened to run away numerous times and finally he found the opportunity. She knew more than anything that, by the way he had been skulking and spying on people around him- civilian Ortherindians, in their strange, foreign clothing- he was forming a plan. A plan a couple weeks in the making. Sitting around thinking more about it wasn't going to help him.He'd need a disguise. So Imogen headed straight for the marketplace, needling through throngs of people and covering her mouth against the stirred up dust and pollen. The big dirt lot of the bazaar was lined with tents and kiosks shadowed by rippling canopies and near to bursting with people and wares alike. If Arik had any sense, he'd find something like a cloak to cover himself with-- keeping the arm out of sight. It was unlikely he would settle for something average, either.Imogen spotted a booth for travelware with shining bronze poles and fluttering tapestries. Inside the clothing was bright, and she could make out at least one item trimmed with fur."That's it." She glanced around before squeezing through and sidling between racks of capes. She didn't need to duck, not with her height, but it made her feel better at sneaking.Arik would have been trying to sneak around, too, so she kept her eyes to the ground until she found a pair of bare brown feet on the other side of the rack. Imogen stopped, gently slid her hand across the red, expensive wool of the cloak that was jiggling around, then plunged her arm forward and snatched a fistful of white tunic. Just like catching fish.Arik made a lilting sort of grunt in shock and knocked his forehead against the brass bar when Imogen pulled him through the capes. He said something vulgar in Numan and tried to jerk away."Arik! If you topple this stuff you're paying for it!" Imogen hissed. She grabbed the other side of his shirt and held him firmly in place, bent over and glaring up at her flanked in expensive cloaks."How dare you come after me. I thought you valued my freedom more than Ben," he spat."You're not running to your freedom. You don't know what you're getting into with that mage, and how would people react to finding out an atronach still exists?""They won't be expecting it, but I'll be proud to give them back what they need." He stuck his jaw out and tried to twist away again. Imogen gasped and suddenly furrowed her brows at the tunic in her fists."Where did you find this shirt?""I stole it."They struggled a bit and Imogen found herself yanked through to Arik's side, kicking her ankle free of a winding cape. He grabbed her wrist and ripped her hand off of him. She realized then that he wasn't using any of his strength at all at first, and stepped back, frowning."I could help them in Aneva and save lives. Wouldn't you be happy for that?" he said, adjusting the shirt around his chest. It was five sizes too big so it fit over his arm."You're just saying that to make me change my mind." Imogen pressed her lips together in thought. She said in Numan carefully: "That mage could get you killed or use you for something else. Trust us, you're a lot safer here.""I never asked for safety.""Ugh!" She pulled her hair and snatched up Arik's hand, marching him down the aisle. He stumbled, crying out, "What?!""I'm taking you back to Bandy and maybe he can talk some sense into you," she said."Sense?" The tunic flopped off his shoulders as they pushed into the crowd. "I am making perfect sense!""No, you're talking like it's still one thousand years ago. You have to see times are different now.""Different how?""You're not a slave anymore," she shouted, only to be heard over a band of bards as they passed by, but her raised voice stuck into Arik like an arrow. He didn't look happy the whole way back, but he was silent, even when Imogen stopped to remember to get the shirt off him.