“You even brought some of your trash friends? I won’t have this, boy! Get out!”

  The man who spoke was younger than Cassian had expected, with a greasy face and equally greasy hair, and a mean little glint in his eyes that made him look like he enjoyed shouting. The two boys and the girl were still catching their breath and paid little attention to his screaming. That seemed to infuriate him even more. He left his counter and marched toward them, boots thudding against the wooden floor.

  “I said get out, you little street rats, or I’m going to-”

  The man suddenly stopped. His eyes had fixed on Cassian, narrowing as if trying to place something he had seen before.

  “You… you’re a-”

  Todd cut him off in a panic. “Don’t say the name, you idiot.”

  For a heartbeat the man looked stunned, more shocked by the insult than by Cassian’s presence. Then his fury came rushing back twice as strong.

  He raised his fist menacingly. “No boy is ever speaking to me that way, you little-”

  “Enough!”

  Cassian’s voice cracked through the shop like a whip. All the fear and humiliation of the day boiled over at once, turning into something sharp and hot inside his chest.

  “Get back behind your counter,” he said, stepping forward without realizing he had done so. “Or I promise you retribution such as you have never imagined.”

  His eyes locked onto the greasy man’s, hard and bright, the steel blue gaze he had now burning with real anger.

  The man seemed taken aback. “I-I don’t… I was just… didn’t mean to disrespect you, my lord of Via-”

  “I told you not to say the name,” Todd snapped quickly.

  The man’s eyes jumped to Todd, fury flaring again, but whatever he saw in Cassian’s face made him swallow it. He muttered a string of curses under his breath and, with stiff, angry steps, retreated behind the counter.

  Only then did Cassian allow himself to breathe. A long, shaky sigh escaped him and he turned to Sabrina.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t acted.”

  Sabrina gave him a weak smile, then let herself slump against the wall of the shop as if her legs had finally remembered they were tired.

  The three of them took a few moments to collect themselves. Todd was the first to recover enough to speak. “You could have given me a warning,” he said, pointing at Cassian accusingly.

  “You were with me yesterday,” Cassian replied. “It has never gotten that bad before, though.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Yesterday was much easier. Better too. They gave us gifts and everything,” Todd said with a pout.

  “You mean you stole Cassian’s gifts,” Sabrina corrected.

  “Well, if those gifts mean I’ll have to start giving kisses to random people’s babies and daughters and donkeys, he can have them back.”

  That did it. Cassian let out a short laugh, the kind that escapes before you can stop it. Sabrina covered her mouth, trying to be polite, but she was already giggling, and Todd, seeing them both break, threw his hands in the air dramatically.

  “I’m serious! The moment an old lady shoves a grandchild at me, I’m jumping into the river.”

  “What? The candy king doesn’t mingle with his subjects?” Sabrina said, laughing.

  “My subjects are much sweeter than that!” Todd protested. “I would kiss those! Even the donkeys!”

  Cassian laughed harder at that, the tight knot in his chest loosening little by little. But Todd did not stop, Describing the flavor of the candy donkeys would have, what they were made of, and finished by saying it would be an ass everyone would want to kiss.

  “Alright,” Cassian said at last, wiping at his eyes. “Maybe we go back in a carriage.”

  “Agreed,” Sabrina said firmly.

  “Absolutely” Todd added. “From now on you travel in a box.”

  A fresh burst of laughter followed, but it was cut short by the shop owner’s irritated voice.

  “Are you done? Will you leave now, or will you buy something?”

  Todd straightened as if the man had just challenged his honor.

  “Remember how I told you that one day I would buy something?” he declared. “Well, today I’m here to buy everything in your store.”

  The shop owner looked entirely unimpressed.

  “Yeah? With what money?” he said dryly.

  Cassian stepped forward and pulled a small sack from his pocket. He loosened the strings just enough to reveal the shine of platinum coins inside.

  The man’s eyes twinkled. His entire demeanor shifted in an instant.

  “What can I help you with today, my lord?” he said smoothly.

  The question had been directed at Cassian, but Todd answered instead.

  “We’re going to need your most powerful tools. The ones with the strongest spells. Advanced elemental magic, invisibility, opening new paths, unlocking doors, enhancing abilities tenfold, we want the works.”

  The man looked ecstatic. He was already rummaging through boxes, muttering excitedly to himself, when Cassian interrupted.

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  “I was going to tell you about that, Todd. Most of the tools you mentioned are forbidden. I asked the professors, and they told me I can’t use any advanced magical tools. Nothing too powerful or anything that would give me an unfair advantage. They said I’m only allowed to bring tools with basic spells on them.”

  Todd visibly deflated. The shopkeeper deflated even more. He sank back into his chair with a sour expression.

  “Ugh, you can grab those yourself. It’s not like they’re anything special,” he muttered. Then, under his breath, “Bringing all that money here just to taunt me and then buying some silly basic spells… I hate that kid, I really do.”

  Todd seemed to share the sentiment.

  “Basic spells are lame. We could probably do stronger spells ourselves.”

  Not all of us, Cassian thought dismayed.

  He looked over the collection with little enthusiasm. Most of the stuff would not serve him during the quest. A slim silver razor promised a perfect shave with a single stroke and no cuts. Beside it sat a heavy iron pot labeled The Honest Pot: place water and ingredients inside and it would cook the perfect meal from them, but only from what was given. The tag added in stern letters, mismatched ingredients produce matched disasters. There was a broom that swept by itself lazily, a needle that mended cloth so perfectly the tear vanished as if it had never been, and a candle that guaranteed a night free of nightmares, it was noted though that the user was never blessed with prophetic dreams if used. The first thing that may have been useful were the elemental stones in different colors they promised to cast fireballs, thunderbolt, water surge, etc. “You just throw these ones and then, bam! Spell!” Todd explained.

  There were feathers that made things light as air. “Doesn’t work on humans or animals though,” Todd added.

  Crystals for healing minor injuries. “Like a scraped knee, you know. Nothing impressive.”

  One thing did catch Cassian’s attention: a pair of small, crystal-clear rocks.

  “Teleporting crystals,” Todd said. “Press one against you and it’ll take you to its twin… As long as you’re not too far away from it. Perfect if you need to teleport to the other side of the room. For anything else, bleh.”

  “Would you shut up and let him browse my merchandise in peace?” the shopkeeper snapped.

  “Look, Cassian, this could be useful,” Sabrina said, pointing at a small brush that promised to mask a person’s scent. “And if you combine it with this one,” she added, holding up a little cotton ball that claimed it would make your steps completely silent if placed on your shoes, “you’d be practically undetectable!”

  “Yeah, almost as good as a potion of invisibility,” Todd muttered. “But no, that’s forbidden. Also read what they do, carefully.”

  “What are you talking about? I read what they did.” Sabrina looked at the tag in the shelves. “Duration up to 5 minutes?! Is that a joke?”

  Cassian’s attention drifted to something else: a small doll with a completely blank face and no clothes. The label read Transforming Doll. He picked it up and turned to the shopkeeper.

  “What does this thing do?” Cassian asked.

  “That one?” The man leaned on the counter. “If you press it against an object for long enough, it’ll transform into it. A perfect copy, except it’ll turn back after five or ten minutes, and it can’t copy any magical properties the original had.”

  “So it’s worthless,” Todd said flatly.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” the shopkeeper admitted without shame. “So, you’ve browsed my selection of trinkets and useless garbage because you’re not allowed to see the real good stuff. Are you buying anything or not?”

  Sabrina shot the man an irritated look and turned to Cassian.

  “Let’s go. We can try another store. They probably have a better basic spell selection.”

  “They won’t, missy.” The shopkeeper crossed his arms. “This is the best magical tool selection for basic spells. Not even in your precious inner circle would they have anything better, because there isn’t anything better. Basic spells are basic spells.”

  Todd chimed in. “He’s not lying. Basic spells will stay basic spells no matter what. I wanted to come here because he always said he had some super cool advanced ones.”

  “I do, but it doesn’t matter. If you’re not going to buy anything, you can get out,” the shopkeeper said angrily.

  Cassian thought for a moment. An idea had started to form. He spoke slowly. “All the everyday junk is useless to me. The feather doesn’t seem useful since I can’t use it on living things, and any injury my cousins are likely to give me will not be as light as a scrape on the knee. So those I will leave. I will be taking all the elemental stones, the transportation crystals, the smell brush, the silent cotton balls, and the doll.”

  The man was still sour, but the quantity of items lightened his mood a little. “So that’s one of each, right? Alright, that would come out at-”

  “No.” Cassian spoke calmly. “I said I’ll be taking them. I’m buying all of them.”

  “What do you mean, all of them?” the shopkeeper asked, a grin forming on his face.

  “Of the mentioned items, I will take every single one you have in stock.”

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The three of them waited on uncomfortable seats inside the shop. The man had insisted they wait there as he prepared their order and went to brew them a cup of tea. His happy demeanor and calm attitude had returned tenfold. It seemed he had hit the jackpot with the elemental stones, as he had three hundred of them lined up. Cassian wished he had less of those and more of the transportation crystals, which he only had twelve pairs of, but he supposed, on the whole, it wasn’t bad to have extras. He wanted to practice with them after all, especially with the water surge and ice dart ones.

  The shopkeeper came in with a teapot and some cups. He served each of them, exclaiming, “My best tea for my most precious clients!”

  Todd smelled it, took a sip, closed his eyes, nodded, and said, “Wow. This is horrible.”

  The shopkeeper let out a loud, very fake laugh. “Ohh, Master Odd, you’ve always been so amusing!”

  “Thank you. The name is Todd, though,” the boy answered.

  “Yes, of course. How could I forget these things? Such a dear client. Every time you come here, you brighten up my day. Truly.”

  “Last time I was here, you threw a piece of wood at me and told me not to come back if I didn’t have any money.”

  “That was just a little joke, like the ones we do because we’re good, good friends.”

  Cassian tried the tea. It was indeed nasty. He put the cup away, unlike Sabrina, who was trying her very hardest to finish it. She seemed to be against waste. He remembered she had eaten more than her share in the at the banquet, indeed seemed to be in pain for a bit there, until Timothy assured her that nothing would go to waste and that the servants would have their meal after them.

  “Wow, money really has power over you, huh, Shopkeep?” Todd mused. “Hey, Cassian, give him a platinum coin if he dances for us.”

  “Lord Viamnova, I assure you, I’m a very good dancer,” the shopkeeper said, all his dignity forgotten.

  “No,” Cassian replied simply. “You should go outside. The carriage will be here any moment.”

  “Oh? When did you get in contact with your family, and how did you? I assume, being a connoisseur of magical tools, you used one?” the shopkeeper inquired.

  “Never you mind. Just go outside,” Cassian commanded. The Viamnovas had ways of communicating quickly when needed. Depending on the level of urgency, he had decided this was moderate, and so he had taken an empty letter out of an envelope he carried, written his need and location on it, sealed it back up, and put it in his pocket.

  Soon the sound of horses could be heard outside the shop. Cassian led his two companions out, where the shopkeeper was handing boxes to the driver, who was stashing them away in the carriage. Cassian signaled Sabrina and Todd to get in, and followed close behind.

  “Thank you very much for this, and know that you are welcome here anytime, Lord Viamnova,” the shopkeeper said.

  Cassian looked back at the man and found he had a real dislike for him. The violent way he had treated Todd, and the low price he put on his own dignity repulsed him.

  “The magical tools you gave us will be inspected at the Emeraldhold. If any of them is found to be defective or a fake, you will have to answer to the Viamnovas. Have a good day,” Cassian said, in an attempt to imitate his uncle.

  This took some wind out of the shopkeeper, who bowed deeply. “No, of course not, it’s all quality, I promise.”

  And so, the three of them rode away. Cassian wanted to go back to the Emeraldhold posthaste, but Sabrina insisted they go to the park. “Todd had his trip, so it’s my turn to take you somewhere,” she said.

  “You do remember how that trip went, right?” Cassian answered.

  “Yeah, but what could happen in a park?” Sabrina replied.

  Cassian reluctantly agreed, and they asked the driver to set course for Luminara Park. Meanwhile, Todd had his head out of the carriage window, screaming, “Make way! Make way for the Candy King!”