The man smiled charmingly at Aurum with his hand still extended towards Aurum, his midnight-black locks fluttering in the faint breeze. “Are you hurt, fair lady?”

Fair lady? Aurum quirked an eyebrow. Beside her, she heard Alice’s sharp intake of breath. Glancing over at her, Alice was gazing at the stranger with wide eyes. What the… why is she staring at him? Maybe she had been shocked at his odd turn of phrase. Or maybe she had sensed some sort of ominous magic. Aurum looked at her more intently, trying to gauge if her expression was one of interest or alarm or fear until she heard the sound of someone clearing his throat quietly. The man she had barreled into was still looking steadily at Aurum, his expression friendly and somewhat curious. Aurum found it profoundly irritating.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she said coolly, standing up and brushing herself off. He raised his eyebrows a bit at her refusal of his help.

“Are you sure you are all right? You seem flustered.” He smiled again, making his too-handsome face seem almost dazzling. Aurum glanced surreptitiously at Alice again and saw her still staring openly at the man, face shocked and… was it just Aurum’s imagination, or did she look excited?

“I said, I’m fine,” Aurum answered, her irritation sparking brighter. “I’m not hurt, I’m completely okay, I’m fine.” He looked a little taken aback at her words and tone. Now Aurum felt a bit guilty. The accident had been her fault, after all. After an awkward pause, she grudgingly asked, “And you?”

He brightened immediately. “Absolutely. It’s not every day I encounter such a charming woman by chance. I am more than all right.”

What the… Aurum looked at him then at a loss for words with her mouth hanging slightly open. What kind of a line is that? Is he saying he encounters charming women on purpose somehow? That doesn’t even make sense. There was another painfully awkward pause. What does one even say to something like that? The sweet-talking stranger looked more and more uncertain as Aurum gaped at him.

Alice jumped in, breaking the tension. “Let us help you with the potatoes! It’s our – I mean, you dropped them because of…” She flushed pink, clearly hesitant to blame Aurum for the accident directly. Or maybe she was shy talking to the man? Did she find him handsome, maybe? Aurum realized she didn’t know what kind of people Alice liked or found attractive. Maybe she preferred black-haired, purple-eyed strangers to... Aurum cut herself off before she could finish that thought.

“Thank you, I appreciate it greatly,” the man said warmly, turning his dazzling smile on Alice. Aurum felt her hackles rise as Alice looked at him with an almost starstruck expression. Ridiculous, Aurum thought, suppressing a sudden urge to roll her eyes. But it was a reasonable offer, considering the potatoes strewn over the ground were at risk of being stepped on. Reluctantly, Aurum helped Alice and the stranger gather his fallen produce. Once they had picked up everything and placed them back into the crate, the man looked back at Aurum.

“My name is Pollan. And might I be so bold as to ask who you are?”

“I’m Mura,” she answered flatly, using the name she had come up with on the journey into town.

“Mura. What a beautiful name. It… suits you.” He smiled again, white teeth flashing. He really was annoyingly handsome. Alice smiled stiffly at his compliment, then mumbled an excuse.

“Well, it was nice to run into you. I mean, meet you. But we are in a hurry, so…” As she spoke, she tried to walk away the direction she and Alice had been intending to go before – out of town and toward the camps. She didn’t make it far before she heard Pollan speak again.

“And you, what can I call you?”  

It was then Aurum realized that Alice was not following her. She whipped around to see Alice standing face to face with Pollan, who had moved closer to her so that he was looming right over her. Alice was wringing her hands nervously as she stood in front of him, forced to tilt her head back a bit to look up into his face.

“A- Alice,” she answered timidly, still blushing faintly. Frustrated, Aurum marched back next to Alice, her already strained patience wearing thin. She was about to go so far as to grab Alice’s arm and pull her away when Alice surprised her by speaking up again. “Would you – would you like any help with your – your things? We – we owe you an apology.”

Aurum was speechless with shock. Here was timid Alice, whom she had seen freeze up in front of strangers over and over again today, inviting a strange man to spend more time with them? While shamelessly casting blame on Aurum for the collision? All with the looming threat of being found by the witch’s spies? What was she thinking? The man was clearly odd and far too striking to be a random passerby – maybe he was a minion of the witch? Or a simple spy? Why on earth was Alice being so reckless just because of a pretty face when they had just been talking about how to minimize risk?

Pollan, on the other hand, was far from speechless.

“Oh, thank you for the kind offer! I would be absolutely delighted to have your company if I could be so bold as to ask for it. I’m going to take these to the houses on the outskirts of the town. You see, I run errands for the elderly residents who live too far away to come to market themselves. It’s hard on them, you know, living so isolated as they age. If you join me, they would be so pleased to meet new people; many of them rarely have visitors. It is not a short journey, though, I have to warn you. Are you sure you can both spare the time?”

As he went on, Aurum looked at the crate, which was filled with nothing but potatoes. Is he claiming his entire delivery job is just… bringing them potatoes? If this man is a spy, he is not a very smart one.

Aurum glanced at Alice sardonically, but Alice did not seem to have any such thoughts.

“Of - of course! We can do that, right Au- Mura?”

“Oh, Aumura! Is that your full name?” the man asked Aurum, looking far too interested in the matter. He looked far too interested in her, for that matter.

“No,” she answered sharply, shooting daggers at Alice. “Alice just struggles with speaking to strangers sometimes. She gets nervous, you know.”

A faintly shocked silence followed this statement. Alice was blushing furiously, looking almost ashamed. Aurum’s conscience twinged; it had been a rather cruel thing to say. Aurum knew well enough by now that Alice was self-conscious about socializing.

“Well – anyway. We really can’t spare the time. It sounds… lovely, but we need to keep going. Alice and I have a lot of work to get done, you know, and as much as we might like to join you, we just can’t. Sorry. Really.” Aurum struggled to put together a polite refusal, rambling a bit as she grasped for the appropriate niceties. Her words earned her twin pitiful looks, one purple, one brown.

“Are you certain? It really would make them all so happy, even if you don’t make the entire trip with me. There are a few houses I stop by that aren’t quite so far.” The man was almost pleading. What is his problem? Why on earth would he be so interested in having them come along unless he had some ulterior motive? Was it a trap?

But in the end, Alice broke Aurum’s resolve. “We really can – can’t we, M- Mura?” She was looking at Aurum now, not the man, and her eyes were more than pleading. They were insistent, and she seemed to be trying to communicate something important to her. Aurum had no idea what could possibly motivate Alice to want to follow this man, but maybe it was some sort of lead. In the end, Aurum gave up and conceded.

“Fine. We can walk with you some of the way. But I can’t guarantee we will be free all day.”

Aurum sighed. Alice probably had a good reason for this. Or at least, a reason. Probably. Hopefully not a reason that involved her being infatuated with purple eyes and honeyed words.  I thought you said you didn’t trust her, that mocking voice whispered in her head. Ignoring it, Aurum shook off her reluctance and started walking with Alice and Pollan, staying a little behind as they chatted in front of her. She watched Alice giggle at something Pollan said, and her expression darkened without her noticing.

After all, she thought to herself, if this man is a spy, then we can try to trap him and interrogate him. 

The thought cheered Aurum up greatly.