There is a price to be paid for all magic, and I have paid it most willingly.

She stands in the shadow of a young oak tree, playing a traditional jig on her violin. Streaks of cobalt blue, fuchsia pink, and neon purple weave themselves through her black waist-length dreadlocks. Her wooden clogs, leggings and long gray sweater are all worn and stained from the muddy streets, but the silver cuffs around her wrists seem shiny and new. Her eyes are closed as her bow dances across the strings, and her soul is caught up in her rapturous love of music. So much so that the man watching her can see the skeins of magic shimmering around her.

The citizens of New Amsterdam walking by begin to smile, caught up in their thoughts of joy and comfort. Even the people hardened by life and worn down by loads walk as if their burdens are, at least temporarily, lessened.

She comes to the end of her song, drawing the last note out. Then she opens her eyes, and the skeins stop shimmering. A few people have dropped handfuls of coins into her violin case, and she transfers them to a small drawbag.

Someone comes up to her. A Dwarven woman, shorter than the musician, but equals all the same. She gestures freely with her hands, excited about something, while her shoulder length curls bob and weave with a life all their own. The musician answers her while placing her instrument in its case, then they turn and walk away.

The man sighs, and leans against the building. The coolness of the mined stone seeps through his jacket, and seems to give him strength. He then straightens up, and follows the women.

Siobhan listened to Evie rhapsodize about the food stall they were going to visit.

"I tell you, Vhan, the chicken skewers are out of this world. You know I don't like chicken after Bubbe dried it out too much. Oy. But this is tender and flavorful, and I gotta get the recipe."

"Since when do stall cooks share their recipes?"

"Well, you help me figure it out. You have a palate like nobody I've seen."

Siobhan shook her head, and half-listened as they reached the end of the line for the stall. It did smell wonderful. The small blue dragons maintaining the flames on the grills also attracted attention from passersby, mostly from children delighted by seeing the reptilian creatures. But she was worried. She tried to just play her music like always. But somehow... it felt like she had used her magic. Perhaps she had simply sensed the residue from someone else? Someone with a similar touch to their magic. The silver cuffs on her wrists were supposed to do their job and suppress her magic. She couldn't risk it leaking out. Not after last time.

The line slowly moved forward. Evie had changed from the skewers to her grandmother's refusal to come and try a new food. "And I'm like, Bubbe, it's absolutely delicious, you gotta try it. And she's all, my cooking isn't good enough for you, you go pay other people for food? And she likes going out to Abram's, but that's traditional Dwarven cooking, so for her it don't count. So I just gave up and came to meet you."

"And you're paying for lunch, right?"

"What?"

"Evie, you just got paid. My earnings are going for rent. From here, it looks like two skewers cost 7 dallas. That's all I made today." Siobhan kept her tone light, but quiet. She didn't want to let her best friend know how much she was struggling with finances.

Evie looked closer at the board and scowled. "It was 5 two days ago. They upped their price from popularity, I'll bet."

"So?"

Evie sighed, and dug into her bag to retrieve a wallet. "All right. But you get to come to dinner this week, and have Bubbe grill you."

"She on about you finding a husband again?"

"Yeah. And she doesn't listen when I tell her that it's harder than it was in her day. Zayde has been enshrined in her memory, and she's convinced that all three of her grandchildren must find spouses as good as him."

"Well, Thomas got married. They'll probably announce a pregnancy any day now, and you'll be off the hook as she raves about being a great-grandmother."

"It don't help that Miriam and her boyfriend are getting serious. Bubbe is planning a bridal shower as we speak. I'll probably be the weird kid who marries outside the clan. That would rile her to no end."

Siobhan shook her head as they reached the front of the line, placed orders and paid. They ate by the nearby water fountain. The chicken skewers were good, if a bit juicy, with charcoaly bits on the edges. Between the two of them, they guessed lime juice, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper and garlic. They debated back and forth between coriander or not, then Evie nudged Siobhan's ankle with her foot.

"That guy on the bench. He's been following us since I met you. He keeps looking at you."

"Great." Siobhan rolled her eyes and licked her fingers. Even charms to keep away creeps only worked up to a certain radius.

Evie wrapped her metal skewers in the handkerchief to return to the stall. "I'm not gonna deal with this."

Before Siobhan could say anything, Evie marched over to the man and stared at him, hands on her hips. "What do you want with my friend?"

He simply stared back at her for several seconds, his face unreadable. Finally he said quietly, "I'm trying to find the sister of Sinéad Evans."

Siobhan was on her feet in a heartbeat, halfway to the man before she could talk herself out of it. "How do you know my sister?" she demanded hoarsely.

He turned his impassive gaze to her, and finally said, "I worked with her."

"How do we know that?" Evie asked.

"Academy of Magic Research and Wizardry, Fantastical and Legendary Creatures department. Sinéad was obsessed with proving the current existence of higher dragons, and researching the possible uses of higher draconic magic if it existed."

"That's still easy to find out." Evie scowled at him. 

"That's all I'm willing to discuss out in public." The man shrugged, an easy gesture that moved his jacket and let Siobhan see burn scars on his collarbones.

"You don't give more information, this conversation is over," Evie answered.

He quietly sighed, then reached into his inside jacket pocket. Both women saw that his left hand was also scarred, and only his thumb and first two fingers remained. He pulled out a card, then gave it to Evie. "Meet me there at 6 tonight, and I can talk more."

Before either of the women could say anything, he stood up and walked away casually.