The town was even larger than Pandora had expected. There were more people than she'd ever seen in one place before. Fortunately, they weren't all dark dwarves. Those moved among the streets, exchanging their gems and jewels for the various commodities the larger folk offered. She fit in perfectly with those, especially as she still wore her disguise. Today, there was no magic in it. She'd found the root that would turn her hair brown for several days and swapped her pretty dress for something she found in Carol's closet. The older woman had insisted that Pandora didn't need to pay her for the night, but she had insisted, wanting the older woman's clothes much more than her own. That it would compensate her host, was just an added benefit.
Frederic went directly to a stall where he would sell the carpets and clothes that he and the villagers had made from the wool of mountain sheep, but he spent a moment for her. “Do you need anything else? Directions to an Inn?”
Pandora dallied through the market, pretending to shop until it was obvious no one was paying her any special attention. Then she broke for the south. She came up short when she discovered she was following one of the dwarves. Pausing to adjust her shoe, she watched him go. Had Tabitha said anything about dwarven magic? She couldn't recall. Certainly there was magic among the items they mined, and plenty of it, but they didn't use it. That was why they sold it. No, the magic didn't belong to the dwarf.
She followed a little further, but felt sure she would be spied. Instead, she cast a small spell of her own. It settled around the dwarf's ankles and left footprints on the path. They would be visible to anyone else with magic, but only if they looked for it. Certain that she could follow in time, she made her way back into town. Did she have anything she could trade for food?
