Fifteen minutes later, they left the hotel.
"You have good servants," Amon said to the old innkeeper as they parted. "Especially that one," he nodded toward Ali, who was waiting fearfully by the door, and who gave a relieved, grateful bow in response to his words.
Then they took the donkey, which had eaten too much and was very displeased to be torn away from idleness, and set off for shopping along the streets bathed in the golden rays of the morning sun.
The famous El-Farrah market, the pride of the Emirate, overwhelmed Alexandra and Camilla. Everywhere there was chatter, the cries of merchants, the jingle of caravan bells from distant lands. The air was filled with a dense wave of fragrant oils, mixed with the stench of rotting waste left out in the sun.
"Stay close!" Alexandra shouted, barely able to distinguish her voice among the hundreds of others.
Around them, people were arguing, laughing, selling, buying, praising their goods and denouncing others. The mercenary's gaze was lost in the colorful chaos of merchants, water carriers, caravan men, guards, vagabonds, and beggars. She struggled to tear her gaze away from the bustling sea of humanity and looked at Camilla and Amon.
The priestess looked lost and pitiful. She clung tightly to the donkey's reins, as if it were a lifeline in the middle of crashing ocean waves. Amon, in turn, was calm and confident as always, towering like an immovable cliff over the colorful turbans of the market-goers. The knight's lips moved, but the mercenary couldn't make out the words.
"I can't hear!" she shouted, gesturing to her ears. "I can't hear anything!"
"Where do we start?" Amon asked loudly, his deep voice like a battle horn cutting through the market noise.
"With supplies!"
The knight nodded and moved forward, parting the crowd with his hands like a swimmer. Alexandra took the reins of the donkey from the priestess.
"Stay on the other side!" the girl yelled to the confused Camilla and followed Amon.
They passed a long row of pottery, where artisans rhythmically tapped the pots with thin sticks to demonstrate their quality. There were pots of all different sizes and patterns, from tiny ones with wide necks to tall, narrow ones as high as a person.
Next, they passed a row of hammered copper items, with trays and pitchers shining blindingly in the sun. Behind it came the jewelry section, where artisans melted gold in small furnaces, polished gemstones with leather belts, and struck tiny hammers to craft intricate ornaments.
"Watch where you're going with that donkey, foreigner!" shouted a merchant, his face turning crimson as he got caught in the reins.
"Watch yourself!" Alexandra snapped back instantly. "Fat sack!"
She turned away from the priestess and the merchant, stunned by such blatant rudeness, and jerked the donkey sharply.
After that, the mercenary and the knight passed by shops selling carpets and patterned rugs. There, they also sold cheap, expensive, and very expensive saddlebags for horses, donkeys, and camels.
The girl and the knight moved deeper into the endless row of food stalls.
The counters were piled high with fruits, hot flatbreads, pilaf, pitchers of fragrant water, and wineskins. Meat sizzled angrily on the fire, and sheep were butchered right behind the stalls, their bleating filling the air.
Amon stopped in front of one of the merchants and, without haggling, bought the necessary supplies.
"Pack it on the donkey," he said to the girl, handing her bags of salted meat, flatbreads, and crackers.
The mercenary accepted the load and, tightening the reins, looked back. The donkey gave her a sad look, as if sensing a difficult journey ahead. Alexandra froze, then started looking around. The donkey was still there. Unlike the priestess.
"Oh," the mercenary said softly. "Oh-ho-ho..."
She looked around again, but Camilla was nowhere to be seen, neither by the vegetable stall nor the sweets stall.
"Camilla, we lost Camilla!" she screamed, cutting through the noise.
"Calm down," Amon said to the worried mercenary, tying up a small pouch of money. "We'll find her."
"She's mamono... what if she gets herself into more trouble?"
Amon grimaced and rose on his tiptoes. His height allowed him to look over the crowd, and stretching, he could survey the entire row from beginning to end.
"She's not here," he told Alexandra. "Where did you last see her?"
The girl thought for a moment, then slapped her forehead.
"By the jewelers!"
"Let's go," Amon quickly started walking toward the jewelry stalls, pushing people aside. Alexandra could barely keep up with her companion. Ten minutes later, they reached their destination.
The mercenary sighed with relief when she saw a familiar short figure, wrapped in black cloth from head to toe, standing by one of the stalls. A tall, thin merchant was circling around Camilla like a vine.
"Try on this necklace, beautiful, noble lady. Oh, it's wonderful! Lovely! Magnificent! In it, you will outshine even the heavenly angels!" he said obsequiously, holding up a copper mirror to the priestess.
"Very pretty..." Camilla's eyes sparkled as she gently stroked the golden necklace with sapphires and rubies, twirling and admiring her reflection.
Amon, approaching from behind, quickly yanked the necklace off her and handed it to the stunned merchant.
"What are you doing, sir?!" the vendor exclaimed, clearly displeased. "Can't you see the lady is choosing?"
"She got lost," Alexandra said, roughly taking Camilla by the arm. The priestess sighed deeply.
"Foreigners," the merchant muttered, irritated. "What are you doing with this poor girl? Take your hands off her!"
"We're her guardians," Alexandra said firmly, pulling Camilla away from the stall.
"Yes," the priestess confirmed with a sigh. The merchant scowled but said, albeit without much hope:
"Perhaps you'll buy something for your ward?"
The priestess looked at Amon hopefully, but when she found no support, she turned her gaze to Alexandra.
"No," the knight cut her off. "No jewelry. Let's go."
"Exactly!" the mercenary agreed. "We're not wasting money on trinkets!"
At this, the girl lingered for a moment, staring at the jewelry, and then, her face subtly changing, she abruptly turned away.