Preparing for Travel!

Annie gathered her savings and made her way over to the market. No matter how long she worked here in the castle, she could never really get a full sense of the sheer magnitude of it. Comparing its size to a mountain wasn't quite accurate, as it spanned more land than a typical mountain would. The courtyard that housed market stalls was impressive, but even more impressive still was the fact that the merchants who ran those stalls also lived in the castle. There was an entire wing for the knights that was supposedly only cleaned by One and Five, and Annie hadn't even seen that place- though considering how her meeting with Tristan had gone, she was quite glad to not be cleaning after the knights.

She and Lilin had mostly only been cleaning the frontmost parts of the castle, and that was still quite the task. Each day, cleaning countless windows and hallways, staircases and landings, rooms upon rooms, cooking for hundreds if not thousands of mouths. Six had said that that's why Lilin was starting to train new maids; there was a need for more than just a few maids for the front.

Annie's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she heard scurrying footsteps through the hallway. It was coming from an intersection just in front of her. She hurried her pace forward to see who was rushing through, and saw Deuce scrambling around with a stack of books far too high for him to carry.

"S-Sorry, Granny Smith!" he shouted, "Don't need help, just in a hurry!"

Deuce shoved past Annie, but kept the stack of books steady as he hurried. Annie smiled to herself. That was a new nickname from him. Well, it wasn't an entirely new nickname. That's what Annie had gone by back on Earth, but... Well, that felt like a distant memory by now. She felt a pit in her stomach as she recalled her old life, wishing desperately that she could just know how Madeline and her family were doing, but....

Well, not much for it. Annie quickly pulled herself together and continued onwards. Her family would be fine, they were good for it. There were people here who needed her now, and she would make sure they had her to help them.

Annie made her way to the courtyard, the morning sun beaming down on her and making her smile. Its warmth was always welcoming, no matter what world it was. She walked forward, hearing the bustling vendors as they called to sell their goods. She'd never seen this courtyard during the day, only at night well after curfew. Cleaning this courtyard was a special job that was only done every so often, because cleaning it thoroughly required hours and hours of work, and it could only be done if nobody was here. That meant it had to be done outside of normal business hours and with a special order to clear the area. It was never especially difficult, as the merchants themselves often cleaned after themselves, but it was still work done entirely in darkness.

In the daylight, this really did look like a marketplace. People walked through with bags and baskets of groceries, non-stop sounds of prices and hagglers and all manner of advertisements. Annie wasn't uncomfortable, though. She'd been to her fair share of farmer's markets, this was old news to her. She began walking, looking from stall to stall, looking for food she could store and cook easily. She'd saved up quite a lot, but she didn't want to be wasteful with her money.

"Potatoes, 3 pearls a pound!" shouted one voice.
"Fresh Scallops, 8 pearls!" shouted another.
"We've just got a fresh order of meat!" another shouted.

There wouldn't be time to make jerky, so meat wasn't a great option. Potatoes were a great choice, so she made her way towards the stall.

"Hello," the vendor shouted to Annie, "you looking for potatoes?"

"Yes," Annie replied calmly.

"Great! Your pick of what you take, it's just 3 pearls a pound!"

Annie picked up a potato, rotating it in her hand. She saw a few green spots, so she put it back. Lifting another, she didn't see any spots. A small squeeze and it held firm. She tossed it into a bag, continuing to check through the potatoes. She gathered about 12 potatoes, and it weighed out to about 9 pounds.

"Alright, ma'am, just 27 pearls!"

Annie handed over 27 pearls, smiling. She turned and left, looking around the stalls for inspiration on how to prepare the potatoes. She moved quickly, stopping at stalls for butter, salt, dried meat, nuts, and some fruits. Annie went through about 50 pearls when all was said and done, but had roughly enough food for the trip.

As she left, Annie noticed a smaller stall. It was being run by a woman who seemed tired, and the price was up on a sign. It wasn't in pearls, though, but in some other material. She looked and saw that the woman was selling some kind of herb, so Annie approached her.

"Oh, hi," the woman said. "Brassling root, 45 golden bits."

"Ah, I only have pearls, what can I get?" Annie asked.

"Hm? Oh, I don't have enough for a pearl," she replied. "The new shipment will be in tomorrow, though, and I'll have more products to sell then."

"Ah, no worries! I hope you have a wonderful day," Annie said.

As she left, Annie "accidentally" let a pearl slip out from her satchel. She hadn't known there was a currency below pearls, and was starting to question why she was paid so many.

"Ah, miss! You dropped a pearl!" The woman called to Annie.

"Ah, my mistake," Annie said, continuing to walk. "Well, finders keepers!"

The woman called again, but Annie hurried away. As she left earshot, she turned back and saw the woman sitting in her stall with a new sense of energy. Annie hoped that that was enough to brighten the stranger's day. She then turned and fully dedicated to walking back to her room. She did have to prepare for the trip, after all.