Kaldrek stirred as she jumped out of bed and excitedly dressed herself. When she finished dressing, she found her husband rummaging in the bottom of his closet. She wondered what he was doing.

She didn't have to wonder long. Kaldrek walked over to her and handed her a pouch, "Here."

"What is it?" She tilted her head as she accepted it.

"Some money. For your excursion." He ruffled her hair with a smile, "As your husband I am supposed to provide for you, right?"

"Thank you."

"Anything I have is yours. No need to thank me."

She felt warmth spread through her and a bit of courage in what she had in mind. She should probably act quickly before she lost her nerve. Zylvia just hoped it wouldn't ruin what they already had. This trust and friends.h.i.+p was already precious to her and she would hate if her greed destroyed it.

She waited on her husband to get dressed and ready for the day, as she brushed her hair. She skipped ahead of her husband as they went to eat a hurried breakfast. Despite her rush she made sure that Kaldrek ate a healthy amount.

It was rather difficult for Zylvia to keep from squealing in excitement. She had been looking forward to going out with her best friend since they had started planning.

The other two girls were just as excited. The king shook his head helplessly at them as they were leaving and reminded them to stay out of trouble.

"My father never let me do this!" Hazel was excitedly smiling with sparkling eyes, "So where do we go first? Oh, and Asrar don't even think of telling father about this, or I will make life difficult for you." Her knight just nodded his head as he continued his impersonation of a walking statue.

"Hmm, let's just wander around the different stalls. We can see what the hawkers* are selling."

Hazel was excitedly moving from seller to seller, checking all their wares. She was definetely a little ball of energy. It was probably a good thing she had a knight, several times he had to reach out and pull her to avoid her getting accidentally trampled by the crowd.

Fayre moved a lot more slower, she was rather well acquainted with marketplaces. That and she was also trying to make sure to protect the little life inside of her.

Zylvia looked at the different wares that were being sold. Several things caught her eye. There was a pretty looking hand mirror as well as some bright looking decorations to brighten up her room. Then there was some cloth that she could use for making things. And she couldn't resist buying a handsome looking journal for Kaldrek. After purchasing these things Zylvia realized that her husband had given her quite a large sum of money. She had hardly made a dent in it.

About noontime the girls bought some food that was being sold, and happily ate as they talked about the things that they had purchased. Zylvia was pleased by the glow on her best friend's face. Fayre needed to get out of the castle more. It wasn't healthy for her to coop herself up all the time.

"Aww, you bought something for Kaldrek," Ever looking for opportunities to push her and her husband's best friends together Fayre of course had to comment.

"Well, it made me think of him. And besides I am using his money so its only polite." Zylvia shook her head helplessly.

After they ate, they continued moving through the market. They were enjoying themselves greatly.

This was a great day. At least it had been, until Zylvia caught sight of Celia doing some bargaining in the market.

The sight of the woman she had once looked up to made her blood boil. She took a calming breath. Fayre had seen something that had caught her attention and hadn't noticed Celia yet. 'Good, that gave her some time to escape.'

Zylvia darted into the crowd to avoid the woman who had raised her. Her heart felt heavy as she did so. She still wanted to be able to respect the woman but she had asked too much.

Running was not just being a coward in this situation. The marketplace was not a good place for a confrontation. Besides she did want to make a purchase that Fayre would tease her mercilessly about if she knew of it. So heading off was not exactly the worst thing.