Aniña nodded her head, picking up one of the trinkets, "I'm sure. Don't worry." She gave Sequoia a smile, trying to distract herself. They were nice, but her mind was running a million miles an hour and she couldn't concentrate on anything.
Sequoia nodded, smiled, and tried to get absorbed in the trinkets. Her efforts failed, but it was the thought that counted. The shopkeeper was a nervous young girl, far too skinny to be healthy. Sequoia bought a few of the crystals just to be nice and then moved from table to table, frantically trying to keep her mind occupied. It didn't work.
After the sixth table, it became clear that both she and Aniña were too high strung to enjoy the market anymore. "Can we head home? I can't focus at all and you don't look like you can either."
Aniña looked to Sequoia and nodded, "I think that might be a good idea." She gave her wife a smile before taking her hand in her own and heading to the spot where they first arrived. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair and before long the carriage arrived and she helped her wife into the carriage.
Sequoia smiled, glad to be away from the market and the creepy spider lady. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to use the spider silk in her ritual. What if it had been tampered with? "So," she began as the carriage lurched into motion, "Now that we're not in the market anymore, can you tell me why the old lady made you so nervous?"
Aniña swallowed, "Well… even though she looked old, she was probably only around her mid twenties…. and also it's kinda illegal to go find the spiders that produce that silk in my kingdom…" She rubbed at her neck.
Sequoia tossed the silk in her fingers with a confused look. A billion questions swirled through her head, but just before she blurted them all out, she remembered ho annoyed Aniña had seemed that morning when she ran her mouth too long.
Even though she was bursting at the seams with curiosity, she put it out of her mind and hesitantly replied. "Well, that's weird. Why-" she cut off the question "- Crazy finding that at the market."
Aniña nodded slowly, "I'm surprised you aren't asking more questions," She gave her wife a smile, "I'm not gonna get mad at you for asking. If you want to know I'll tell you." She took Sequoia's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze.
(Going to bed a little early. Goodnight.)
Oh. So it was okay for her to talk a lot now? Maybe Aniña was just underestimating her supply of questions. "I just don't want you to get all annoyed by me again. Just so you know I have a lot of questions. Like… at least five. Definitely more, but that would be way too much. I just really don't want you to get all distant and tired and mad like you did this morning."
(Night)
Aniña immediately felt guilty and she looked away, "I'm sorry, about this morning but it won't happen this time, I swear. Ask as many questions you have but slowly, okay?" She gave Sequoia a small smile.
Sequoia smiled back. "Okay… First, how is she only twenty? She looks so old and flabby. Is it some kind of magic? Or a punishment? Or what?" Was that too many questions? She would ask, but that would just pile things up even higher. They were all variations on the same theme, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Aniña released a breath, "Okay, well the silk is from the Ysthen spiders. They are very dangerous and my father passed a law saying that no one is to go a find them. The spiders ask for something in return for their silk, generally it's years of a person's life so they can live longer. For the amount of silk that woman had the spiders must have asked for a lot of her life."
Sequoia nodded. A few of her other questions had been answered too. "Oh! That makes sense It's also kind of scary. The only things that ask for deals in my kingdom are Faeri, and they're malicious little asshats so we don't mess with them. How hard is it to find these… yesthen spiders?"
"Hard. Last I heard the ysethen spiders were spotted near the Vateph Drones by the Breacan Mountains," Aniña shrugged, "They travel but stay to themselves, most people who try to find or steal from then end up being killed."
Sequoia sighed in relief. No spooky spiders were going to creep into her room and steal all her beauty in the middle of the night. "Good! Next question: why did that lady freak you out so bad? She didn't look mean or anything, just kind of sad."
"I don't… really know," Aniña said slowly, "She just kinda gave me a weird vibe." She frowned down at herself. She didn't really understand why she felt that way because she seemed nice but there was something off about her.
Sequoia nodded in understanding. While she rarely trusted her gut feelings, she knew that certain instincts could keep people safe no matter how harmless something seemed. "Better go with your gut on this one. If we go back tomorrow, we can avoid her. Why is getting silk from the spiders illegal?"
Aniña ran a hand through her hair, "Well, because the spiders are so dangerous, father banned everyone from trying to find them in fear of getting hurt," She shrugged, "I think that's all. You can ask him yourself when we get back if you want."
Sequoia snorted, patting Aniña on the hand. "No offense, Habibi, but your father scares me. While I was negotiating our marriage he was watching me the way a dog looks at a piece of juicy steak. I'm not speaking to him unless I absolutely have to."
"That's probably a good idea," Aniña gave Sequoia a smile though it looked strained, "He scares me too." She scratched at her arm distractedly.
Sequoia pursed her lips, pulling Aniña into a loose hug. She hadn't meant to bring up any bad memories, but that had obviously happened already. "Sorry. I shouldn't have talked about him. What do you want to do once we get home?"
"It's fine, Sequoia," Aniña gave her a small smile, "And I don't know, honestly. Do you have an ideas?" She was still kind of out of it from the woman at the stall but she forced herself to go back to her usual self.
"Want to swim?" The mansion probably had a pool, Sequoia thought she remembered seeing a glimpse of blue tile and fresh ater as she walked out to the stable. Not that she felt particularly safe going outside. That Nightstalker that had attacked Aniña was still out there roaming around. "Actually, let's not do that. How about I teach you a little magic?"
Aniña perked up a little more, a smile beginning to form on her lips, "Really?" The smile faltered, "But I'm probably not going to be able to do it so it would just be wasting your time…" She frowned at herself.
Sequoia grabbed Aniña's hands in her own, pressing a faint kiss to her wife's cheek. "Everyone's good at some kind of magic, Habibi. It's about specialty and skill. And you can't know how well you'll do until you try."
Aniña blushed a little and her smile was back even though it was somewhat forced, "I guess you're right. I can try but I doubt I'll get any where with it," She sighed through her nose, "But I'll try."
Sequoia took in the forced smile and assurance that she was going to fail and tutted at Aniña. "We'll just see about that, okay? I think you'll do just fine because even without any magic you're completely wonderful."
Aniña's blush deepened. I'm really not… "Thank-you. Liran. You're pretty wonderful too." She said softly, giving her a real smile this time.
"I know," Sequoia teased, tossing her hair back dramatically. She shot Aniña a winning smile. "I'm lucky I got a wife just as wonderful and talented as I am."
Aniña huffed a laugh and shook her head a little, "Yeah, guess you are," She placed a light kiss to her wife's cheek.
Sequoia grinned. Aniña didn't really accept compliments, so it was nice to see her taking this one. It was nice to know that Sequoia could let her know how wonderful she was without it being denied. "I love you, Habibi."