They made it to town, and were immediately assailed with foreign sights and smells. The buildings were made of clear-cut, gray stone that looked like it had been newly washed, and the paved streets, though a little more dirty, were all relatively clean. There was no garbage or sewage at the sides, and trashcans could be found on every street. About every dozen feet, a tree had been planted in holes in the sidewalk, there were rows and rows of flower boxes on each building, and every once in awhile buildings sat a little ways back, allowing for grass, flowers, and bushes. The smell of flowers, pastry, and honey filled the air. But what interested Lina the most were the stalls in front of the buildings, which had all sorts of magical items for sale.
"Look at this! Look, look!" Lina shrieked in delight as she caught sight of a unicorn's horn sitting at on of the market-place booths. "Do you know how rare one of these things are?!" She dragged him down by the collar so he could get a closer look.
He grumbled and adjusted the cloth mask over the lower part of his face. "I see, I see."
She squeaked and pointed at a green jewel. "And that! Wow, I'd kill to have one of those!"
The man who was selling the jewel looked a little nervous at her statement, while Zelgadis just shook his head and tried to hide his amusement. Lina was acting like a kid in a candy store. She wanted everything, and wouldn't be happy till she got it.
A noise attracted his attention, and he looked sharply to his left. There, standing few dozen feet away, were a small group of people who looked angry, suspicious, and a little scared.
"Time to go," he said calmly as he snagged Lina by the arm and dragged her forcibly away from the stall.
"But Zel..." she whined cutely, eyes round and watery.
Oh dear... He rarely could resist that, and she knew it. He forced himself to be cold and uncaring as he explained, "The townsfolk are getting nervous, and will gang up on us soon unless we can come up with a good excuse of who we are and why we're here."
Lina grimaced and asked, "Why didn't this occur to you before?"
"Because I wasn't sure they'd notice we're strangers," he said bitingly. He gave his surroundings his thorough attention as he searched for something to help...and saw a small inn with an arrow and a bowl on the sign. Lysandros... he thought in relief. Quickly, he headed inside, with Lina in tow.
Behind the counter was a small, homely man with a twinkle in his eyes and balding, gray hair. He saw Zelgadis and grinned broadly.
"When did you get back in town?!" the man demanded with a cheerful, kind air.
Zelgadis gave a satisfied sigh and let go of Lina. "Hi, Lysandros. We just arrived."
Lysandros turned and looked at Lina, who was fuming at Zelgadis's side, and smiled broadly. "Hello, young lady. What's your name?" he asked politely.
"Lina. Lina Inverse," she said simply, crossing her arms and becoming even more annoyed. His tone had been patronizing, as if he were simply calling her a young lady to humor her.
That caught his attention, and his tone became respectful. "Well, well. The famous Lina Inverse," he laughed. He turned sideways, did a little hop, and disappeared behind the counter. Lina stared as he reappeared from behind the wooden barrier, still grinning broadly. He was half as tall as her! He must have been standing on something before...
"I'm Lysandros, an old friend of Zel's," he stated.
Lina smiled and let herself relax a little. Lysandros may have been small, but he looked intelligent, and very kind.
A shout from the doorway broke through the meeting. "What are you doing here, Strangers?!" On the leader's lips, the word "Strangers" became a definite insult.
Lina turned, and saw a small mob of people filing into the room. They had their hands ready to begin casting spells, as if Lina and Zelgadis had already damned themselves in their eyes. Why those idiotic, blind, jerks! How dare they treat us like invading barbarians!
To Lina's surprise, it wasn't Zelgadis who spoke up in their defense, but Lysandros. He frowned, "Now, what's going on here? Can't a man invite friends into Yume anymore without the whole world interfering?"
This gave the mob a pause. "You... They're friends?"
Lysandros breathed out a dramatic, exasperated sigh and said in a tone that suggested he was talking to children and not full-grown adults, "Yes, these are my friends. They used to live in Yume as kids." Frowning forbiddingly, he asked, "Is that a crime?"
Again, a pause. "But...but..."
Lina wondered at the little man's acting ability, and privately thought he was pretty good at coming up with a quick excuse.
Lysandros smiled broadly, sensing their confusion and capitulation, and waved his hands toward the door. "Now, go about your business. I can deal with these two."
The mob slowly dispersed. When the last one had disappeared, Zelgadis looked down gratefully at Lysandros. "Thank you."
Lysandros shrugged. "It's the least I can do for a friend. I didn't think you'd be able to explain how you got inside the barrier without help."
"You're right about that," Zelgadis admitted.
Lina stretched and grinned broadly, catching both of their attention in the process. "Well, now that the excitements died down, I'm going back to shopping." She turned and waved absently as she thought, Those two obviously want to be alone and discuss things which neither want to tell me yet. I'll press Zelgadis later, if I want to. Maybe I'll go looking for my own information, though...
She disappeared behind a corner, and Zelgadis looked back at his small friend, who was staring at him with a curiously knowledgeable expression.
Lysandros cleared his throat, and asked pointedly, "Well, have you told her?"
"Wh-what?! Of course not!" Zelgadis denied immediately.
Lysandros sighed and shook his head. "You should trust her as much as she seems to trusts you."
"I know," Zelgadis said sadly, and glanced back at the doorway, as if he could still see Lina's retreating figure. "But, how could I tell her?"
"If she trusts you, and knows you, she'll understand your reluctance to tell her," Lysandros said gently.
Zelgadis sat down heavily on a nearby chair, and clutched his head between his hands. "I thought I wouldn't have to tell her, but we came here looking for a cure for me, and I know for a fact the only place such a cure can be found is in the Royal Library up in the castle. If we go there, everything will be revealed before I'm able to explain."
"So tell her the whole truth when she gets back," Lysandros said reasonably.
"I'm not sure my courage will hold out," he mumbled, before giving a short, pained laugh. "It's actually kind of funny. I was ready to face Shabranigdo on my own, and I was able to face Zanaffar even after I realized the Sword of Light wouldn't work true to the legends. But...I don't have the courage to tell Lina one simple fact about me..."
Lysandros looked sympathetically at his friend, and patted him on the arm. "I'll tell you what. If you're not ready to tell her when she comes back, I'm going to tell her instead. Is that incentive enough?"
It was indeed. Zelgadis looked faintly horrified at the prospect of Lysandros telling Lina anything. Gulping nervously, Zelgadis nodded. "Yeah. That works."
"Good!" he smiled. "Now, you can take your old room if you want it, and I'll give Lina the one next to it." Winking, Lysandros added, "I'll tell you when she comes back."
Nodding morosely, Zelgadis trudged up the stairs to a familiar room.
Lina busily bought the things that had caught her eye earlier, like the unicorn's horn and the green jewel. But there were two items she really wanted to get, because they might be able to provide some insights into the kingdom and its workings.
She looked at the two volumes of books with interest. One was entitled, "A Recent History of the Yume Kingdom." Privately, she wondered how "recent" the events in the book would be, but thought it would be worth a look. The other was a little more fun. "A Guide to the Treasures and Mysteries of Yume," was the title. Even if the search for Zelgadis's cure was a bust, at least they'd be able to search out a treasure or two.
Storing all her new purchases in her cloak, she headed back to the inn. She needed to have a talk with Zelgadis. After all, they had to decide how to go about finding his cure in this vast kingdom. That was going to be quite a chore...
She saw Lysandros behind the counter, and waved cheerfully. "Hi! Where's Zel?"
"In his room," Lysandros smiled, pointing up the stairs. "It's the last room on the right. Yours is right next to his."
"Thanks," she said gratefully.
He paused before saying hesitantly, "Zelgadis needs to tell you something... You...You might want to see him before he loses his nerve again..."
She frowned, curious but wary. So he was finally ready to tell her, was he? It was about time. She thanked the little man again, and walked up the stairs...