Haakon the vendor was prowling his afternoon route, singing a song of nutmeats and pastry. Despite the food she’d eaten and the food she ear- ned, they made her mouth water.
“Copper bit,” the vendor said when she started to approach him, then, when he finally recognized her, added in a much softer voice, “for two “
Ulyra smiled and gave him the battered coin she’d received in the morning. Because she’d bought two, he wrapped the second one m a scrap of translucent parchment and tucked it into the folds of her shawl
“Delicious,” she confirmed, biting into the sweet and savory confec- tion
“Best to share “
He meant to share with Dubro but the face that came into her mind was Suyan She wondered if the wet nurse had ever even tasted one of these uptown luxuries Not likely Suyan claimed she had grown up Downwind, though Walegnn had found her in a Shambles house Illyra imagined the look on Suyan’s face when she bit through the still-warm pastry shell to the nutmeats within She changed direction and hurried along the street to the Bazaar
The forge was empty but before Illyra could become concerned she heard Trevya crying and ran the last little way
“I brought you a pastry,” she announced as she pushed through the curtain
Suyan smiled but it was almost lost amid her unsuccessful efforts to quiet the infant
“Here, I’ll hold her They really taste best when they’re warm “
She picked the child up and found, not surprisingly, that she fit snugly into the crook of her arm and that she remembered how to rock her arms a bit and wiggle a finger or two as a distraction. And as Illyra’s fingers were shiny with butter and nutmeats, Trevya found them fascinating. She pulled them into her mouth and sucked contentedly. Illyra felt the sharp ridge of the tooth that had caused this latest round of wailing.