Grain... The Country of Pesok... The Bazarr...

Amaretto continued to run behind her aunt, trying not to run into anyone. As when they first ran from Sharazad's guards, they needed to escape and not be caught. Amaretto heard a battle cry from behind her and there was a sudden whoosh beside her head as a long piece of steel rushed past her head. At that moment, Amaretto let out a shriek and then jerked away from the blade. Amaretto heard Katherine's voice ring out in a strange staccato and then Amaretto saw the blade shimmer in the middle of the air. The man wielding the blade said something in a guttural tone that she didn't understand and the blade turned into molten metal that melted off in large gobbets.
 
Katherine grabbed Amaretto by the arm and then yelled, “Don't stop moving! They could catch you!” Amaretto whirled and continued to run after her aunt. They ran into a small hallway where they ran into a servant who held a large platter with fruits on it. Katherine threw her hands out and upset the trey almost instantly and then rushed past. The servant screamed out in terror and then huddled at the side of the hall. Amaretto pushed her way past the clattering platter and continued running.

Katherine pushed her way past several other people and motioned to Amaretto. “The door is over there!”
Amaretto jerked her body towards the door that her aunt had pointed out and hurtled herself through it. The sun poured through the cracks of the streets and ignited her vision in a nimbus of brightness. Amaretto felt her arm being grabbed and then she was rushed into the streets. Amaretto heard the yelling from behind her as the men tried to get out of the house into the street. She darted a look at Katherine who pulled her down the main thoroughfare and towards an area that seemed to be covered in large tapestries and cloths to cover the street from the sun.

“We have to keep moving,” yelled Katherine.

“What did you do to that one man's sword?” Amaretto felt breathless and her words puffed forth.

“It was a little bit of magic. I wasn't expecting it to answer so readily though. It just flowed from my lips!”

Amaretto felt a small bit of surprise. “You know magic? Why do I feel like I should have already known that?”

They ran past a stall where a man was hawking his wares. The smell of fresh bread from a large bakery was floating past and Amaretto felt her mouth water. As they rushed past it, Amaretto could fell her stomach gurgle. There was a moment where Amaretto felt the sudden urge to pull out of her aunt's grasp, but she knew that if she did that, she would more than likely be in more trouble than when she was in what she now liked to think of as "Alternate Britain".

They continued to wander through the bazaar and Amaretto was surprised by the amount of stuff that she saw. She couldn't help but listen to what the people were saying as they ran past.

"Fresh dates! Fresh figs! Fresh fruit! You want them I've got them!"

"Jewels from the other side of the sands! Precious jems and stones!"

"Come see the silks that I have here, the finest silks in all of Pesok!"

"Spices! Spices! Your freshest spices as seen all over the land!"

Amaretto was amazed at the stuff that she saw in the market. It was almost overwhelming. It was better than any of the malls that she had ever been to in her own world. She marveled at the colors and the people that swirled around them.

"Where exactly are we going?" Amaretto spoke with a breathless tone.

Katherine frowned and then said, "We are going to hide. Fist however, we have to find Tempus."

Amaretto rolled her eyes and then she said in a huffy voice with a little irritation, "The ring won't work. It's like there is a massive amount of static."

Katherine huffed. "I assume that there is somewhere where we can get a better signal. Maybe the ring works like a cell phone."

Amaretto smirked. "A magical ring that works as a cell phone? That is something that you don't see everyday."

Country of Pesok...

Amaretto blanched and looked at Katherine. “Why is she smiling like that? I thought only the bad guys smiled like that.” As she said it, she began to slowly move backwards towards the exit, or what she thought of as the exit. A bead of sweat began to appear on her forehead as she thought of all the horrible things that could be just about to happen in one moment. Sharazad took one step forwards and continued to smile.

Katherine had a pensive look on her face. One hand was slowly reaching towards Amaretto, and the other was within her pocket. Her god mother was at the ready and Amaretto was afraid of what the woman might pull out of her magical purse that she was hiding.

Sharazad raised a single hand and Amaretto turned behind her to see several men dressed in vests and baggy trousers. The silks that the clothes were made from were indeed colorful. The vests were threaded in an elegant style that had gold trim around the edges.  The sirwal that they all were wearing ended just below their knees and cinched with golden threads as well. On their feet were golden slippers that silently moved across the tiled marble floors. In each of the men’s hands was a single curved scimitar. Sharazad’s smile turned into a grim smirk.

“I did say that I need your help, you who are the daughters of the Sky Father.  I never said that you would have to be alive in order to give me that help." Sharazad's cold smile seemed to crawl over Amaretto's skin and she grimaced and began to run for the door only to remember the other men that were there at the last minute. She shrieked and tried to turn but there just wasn't enough time.

From behind her Katherine threw her hands up into the air and screamed something that sounded like a foreign language. Amaretto tried to slow down, but found that she didn't need to and gasped when she realized that her aunt had turned the strange men who were there into a set of monkeys. the monkeys shrieked and ran around the room. Sharazad shrieked in rage and Amaretto and Katherine ran into the hallway in order to escape.

Amaretto dragged down the hallway, her clothing swirling around her ankles and Katherine followed in her large harem-styled pants. Their slippered feet pounded against the marble in soft slams against the unyielding marble. They ran down a flight of stairs as soon as they found it and continued to rush their way down out of the strange house they were in. Servants quickly dodged out of their way, avoiding looking at them. It was almost surreal. As they ran past them Amaretto noticed that each one of them was a lot darker than she was. Most of them were exotic browns, tanned and light. Amaretto realized that she and her aunt were more than likely the lightest people in the building.


Katherine was not having any of it though. She muttered something under her breath and then began to yell at the people that were in front of her.


"Move! Get out of the way! Flee in terror!" Katherine's voice was a torrent of abuse and orders in glorious surround stereo vocals.


"Aunt Katherine is that really neccessary?"


Katherine paused a moment and then said, "Everything is necessary."