“You said they only come out at night.”
“That’s why we better be back before nightfall.”
“Yes, yes…”
Cassandra grabbed a batch of herbs, which were dry, and caressed it between her fingers. It was from the smallest basket on the stall, and he only had half a dozen of those. She slowly smelled it. She addressed the man selling it.
“Lavender?”
“Yes, My Lady. My Lady knows well!”
“You don’t grow that here, do you?”
“My sister grows those a bit further south, My Lady. We cannot grow much here, but those travel a long time…”
“Is it still good if it’s dry?” asked Nebora with a frown.
“Lavender is great,” replied Cassandra, handing her the little batch. “Any flower can be dried and used like that.”
“Can you eat it?”
“It’s mostly used to perfume things. You can make beauty products, incense, and perfumes. Lavender is good for calming the nerves and relaxing the body, in small amounts.”
The merchant whistled after listening to Cassandra’s explanation.
“My Lady, you’re very knowledgeable! Most folks in this area wouldn’t even know what this is called! Give me a second!”
He looked at the back of his stall for something while Cassandra gathered money to pay for her purchase. Fortunately, Patrina had already converted the gold bar into money and given her a good amount of it. There was so much though, that despite everything they had bought that day she hadn’t even used a third of it yet.
“Here it is! My Lady, do you know this?”
The man handed her what seemed like a batch of black paper. Cassandra’s eyes opened wide in surprise when she took it.
“Is that…dry seaweed?”
“It is! I knew you’d recognize it!”
“Dry seaweed?” asked Nebora, completely lost.
“It’s plants from the sea you let dry and you can eat.”
“Eat? You want to eat this black stuff?”
Cassandra chuckled and tore a little bit to eat. It was salty but as good as the one she had known in her childhood. Better even. Nebora was baffled, but the merchant smiled from ear to ear.
“It was imported from very, very far in the South, but it stays dry and edible! I bought it a while ago, but it’s hard to sell to the people around here. They are wary of what they don’t know.”
“How much do you have?” asked Cassandra.
“Here we go again,” sighed Nebora.
“You know, it’s good for keeping the body young,” said the young concubine.
“Young?”
Nebora frowned, but took one of the sheets, observing it with curiosity. She hesitated a bit before tasting it, but seemed confused.
“What an odd taste…”
