Chapter 2: Merchant's Heart

Sarah and Katarina arrived safely in the port town of Pidona. It was essentially the center of trade for the world, as it was on an island that centrally located between most of the major cities of the world, and contained a good system of commerce. Sarah was excited to finally reach Pidona, but her calm, withdrawn manner barely changed. She quietly spoke to Katarina,

"Thomas is supposed to live in one of the larger houses in Pidona. Apparently he is quite wealthy. I've only ever known him as my kind, loving friend Thomas, but he comes from quite a shrewd family…maybe he is different around others?" her voice quivered with a lack of self-confidence.

Katarina gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he is the same Thomas you have always known. Wealth and reknown do not always affect people poorly," she spoke with a comforting tone.

"Oh, Katarina…I don't know how I'd fare without you here to help me." Sarah took another deep breath, her heart filling with a newfound love for Katarina. Sarah had always had her sister, Ellen, there to help, but she had never had an intimate friend of this nature, a person she could tell anything. "You have been a greater friend in the few moments since I met you than I have had in my whole life. Thank you…" Sarah then ran to Katarina and gave her a big hug, throwing her arms around her neck, the small figure shaking with happiness. Sarah hadn't ever really felt this great in her life.

Katarina spoke when Sarah finished her hug, "Well, Sarah, I guess we had best find Thomas' house."

"Yes, we should," Sarah responded happily. They navigated the streets of Pidona, and Katarina marveled at its size, the buildings, and every facet of the city. Sarah saw Katarina ogling at and giggled girlishly. "Katarina, is it really so spectacular? Had you never left Loanne before?" Sarah spoke with a smile, as she twisted her hair around one of her small fingers.

"Oh…sorry…I guess I just got caught up in taking in the sights. Pidona really is quite a metropolis compared to Loanne. I hadn't ever gone farther than Mules before."

"Oh…sorry for laughing at you. I just never thought Pidona was that incredible before…but I guess everyone experiences things differently," Sarah replied. She gave a slight shrug and a friendly smile, and then looked about for Thomas' house. She gave a squeal of glee when she spotted it. "He told me it would be the biggest house in Pidona! I think that must be it!" She turned to Katarina and pointed at the large house in the distance.

She broke into a giddy run towards the house, and Katarina had to begin an all-out sprint to catch up. Sarah slid to a stop in front of the building, almost falling from the momentum. She quickly composed herself, fluffing her hair, and checking to make sure the ribbon was still in place, and dusted her skirt. "Do I look alright, Katarina?" She asked with an excited tone. Her eyes sparkled with glee as she looked at her.

"Yes, you look lovely, Sarah," Katarina spoke kindly.

Sarah smiled happily at this. "Thank you, Katarina. I just want to impress Thomas when I see him. Let me go first when we enter, please?" She didn't even wait for an answer. She quickly stepped inside, trying her hardest to look dignified.

As she opened the door she spied a gruff looking old man, sitting at a table, doing something she could not yet see. "Hello, sir. Is Thomas here?" she asked, her tone having gone from girlish to mature. She seemed to have aged a few years in the moments since she entered the house, and Katarina stood just a step inside the door, watching her.

"Yes…Thomas is here…he's in his room. May I ask who is calling for him?" He spoke, his voice deep and gruff, the polite words obviously masking his true feelings. He seemed to be quite a miserly curmudgeon, with very poor social skills.

"Sarah Carson…a friend of his," She replied, undaunted by his manner. "May I go back to see him?"

"Yes…you may," the man spoke while returning to his chair.

As Sarah passed, she saw the man was counting money, hunched over it like a guard dog. Katarina strode on past, following Sarah and occasionally sending a disdainful glance back at the miserly man.

Sarah walked the hallway in a daze, staring at everything. Thomas was obviously quite well off. Paintings lined the walls, and the walls were painted and decorated in a delightfully tasteful manner. She passed door after door, but then she finally heard Thomas' voice from within one room. Sarah perked at the sound.

"Thomas…? Thomas!" She excitedly thrust open the door and ran towards him. He barely had a chance to turn around from his desk and open his arms to receive her hug. "Thomas! I didn't know when I'd see you again!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly.

"It-it's nice to see you too, Sarah." Thomas replied. Thomas was a handsome young man in his late teens or early twenties with dirty blonde hair. It was pulled back into a stylish, albeit bushy ponytail at the base of his neck. He was dressed in fairly well tailored clothes, with a faded gold colored shirt, darker, olive pants, and a fine maroon cape wrapped around him. He had a charming smile, and the twinkling eyes of a businessman.

He held his embrace with Sarah for a few moments, and then released it to speak with her. "Sarah…are you going to introduce me to your friend?" He asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh, excuse me, Thomas. This is Katarina. I met her in Mules before I came to Mules, and she has helped me quite a bit. I would be lost without her." Thomas eyed Katarina, scanning her features.

"I do believe I recognize you from somewhere…though I can't place my finger on it." Katarina nervously looked Thomas in the eyes, afraid that he might realize who she really was.

"I don't believe I've ever met you before." She knew she was lying to complete stranger, but she figured at this point it would be more advantageous for her to lay low and stay anonymous. "Nice to meet you, Thomas. I do believe Sarah here is quite excited to see you."

At this, Sarah shot a gentle smile towards Katarina, and then to Thomas, her skin going from pale white to a flush pink. Katarina and Thomas laughed jovially, but kindheartedly, at this, and Thomas offered to eat supper with them later, and let them stay at his house for the night. "I'm sorry I can't stay now, but I do have some prior arrangements at the moment. Excuse me, both of you."

Thomas stood up quickly, and gathered what he had been working with in a bundle, and walked away briskly. His tone was unfamiliar and distant, as if he too was hiding something. Sarah was suspicious from the second he opened his mouth, and quickly confronted Katarina. "Kat, do you think he isn't telling the whole truth? I have a feeling that, for the first time, Thomas isn't telling me everything. I now want to know what he is hiding, if it's anything, more than ever, just because I am thinking of it." She had an exasperated look on her face as she spoke, and the normally composed young girl had a somewhat urgent look on her face.

"Calm down, Sarah…I am sure it is nothing big." Katarina felt so matronly in that moment. So adult and refined. She was barely twenty-three herself, yet she felt like a parent to young Sarah. She gave herself a mental slap for even thinking that way. Katarina realized that she had probably felt the same way about Princess Monica, and she recognized this situation quite well. Just as she had aided Princess Monica in escaping to warn Mikhail and save herself, she was now aiding another young girl in distress. Maybe she would spend her entire life being a heroine, helping others, though sacrificing personal happiness. That was the way she had been her entire life. As a vassal, she was a protector of the throne, a lady in waiting to Monica, and guardian of the Masquerade. Her youth was spent being the selfless one. Someone without the trials and tribulations of adolescence. She had skipped that part entirely…gone straight from childhood to adulthood.

After her little reflection on her life, she snapped out of it and decided she would help Sarah.

"Alright, Sarah. Let's follow him. I figure that is the easiest way." She took Sarah by the hand, and the walked rapidly out of the house, only pausing briefly to bid the old man farewell. He responded with a polite grunt and a scowling glance. They were off.

Pidona's size made it tough enough to navigate, but at least Thomas was not far when they exited the house. He was trying hard not to look suspicious, walking only slightly faster than normal, but he was always glancing back, trying to keep anyone from following him.

"What is he doing, Kat?" Sarah asked nervously. "He seems so…jumpy. Not the Thomas I know at all."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, Sarah. Just hold on…" Katarina ran on the tips of her feet, her pointed and heeled boots touching as little ground as possible to make less noise. She held Sarah's hand tightly as they scrambled, and Sarah took on a rag doll state, moving only when Katarina did, and flailing about like a leaf in the wind when they ran. She scrambled frantically to keep her balance, as Katarina's agility was something that she could not even compare to. It was obvious Katarina was trained in this sort of thing, though Sarah had no idea how.

Within a few minutes of following, they had reached the edge of the city, and Thomas was slipping out of the light and into the dark, shadowing alleys that led to the slums.

"What on earth is he doing, Kat! He should know slums of any kind are dangerous! Why, there are thieves, beggars, murderers, and criminals! All of them just waiting to ambush someone rich like Thomas. How on earth could he just wander in there?" Sarah was having a hissy fit by this time.

She was obviously very concerned for Thomas' safety, and his whole going into danger thing was throwing her over the edge.

The slums were quite decrepit and foul, even for slums. Back in the day of the Holy King, this part of Pidona had been bustling and fine, guarding the ruins of a great castle that had once been there. Now, it had been reduced to a hideout of those wanted by the Divine King Dynasty, and those too poor to live anywhere else. Thomas slipped down some stairs, and into a small house nestled in a corner of the slums. Katarina and Sarah hurried after him, rushing to the door. They tried to peek through the broken windows, but could not see anything at all, so they opened the door, and there was Thomas, with a man, a bedridden woman, and several small children.