Finally we hear about what's going on with Sandry all this time. Naturally, Sandry and co. can't afford to start their own shop up or anything, especially when they are all just starting new jobs or out of work so she needs to hook herself up with some people who are in a position to pay.

Enter Lalasa and Tian, ladies and gentleman.

Yup. Yay :D

Oh, and please disregard my earlier assurances of a BriarxLalasa romance. I've been informed by many an indignant fan that Lalasa and Tian are 'totes together fosho' so I'm just gonna go with that. Don't expect any big love scenes between them- I picture them mostly as heterosexual life partners, so you're probably going to get stuff more in that vein.

Anyway, on with the chapter. Don't own anything, yadda yadda yadda.

Enjoi!

"Good morning Tian." Lalasa said, nodding to the other woman as she entered the shop. Dawn was barely breaking over the hills and the city was barely beginning to wake, still groggy with the pale blue tinge of early morning.

Tian looked up from the account books, her eyes still droopy with sleep. She grunted, which Lalasa correctly interpreted as a greeting. Despite being a serving maid and waking up at the crack of dawn almost her entire life, Tian had never really taken to mornings the same way she had.

More's the pity, because it was Lalasa's favorite time of day, what with the streets of Corus being so quiet.

She liked the quiet.

Lalasa made her way past the front counter and parlor where she received noble customers into the workroom. The room itself was quite large, but it seemed smaller because of the long worktables and large material cupboards. Comfortable chairs and stools for her staff of twelve were all pushed into their designated workspaces- Lalasa narrowed her eyes at one chair that had been carelessly left jutting out into the aisle.

She'd have to talk about that with Cera. Again.

Rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath about lazy seamstresses, Lalasa pulled her jingling ring of keys out from her skirt pocket. The storeroom was set in the far wall of the workroom, and she had the only key- it paid to be frugal about who she let access the expensive fabrics when it was so easy for someone to carelessly leave it unlocked or make away with a yard or two of silk.

Tian says she's too paranoid- Lalasa disagrees.

She's humming to herself when she steps inside the cool, dry storeroom. She'd made sure to get the right spells on the walls to keep out mold and mildew- things she knew could leave her wallowing in debt if they destroyed some of her more expensive materials. The scent of the runes written on the walls in perfumed oil mixed with the natural odor of cloth and left her feeling heady and calm. Lalasa ran a hand over the nearest bolt of cloth; Karthaki linen, if she wasn't mistaken.

Or...not?

Lalasa frowned and lifted the material from its slot. It wasn't linen at all- in fact, it was... wool?

There was no way she could have mistaken wool for linen. There was no way to spin and weave wool that fine. None. And yet... here it was, resting in her hands.

Where had this come from?

"Tian?" she called up front.

"Yeah?" Tian's voice was gruff.

"Did you talk to our supplier recently?"

Tian appeared in the doorway, still looking a little disheveled. "Hm? No."

"Where did this come from, then, if not from them? It must've cost a fortune!" Lalasa brought the cloth into the light. It was undyed, but was still one of the softest things Lalasa had ever touched. Tiny stitches had been embroidered into the cloth, showing the delicate petals of a sunflower in red and oranges. When the steady light from the skylights cut into the ceiling hit it, the fabric seemed to glow with color. It was marvelous- if only Tian could appreciate it at this early hour.

"Oh that." Tian yawned. "I bought that off a woman on Market Street- she couldn't afford a stall so I got it for cheap."

Lalasa frowned. Corus was infamous for the cheapskates who roamed Market Street, offering glittering trash to ignorant visitors for exorbitant prices. Most of the city folk wouldn't buy anything the costed more than a few coppers from someone who didn't have the wherewithal to rent a stall every month.

But this? Stuff this fine would go for a few silvers a yard, which wasn't something a street peddler would've been able to afford. Curious.

"Do you know where she got it?" There was always competition to see who could hit off another court fashion among the tailors that served the crown and new fabrics were a large part of that. New fashions meant lots of new commissions, which meant more money.

"She said she wove it herself." Tian said. The look on her face clearly said she didn't believe that. "But a woman who could weave that well wouldn't be selling things on the street corner, so I haggled her down to fifteen coppers for the lot of it. She was grateful enough."

"Does she often sell on that corner?"

Tian frowned. "What's with all the questions?"

Lalasa shrugged, but her mind was already whirring. "This is brilliant, Tian! I know a few ladies at court who would kill for a summer gown of embroideredsunflowers."

They'd have to find this woman, and fast, before one of her competitors snatched her up. Whether or not this mystery woman was the one doing the actual work or she just stole it, she was the only lead they could follow to whomever had such prodigal talents.

"What did you say her name was?"