The 29th Day of the 8th Moon of the Year
Too much has happened today for me to read any. As promised, my lessons were short but still useful. Franklin is making sure I regain all of the skills I learned back home. The most interesting things happened when we left the palace however.
It was horrifying at first. The area immediately surrounding the palace is gorgeous. The houses are spectacular and large, reminiscent of back home (which was surprisingly nice), but the moment we left the noble area the entire landscape changed. The buildings were much more run down (some more than others), people scrambled around without much of a glance at us (the plain clothing Franklin insisted upon must have been enough), and I watched as guards shoved civilians around for no apparent reason. When I took a step to try to stop one of the guards at one point, Franklin grabbed a hold of me and refused to let me help. All he said was that I do not have authority here and it would just cause more problems, especially for me. This all concerns me, but Franklin later explained that this is how conditions are in larger cities; it still does not seem right.
Once we reached the marketplace, it was an overload of senses. Sounds began to echo off of seemingly nothing and slur together making it virtually impossible to understand anything; arms were flailing everywhere, grabbing things, passing things, and speaking through gestures; the scent of all the different fruits, vegetables, and spices was overwhelming and almost choking; and it was almost impossible to keep in contact with Franklin, people were moving everywhere, some more gentle and courteous than others. The marketplace in Dovan is nothing like the one in Lypo. The one back home is much more peaceful and fairly easy to move around in. Franklin seemed to be familiar with the layout of the marketplace because he was able to locate the correct stalls more often than not. Franklin sent me to the edge of the marketplace at one point, allowing me to get out of the crowd for a while, which I greatly appreciated. He made sure it was in a location that we could both see each other though, which I was also grateful for. While I was away from him, however I saw him conversing with one of the merchants and he pulled a small piece of cloth out and showed it to him. They seemed to be examining it thoroughly. I think that was what Franklin was looking at previously after we ran into those thugs. I wanted to know more about it, so I approached the stall. But the moment Franklin saw me, he took the cloth back and stuffed it in his pocket. He simply told me it was something that did not concern me. I know this is a lie, but I cannot prove it yet or convince Franklin to speak to me about it. When leaving the marketplace, even though there were fewer people, Franklin kept a hold of my arm, not in a violent way, but in a cautious he did not want to lose me way. I knew better than to question it, but what caused the change in behavior, I am unsure of but I think it has something to do with that piece of cloth. Could it have something to do with the thieves? Franklin did start behaving differently after that event, more so than would be expected. But why would a piece of cloth cause such dramatic paranoia (at least that is what it appears to be)? I wonder if there are any books that can help me. I am not sure what I would be looking for, but maybe a librarian will be there so I can ask. I will have to think about some ideas as I try to sleep tonight.
