Dagma did exactly as he was told, placing the book precisely on top of the stack, in line with the book below it, before hurrying after Zelian and out of the room.
Zelian knew that stepping out onto the streets after the cool home he was used to was always a bit of shock. Today, in high summer, it was more of a shock than usual, as the heat washed over his body, causing him to sweat almost immediately, despite the lightness of his robe. Whether Dagma was affected or not, Zelian couldn't tell, as Dagma always remained the same as he was, no matter what. This is likely why he was both trusted and respected enough to look after Zelian, as this was a job almost any slave would be happy with.
As they strolled together to the Bazaar, Zelian felt like he was being lost in a sea of people. Everywhere, everyone seemed to have something to do, someplace to go, someone to meet. He saw elderly men and women carrying all manner of produce to and from various markets, young kids running around playing games on the streets, or simply chasing each other, and many beautiful young women, who would occasionally smile in his direction, but more often than not avert their gaze. The city was awash with colour, scent, sound. It was as if everything in the world had been gathered together here, compressed and made into a single moment, which kept repeating again and again. It was this that Zelian loved about Tal'Shar - almost every day was like this.
As soon as they reached the Bazaar, Zelian's heart jumped. There were many, many sellers indeed this year, more than there had been the year before. He could see, hear and smell just about everything he could and couldn't imagine. To his left, he saw a man selling knives, some of which looked big enough to kill an elephant. To his left, a woman selling large baskets of fresh spices, their beautiful colours being only slightly behind their wondrous aromas. Then, dead ahead, a large shisha stand, where some old men were already indulging in their favourite flavours while drinking tea and talking loudly. In every direction, there were people, buying, selling, talking, laughing, walking, running, crying, searching.... living. Zelian took in a deep breath, as if trying to imprint as much of this on his mind as he could.
Before long, Zelian had amassed quite the amount of books, perhaps some seven in all, which he had managed to find among the different sellers. Dagma, of course, was more than happy to carry them, never losing a single step. Among those books, there was a second edition 'Poetry of Love', which Zelian liked only for academic purposes, as well as for collection reasons - second editions of this famous book were rare indeed, and he only owned a fourth and a fifth. However, among these books was also a brand new book, which Zelian had almost jumped ten feet in the air over, titled 'Life and Death: The Search for Truths'. It had spoken of the question that he had been pondering for some time, and he felt that this book had obviously been given to him for a good reason. Well, that and a good deal of money, too.
[spoiler]Unless you wanna buy anything else, we can move on to meeting your father.[/spoiler]
