Carraday and John 1
"Whatcha doing?"
John blinked up at the tall Far Fairlian woman as she crouched down beside him on the empty road. Middle-aged, she was casually dressed, with nut brown skin and tumbling platinum hair.
He cleared his throat and said, "Ah... listening to the street, actually."
She nodded as what he'd said made perfect sense, and he wondered if she actually understood what he meant or was just an agreeable kind of person.
Then she said, "You're the newest Crux mage, huh?" As his eyes widened and he sat up, she stuck out her hand and added, "I'm Carraday. Happy to meet you."
Oh. He shook her hand. "John Silas. How in the world can you tell?"
She gave him a brief, dazzling smile that transformed her from ordinary looking to extremely striking. "I am an Archmage. I can see your Crux spirit coiled around you. A snake, right?"
They both stood up. "Something like that." Cautiously, he added, "I didn't expect to run into an Archmage so soon. I only just arrived today. Were you tracking me?"
"Nope. I was just out for a stroll and there you were, listening to the street." She grinned at him.
John wanted to believe she was lying. It seemed incredibly unlikely that he'd just randomly encounter one of the dozen most powerful people in Fairtree on his first day. But the friendly sincerity that radiated out from her defied doubt.
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