Spooktober promt - stalk

The market square was bustling with folks. It was loud and overwhelming in every sense. The merchants were trying to get customers, and the customers were trying to get the cheapest price. One could easily get lost between the tents and the stalls. It was also very easy to follow someone without them noticing. Blend into the crowd, and nobody would never even think they were being followed, if they didn't expect it in the first place. And even if they did...
I was following a suspicious character. I was not sure what they were called, but as I had been spending some time in the city I had noticed that they visited a peculiar combination of stalls. The herbalist, of course, that was normal, but also the potioneer, and the healer. Then a few different ones at the edge of the square, that people didn't want to visit openly, magic users, many of them, who made potions and herb kits and spellbooks and amulets... I had no doings with magic, so I wouldn't know exactly. But when wearing my headscarf, my long dark dress and a cloak with a hood, no one would even recognise me.
This man came from a boat, and that alone was weird these days. Boats had become less and less frequent, especially seemingly from further away. This man was certainly no local, he dressed and acted differently, but also seemed weirdly familiar with the local customs and language. I heard him speak nothing but naryan all day.
When he eventually went back to his boat, I decided it was time for me to go home. I turned the corner and started walking, but oddly enough felt like someone was watching me. It was only afternoon, so I thought I would take a little detour. I turned around, and went back to the market square. I went to the food market, and bought some herbs and root vegetables to take home, and then I wandered towards the taverns. I could just as well sit and have a chat with some townspeople before going home.
I saw some of my friends in the corner table, enjoying some drinks and snacks. My younger brother worked at the tavern, so we got a discount. I slipped quietly in, and walked towards the table. My friend Kanérina jumped a little as I said hello. "Sorry," I grinned. "I've been spying on someone all day, just you wait until I tell you," I whispered. I undid my headscarf and waved at my brother, who was now approaching the table with a steaming mug of herbal tea - my favourite, both brother and drink. "You're dressed a bit oddly today." "I'll tell you at home, I had a mission." He nodded with a big smile, and continued to serve other tables.
Kanérina and Loukia leaned forwards looking interested. "So, why are you doing all this stuff now?" "So, I have to be a bit vague, I might have been followed, or being spied upon. But there is something weird about the boats that keep arriving these days. We do not get many boats from far away any more, it is about time they arrived now, but very few have come. And the one's that have... I just get a weird feeling. I've been telling dad not to go away for the winter, but he says it's bad for business... especially now that we kids are bigger."
I was the oldest child in my family, and had 6b yonger siblings, and the yongest of us was now 11, and well able to help with the shop and the garden and housework.