Page 9 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse

“Maybe the line will move fast,” I said.

Jake raised an eyebrow, indicating he didn’t think luck would be on our side. Still, he walked to the back of the line and joined it. I stood behind him, craning my neck to look ahead and judge the speed at which things were moving.

“Hey,” I said, getting the attention of the person that stood ahead of us, an older woman with a long white braid down her back and ears as pointed as a fennec fox’s. “Um, at what time did you get here?”

She frowned as if she didn’t understand what I was saying. A little boy I hadn’t noticed pulled away from behind the flowing leaves of her garment.

“My Meior-la doesn’t speak your language,” the little boy said, causing my ovaries to coo at the sight of his cute, cherub face. He spoke in a lilting accent, and his magenta eyes were so big he looked like a Disney character.

“Oh, jeez!” I exclaimed. “Tell her I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

They both stared at us impassively.

“Um, do you know how long you’ve been waiting?” I asked the little boy.

He shrugged. “Since after breakfast.”

Sonothelpful.

“Hey, buddy,” Jake interjected, “could you tell us when you expect to make it to the front of the line?”

“Whenever we do,” the little Fae said.

Jake and I exchanged an annoyed glance.

“Maybe by lunchtime?” I said helpfully.

“Lunchtime?”

“Um, the next time you have to eat. Noon. When the sun is straight up ahead.”

He turned his huge eyes toward the sky, thought for a second, then opened his mouth to answer. “I think—”

“Falie! Sareh Nanan,” his grandmother cut him off.

Looking chastised, he pressed his lips together, straightened his back, and turned away from us, facing the front of the line.

“What just happened?” Jake asked.

I shrugged hopelessly.

Just then a creaking sound accompanied by the thumping of heavy steps drew my attention. I glanced back and did a double-take at the sight of someone familiar.

“Yalgrun?!” I said under my breath. He was the Fae that owned the store where Rosalina and I got our ingredients to make our customers’ potions.

The seven-foot-tall creature lumbered to the back of the line and came to a stop, his all-black eyes focused on the Vine Tower ahead. His body was made entirely of tree branches, and two of them protruded from his head to form horns.

Jake stared up, his jaw unhinged. It seemed obvious he had never seen a Bladuhian.

I was about to greet him but bit my tongue when I noticed he had five fingers on each hand. No, he wasn’t Yalgrun. my Bladuhian only had four fingers on each hand. It was something I always noticed whenever he delicately packed my purchases.

At last, this Bladuhian looked down and noticed us. His twig eyebrows drew together.

“Foreigners,” he said as if it were a curse word. He blew air through his nose and a puff of dust or pollen, I wasn’t sure which, blew out. None too gently, he stuck his heavy trunk-like arms in front of himself and parted them, pushing Jake and me aside as if we were nothing more than two saplings. With us out of the way, he stepped forward and took our spot.

Jake’s clear eyes flashed in anger. Double-quick, I ran around the Bladuhian and dragged Jake back. “C’mon, it’s just how it’s supposed to work. We can’t do anything about it.”

It took a hard shove to move him, but I managed to get him past the end of the line and then some more.