The next day, Trafalgar waited by the wall beside the circular platform with a dark cloak already pulled over his shoulders, the hood lowered for now. He had no interest in drawing attention, especially not if they were going to Mariven Port.
If he had gone alone, he would not have cared much about being recognized. The situation changed with Zafira involved. He knew the lord of Mariven Port already, and the man had more than enough reasons to remember him after his idiot son tried to kill him and nearly dragged the Mariven family down with him.
Going there with Zafira was different.
A young man and a young woman, heirs of two of the Eight Great Families, walking around together in a trade city where information moved faster than ships. Friendship was one thing. Rumors were another. People loved placing words in other people's mouths, twisting ordinary things into something dirtier or more convenient, and once that started, it spread on its own.
'She's taking too long.'
