Lucian the rabbit was pretty sure he was going to have a heart attack. He heard Aelia calling for him, and running after him, but the dog was on his tail and there was absolutely no way he would be stopping.

When the bunny was scooped up in someone's arms, Lucian kicked out, terrified that it may be another predator. Once he caught the whiff of magic on the woman, he slowly calmed, though his little heart pounded in his chest. He was not safe till he was back with Aelia.

~~~~
Aelia was running out of breath, she was not the fittest despite her thin appearance. Once in awhile she rode side saddle on her sweet mare but other than that, she hardly was ever allowed to get any exercise. Chasing after her bunny was proving difficult, and as it was, she was drawing a lot of attention to herself. The very opposite of what she'd been trying to do.

If anyone recognized her she didn't know what she would do.

Aelia followed the swift footed dog but after a minute or two, she lost her bunny. Grief swiftly approached, there was no way she had lost her bunny to be some dog's feast.

It was a miracle that she was able to spot the woman carrying a very familiar bunny in her arms, as the crowd was dense and Aelia short. A small gap in the crowd had allowed Aelia to see the woman, sne now she walked her way over. Being jostled this way and that due to her not quite knowing how to navigate a crowd. When she finally escaped the crowd, she spotted the woman immediately.

"Lucian!" she cried out, her voice carrying over to the bunny. Who immediately turned towards her voice and stared at her seemingly happy to see her as she approached, her eyes down as she did not meet the other woman's eyes. "I'm so sorry that he bothered you, but thank you for saving him, truly." Aelia realized a moment to late that she definitely did not sound like a peasant. Her voice was light and airy, her pronunciations perfect and her words too proper.

Maybe this had been a horrible idea.

Ava grunted in annoyance and pain as the rabbits feet hit her chest. He was small, but damn, rabbits had strong hind legs. She was relieved when he calmed down slightly and didn't lash out again.

When a dainty looking lady approached her, Ava could tell that this was the person who took care of the rabbit in her arms. He got excited, while still relaxed even further. There was no doubt this was the person he belonged with, so Ava simply handed her the rabbit. Maybe that would calm down his beating heart, which felt like it might explode.

Ava looked down at the slightly shorter woman, who stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn't her looks, although from what Ava could see beneath the hood, she was different - kind of like her, but in a more human way. It was her posture, and stiffness of getting through the crowds, and how she carried herself. Her words gave her away even further, with her silky tone and proper pronunciation and flow. People were glancing their way, and with a sigh, Ava tugged her into the shadow of the awning, and by her cart.

Now that the stranger was out of sight, it would help the market goers to forget her better, "You certainly know how to

make an impression, stranger," she drawled, eyes half closed and arms crossed, although the guestured wasn't threatening, "He didn't bother me, and that dog was too fat anyway," she dismissed with a wave of her hand, "But it was no problem."

Randy slunk in from her spot on the wagon, and rubbed against Ava's boots. She opened up her arms and the cat jumped up into them. With a swift moment, she swung the small feline up to perch on her shoulder, and leaned her head forward slightly to give her more room to balance, "Hopefully the people will forget about that chaos in a bit. For now, though, it might be good to stay out of sight."

Aelia hugged Lucian close, the rabbit's rapid heartbeat slowing down. She had been worried he might die of fright but fortunately he had not. Her horrible luck had obviously decided to work today, for her best friend was still alive and that was enough. She assumed that soon her luck would run out, and she'd be spotted.

Of course she had these thoughts moments before the other woman tugged her towards the shadows. Her heart began to race, oh no, she was not planning on getting kidnapped or something. Lucian seemed mildly panicked as well, he twisted in her grip. Unfortunately, Aelia being stuck in her thoughts made her just go with being dragged along, stupid stupid stupid, she was probably about to get murdered and here she was. As frozen as a mouse who'd noticed it was getting stalked by a cat.

Aelia stopped in front of the other woman, her pale eyes looking about nervously, she looked genuinely afraid of the woman in front of her. She supposed that the woman who'd saved Lucian was nice but what if she wasn't and this was a plot to kill Aelia? Oh she should've listened to her papa! He knew much better than she, and he was wise to the world and Aelia was a mere babe. She was going to be murdered and she hadn't even had the time to climb a tree or plant herbs!
"I-I didn't think anything would happen, I did not mean to draw any attention to myself. If that man had not tried to rob me, I would not be bothering you right now," Aelia huffed, obviously upset. Her round cheeks colored an angry pink, though her pale eyes stayed well away from the other woman's eyes. "I do hope they forget though, I do not wish to have attracted any unwanted eyes." Aelia looked nervous again, her colored cheeks slowly fading back to their normal color;

Ava raised one brow at the stranger. It took her a moment to realize that maybe this person hasn't been in this town before, and therefore didn't know Ava as the bread seller, and not some murdering psycho.

Her head cocked slightly at the mention of robbery, "Try adding a latch to your basket," Ava suggested, "It'll give you more time if someone tries it again." Ava kept her hands in plain sight. It didn't mean much because of her witch capabilities, but the girl didn't know that, and it might provide some comfort for her. She seemed so distraught and upset, and Ava did not want to deal with someone who was nervous and panicking, but her conscious wouldn't let her just shove the person back out into a situation she wasn't ready for. Ava grabbed a loaf of bread from her cart, and split it in half, offering the part still wrapped up to the stranger, and keeping half for herself. Ava ate part of it for a few seconds, then spoke again, "The people in the market don't really care too much. Give them like five minutes and this event will be the last thing on their minds." Odd things happened.... not often, but frequently enough that it didn't attract states for long.

"I'm Ava, by the way," The witch introduced, holding out a hand with slim fingers and calloused palms to shake.

Aelia hugged Lucian to her chest, the bunny easy to carry due to his tiny size. Normally she'd put him back in the basket but what if someone wanted to steal him? Perhaps papa was right, the world really was just as cruel and terrifying as he'd said it was. This was no place for a princess, let alone a half nymph, affair child to be.

The small woman looked up at at the other, rather pretty woman with fearful eyes as she spoke. The woman was giving her advice. Though she supposed that it might be useful for other people, Aelia was not planning on coming back out by herself any time soon. She'd been frightened enough by the earlier incident, it was obvious that she was not supposed to be here, and Aelia knew that perfectly well.

The offering of bread startled Aelia, and she looked up at the now known Ava with wide, unnaturally large eyes. "O-oh, thank you for the bread. My name is A- I mean, it's Lia." Thankfully, the princess caught herself before she could actually ruin her already bad reputation. If the people knew that the half blood princess had gone outside without an escort they might think she was having an affair though she wasn't actually married yet. Still, it would be a poor choice for anyone to know.

"And I do hope they forget quickly, I should probably be off soon. Lingering would not be a good choice after my earlier behavior." Aelia really hoped that nobody had noticed it all go down, it would be awful to address.

Apparently the stranger didn't shake hands. Good to know. Ava dropped her hand for a moment before moving it to pet her cat, who was still perched on her shoulders. "I take it you haven't been here before then, Lia," Ava didn't mention the slip up. Poor girl seemed stressed enough as it was, "You sound so elegant, Miss Lia," Ava drawled, "And that wasn't too bad. People shouldn't leave their pets off leash unless they know that the animal is going to stick around." Ava ruffled Randy's fur, and the cat purred, "My first time in the market was worse. My donkey accidentally bit a visiting duchess and kicked over a market stall."

The donkey in question raised his head, hay dangling from his mouth like, "Who, me?"

"You get used to it after a while, I guess," Ava shrugged, "And if you like the bread there is plenty more - along with jam and fresh strawberries."

When you completely forgot to reply to the shake of the hands so you just make something up because you did a dumb))

~

Aelia hadn't understood what to do with Ava's hand. Handshakes were common with knights and lords, but as a princess, Aelia had only ever been bowed to, or bowed to someone else. The term handshake was something she'd only ever heard used by people beneath her, and as such, she didn't know what it was, or what she was supposed to do.

The small woman paled at Ava's words, had she already figured out that she was the princess? What if she told the knights that strolled the streets? She was frightened, but she tried not to let it show on her face.

Instead of replying to Ava's elegant comment, she skipped over it and giggled softly at the story. Oh dear, if Lucian had made that much of a mess, Aelia would never hear the end of it. As she would've undoubtedly gotten caught and sent home. "That is an interesting story, I'm happy it did not happen to me. I fear I may not have been able to handle it." Aelia grinned softly before continuing, "and the bread is truly amazing. You make it yourself I assume. Well you are wonderful at it Miss Ava. I will certainly buy some of your bread, both because it is delicious and because I've caused you much trouble." The bread really was amazing, perhaps Aelia could explain it to the chef and he could make something similar.

Ava dismissed Lia's words with a wave of her hand, "Nah, you didn't cause any trouble. And thanks for the compliments of the bread." The secret was using her water magic to preserve the moisture in it, so it never went stale, and was always soft. It had taken a while to perfect, but her recipe was one of the best, if Ava did say so herself - which she did.

"And I think you are stronger than you think, Miss Lia. You would've been just fine if your non-existent donkey kicked Madam Duchess O'Haran. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to get arrested by the King the next day, but that hadn't been a day that I was in the market." Ava moved to her wagon, "How many loaves do you want? They are one silver each, and the stawberries and jam are both two coppers," she called over her shoulder.

Aelia had to make sure Ava was completely off the list of criminals, as this woman was much to nice to be charged with the endangerment of a Duchess, who wasn't the nicest regardless and honestly deserved a kick by a donkey. Regardless, Ava was KIND and had saved Lucian. There was no way Aelia was gonna allow Ava to be punished for her donkey.

"Hm, I'll take three loaves and uh, two jars of jam. That sounds wonderful really." Aelia grinned as she moved over to the wagon as well. Her scratchy dress swishing against her legs.

Ava reached into her wagon and pulled out a gracefully woven basket. The wood was dyed a pale blue, and it had a soft cushion at the bottom, and a lid with a latch. There was a pattern of darker blue and light blue along the side, and it looked like the ocean waves. Ava put the bread inside of the basket, and then the jam, "Here," Ava handed the whole basket to Aeila, "Keep the basket as well. You wouldn't want to get rabbit fur on the food, and it is a handful to carry," Ava showed her first sign of uncertainty when she rubbed the back of her neck, which had reddened slightly, "Although it might also be a hassle to carry two baskets..."