then?’
‘Yes, ten regenerative potions,’ Ari spoke a little louder, enunciating each syllable. ‘I’d also like something for superficial wounds.’
‘We'll find something.’ From behind one of the shelves emerged a hunched old woman leaning on a walking stick, her back covered with a dark shawl. Her face was covered in deep wrinkles, her dark eyes sunken, and her skin yellowed. Draco noticed that her hands looked stained with ink that had a metallic sheen, or something very similar. ‘A new face,’ she added, glancing at the dragon. ‘Hello, young man.’
‘Good morning,’ Draco bowed politely.
‘This is Draco Ignis, the Earl’s apprentice,’ Ari hastened to introduce him. ‘And this is...’
‘James Lancaster, we’ve met.’ The old woman turned away from them and began rummaging through cupboards below eye level. ‘Does Master Vittoro require anything?’
‘No, I’m here for company today.’ The elf looked around casually.
‘And the young master?’ The woman straightened up slightly and placed a few vials in front of Ari. Kei grimaced at the sight of them.
‘I’d also like ten regenerative potions,’ Draco began, examining the displayed products more closely. ‘Do you have any semi-finished products?’ he asked, not spotting the ingredients he needed.
‘Not for some time now.’ The shopkeeper looked closely at the dragon. ‘My ingredients have ended up in the wrong places far too often.’
From her tone, Draco realised that there was no point in probing further. Nor was there any point in trying to convince her that this was something he absolutely needed. I’ll have to look elsewhere, he thought, and scanned the stock once more.
‘Do you have any healing balm and Fonita potion?’
‘How many would you like, young master?’ She gave the dragon a long look and bent down again, almost disappearing behind the counter.
‘Four of each should do.’ Draco decided it was better to buy more and not use them later than to run out at the worst possible moment.
‘Coming right up.’ The woman quickly retrieved all the potions and looked expectantly at the rest of them.
‘That’ll do for now.’ Kei looked at
