Lysander stood in an alley away from the bustling crowd. His dark cloak concealed the upper parts of his face, but one might be able to spot his grimace if they dared looked at him. 

He did not like being outside while the sun was still out. He was forced to squint as his eyes never seemed to get use to the natural light. And worse still, he found himself in the middle of the village marketplace, which was naturally lively and full of salesperson and shoppers and possibly thieves. 

He had caught the attention of a few children as they passed by him and sometimes they would point him out to their mothers only for them to be shooed away. "Get away from that strange man," they would say in a scolding manner. 

[i]"Ouch,"[/i] Lysander thought to himself. [i]"I don't blame them, but couldn't she have spared my feelings a little?"[/i] This was why he preferred books over actual, living people. 

He then shook his head and refocused himself on his mission. There was a book on sale in this market that he was dying to get his hands on.  He wanted it badly enough for him to leave the refuge of his inn room and seek it out in broad daylight. The merchant with the book was within his sights, just across the sea of people. But every time he tried to step out of his hiding spot in the alley, a rush of people seemed to run by and he has not gotten the nerve to push through the crowd. So instead, he watched patiently, hoping that there would be a chance for him to make his way across to his precious book. 

His moment came when a young redheaded girl stopped in her tracks to express her disdain for her company. It was for a short moment but her voice was loud enough where a few people had also stopped and turned to see what was going on. Without missing a beat, Lysander serpentined his way through the crowd. It appeared as if a black shadow was cutting across the marketplace. 

When he finally reached his destination, his pale face was flushed from the short sprint he took to get there. But his next challenge was one of the worst yet. He had to talk to the merchant and ask to purchase the book. 

If he was lucky, his appearance would spook the merchant enough not to mess with him. But Lysander was rarely lucky, and he knew his shy nature would give the merchant an opportunity to rip him off and overcharge for the book. Still, Lysander had to go for it. He pointed at the book to ask, "How much?" without needing to speak. 

The merchant looked at him with a puzzled expression but simply answers,"800 gold."

Lysander felt faint. After all of this effort, he didn't have enough money for what he desired? What could he do now?