Getting out of the House of Solaris was harder than getting a thought past his parents. Guards in energy-bright armor walked everywhere outside. Sensors were on the walls and gates. Inside, servants watched everything. Tayo spent a whole day just watching the guards from his window, counting their steps and the time it took them to walk from one point to another. He saw that for a few minutes, very late at night, the path by the old kitchen garden was not watched.
That night, when the big house was quiet, Tayo put on simple, dark clothes. He felt like a spy in his own home. He took the small piece of paper from Lyra. He waited until the time he had counted. His heart beat fast. He opened his window slowly. The night air was cool. He climbed out and dropped softly to the grass below.
He ran quickly across the kitchen garden, staying low. He could hear the slow, heavy steps of a guard nearby. He froze, hiding behind a thick bush. The guard walked past, not looking his way. When the sound of steps was far away, Tayo ran again, quiet as a mouse. He reached the low wall at the edge of the property where the guard patrols were spaced the farthest apart. He climbed over it and dropped down outside the House of Solaris grounds.
He was out. He was in the city, but not the clean, bright part near his home. He needed to go south. The streets here were older, the buildings closer together. The air smelled different – of cooking food, of the river, of many people living close by. There were fewer lights, and the sounds were louder – music, talking, carts rolling by.
He walked for a long time, following signs for the south quarter. The people he saw were different too. They wore simpler clothes. Their faces looked tired, or busy, or sometimes happy and loud. They did not look like the quiet, careful people in his part of the city.
Soon, the streets became crowded even though it was late. Lights hung from buildings. People called out, selling things. This was the Whispering Market. It was noisy and full of smells – sweet spices, fried food, old metal, and something else he couldn't name. Stalls were set up everywhere, selling everything from food to old clothes to strange, shiny things.
Tayo looked around, trying to find blue lanterns. There were so many lights – red, yellow, white. He felt lost in the crowd. He walked deeper into the market, pushing gently past people. He saw a flash of blue light around a corner. He walked towards it.
There it was. A small stall tucked between two larger ones. It had three lanterns hanging from its roof, and the light they gave was a soft, deep blue. The stall was filled with old things – dusty jars, strange tools, rolled-up maps, and piles of old books. Behind the stall sat an old woman. She had kind eyes and her hands were busy fixing a broken clock.
Tayo felt his heart beating fast again. He took a deep breath, remembering Lyra's words. He walked up to the stall.
"Excuse me," he said, his voice a little shaky. "I am looking for... Stories of the Broken Time."
The old woman stopped working on the clock. She looked up at Tayo, her kind eyes looking deep into his. A slow smile spread across her face. It was not a smile of selling something. It was a smile of knowing.
"Ah," she said softly, her voice like rustling leaves. "The stories are not sold here, young one. But perhaps... you are here to hear them."
She looked around the busy market, then back at Tayo. Her eyes held a knowing glint. "Come," she said, standing up. "It is not safe to talk of such things in the open. Follow me."
She walked out from behind her stall and began to move through the crowded market. Tayo looked back for a second at the blue lanterns, then quickly followed her, wondering who she was and what he had just stepped into.