[Flashback; The Pavilion] A friend In Need (Caoin)

[Will Blacktide]

Winter 50, 506 A.V. The sun was beating down on Will’s bare head even though it was mid-winter, the heat jumping and shivering off the rooftops in shimmering waves. When Lia Buttercup had said Ahnatep was hotter than Ivak’s balls , she hadn’t been exaggerating. Will was certainly not averse to the comfort of the balmy southern seas – especially when the winds in the north blew stinging ice crystals to freeze a man’s fingers to the bone. But this was a bit much. They had apparently arrived in the sumptuous city of the Eypharians during an unseasonable heat wave. How fortunate. But there was a lot of trading to be done, as the route along the coast of Eyktol was long and bereft of any decent ports of call. The slow trip had allowed the three pods that were traveling together to amass quite a bit of their craft ware, though, and those with stock to barter and sell were anxious to do so. Will, having spent most of his time during the voyage studying the coast, the currents, and the stars, had no real business to conduct in the huge, open air market the locals called the Pavilion. He had been conscripted, however, by his mother to help carry the heavy hemp rope that she had spent countless hours braiding. Having deposited it, and her, in a corner of shade near to the other Svefra who were plying their wares, he was now wandering about aimlessly, taking in the sights – and unfortunately, the smells. Humanity, on land, was far more odiferous than out on the sea where the breeze was constant and everyone spent part of each day in the water, if at all possible. The more well off inhabitants of the city were fascinating, with their extra limbs and exotic hair, make up and clothing. But there were also an abundance of workers and slaves who did not appear to bathe on a regular basis. The idea of both forced captivity and lack of hygiene was almost enough to prompt Will to return to the boats. Philosophically, though, he told himself this was the first, and perhaps last, time he would see the city, so he might as well make the best of it that he could. Seeking some refuge from Syna’s bold rays, he ducked under the fringed edge of a tent-like structure. Underneath the pinnacled roof of brightly colored fabric was an impressive display of all things leather. Boots, shoes, slippers, belts, vests, jackets and hats – pouches, satchels, bags and trunks – stools and chairs – and even the trappings for horses – or perhaps camels. Will had heard of the hump backed beasts but had yet to catch a glimpse of one. The air was redolent of the scented oil used to polish the items and keep them supple and new in the dry heat. In the middle of it all sat an enormously fat merchant, with a small pointed beard and a strange item of headwear – something like an upside down cup surrounded by cloth. He smiled and pointed and spoke rapidly to the few customers who were perusing his inventory. His smile ran away into the creases of his fat face and his tone became much sharper as he addressed either of the two young girls who seemed to be tasked with actually showing items to the potential buyers – for the man seemed too gargantuan to move much at all. Will, being Svefra, and therefore of that rather unique frame of mind as regards the concept of ownership of personal property, wasn’t in the market to buy. He wasn’t looking to lift anything conveniently not nailed down either – for he had already been warned of the Eypharians idea of swift justice. He valued his hands too much. So, for a while, simply in order to escape the blazing sun, he walked slowly about the perimeter of the tent. The elephantine merchant continuously pointed to this or that item, keeping up a non-stop chatter in the common tongue. Between his thick accent, and Will’s own indifference to both the language and the torrent of words, the Svefra missed most of what the man said. Will had a few mizas in his pocket, but he had no need for any of the items on display. Finally, feeling he was outstaying his welcome, he headed back towards the open side that gave onto the market. As he reached the edge of the tent, he had to step aside to allow a small party of newcomers to enter. They too appeared to be foreigners in this land, though he took little enough note of them, other than one pretty young woman with long, flowing dark hair that rippled down her back in waves. Her brown eyes had turned to his blue ones just as they stood face to face. Of course, as he moved left, she moved right. He stepped back right, just as she went left – both trying to get out of the other’s way. Will smiled cheekily. In passable common, he said, “I’ll stand, you walk.” She smiled in turn and then proceeded, unobstructed this time, to enter the tent. Pretty girl were always a pleasure to look at, Will thought, still smiling and moving back out under the brutal sun. He hadn’t gone a step though, when there came a cry from within. It was clearly the merchant, and he sounded outraged. Turning, Will ducked back under the edge of the roof. What he saw caught at his heart. Little Saffron, one of his many, many cousins, was held tight in the grip of the fat man. In the merchant’s other hand was a leather quoit, raised to strike. Will knew exactly what was going on. You can tell a Svefra to be on their guard, and to not help themselves to whatever seemed unattended, but you can’t really make them understand that concept, especially not the youngsters. Will strode over to his little cousin, who looked up at him with huge blue eyes filled with alarm and indignation. “I didn’t take it, Will!” She said in Fratava, her slender eight year old frame stiff with the anger of the wrongfully accused. In her palm, she held a half eaten orange and she held it out. “See? I bought it! Lia gave me a silver miza. She sold all her knitting.” The dark haired child glared at the merchant who was almost howling with indignation. “I was only looking for the kitten. I was playing with it and then it scratched me and ran away.” There was a long fresh scratch running down her inner forearm that bore testament to her words. “I chased it in here. That’s all. I don’t know anything about his oranges!” The girl was far from being on the verge of tears. She looked more as if she would like to kick the still seated behemoth in the shins. His assistants hung back, looking confused. The one who had, in fact, earlier eaten her master’s orange looked as innocently puzzled as she could. Will could not make out the flood of threats and imprecations streaming from the man’s blubbery lips, but he did catch “guard” and “prison” and “sword.” Holding his hands out in a gesture of peace, he said slowly, trying to make himself heard, “I’ll pay! I’ll pay – see?” he fished in his pocket and withdrew a silver miza – enough for ten oranges here in this southern port. The merchant, though, seemed hell bent upon retribution and not compensation. He was clearly telling one of his slaves to go fetch the city guard. Saffron was shaking her dark curls vehemently. “I didn’t take it! I didn’t! Ask her!” With the orange she pointed to the dark haired young woman. “She saw me buy it. Ask her, Will!” As the child was still speaking Fratava, it was anyone’s guess if the foreign woman was getting any of this. Will, a half frown of disbelief on his face – Saffron was a Svefra after all - turned to the young woman. “Um . . . “ He began in his accented common. “Did you . . . “ He hesitated and then spoke very rapidly and somewhat softly, turning to face her and have his back to the still muttering man, thinking perhaps the merchant would not catch what he was saying. “Didyouseethischildbuyingthisorangeandifyoudidn’tcouldyoustillpleasesaythatyoudid?” His eyes were clearly trying to send her a message – please - play along. But whether she’d get it or not, he had no idea.

[Caoin]

Ahnatep was hot. It was as simple as that. And while the southern portion of Cyphrus wasn’t that much cooler than the desert of Eyktol, it was still a bit cooler, and she wished that she was back on the Sea of Grass. The heat had led Caoin to enter the tent of one of the local merchants in order to find some respite via the shade that the merchant’s pavilion offered. As Caoin entered, she found herself fighting with a handsome young gentleman that looked to be about her age, both of them trying to use the entryway at the same time. She smiled as he stepped aside to let her through, nodding to him in thanks. The cool shade of the tent was a blessing to Caoin, who regretted not having anything but leather pants and boots to wear on her legs. Her blouse wasn’t much of a problem in the heat, but the leather was killing her. Since she was in the tent and she was in no rush to return to the stables where her family was negotiating the trade of several horses and a few dogs, Caoin decided to take her time and look at the wares. If there was something that interested her, she might return to purchase it later, after she’d done some work to earn herself a few miza of course. For now, she was content to simply look.

Slowly, Caoin meandered around the perimeter of the tent, examining the wares she passed, occasionally stopping to take a closer look when something caught her eye. At some point during her circling of the tent, she felt something brush by her and her attention was refocused just in time to see a younger girl running after a streak of fur that was bolting through the crowd of shoppers. The child looked familiar to Caoin, though not in the way that someone you had met looked familiar, but in the way that you sometimes recognize a face you’ve seen in a crowd. The Drykas girl turned back to her examination and was going to write off the whole thing until, only seconds later, she heard a loud commotion coming from the center of the tent. Her attention was once again drawn from her browsing as she turned to see what was going on. The girl who had run by her before was now being manhandled by the owner of the pavilion, who was shouting in common about her having stolen an orange and that he was going to summon the guards and have her punished for the thievery. Caoin cringed, feeling sorry for the girl. Coming from a family of traders, Caoin was quite familiar with the etiquette of the trading world, and stealing was a big offense to someone who worked hard… though, by the looks of it, the man wasn’t exactly the one doing all of the hard work.

Caoin couldn’t really afford to step in and cause any trouble for her family in Ahanatep, but she was also rather annoyed by the display before her. The child was crying, and though Caoin couldn’t understand what she was saying, Caoin knew that she was likely professing her innocence, and Caoin knew that if she was, she was also speaking the truth. The Drykas girl was about to speak up when the younger girl pointed at her suddenly, speaking in the language that Caoin did not understand, and the very same young man who she had passed coming in called out to her. He had been talking to the merchant, clearly about the girl and having her released. Caoin had even seen him offer to pay, and of course, the merchant would have none of it. Now he was calling out to her, approaching her, and… asking her to say that she had seen the child buy the orange she was accused of stealing? Oh, she got the message his eyes were trying to send alright. He was hoping that Caoin could clear the girl, and if she couldn’t, that she would be willing to lie about it anyway. Caoin sighed, shaking her head as her gaze rolled up to the top of the tent. “I won’t lie for you...” Caoin trailed off, having spoken loud enough for everyone there who was paying attention, the merchant included, to hear her.

“But the girl did pay. I saw her.” It had occurred to Caoin during the commotion that that was why the girl had seemed familiar. She had seen the girl haggling with one of the merchant’s employees over the price of the orange, and then had seen said shop attendant take one for herself. Caoin’s gaze turned to the assistant who had actually taken the orange, the one who had also sold the orange to the boy’s family member and Caoin pointed to her, “She’s the one who sold the orange to the girl. I saw it.” Caoin had fully intended to allow the shop attendant to get away with stealing the orange, and had clearly put the entire incident between the attendant and the girl to the back of her mind. But now the shop attendant had likely brought about her own misfortune by annoying Caoin with her dishonesty and willingness to allow an innocent child to suffer. Caoin’s eyes narrowed at the woman who tried to look so innocent. If she tried to profess her own innocence, to feign ignorance or convince Caoin that she was mistaken… well… she would find no sympathy in the Drykas girl, no wavering uncertainty, and certainly, no fear, either of her or the merchant that employed her. Ah, the wrath of a Drykas woman… it was a righteous and dangerous thing to incur.

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[Will Blacktide]

The first words out of the young woman’s mouth were a most unwelcome blanket thrown over Will’s tiny spark of hope for help. But her next proclamation brought a huge grin to his face. Her last, an accusation against one of the shop girls, Will paid barely any heed to, as he strode forward and grabbed Saffron’s free hand and tugged. The merchant, who knew his own staff perhaps better than he might have let on, had immediately let loose a string of curses aimed at the unfortunate girl’s head, and was even then wallowing about in an effort to push himself to his feet. The servant, looking daggers at the young woman who had ratted her out, was replying in a similar vein. It was clear she realized she was in for a beating and apparently wished to get her verbal licks in while she could, seeing as she was going to be punished anyway. Will, intent only upon putting as much space as he could between the child and the threat of the city watchmen, dragged an unprotesting Saffron from the tent, with a nod of appreciation at the young woman as they passed her. When they reached the searing heat of the outside, he gave her a push. “Go find Lea – now! And don’t you dare leave her side for the rest of the day. Pretend like you’re tied to her wrist.” Saffron, now free of the specter of imprisonment, gave him a cocky look and began to stick her tongue out at him. But looking past him, back at the tent, she saw something that apparently made her change her mind. Turning on her heel, she sped off, and Will could only hope that she was going to do as he had told her. Thinking that it might have been some further threat against the child that had materialized and scared her away, he turned. Behind him stood the young, dark haired woman who had turned out to be doubly helpful, by both corroborating Saffron’s story and by creating a diversion by implicating the servant. He owed her, he thought to himself. Besides, any chance to speak to a pretty girl was worth pursuing, In Will’s philosophy. Stepping up to her, he smiled warmly. In his imperfect and accented common, he said, “Thank you for your help in there. I doubt I could have convinced that fat bastard to let her go, even if I had paid him ten times what the fruit was worth.” For the second time that day, Will’s eyes took in the girl’s appearance, her clothing. She looked even hotter than he felt. “You are Drykas, yes?” He asked, looking at her leather boots and trousers. “You must be burning up in those.” He nodded at her legs, which held his gaze for a moment longer. “I’m Will, by the way. Will Blacktide.” He squinted in the intense sunlight of the market square, and peered behind her, looking for the others that he thought had been accompanying her when she entered the tent. Perhaps they had not been all together and had just coincidentally entered all at the same time, for he didn’t see anyone popping out to look for her. “Gods, it’s hot as hell out here in the sun. It’s much cooler down by the water.” He looked at her speculatively. “If you’d like, we could walk that way together, and I could buy you something to drink – in return for your helping us out.” There wasn’t any particular reason to think she’d say yes. But in Will’s book, it never hurt to ask.

[Caoin]

Caoin stared at the woman as she glared daggers at her accuser; there was no pity or remorse on the Drykas girl’s face as she stood under that piercing gaze. She watched the young man drag his younger family member from the merchant’s tent, while the merchant was busy yelling at his employee. It would seem that the girl had avoided trouble for the time being. Caoin was slightly annoyed as the girl caught sight of her and decided that she was an excellent reason to run, as if the girl were afraid of Caoin for some reason. Here, Caoin thought the girl should be grateful that she had helped; a little thanks would have been nice. At least the young man with her was willing to thank her. She’d followed the two from the tent as they left, since she didn’t really feel like listening to the fussing of the obese merchant and his less than honest employee. Now, she stood in front of the young man, listening to his questions and thanks… and, was that an offer to buy her a drink? Only moments after giving her his name. Wasn’t he the fast mover? Caoin smiled politely at the young gentleman as he spoke to her, trying to decide how to deal with him.

“My name’s Caoin, Caoin Silverstrider, and yes, I am Drykas” Caoin’s Drykas accent was thick as she responded to him finally. She turned her head a bit, looking to see what it was that he was looking at behind her, since she was alone, nothing but the tent at her back. “I suppose a walk to the water would be nice, and a cool drink sounds great,” she said as she shrugged lightly at his offer. If he was willing to part with his miza to buy her a drink, she’d be foolish to turn the offer down. Free drinks, it sounded like a win situation to her. She still wasn’t sure about the guy though, she’d just had to help his young female friend out of trouble, and it seemed like it was a situation they were used to. “Tell me, Will, where are you from?” She wanted to know a little bit about him, especially since she had the sneaking suspicion that he was one of the people of the sea, Svefra. Many had a reputation for being pirates, brigands, at least that’s what a lot of people thought of them. They had a reputation of only just barely being able to control their impulse to take things when they were ashore for trade, and that control was only to avoid trouble and maintain relationships good enough for future business. If he was Svefra, she’d be a little wary of the trouble that could come along with him, and of her own belongings in his presence. Though he honestly didn’t seem to be a bad person so far. “Lead the way,” she said she she motioned for him to take the lead.

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[Will Blacktide]

“Well, again, thanks, Caoin,” Will said happily, glad that she was going to take him up on his offer. “I know most people think badly of the Svefra, but sometimes we do tell the truth.” He grinned. “Though, I have to admit I didn’t have complete faith that my cousin was telling the truth. I hope you didn’t find it insulting that I asked you to, perhaps . . . cover for her. She’s just a bit young to be sent off to prison. And the merchant was just being a pigheaded mule.” Will began to walk in the direction of the docks, and Caoin fell in beside him. “I was born off the south-western coast of Cyphrus, not too far from Riverfall. But I’ve been all over the Suvan Sea, and its coastlines. I’ve never been inland at all. This is the first time I’ve been on the east coast of Mizahar, though. We’re heading north, eventually. I think that’s the plan, anyway. Things like that tend to be pretty fluid – we have to take weather and the seasons into account of course.” And there were any number of reasons the Svefra would change course in a heartbeat – most of which Will felt the Drykas girl didn’t really need to know about. As they moved along through the heat that seemed to leap up and smack Will in the face, he glanced sideways at Caoin. “And you? Your people travel the lands of Cyphrus as we do the sea. The sea of grass, right? That’s what you call it? Were you born on this sea of yours? Or in a city?” His eyes took in her trousers once more. “And instead of a ship you ride horses, yes? I’ve never been on a horse. Have you ever been on a ship?”