Silk looked in wide eyed astonishment at the selection of products on the table, as if she had never seen so many beautiful items in one place before. She was clearly in awe and overwhelmed. By now the merchant was confident that he had the simple girl girl in the palm of his hands as he embellished what were otherwise fairly mediocre products. Silk even let him wrap his arm over her shoulders in a far too familiar fashion. On the outside she was everything that she needed to be at that moment. She was the centre of that man’s world, his entire attention focused on her. Which is why he had no idea that she was paying him with his own coin for the vulnerary's that he eventually convinced her to buy. As she walked away from the stall her expression shifted effortlessly from one of naïve wonderment to calm, upbeat composure. It may come as no surprise at this point but Silk was a thief and a pretty good one at that. 

She had come to the festival rather accidentally having given the slip to a group of overzealous night watchmen the night before. She had been heading to the capital but it turned out that this had been a rather fun, and profitable diversion. Festivals were a virtual bounty of opportunities for the right minded individual. Lots of people crowded together, excited, their attention rapt on the festivities. Silk was not a fan of picking pockets in general, too much risk for minimal rewards but when it was so easy it was hard to refuse the lure. So as to blend in she stopped and paid attention to a troupe of dancers, joining the edge of the crowd and allowing herself to be drawn in. She laughed and cheered at the appropriate moments, while her eyes watched a group of guardsmen patrol the square. They were not looking for her, nor had she given them reason too. But it never hurt to be aware.

Silk extracted herself from the crowd with a well timed stumble that saw her daintily fall to the floor. A friendly hand helped her to her feet. She smiled at him bashfully. He blushed in return as their hands touched. She fell into him 'accidentally' as he pulled her to her feet. She bowed apologetically several times before bouncing away into the crowd. The man walked in the other direction, his coin purse no lighter than before. Just because an opportunity created itself did not require that it be abused. That was how a thief gets caught. Arrogance, overconfidence, not paying attention. The man had been dressed as a peasant but smelled clean, a slight hint of perfume or some other scent lingering on his body. His hands had been calloused in the way that all soldiers hands become after years of wielding the same weapon. So he was either a guard playing as bait or an experienced soldier off duty. Either way, too risky.

She made her way through the crowd, stopping for a moment to watch a wyvern rider and his charge perform tricks that genuinely amazed her. Then watched a group of soldiers spar off against each other in mock battle to cheers from the crowd. She had to admit that she was having a good time. If the intention behind the festival had been to lift the populations spirits even for a day than it was working. Besides, it was making her quite the profit as well.