Zarya didn’t know what she was doing here. These past few days had been just a blur. She hasn’t done much but drift from place to place, village to village, occasionally buying supplies or reading her book. The most exciting thing she’s ever done was fire a few arrows at robbers or small groups of bandits, usually with startling accuracy. But she’s never managed to kill any of them; the worse she did was things like fruit or small blades, letting them think that if she wanted she would have killed them. And she probably could too, if she ever had the mind to do so.

Yet despite her wandering, she never left the Veigar’s. She had nothing to go back to: no family, no responsibilities, no honors. She could simply vanish from the world and no one would notice. Yet for some reason, she chose to remain in her home country. Maybe she’ll find a new purpose to her life. Maybe it’d find her. Either way, Zarya rode into the city if Curaw to buy some new supplies. She was going to need a new cloak if she was going to stay in these tundras.

After dropping her horse off at a stable Zarya walked through the market. Many warriors and mercenaries were in the city, so much that it brought Zarya back to the memories of when she was just a page. She saw so many knights and soldiers in the grand castles and fortresses. Noble and strong defenders of the kingdom who fought evil and shined like fresh snow. But now, those soldiers looked a lot more like these mercenaries; lowly men just looking for money, either from a noble’s hand or a peasant’s purse.

As Zarya walked through the city and into the market, she spied a man trying to barter with a merchant. From his dress and appearance, he was obviously from the Kharnate. He was trying to sell his goods to the merchant, but a quick scan of the cart told Zarya that he was overpricing his goods. Not that it was unexpected from a good merchant; you always wanted to charge three times the base price of your produce. If you tried to sell it for only as much as it’s base price would be, you would never make a profit, only barely enough to make back what you’ve worked for. If you only paid for twice the base, you’d only have enough to make two more. By pricing your produce for at least three times the base price, you could make enough to not only make up for the cost of labor, but also to expand your inventory and have a little left over.

Still, it wasn’t Zarya’s business to get involved. She didn’t imagine that the man would succeed; even following the logic of how much he’s selling the goods for, he lacked tack. He was probably the type of man who expected a mean face and a sword on the hip could give him discounts, but all that would do is get the guard’s attention. Bartering required subtly, a gentle push and pull, not a shove and menacing with a blade. So Zarya watched to see if this man would succeed. If he didn’t, she might show him how it’s done.

Zarya only had to listen for a few minutes before things got interesting. It seemed that the merchant was accusing the kharnate man of being a thief based off the fact he got his goods from Rebache. Zarya had also heard some information about Rebache, mostly that there has been a lot of bandits sighted near it. It didn't take her long to figure out that the merchant thought that the man was one of those bandits who looted the village and was trying to sell the goods. However unlike the merchant, Zarya knew this man was not a thief. For starters he was from and looked like he came from the kharnate; unless he brought an army of horsemen with him, she doubts that he could have raided the village alone. Not to mention the boy in the wagon, who was likely the same boy who had been telling others about his village. He looked meek enough to be a mere village boy and not say, a poorly dressed bandit.

Some guards came to approach, and that's when Zarya stepped out and called to them. "Wait! This man is no thief. He is my guardian, and we have been tasked to seek help in liberating the village. These goods are merely what was given to us as payment." Zarya lied smoothly, her words flowing with intoxication like a fine wine. She knew she was taking a risk trying to lie on the behalf of these strangers, but she was certain that she was going to be far more successful in convincing the guards to back down than the kharnate man was. Not only was he a foreigner, but he was much more heavily armed and dressed for plundering. Whereas Zarya was dressed in finer, if simple, clothes that would make her seem like a merchant's or some sort of low nobility (Which she technically was). Not to mention the her sword on her belt, which was finely crafted if a bit dull. Certainly not the weapon of a mere brigand, but of someone who carried more honor. It helps that she looked and spoke like a native, so the possibility of someone like her hiring a kharnate mercenary to protect her and help liberate a village was more likely than some others.

Ntaaj glared at the merchant who accused him of thievery. "You son of a bitch! I am no thief! Ask the boy, this is from his village." Ntaaj motioned towards the boy expecting him to defend Ntaaj. What he didn't expect was for some stranger to defend him instead. A fairly attractive woman wearing fancy clothing, armed with a bastard sword. When she spoke, she was so convincing that for a while Ntaaj almost believed her. The only thing that reminded him that she was wrong was that he had no idea who she was, so he couldn't be her guardian. But he knew she was bluffing for him, and as the guards approached, Ntaaj kept his mouth shut to let her do the talking. And in order to further help show that he is her "Guardian", Ntaaj placed himself defensively between the woman and the guardsmen, as if to ensure they wouldn't harm her.

Ntaaj was rather glad things turned out well, though he was starting to get annoyed with the boy. He needed to both speak up more and stop acting so passive. If he couldn’t get an ounce of assertiveness into the boy, he was going to get run through. If not by Ntaaj, than by bandits. Ntaaj turned towards the boy and cuffed him lightly in the face to get him to quieten. ”Shaddup! You're suppose to save your village. How do you intend to do that if all you do is grovel like a coward?”

Ntaaj turned to the woman who helped him out. He never trusted someone who was a smooth talker, but at least she was on his side… Hopefully. He walked up to the woman and spoke quietly so no one overheard. ”Thanks. The name is Ntaaj. Your guardian, huh? We'll need to discuss my contract… Later. For now, let's try to sell some of these goods.”

Zarya smiled politely as the guards ceased their advance and reprimanded the merchant. She didn't approve of the Khergit man rough handling the young boy. Unlike him, she understood the boy's reluctance. He wasn't a warrior, and shouldn't be expected to act like one just because the Khergit man told him to. When the man walked up to Zarya to “discuss his contract”, Zarya smile faded. She honestly did not care what his business was. That being said, she supposed she could indulge him. Who knows, it may even be profitable. “I am Zarya. We may speak later.”

But before she would barter with the merchant, she went up to the boy the Khergit man had struck. She took out one of her spare handkerchiefs and used it to wipe away whatever dirt or blood was on the boy's face. “Don't be scared of him. You were very brave to have made it this far. You can be so much stronger too, if you really want to. All you need is some weapons and armor and you can show him how brave you really are.” Zarya left her handkerchief with the boy as she turned towards the merchant. Unlike with the big or the Khergit man, Zarya was stone cold.

“I will forgive you once. I will not do so a second time. If you have any honor as a merchant and want some sort of penance for your mistake, then let us do business. My guardian was unreasonable with his prices, so I am willing to sell our produce for 400 denar. If we succeed in liberating Rebache, we may even remember the merchant who was so gracious to do business with us.”

"Good! Now that's settled, let's get you geared up, boy. And... I suppose you should come along too. Ntaaj looked over at Zarya. Her sword was fancy, but she wouldn't last long if she intended to fight in a dress. He couldn't spare all the gold on her, but he should have some money left over to at least get her some armor. Hopping into the back of the now empty wagon, Ntaaj pointed at a few different shops. "Hurry boy, to those shops! I'm not going to invest a small fortune on you just so you can use rusty hammers and wear tattered leathers."