"Are you wizard?" asked the little urchin boy. He was fast, even for an urchin. He was always one step ahead of Nanda as she slipped through Meteora's many alleyways. "Is that how you do that trick with the coins, earlier?" 

Nanda grinned. That trick earlier was nothing; something to impress people on the streets, and distract them from the urchins scurrying away with their purse. Perhaps not the best thing to do in a new city, especially since she was hired by the literal King of the place, but she couldn't pass the opportunity up. The kids were practically worshipping her now.

"What do you think?" she said. She flicked her fingers and her cloak burst into flames... or at least that was what it looked like. In a split-second the flames seemed to be absorbed into her cloak, turning the drab black cloth into a burning red. A velvety, [i]expensive[/i]-looking burning red.

The boy stopped in his tracks and stared wide-eyed. 

"Sure, I'm a wizard." She laughed. "So you said you know where the castle is?"

The boy grinned.

---

"Ananda, princess of Zamrud," she announced herself to the elderly steward. She was no proper princess, of course, but she made sure to look the part, mostly through her cloak. It was a piece of wonder, fine red velvet decked around the edges with what appeared to be gems. 

Gunthrum said nothing as he read the official WAA parchment she had given him. Finally, he gave it back to her. "I though Zamrud doesn't have any royalty."

"It doesn't," Nanda chuckled. "There's no royalty so anybody can be prince and princess." 

He sighed, apparently not seeing the humour in it. "Please, have a seat."

Nanda bowed with a flair, then turned her attention to the room. There were a couple of people already, some she thought she recognized from the WAA. And there's the king! At the head of the table, of course. 

"It is an honour to meet you, your majesty," she said with a curtsey. This king in particular wasn't very much interested in court manners, she heard, but it seemed a waste not to pull it off. She then took a seat somewhere in the middle of the table, a good place to observe all the others, or to be seen herself.