The Royal City is a nice place for Traders (Celes)

[Liitha]

Jaydie sat atop the hill looking at Caemlyn, with her son moving on two it was becoming harder to travel without a wagon. She had been around but had tried to avoid still this city that had  been her nightmare in what seemed now to be another lifetime. It all belonged to the past, but the memories where there both of the horrors and the losses she had suffered last time she had been here.

 

Looking down at her son cradled to the front of her with a cloth she felt a stabing pain in her chest, he reminded so of his father, and grew more similar still for each day passing. Her hand stroke a stray hair out of his face, her precious son, she had named him Gaidal after the old legends, wanting to let the name have some similarity to her lost love, but not a constant reminder.

 

She could feel Rahien beeing restless bellow her as he senced her  nervousness, but old friends as they where by now he didnt take out. Maybe he too remembered this place, looking at the sun she sighed, it was no point puting it out anymore, she was not the same. And so she started towards Caemlyn, seteling into the line of travelers wanting access, in daylight now almost 3 years since the nightmare it all looked as the first time she had entered the city.

 

She directed Rahien towards the market, she would need a wagon, though already she knew, not as big as the one she and Galad had owned. She just wanted a small one for fast traveling, that her horse could pull, and so she and her son could sit in it, as well keep some things there. Her sadlebags didnt quite cut it for longer travels, not if she once again was to take up h er ocupation as tatooist to earn money.

 

She found an inn close to the market and as she unmounted and left the horse to the stable hands her son awoke. She entered the inn and bargained for a room, carying her bags upstairs she dug out a cracker for Gaidal and fastened him to her hip. She would look for lunch outside in the market, closing the door behind her she went downstairs and back out into the sun, this time on foot.

 

Some needles on a nearby stand found their way to her pocket for a price worthy of their quality, and then she started looking for wagons. She knew what she wanted and made sure to look inside as well as look for signs of bad keeping, these where all things she had learned from her smith. Finaly she found what she wanted and after some rounds of bargain it was agreed that the wagon would be delivered to her inn the next morning.

 

She started walking at random while using a cloth to whipe off sauce from Gaidals cheek after a pai. Inevitably she in the end found herself drawn to a part of the market where tents or wagons hosting tatooists where posed on row's.

[Guest Celes]

It was time to leave now, Akasha could feel something on her skin, the hairs in the back of her neck rose and she knew it was time to get out now. A hand on her wrist told her it was probably too late, she was caught and the man that appeared from behind the curtain found exactly what he came to see. The young woman he had trusted to clean up in the back of his shop was not cleaning up at all, but was busy looting his wife’s jewelry! He grunted and grabbed a dagger from his belt but Aki was quicker, she moved towards him and punched him on the nose. The jewels landed neatly in her pouch and she was out the store in less time than it took him to clasp a hand over his hurt nose.

 

He came running after her, but his store was located at the beginning of the main fruit & vegetable market in Caemlyn and a hustle and bustle of women with baskets of fruit kept Aki covered and out of his sight. She donned a deep blue shawl with silver stars around her face and ducked between two big women who were chatting about the bakery selling a new type of bread. Aki took an apple from the left woman’s basket and then nicked the pouch of the other woman, they hardly noticed she was there and Aki regretted just for an instant having to live like this. She wished she could travel back to Cairhien, to the Ranch where she could earn a more honest living. However, her sources mentioned a raven in the nest and the last person Aki wanted to see right now was the dreadlady Carmen Macaria.

 

Walking on past the market stalls, Aki’s eye fell on a salesman who had the most lovely cloth lying for bargain prices. She moved towards it, removed the shawl from her face nad studied the soft linen, the deep velvet and the woolens in front of her. “Those are Altaran,” she pointed over at a fine threaded cloth and the man shook his head, “No Mistress, those do be made by my daughters, they do not be Altaran, my family is from Illian, but a keen eye the lady do have, indeed,” he said with a smile and studied her face with greedy eyes. Allow him the look, allow him the fantasies, break him and then take this for half its price Aki thought as she fingered through some of the buckets of buttons. “I would like you to fill this satchel with those buttons, that cloth and at least ten inches of this linen,” she said and started to measure the fabric before the man reached her with his silver scissors. A luxury that showed he knew very little of the quality of his produce and the rings on his finger only showed he never held a needle in his thick hands.

 

One of those hands ran down Akasha’s back and she moved away from him, then drew a small thin dagger from behind her pouch. “I asked you to sell me items, not to put your filthy hands on me,” she was done pleasing men to get what she wanted. The shopkeeper had easily been swayed by a few kind words and a batter of eyelashes, but she was not going to be felt up for some buttons and linens. “Let go of that knife, do be a silly lass,” the merchant said and Aki drew back, then took the big woman’s pouch she had nicked and tossed it against the man’s chest. Then turned on her heel with her new belongings to head off, away from him. The man was in dire luck, the woman had just finished her market visit and only had two silver coins in her pouch. Two coins that bought you a few buttons and yet another man tried to chase the young woman down the market.

 

She was still running when a woman carrying a child headed in front of her and Aki could not stop. She tried to stop and not bump hard into the woman but both of them fell hard down on the stones, the baby landing in Aki’s outstretched hands and chirring with delight. “My apologies, m’lady,” Aki said and and handed the small boy back to his mother. “I was in a hurry, but no excuse to hurt a young mother with child in hands,” she added and hoped the child was alright.

 

Akasha Zarene

Seamstress, now turned thief

 

 

[Liitha]

She had just finished watching one of the artists make a lovely dove tattoo on the upper arm of a sailor, she turned around to go back to the inn, and the next she knew she was laying on the ground. The next moment her thoughts went to her son, Gaidal where was he, her disorientated view landed on a woman who where holding her son. Scrambling up she took him back only listening half to the woman's excuse while checking out that her son was ok.

 

Jaydie shook her head and smiled at the woman, "He is ok and I should have been careful turning about rushing out into the crowd" she should indeed have turned before moving from her spot among the onlookers to make sure nothing was coming in the street, "it was thoughtless of me, and a good thing it wasn't a wagon, it could have gone much worse."

 

She sudenly noticed something in her sons hand, and prying his fingers gently loose she removed a buton from his chubby hand. "Is this yours? in this age they are just always picking at things, i'm sorry i just hope he didnt yank it loose from anything." She found a string of leather in her pouch and gave her son to be distracted by, he instantly tried to put it in his mouth, and she couldnt help chuckle.

 

 

[Guest Celes]

The boy had probably found her pouch when he had landed on Aki and she smiled, a very young age to be a thief already. She chuckled and produced the apple from her other pouch, “He might like this to chew on?” she smiled and tapped his little nose. Oh how wonderful it would be to have a babe of her own, but she had given up on any love she had been able to find. She had always traveled away from love and friends as they only got hurt. Her work did not allow real friends, of course when she was on the Rashad Ranch she could feel at home, with her found family of Cari and her children.

 

She lifted his head a little and smiled at the woman, “My name is Aki and your boy is just a little heartbreaker to be,” and he chirred as she smiled at him again. “Do you live here in the city?” she did not know why she asked, but she did not want to let go of her friendliness just yet, nor that little boy, it had been long since she had been at the Ranch and she found that she missed the children. Not her children, but still worth missing.

 

Akasha “Aki” Zarene

 

[Liitha]

Jaydie smiled, "He do take after his father in some ways, but not all, I guess time will tell how he will develop." she looked with love at her son chewing happily on the apple. Then reached out her hand and presented herself.

 

"But no we don't live here, I'm a traveling merchant of sort, with one of my main businesses being in the tattoo direction. I had to stop traveling for some time when I got this little heart breaker, but luckily now he is of the age I been able to take it up again. I've been traveling just on horse a few weeks but with a toddler it don't really work, so I came in to do some trading, pick up a little news and most of all get a wagon."

 

She tilted her head back so her hair came out of reach of her sons sticky hands. "We'll be leaving tomorrow again as I had luck and found what i looked for, will just have to fill up before doing so. But hope to  be on the road again by noon."

[Guest Celes]

Aki smiled at the litle boy and suddenly made a decision she was not sure was well through-through, “Where are you heading?” she asked the woman. Jaydie, who was now lifting her boy back on her arm again looked pensive and said, “I’m not sure yet, but I’m heading north,” and Aki thought about this. “Is it ok if I join your travels for a few days, I realize we met under these odd circumstances but if you do not mind…” she allowed a smile to paint her face and studied the tattoos on Jaydie’s arm. It might be an intesting art to acquire she thought and said so, “I would love if you could show me how you created those, the tattoos on your arm,” and realized she was only asking and not giving.

 

From a large pouch that hung on her hip, Aki produced a piece of cloth that was thin as air and light as it as well, like a small blue cloud she moved the cloth over her hair and then took a small wooden round box from that same pouch. She was changed in less than two minutes, her hair loose now hanging bound in the light blue shawl looked like it had a different color from her raven black. It looked lighter and her face was more pale from the powder.

 

Just in time as a man appeared next to the two women, she recognized him as the shop owner and expected him to recognize her, but no such luck for him. “Excuse me ladies, I thought I saw…never mind,” and hurried off again. Aki smiled and said to Jaydie, “He was looking for me,” and produced a small golden chain from her sleeve, “this was his wife’s, or his mistress’ who can tell,” she shrugged and said, “I can teach you something about powders and clothes, makes travel safer sometimes, if you wish? A trade perhaps?”

 

Akasha

 

[Liitha]

Jaydie wasnt sure how she felt about it all, if the woman was a thief as implied,  but she was so nice and company would be good, mayhaps there was a reasonable explanation, the man didnt look like the best sort around. Smiling she shifted her son over to her other hip, beside which thief would like to learn about honest occupation that didnt make you ritch and in essence took years of studdy to become a specialist in.

 

"Company would be good, its always safer to travel several togheter. I was just heading back to my inn for a early dinner and relaxing some, I could start showing you a little of my equipment" She just couldnt think that the woman was a thief, there had to be another explanation on things. After confirmation from the woman she moved back towards the inn, she ordered stew for her son and then something heavier for herself. It would be nice with company for dinner, and as they waited she started telling about the most common ways of mixing ink colors. She'd describe the herbs Aki didnt seem to recognise the names of, and then which type of ink to mix them in, along with how to make sure you got quality ink.

[Guest Celes]

Aki followed the woman and her child to the inn, seeing as she had no permanent room it was ok for her to stay in that inn. They had dinner and then talked about possible routes to travel the next day and Aki told her newfound travel companion about her work as a seamstress. She decided not to talk about her work for Carmen Macaria or the way she really earned her living but instead talked about fabrics and powders to change one’s appearance. She offered Jaydie to teach her a bit about the use of powders and was very interested in the tattoo artist work. They talked about the different types of herbs to use and found that some were used in both skills of work.

 

“So, could you teach me, do you think?’ she finally asked as they sat drinking some herbed wine after dinner. “I have drawn dresses and symbols to put on skirts or sleeves, but I have not drawn on skin yet,” she grinned, “I would not know with what after all!” she suddenly shuddered lightly as she remembered Carmen’s handywork. It had been years ago, but the woman had used one of Aki’s sewing tools to work on a young man who had tried to steal from the dreadlady. He had not merely been drawn on, his blood had traced all over his skin in odd paterns. Was she sure she wanted to learn, was she sure it would be good?

 

 

[Liitha]

Jaydie smiled, "you have to get the color down into the skin, so really thin needles is what is used, hence also the time it takes to make a tattoo, the bigger it is the more work." though  she knew a skilled artist had hands working quite fast, it took years of practise thoug and so most would start with only doing small pieces.

 

With beeing part of the kin it could be usefull to learn disquises thoug, "tell you what, I'll teach you, if you teach me some of your trade in return." After agreeing so, Jaydie took the night to put her son to sleep. Next morning she rose bright and early, she had only finished breakfast when the merchant arived with her wagon. She payed and smiled at Aki who was just ariving down for breakfast. Leaving her son inside the relativly empty and calm inn she went to cary her things into the wagon. Some other things she had ordered earlier the last day arived as she was just puting the last load in, and she unpacked those as well.

 

Brushing dust of her hands she looked into her new home, it would do quite nicely, as agreed upon shelves had been put in, and there was place to one side to sleep. She sent the stable boy to get Rahien and put him infront of the wagon while going in for her son and checking if Aki was ready to go.

 

They would follow the road to Tar Valon and then take off out onto the steps into farming country, more buisnis there, or at least so had her argument been. Truth was she needed to meet someone in a smaller village and planed on ending up in Saldea, also she had no intention of going close to Tar Valon. As they traveled she would explain more of comon herbs, and pull over to show or pick some of them. She also listened to Aki as well as they exchanged knowledge, and come the nite she pulled out a set of needles who where a litle ticker then the normaly used ones, these would do fine for practise. She also found a skin and put her son to bed. Mixing up some color, she drew on the skin then put it over a log with some leaves between, then showed Aki how to pinch the skin carefully with the needle and how often to dip it in color again. Then left it to the other to practise.