Westward Bazaar

[Katarya Frost]

“Good morning, Miss Frost.”

”Good morning, Mr Koley.” Katarya returned the greeting, though she didn’t particularly like the man. He always said the same thing, and she had no doubt he’s be no different today.

“Off to the market? Shame you’re on your own, lass!” The older man stopped in the street, and touched the rim of his hat, a standard way of greeting a woman in this part of the city.

Kat was immediately annoyed, as him stopping meant she had to, also. ”Yes, Mr Koley; I’m going alone. Then I am going for luncheon by myself, then back to the shop, where I will work by myself, and then finally go to bed … by myself.”

Her words and tone did not put the man off. “Pretty lass like you should be married by now! How old are you again? 22? You should even be in the family way at your age. Or at least should be on the arm of a good man!”

Kat had actually woken up in quite high spirits today. Her adventure out with Artemis had resulted in her gaining her very own familiar, and there had been undeniable chemistry between her and Mr Black. She looked forward to seeing him again. As for --this particular man … ”When I find a good man, I will be sure to accept his arm. Good day, Mr Foley.” She said, and strode away.

Being a single woman in a city such as Fellsguard was not an easy path to take. It seemed the moment a girl turned 18, she was expected to immediately marry, and be pregnant by the time she reached her 20th birthday. The very idea that a young woman would choose a trade over romance was so alien, that people seemed to remark on her decisions --constantly.

But Katarya was steadfast in her resolve. For a start, she simply did not want to spend her entire life cooking and cleaning for someone, then raising children. Maybe one day she would change her mind, but even that seemed unlikely … for a start, she didn’t even like children! They were loud and annoying, their only redeeming quality was that they spoke their mind, which was something she herself had never grown out of, despite the best attempts by teachers and her grandmother.

So here she was, alone, strolling through the market. She had a few things on her list, but today was a rest day for her, and she had left Jack in the shop and had no appointments. She could do whatever she wished.

The busy west market was quite a place, it was loud, with folk chatting all around her, traders crying out their wares, and just the general hum of the city’s folk. The smells were a welcome assault on the senses; sometimes her nose was filled with the scent of rich spices, or fresh herbs, even the stench of freshly caught fish. The sight of food made her stomach rumble, and so she stopped by a stall where she purchased a savoury pasty, which she ate slowly, looking around some of the more interesting stalls.

It wasn’t just food, clothes and trade goods that the market sported, but travelling merchants brought oddments and all sorts from all over the continent. One could find some unusual things, if one had the patience to rummage.

Katarya almost missed it in fact, ‘it’ being something that immediately called out to her.

“Morning, miss.” A stout dwarf with a heavy black beard and balding head greeted her. Before him on a table, arranged with absolutely no care whatsoever, was a myriad of little marvels .. at least to her. Others passed the stall by with barely a glance, but Kat shifted her basket from one arm to the other, and began to inspect some of the items. There was a lot of small, carved statuettes; some fashioned into images that were meant to be gods or idols. Some had elven runes on them. “They’ll bring you good luck and great fortune,” the Dwarf said, but Kat felt nothing from them. There was no magic in these things, they were just tokens and ornaments.

But then she found the wand.

She felt her amulet tingle as she picked up the slender stick. It was about 10 inches long, and though it was slim, tiny carvings of leaves and flowers had been done beautifully.

The dwarf noticed her interest. “That’s a protection charm, young miss.” He said.

‘No it isn’t,’ she thought, looking along the length of the wand. ‘It’s a faery wand; used for spells and charms.’ She would have told him, but then he’d probably take it back or ask an outrageous price for it. Besides, things like this were technically illegal.

“Just place it above your door frame and no evil will enter your house,” the seller said, with all the confidence of an experienced liar.

Kat nodded. But she was a liar too. ”Something like that would come in very useful!” She responded. ”One always hears of burglaries and such. I know I would sleep easier knowing I had something like this protecting my house”

There was a glint in the Dwarf’s eyes as he saw a potential sale. “Oh, you can be sure that no man or beast with ill intent will cross your threshold with that very precious item. And a bargain at only 16 copper!”

Kat made a show of frowning. ”Oh, that’s an awful lot! I don’t think I could afford that,” she shook her head, feigning sadness. ”All my money goes to my sick father, these days … I doubt he;ll even see out the year, so all our money goes on to pay the healers! As much as I would love to have it, I can’t part with that much coin.”

The Dwarf had probably expected to haggle; that was how the markets worked after all. “I guess I could drop the price a little, considering your situation. Poor young miss.” Whether or not his sympathy was genuine or just part of his act to land a sale, he was good at it. How about we call it 14 and I you can have this wonderful piece? You’ll never find anything like it again?”

”I could perhaps do 8?” She said. She gave him her sweetest, saddest smile (which wasn’t much of either).

The merchant shook his head, sorrow etched into his face. “Ah lass, I can’t sell at a loss. I could maybe go as low as 10 if I …”

”Done!” Kat said quickly, snapping out of the little act she had put on. She reached inside her cloak and draw her purse from a pocket. Taking out the agreed amount, she placed it in the Dwarf’s hand (who was now looking at her with a frown - it was his fault for falling for such a ridiculous ruse), and took the wand, placing it in her bag. Good day, sir!” She said cheerfully, striding away before he could complain.

***

Back at the shop, Kat left Jack of serving the customers while she went upstairs and had her lunch. As she ate her way through sandwiches and fruit, she tried to find something about wands in the Book of Shadows about this particular magic item. It was so unorganised, having had many owners who had put whatever they had wanted to, with little regard for making it easy to navigate, Kat could only find one passing phrase under an entry with the scribbled title ‘Magical Keys’. She read aloud, as she held the wand in her hand. ”’Mostly associated with air, and the east, a skilled user could command the winds if she could master the power of a good wand.’” She sighed. That was all? No instructions on how to use it? Nothing on what she should say or do, to use its power? She had only known it to be a Faery piece due to the particular way the leaves and flowers had been carved along its length.

Closing the book, she knew it would take experimentation, and that she didn’t have time right now. But even though she had no guide on how to use this magical item from the mysterious Fae, she was still thrilled she had it … and for only 10 coppers, too!