The Bauble Cart (open!)

[Omnia Munda]

Duarte opened the last of the long, thin cases that held his wares, the special trinkets and gems he'd held back from the turn's business in order to stock his cart for this very event. He watched as his fingers passed smoothly over the crumpled velvet and beaten silver, smooth carved gold and shining jewels, and wondered how many of them would adorn plantado hands, plantado ears, and plantado bosoms before the gather's days were spent. He hadn't expected the Caminar reunion to be held here, of all places, surrounded by a Weyr's people and a Weyr's walls. No one had.

Still, Duarte had high hopes for the pockets of the weyrfolk. The holdfolk always said the Weyrs were rich, flush with tithe and marks their due from the pastures, fields and plains that fed them, even in these times when dragons had so little use and great cost. Such bitterness could be little trusted, but surely even the most corny of these refrains had its root in some truth.

The jeweller backed up a few steps into what had been, before sunset, the shade of his cart's awning. The northern sun was harsh and the shade had been valuable then; by midnight it would glitter and gleam with fire- and torchlight reflected from the baubles that surrounded him. From this post the Caminar man would guard his wares; from this post he would haggle and flirt, flatter and dare to make the best deals his buyers might be willing to make.

Already his tribesfolk were wandering between the carts, taking early looks at the goods offered by their distant kin from around the territory. He could smell the meat being thrown on the fires down at the end of the row, closest to the fire and the music; he could hear the instruments being tuned for dance and song.

How long would it be before the first Telgari ventured in among them? How long would it be before the first dragonrider flashed a mark from his pocket, or the first laundress stepped forward to gaze longingly at these baubles she'd imagine herself too poor to gain?

Duarte licked his smiling lips, caressing with the thumb of one hand the heavy gold and onyx ring that adorned the other. This had become a most intriguing midsummer.

[Invisible]

Genet was enjoying herself. This was nothing new as she had been quite enjoying herself since winning her freedom from home and winding up back with her brother. G’tet had gone out of his way to make her feel at home and while that wasn’t easy they both considered her adjustment to weyr life to be coming along well.

G’tet was more than happy to accompany his sister on her explorations and felt it is his duty to keep her out of trouble. For all her so-called wild ways she was new to the world and with everything going on he could spare her a day for her promise to not come out amongst the Caminar herself.

Four turns had passed since the twins had spent so much time together, but some things never change. Genet was one step ahead and G’tet happy to follow since she always found the right way. Her way right now was leading them both to the traders.

“And you can buy me something! Because I should have something to mark this new experience, right?” Genet smiled hopefully at her brother, knowing he would buy her something without the smile. “And if I really like it I will help you pick out something for that man I saw you speaking to last night.”

Arms linked so Genet would not slip away they made their way towards where shinies were. Genet and her brother both had a fondness for things that shined even if she’d never owned a thing in her life that did other than polished rocks. Her eagerness was evident on her features although she did her best to conceal at least a little of her desire to own something pretty for herself for the first time ever.

A few paces from where Duarte stood the pair stopped so that Genet might take in the whole of her options. “Oh, look at them all!” she all but squealed as she dragged her brother by the arm to get a closer look.

[grey]

A single man could undoubtedly staff the cart so laden with jewels on his own. But on this night that promised to tempt the weyrfolk into the Caminar circle, when purses would be opened for the first time and marks would hopefully pour forth, a second man just might be useful. And if not useful at least not unwelcome, especially if said second man was your son. And most especially if it was all part of the evening's plans.

Saliro appeared out of twilight's dim shadows, the firelight catching at the intricate silver and sapphire ring on his hand as he ran it through tousled ebony hair. The tug at his indigo shirt was designed to show off the more delicate silver chain around his neck, a practiced gesture meant to draw the eye. A few easy strides took him around the corner of the cart and up to his father's side, the charming smile of a salesman already carefully placed on his lips.

Even after nearly a decade of travelling with his father once more, there was the twinge of admiration as his dark eyes flickered over his father's wares. Here and there a piece of his own joined the rest - an amber pendant hanging on a golden chain, a pair of rings fashioned of swirled silver. His work tended toward whimsy, more delicate and intricate, abstract and airy items amidst Duarte's equally skilled works. He had his own cart but for tonight the two were joined together, in hopes that each man might take his leisure at the bonfire without leaving potential buyers untended.

With a nod of greeting, Saliro looked out over the path to the Weyr, where the twins arm in arm were easy enough to spot. The pair got the second glance they deserved, with a faintly quizzical frown drawing his brows down. Lovers at first glance, but no, they looked too similar. Their easy way and the wheedling smile from the girl to the boy was not quite right for young people in love. Relations perhaps, but if the poorly hidden excitement on the girl's face was any indication, that would not be a real obstacle.

"Greetings and good evening," Saliro greeted them with a little bow, complete with a flourish carried off from his brow, a swirl of long fingers. "Greenrider, miss. Come and take a glance over our wares." He took the forefront, leaving Duarte to play the part of less interest, to seal the deal if such an attitude seemed required.

[Invisible]

Genet needed no further encouragement and after shaking off her brother’s arm closed the last bit of distance between herself and the cart. More importantly, between herself and the pretty things on the cart. “Oh, they’re all so lovely!” she tells no one in particular.

In his head Genet’s brother calculated how much this would cost him but outwardly he merely watched for now. No sense speaking up until negotiations would begin. She’d already ruined any chance he had of a good deal.

For her part, Genet was too entranced with the shiny objects to consider the cost of such attention to her brother. “I don’t want anything too…simple,” she finally offers after taking in all that was available. “You know? Dull. I mean, it’s not dull stuff it’s all so pretty, but I need something that reflects who I am. Because it’s all I am likely to have for a long time. So, it has to be worth it, right? One thing is fine so long as that one thing will be better than a hundred other worse things.”

[Omnia Munda]

Without a word Duarte accepted his son's arrival, his place beside him amongst their work, and his place in the game they'd play. He turned his shoulder to the younger man, lowering his head and then lifting it as he took out from beneath one of the draped tables a long chain of copper rings.

Each one was a little different in the design tooled into its surface, each of them had a little space left so the ring could be bent to fit a growing finger, and all of them were tiny - inexpensive baubles for children. They doubled as decoration and as chime, tinkling their small but handsome tunes as the black-eyed jeweler lifted them to hang from the overhang of the awning like a swag.

This done, he turned back as though he might say a word to the younger jeweler, only to find Saliro already making a mark of a greenrider and his female companion. The older Caminar lofted one black brow at the 'miss,' then transferred his focus past her to the rider she'd come with, whose pockets she seemed fixated on lightening, and to that man Duarte offered an expression of helpless disapproval and even a small shrug: what can you do?

Then he took a step back to observe, to let the greenrider know he was observing, to make clear to the man that he was not alone here in having an ounce of common sense. Let his son and - the greenrider's sister, Duarte had a hunch, and a very close sister - make her pick, and the sensible sorts handle the business after.

So, anyway, Duarte hoped the dragonrider to believe. Until proof of success could come, the jeweler turned a sidelong gaze down the aisle of wagons and carts to see who else would come walking: friends and family distant or close, faces not seen in a turn or more.

[grey]

They are all so lovely? Genet might have spoken to no one in particular, but Saliro was certainly there to hear it. He maintained the same schooled smile though, carefully crafted to imply attentiveness while allowing space to browse. Like the onyx stones on rings and pendants here and there on the table, brightly dark eyes caught the light as they slid over the girl - assessing her even as she weighed her choices.

With an air of causality, graceful fingers slid a narrow case from among the others, spinning it even as he moved it to the front of the table for her perusal. A flick of his fingers suggested a chain of gold with a dangling pendant, drawing her eye to this center piece among other, more simple items. The chain was of medium weight, not to delicate or too heavy, and the length just right to lay prominently above her bosom. The pendant itself was gold-wrought vines encircling a chunk of amber, polished on top but with edges left uncut, roughness only emphasized by the contrasting smooth glide of the framing metal.

"This, I think might suit your coloring well, it would bring out the lovely golden shade of your eyes." Saliro managed to suggest this lightly, with no real stress on her decision. All to her benefit of course, the profit and the marks meant nothing to this man who looked only to emphasize Genet's best points.

Dark eyes roamed more slowly over her then, and his smile grew to something more charming, appreciative as his hand slid sideways to glide along a bracelet. "Or this. Unique, a strong statement. Classic." Topaz in various shades, roundcut winking gems nestled among silver chain links, it glistened like so many tempting candies in its bed of velvet.

While her eyes were drawn he flicked a glance back at his father, one dark eye cornered by half dropped lashes. The barest flick of those lashes spoke volumes, approval for Duarte's adopted stance followed by a bare shift of the younger man's shoulders. That change in weight effectively barred more of G'tet's view, separated the man and his marks (and budget) from the girl drooling over the jewels so Saliro could continue to woo her with both works and words.

[Invisible]

G’tet watched his sister with an internal sigh. What is it? From her perch on her ledge Kalpeth could watch the spark of fires and hear the music and that was good enough for her. My sister is trying to divorce me of all my marks is what it is, was his reply. G’tet felt the sudden flood of interest from his green and was not surprised when it was followed with Your sister is here? When will I get to meet her? He was thankful his sister was unbothered by ‘meeting’ the green over and over. Four times so far since she had arrived he had introduced her to his dragon. Soon. Tomorrow. “Again,” he muttered out loud but with an amused tone to the whisper of a word.

Refocusing on what was going on down here with his sister he became aware of the shifting of stance and this time his sigh was louder. With her and the traders against him he hadn’t a hope of getting out of here with most of his carefully hoarded marks. He might have moved closer to intercede on his purse’s behalf, but it was better to stand back and watch. The influx of Caminar was a bothersome thing and he wasn’t sure he approved of the Weyr’s sheltering them. Especially not with his sister here now. At least he could keep an eye on her and make sure any trouble she got up to was kept to a minimum. And that she didn’t disappear as well. Because if she did… If she did we would find her. Your sister would not go missing ‘tet. Not for long. Features set into a more determined and hard look he went back to watching the jeweler with his sister.

“Oh! Oh, that’s so beautiful!” Genet gushed over the necklace. “ Can I hold it?” But before she even held out her hand there was the bracelet being shown and she stared at it now. Her parents had kept her from any traders that came to the hold and she had not ever even bought something for herself at a gather. Sheep to the slaughter she was. “I don’t know,” she finally said after a longing look at the necklace. “I probably shouldn’t look at something like that. I don’t want to spend too much.” Don’t want to, worries her brother won’t be willing to, it’s all the same thing to Genet. “They are very pretty though. My brother promised me something, but I shouldn’t take advantage of his generosity.” The last sounds like a quote, perhaps her mother speaking to her before she left. Knowing her daughter the way she does most likely she repeated that phrase often enough. For all her words she still looked at the cart as if she would love to have every single thing on it even if she’d never wear it.

[Omnia Munda]

Gold and amber, gold and topaz, thought Duarte, a bemused chant in his head. He was unsurprised to see his son showing off that pendant, but he'd also be unsurprised if there were a few more girls to come and go before Saliro found the breast against which that amber would finally nestle.

Strength. Classic. Powerful words, though the older jeweler had a hunch the greenrider's sister was too young for 'classic.' Her brother, too, but he might like to imagine his sibling described that way, and the Caminar's black eyes shifted back to their corners to check on the dragonrider.

The change was in time to catch the somewhat vague, impatient, distant expression, and Duarte had to fight his own eyes from wanting to twitch narrowly: what good could this fellow's dragon be in selecting gems? Nothing; the only good that beast could offer would be in hurrying the deal, but she'd be more likely to spoil it. Come back to us, greenrider, thought the trader, and was pleased to see G'tet refocus, as though determined. Better for the man to be focused on getting a good deal than on leaving with no deal made.

But then, past the greenrider, Duarte spotted a mark. Tall she was, and on her own. The older jeweler stepped forward and turned his head just like this, to show the trimmed beardline of his jaw, the black of his hair, traits that kept him young enough to prey on women with pockets of their own. Crafter, he pegged her, or an old master's daughter. Either way she was here to shop, and where better to shop than at this cart?

She looked their way, a simple mistake. Duarte turned over two fingers from his brow, a gesture just like his son's but with less flourish, more respect for his age, his place. "I see ears unadorned," said the trader, almost like a song, "and such lovely ones, too; a perfect shame on a night like this, not to frame one's face with gems like fire."

To his delight, the woman looked longer. Duarte lifted his brows, overturned a hand. If he was lucky, perhaps he could make her eye those topazes or that amber his son was promoting; that would ensure the greenrider's purchase, and still leave him free to put pearls or moonstone on the older woman's ears.

[grey]

Rough sighs were never a good sign in Saliro's line of work, so even though G'tet's huffing came from a pace away it landed heavily on the trader's ears. Leaving the dragonrider to Duarte was not only a good idea, but what their silent communications had indicated, and yet his black eyes snuck briefly away from the girl and over to her brother. At least by then his eyes were refocused, watching Genet and her choices instead of so unsettlingly distant in that telltale way dragonriders had. Well, so be it. As long as he handed the marks over in the end he could chat with his green all he wanted.

Can I hold it?

Saliro's keen dark gaze flitted easily back to the client at hand, his warm smile beat his shifting attention and hopefully convinced the girl he was focused solely on her all the time. "You may inspect any merchandise you care to, m'lady." The title, however lowercased his inflection might make it, was probably a bit of a stretch. But with that flash of white teeth against dark skin no one would ever know if he felt that was the case. Practiced motions freed the necklace from the loops that secured it to the case and he displayed it against his own wrist.

"As you said, it should be something special if it is to be your only piece," he parroted her words back to her. His other hand slipped beneath the table's top and pulled out a mirror. Nearly as pricey as some of the simpler baubles, it offered a nearly perfect image in its reflective surface. "See how it flatters you," he nearly purred, leaning to dangle the pendant in front of her, an approximation of how it might look if she had it on. "Would you like to try it?"

He watched her hazel (a bit short of golden) eyes pass over the other items and he lifted a simpler ring for her to examine as well. A gold band with a small inset tiger's eye and a bit of etching around the metal, it was far simpler but no less lovely. "What of this? I think it would also suit you, and it's a unique stone." Both hands full of jewels, he shrugged, smile only deepening. "Your brother's generosity is his choice. Do not steal the opportunity to delight you away from him. That wouldn't be fair."

It wasn't customary to abandon one prospective buyer for another, so the woman approaching got but a nod, and Saliro left her to his father.

[Invisible]

With the necklace so tantalizingly close Genet could only stare at it. Enough parental warnings to look with her eyes and not her hands kept her from touching it even with permission. Best to just admire it safely from a few inches away. “It’s so lovely. And I should have something nice.” One thing she’s never needed convincing of. The desire to do right by her brother’s marks was weighed against the desire to have something prettier than anyone else, well, of her station, and what she wanted was quickly taking the lead.

When Saliro brought out the ring it was given its due attention. After admiring it for a minute she shook her head, “I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t think I want to wear something on my hands. My fingers, I mean. It could get in the way of my work. Or I could lose it. I lose things. It’s why I never got anything before. Well, that and my parents said it was a waste since I wasn’t trying to get married anyway.”

G’tet kept a close eye on his sister as she seemed to be getting more involved with the wares on display. There was no concern she might have her head turned by any person when she had been promised a bauble of her own. That would take all her attention. The potential new customer was the distraction he needed to abandon the watching game being played between him and Duarte. Leaving the older man to woo the new customer with words he approached his sister and stood at her side.

“See something you like, Net? That won’t make me wish I’d left you at home,” he asked as one hand tugged at one of his sister’s braids. “You know I don’t want to rush, but if we’re going to do anything else before I have to leave you then we’d better not linger here.” It seemed the right thing to do, trying to hurry her along. Otherwise Genet would want too much and he’d spend more than he’d planned getting her enough to make her happy.

[Tabula Rasa]

The woman, the crafter or crafter's daughter, the mark, kept her dark gaze lowered on the pair of twinkling topaz earrings that a greenrider's sister had admired moments before. Her hair was a reddish gold, and her tanned skin suggested that wherever she was from, she was no native to Telgar. Her gaze lifted slowly so that she might observe, not the well-crafted trinkets for sale, but the man who had made a majority of them.

There was a strange brightness in her gaze, as if the bonfire were reflected in her dark irises. But, the flames were at her back and too far away to cast any illumination so heavily on a single feature.

"Is that what you see?" she asked of Duarte, and her voice, too, was something not quite right. There was a whisper beneath her words, a hushed murmur as if a second voice was, just faintly and distantly, vying against the first. Perhaps it was the strange acoustics of the bowl, the many carts and the large cluster of people. Perhaps it was just a trick of sound and the moment. Whatever it was, it remained as the woman spoke on. "I see you. Whatever are you doing in there?"

[Omnia Munda]

From the bright black corner of his eye, Duarte kept tabs on what the brother of the young pair was doing. He could not permit the greenrider to lure his sister away, and the jeweler's heart beat a little faster as he overheard the young man speak to Genet. It was obvious the lad had promised to buy her something - or felt obliged, anyhow - but there was no guarantee he had to buy it here.

Suddenly the woman approaching was a liability to his son's sale rather than an asset. Competition for a desired piece could inspire a hasty purchase, but crowding could scare off a skittish sale.

But Duarte couldn't turn her away. Besides, now that he could see her eyes, he felt sure he knew her, somehow. He'd met her somewhere before, maybe sold her a gem to decorate her lovely neck at a gather in her homeland. Whatever homeland that was.

Her eyes were fiery - no, full of fire. The trader twitched a brow upward and tilted his head a half inch to the side, but the motion seemed to bring on a slow vertigo. Though his gaze felt fixed upon the strange woman's face, Duarte could see peripherally his hand overturn again and lay fingertips upon the velvet just above a pair of long drop earrings, silver braid studded with freshwater pearls, stark contrast to those topazes the mark had eyed.

Duarte opened his mouth to woo the woman away from his son's customers, where now she could do no good, but his voice seemed to have a mind of its own.

"I could ask the same of you, lady." Deep, clear and resonant, he could fill caverns with this voice, but it was certainly not his typical salesman's song, seductive and bright - that was in there, the same way that vermouth was in a dry martini. There was, by comparison to his son's talk with Genet, not the least trace of irony in the older jeweler's choice of address. "What are you doing, out there?"

His fingertips almost touched the pearls, then lifted to gesture a welcome, as though he wished the woman to come around the table, under the awning, where no customers should stand - and still his voice was enormous, bigger than the man. "Let me try these upon you."

[grey]

As easily as the ring was lifted for Genet's inspection, Saliro set it back aside when she seemed less than pleased with it. He listened with an attentive pucker to his brow and dipped a single nod for her concerns with rings. Whether or not he agreed internally, it didn't seem like the sort of argument to take up, so he simply went back to the necklace. "A woman doesn't need to seek marriage to wear a piece that shows off her beauty," he offered lowly replacing 'girl' with 'woman' before thoughts could become words, his hand slowly tilting the chain so the amber and gold could best catch the light. "Though I admit it would surprise me if a lady like yourself would need to /try/ to get married."

He cut off abruptly at the brother's arrival, the greenrider's presence combined with the knowledge that he may have laid it on a bit thick. Any irritation he felt was easily squelched in favor of a polite, welcoming smile and a wave of the necklace-free hand. "There is much to see and much to like," he offered wrly. "But your sister has already shown impeccable taste. She is drawn to lovely but modest pieces, you needn't worry." Dark eyes flashed over the rider, his smile polite and careful rather than amused or taunting. "Is there anything /you/ would care to look over while she browses? We have a few handsome men's rings."

Through all of this, the words of the strange dark-eyed woman filtered through. Even more intrusive was his father's reply, that tone so out of place against Saliro's smooth near purr, breaking through the practiced cadence of woo and charm with too-loud notes that claimed the ear. Still, his expression remained schooled as he shifted his weight, turned his head just enough to try and catch Duarte's eye. One dark brow slipped upward, questioning his father's choice of tone and words. What was he trying to do, scare off his potential buyers? The woman got a second look as well, and what he saw turned the quizzical brow-lift into a faint frown.

[Invisible]

G’tet’s attention turns to look at Saliro more fully and he snorts. “My worry when it’s my marks you’re trying to add to your collection I think.” The words themselves were sharper than the tone used in delivering them. The greenrider was, for now, just wary of what he might have to spend rather than feeling the need to get hostile about all his marks disappearing. Although that was liable to change soon enough.

While G’tet settled into an appropriately dubious frame of mind and posture his sister continued her perusal of the ever so tempting shiny things before her. “The necklace is very pretty,” Genet says again with a wistful sigh and a glance at her brother. “It would be very pretty on me, I think. And wouldn’t you be so generous getting it for me. That’s what people would think.” Here she pauses and narrows her eyes in playful calculation. “Especially if you got me something to go with it. Earrings maybe?”

Prepared to argue G’tet lost no time in pointing out, “You’re ears aren’t pierced, you know.” To this his sister just let out a sigh that ended in a sniffle. “Because they’re so ugly. That’s what you mean. I have big giant ugly ears and you think I should hide them so I am not a freak!” Genet’s ears may be a trifle on the large size, but she’s not quite to Dumbo status so the increasingly shrill rant seems misplaced. “Anyway, it’s just sticking a needle through your ear. You could do that for me!” Settling back down she looks hopefully at her brother who is quick enough to dash those hopes with a timely remark of, “You know I don’t have that many marks, Genet. We’ll find you something nice. Maybe we should look around-“

His words were cut off by a punch to his arm and a pointed remark by his sister. “You bet too much on the hatching and now you don’t have enough to get me anything? How could you?” More sniffles as she directed her attention to Saliro, “That doesn’t seem right, does it? A brother promising his sister something and then not delivering. It’s wrong. That’s what it is. Isn’t it?” If the siblings had any plans to work together to get a good deal, to run their own game on whomever they bought from, it did not hold up to the temptation of such pretty things. A fatal flaw in their planning, Pretty Shiny Overload.

Still, he was the one with the marks and so while waiting for Saliro to get involved, or not, however he would, Genet took her brother’s hand in hers and looked ever so woefully at him. “Please?”

[Tabula Rasa]

Proper or no, the woman with fire-lit eyes accepted the invitation, swishing herself around the side of the cart and beside Duarte. His son and that quizzical look were given no mind. Her attention, instead, was on those pearls, round and cool like tiny moons. They would be a stark contrast to her warm honey skin and reddish hair. The sparkling golden-brown of topaz would suit her complexion much better, but the pale pearls held her interest and tugged a small, pleased smile to her lips. "You remembered."

Slowly, she tucked a bit of hair away and tilted her head to the side, allowing the Caminar trader to settle a single moonspun earring in that offered ear. Her eyes flicked, just briefly, towards the girl that kicked up such a fuss over promised gems and spendthrift brothers.

"And gift her something, as well, won't you? A jewel to match her eyes." She turned her head to offer up her other ear. "I feel generous."