The Bauble Cart (open!)

[Omnia Munda]

Duarte plucked the pearls out of the velvet that boasted them, the braided chains swinging from his fingertips, their moony gray studs catching firelight like the palest imitation of the woman's eyes. "Of course I did," said the jeweler, lifting one earring to the redhead's exposed ear. He was rapt, unhesitating, bidden entirely by her words; of Saliro's struggle (and his own additions to it) the older jeweler seemed entirely unaware.

The hook of the dangle slipped readily through the offered earlobe and Duarte took a very light step backward, catching up the earring that matched the first in one hand while the other spread across his mouth in an uncharacteristic gesture of thoughtfulness and consideration. His handiwork admired, he was able now to take the lady's second requirement to heart; he turned around and fixed Genet with a winning beam and strangely lively eyes.

"Golden, didn't the lad say? Come here, girl; let me put this upon your breast." Saliro, to be fair, was probably old enough to be excused from ladhood, and they both knew the greenrider had put up more fuss than that big amber pendant's price would permit. Yet Duarte's hand moved next for the amber pendant, raising its chain in a loop too ready to noose Genet's young neck with its glory.

[Invisible]

The other conversation going on near her had not been more important than getting her promised pretty so Genet barely registered the offer from the mystery woman. It’s quite possible she heard it and simply assumed some other woman was being offered something by someone she did not know.

There was no mistaking it when the very pendant being discussed by her brother was held out in such a tempting manner by Duarte. If her brother had reservations about Genet taking gifts from strangers he did not have time to voice them. Instead G’tet was left standing as his sister skipped her way to the offered bauble. “Really?” she breathed when she came to an abrupt stop to admire the pendant as an object that might be hers. “Really? For real? For really real? But I-“

Genet looked from the trader to the woman with so much generosity. Inside the warnings her brother did not voice waged a war against the greater desire to own something for the very first time that was so pretty. “Are you sure? “ In that question was a wealth of concerns about taking something. Those concerns were nearly lost in the longing for gold and amber. The longing was heard by G’tet who narrowed his eyes. While he was certainly happy to let someone else spend marks and leave him to spend fewer on his sister he did not want to see her taken advantage of. So, with arms folded over his chest he watched carefully and was ready to jump in if needed.

[Tabula Rasa]

The woman was as trusting as Genet was doubtful, tilting her head the other way so that the one earring could join the other. She showed no concern for letting the trader touch her with such easy familiarity, and she, in turn, reached for a looking glass as if it was her right to stand beside him and behind his little stand. A tiny crease appeared between her brows, the barest hint of a frown, as she fingered the pearls and watched her reflection. "Too tan," her strange voice sighed softly, and firelit eyes looked away from her image as if it displeased her. The mirror was turned on Genet instead, even as the woman's attention returned to Duarte.

"Girl?" she laughed with a twitch of her lips, "You are quite the charmer. She's a young woman." Those odd eyes flicked over to Genet, assessing, as the mirror reflected her own image back at her. "Just blooming. Preparing herself for a moment that may very well change her life. Put it on," This last was offered to the young woman in question. "Make it shine, my dear."

[Omnia Munda]

It was the - more mature - woman's words that provided Genet her first reassurance; still, Duarte's hands moved together and then apart, unlocking the chain's clasp. Then the jeweler tipped down his chin and raised his gaze, looking at the hazel-eyed girl through the chain.

At the last moment he remembered to spare a glance for the greenrider, all but forgotten, as distant in Duarte's apparent consciousness as his own appalled son. But this black-eyed look was only to reassure G'tet of what his twin already knew, and then the elder jeweler reached past the girl's shoulders to fix the gem upon her.

He backed up then to admire both women, the one behaving as though his cart were her home, the other newly adorned by a heavy, brilliant amber.

"We are at our best when we are generous," said the large voice, through Duarte's smile, as the older man regarded woman, girl and greenrider by turns. Poor Saliro! "Think of it as a gift from distant family."

[Invisible]

It is possible, had G’tet not been nearby, that Genet would have been too shy or wary to accept the gift offered to her. With her brother so close though she felt secure enough to hold still for the necklace to be given to her and only once it was in place did she hop up and down in excitement as she craned her head down to see how it set.

“Thank you so much!” she told man and woman, strangers both, with a brilliantly happy smile. “It is the most lovely thing I have ever had in my life. I will treasure it so very much for as long as I live.” If the words about distant family sounded strange to her Genet spared them no thought as she was entranced by the amber hanging around her neck now. G’tet, still not entirely calmed by the events that occurred stepped closer with a puzzled expression.

“It was a true and generous kindness, my lady,” he informed the woman. Then he focused on Duarte again and studied the man with considering hazel eyes identical to those others that remain focused on the amber around her neck. “I am quite certain we’ve no distant family anywhere, but we are all here at the present and that is bond enough. Are you sure I cannot give you something? Or you, lady? Someone who has made my sister so happy is someone I must feel indebted too.” G’tet gave a pointed glance towards his sister as he finished with, “We both must.”

And I don’t like it one bit, he thought to Kalpeth up on her ledge. Don’t like what? The green’s words were swift as they always were as if she feared not getting them out before forgetting them. Nothing, dearest. Go back to sleep. We will think on it in the morning. He smiled fondly, out of place with his other words, but meant for her who was already dozing again.

[Tabula Rasa]

Distant family.

The strange woman's soft, smug smile deepened and she shook her head as if Duarte's words both pleased and slightly embarrassed her. "Cocky," she murmured, keeping the mirror lifted so that the joyful Genet might admire the new piece of jewelry settled around her throat. Then, gently, the reflective surface was set back in its place, face down.

G'tet was only remembered when he spoke, and those gleaming eyes turned from sister to brother. His words held her interested. "We are all together now, aren't we," she purred. "Distance is never so far as we might think nor so close as we might hope, greenrider. Do you claim to know the true shape and mettle of all the spaces between?" Though she continued to speak to the man, her attention couldn't resist sliding back to his sibling. "Debts will be paid in time. The world finds her balance. But, for now, I've played long enough. Pleasant evening to you, greenrider. And to you, my dear. As for you..." one hand lifted to finger lightly at an earring as the woman tilted her head to observe Duarte, "it's always a pleasure. Behave yourself, now."

With a final smile, just as playful as it was fond, she stepped back out from behind the cart, turning to vanish back towards the crowd and the bonfire's flames.

[Omnia Munda]

A flicker of delight played across Duarte's features; he smiled to be so scolded by the strange woman, and flashed her a brilliant, adoring black glance before turning his attention truly to G'tet.

"I am sure there's nothing I need of you now, sir," replied Duarte, his voice still a cosmos, his eyes as lively as the dancing striking up beyond the carts beside the gather fire. Still he tilted down his chin and took a step closer to the greenrider, leaning over the jewelry to speak more softly - though no less powerfully - while the woman addressed Genet. "But keep a good eye on your sister."

At last Duarte straightened. He turned to accept the pearl-earring'd woman's farewell as though he'd known she was about to give it, and replied with a laugh as light and deep as a star could shine.

Duarte watched her, then, as she disappeared into the crowd.

Perhaps it was a word from his son or the peripheral awareness of their customers still close by that eventually did bring him to turn back to Genet and her brother. Perhaps it was only the realization that what he'd been watching, what he'd been looking for, had vanished like smoke into ether.

The old jeweler blinked mildly, and then broke out in a grin of brilliant white teeth. "Absolutely beautiful on you, my dear," said he, as though he were returning from his bizarre distraction to find the amber sold and rested upon its new owner's breast. Duarte even flashed Saliro a glance, one that between them they knew telegraphed surprise and suspicious approval: how did you pull that off, my son? But to their observers, such an expression said only: thank you for handling these customers so well.

To G'tet, Duarte added, "You keep a good eye on her, now." And then, perhaps to explain why he was repeating himself: "She'll have all the boys looking with such a pretty gem to complement her beauty."

And then he held out his hand across the velvet-robed table, to seal their agreement - whatever it had been.

[Invisible]

Genet was more than pleased to admire herself and her new piece of jewelry. The words shared between her brother and the generous woman were hardly noticed. Not that it mattered since G’tet would inform her of anything she needed to know later. When she was done with mirror and self-examination without it she straightened up and moved to link her arm with her brother’s. He might not have gotten it for her, but clearly she would never have been around to received the handsome gift without him.

“Good bye!” she calls to the mystery woman with a joyful smile and a wave to match. “And thank you so much again!” Redirecting her attention to the jeweler who was speaking to her brother she let him to the talking for them both. G’tet, realizing his good fortune, let drop anything that might have ruined it and just chuckled at Duarte’s words. “Oh, we’ve always kept a close eye on each other. Thank you, sir and have a pleasant evening.”

He may not have known what was going on, but he knew when an exit should be made. The twins made sure they were well out of earshot before speaking to each other. “Well, that was odd. I thought it was just us who carried on two conversations at once,” Genet said with a laugh. “Still, you owe me something now since this wasn’t from you. Maybe a new dress.” G’tet thought of the cost of a new dress, not so much since he was close friends with a weaver fellow at the Weyr and grinned. “A deal. Something to go with your new shiny. Genet? Don’t go back there without me, ok? Not around those people at least. There’s something real odd about the whole thing.”

They both knew she wasn’t likely to listen, but she didn’t bother lying and say she would do as he asked. It was the way of things between them and she was content enough with her new treasure that she didn’t even complain when he escorted her back to the barracks in time for her curfew.

[hockey]

"Don't look so grumpy, you'll scare people off." A warm, deep voice cajoled. The source was a large man who was dragging a very unhappy young woman along with him.

"Good." The man's companion snapped at him, looking very much like she did not want to be there. And Kersha certainly did not want to be there. A'jun had practically had to force her out of her self-imposed kitchen duty. Yes, as a candidate the girl did have chores, but no candidate had to work as much as Kersha did. He was fairly sure that his little friend was trying to work herself into the ground with everything she did, and it would do her good to get out. Besides, she needed to get it through her thick skull that the Caminar were not the monsters that she thought they were.

Kersha disagreed with him, and knew that, good as his intentions may have been, A'jun was only aggravating her. Kersha aggravated was not something that anyone should be around, because she tended to bite and, if push came to shove, that biting would not only be verbal. Even perpetually cheerful Bishuth saw the sense in keeping Kersha away from the gather.

Jun, I do not think she likes these people. She seems very uncomfortable. The Blue took a personal interest in the girl, and decided that maybe A'jun just did not realize how testy his friend was becoming. You think I don't know that? At this point, A'jun was practically dragging Kersha along. There were more and more people around them, most of them Caminar, and she was growing more and more stoney. "Here, I'll buy you something," A'jun said to the stone-faced woman at his side. Kersha only glared at him, then at the jeweler.

"Please, just be civil." His actions may have seemed callous and idiotic to anyone who knew Kersha but didn't know her as well as he did, but he knew how far to push her. As long as he did not make her speak to anyone, the evening should pass without incident, and she needed to be out there, he knew. She needed to see how stupid she was being, that these were good people.

He turned to the man with a warm smile. A'jun may not have been one of them, but he held much less prejudice toward the Caminar than most other holders and weyrfolk. Not that he was terribly fond of them, but from what he had seen of them throughout his life and the riders he knew who came from the odd people, he was sure that they could not be behind the disappearances of children. It simply did not make sense. Harper-raised, he knew better than to believe what everyone said.

"Hello," he said with a lightness that hid his deep worry for his friend, not sure what she might do. So, he kept her in his peripheral vision, though she did not move. Doing his best not to let his worry creep into his voice, he addressed the man again. "I'd like something for my friend here. She needs something to match her pretty face." He motioned toward her and noticed her deepening scowl. "Well, it's usually pretty," he said turning back to the man.

[Omnia Munda]

It was good that Kersha and A'jun came when they did. Coming when they did, they missed the quiet words between father and son; they missed the tension, the confusion and the strange looks from the vendors of neighboring carts. They missed, most of all, Saliro's departure from the jewelry stall.

Now just Duarte waited to host further customers, and if those customers were themselves foul-tempered it seemed to suit the Caminar man just fine. He was, after all, not feeling quite fully himself yet.

He was himself enough, however, to stir up a little banter. When A'jun addressed him, it was like Duarte came to life; a smile lit his eyes and curved his mouth wide, showing white teeth. With a spreading of his own ring-adorned hand he stepped forward, speaking almost in song as if reciting ancient wisdom: "Oh, I see the beauty beneath the fury, believe you me. A pretty girl should never be too good-natured, anyway. Where beauty resides so does pleasure; but if you want desire, you must have ire."

The trader looked upon Kersha for a moment longer, then glanced down. Deft dark fingers selected a golden bib necklace woven of lacework medallions, each circle an arrangement of delicate Byzantine chain-links. The lowest of the medallions boasted at its center a single blue topaz.

"Extravagant," said he, to Kersha, "as your hair, your mouth, your depth of expression." However foul an expression it might be. But to A'jun the trader added, "And too reasonable for the work, sir. But tell me, do you dare to adorn your darling so? She'll dazzle all the men."