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r even better... She looks around for a street child, and finding one middling sized girl, beckons her over and nods in the direction of the caravan. "I want to be able to find that foreign man, later. You watch him for me, and tell me where he goes." She hands the girl a silver coin, and then heads off to talk to Mehuna. The girl's eyes are bright. "I'll watch him real good for you," she says in the curious mixture of Chedraqis and Tiesh that is commonly spoken in Harava (much to the annoyance of both conservative Qenaren *and* desert folk). "Where can I find you later?" She gives Yasmaili a cheeky wink, then slinks into the crowd. The child appears to be quite good at blending in. Mehuna has just about finished cleaning out the crowd for this dance when Yasmaili arrives. "Good crowd?" she asks. "Will I be redeeming my promise to dance at your wedding soon?" "Yasmaili!" Mehuna exclaims. "Good to see you here, darling. Good crowd indeed, and..." Her voice lowers to an effervescent whisper. "Soon, soon. Two nights ago, I was performing at the Prickly Rose, and the jeweller's son came by, as he's wont to do when the days are hot. But imagine my surprise when the jeweller himself came as well, and we were introduced! I feel the light of fortune upon me already." She cocks her head and asks, "What brings you here today?" And then, with a playful smile, "Shall we try a duet for this crowd? We can go relax at a guesthouse somewhere and catch up on the latest news, after." Mehuna's younger sister, Meliz, has just resumed playing--a whirling little ditty meant to catch the crowd's attention. She looks up from her shawm and gives Yasmaili a nod of acknowledgement. Unfortunately, the hotbloods' duel has apparently attracted the attention of the local authorities. The city guard appears, some clad in the desert's flowing white garments, some in Qenaren surcoats. Their captain, whose face is hidden by a veil, calls out in both Tiesh and Chedraqis for everyone to clear away from the gate, please, and continue their business elsewhere. Mehuna pouts. "Just as it was getting fun. Well, where shall we go?" She waits for her sister to catch up, and deftly counts out Meliz' share of the dance's earnings. "There you go, sweetling." The stranger that Yasmaili spotted earlier is nowhere to be seen, but then, neither is the girl--presumably a good thing. "We want to see a dance!" someone calls out. "Dance with the guards," someone else suggests, with no little sarcasm. The crowd is getting a bit ugly, now, having been deprived of both sources of entertainment (Mehuna's dancing and the duel). Meliz says, "We'd better go before they start throwing--" She ducks instinctively as, true to her words, a fried pastry arcs over the crowd, though nowhere near where they are.
Back: Yasmaili's Story 1 Sun image provided by Clipart Castle.
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