[hider=TL;DR Mars traded the spider organ]

Mars slumped against the ally wall and took a seat. He had walked some distance from the Town Square, he had walked until he found himself in the more barren area of the town, away from the spectacle of the smoking crater. It had looked as if the villagers had already begun clean up and Mars didn't want to be around if they asked to help, or worse, if the Drow chose to continue the argument. Mars placed his hand on a box he had been carrying. Until he had the time to ask a butcher or perhaps a tanner to jar and preserve the organ for travel, the box would do. 

 He pulled out and took inventory of the items he had scavenged. They would fetch him some gold, but he was still a long way from his goal. He returned the items to a pouch hidden behind his vest and let loose a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. 

"I'm in the wrong place."

He belonged on the sea; his dreams were on the sea, not here. He had refused to sail again under the orders of another man, although he found himself now leagues away from the oceans he loved taking orders from two queen's he didn't know, working with people who sickened him with their righteous hypocrisy. He began to wonder if Jeremy hadn't been paid more. What a funny thought it was, that if James had come to Mars with a heavier bag of gold than the Queen's offered, Mars might've been right beside Jeremy trying to blow the town and all the people in it to hell. Mars chuckled. If he sided with Jeremy he would've been on the losing side, and his own head might've been struck from his shoulders as well. 

He stood, collected his belongings and lifted the box with a slight heave. He wandered the streets aimlessly until he saw a sign hanging above a door, the sign bore an image of a thread and needle. He wandered in and found his way inside the shop of a seamstress. Tools of the trade were spread about, and hanging from the beams all about the shop were clothes of varying quality, some so ornate he thought he might have stumbled into the shop of a Queen's seamstress, others looking more like sewed together rags found from the streets. Behind the counter were stacked bolts of clothes, most of which were the earthen colors of browns and yellows. A rather small collection of colors Mar's noted. The counter was empty.

"Hello?" Mars called out. The shop was silent, the owner may very well have been one of the villagers by the town square, carelessly leaving the door unlocked behind her. He could ransack the place, pile the clothes into the crate with the organ, as many as he could fit. He moved to do so but a voice halted him.

"One second!" it called out. A woman exited from a door at the far end of the shop and took her place at the counter as she wiped her hands flat across a dirty apron hanging from her neck. The apron was stained with muddy colors, "How may I help you?"

Mars gave the woman a sly smile. She was pretty, not the kind of beauty men idolized or sculpted, but the kind of beauty a husband could cherish, a beauty found in simplicity, "Dying more cloths? You could use something other than yellows and browns."

"Yes, a velvet purple would be lovely wouldn't it?" there was sarcasm in her voice. "Now how may I help you?"

Mars cocked his head, "Why aren't you in the town square? There was an assault on the town you know?"

"All the more reason to stay home."

"So you live here too?"

"It's not uncommon for people to live where they work, now what do you want," her voice was impatient. 

"A trade."

"Gold only."

"But I think I have something you'll find great interest in," Mars said, removing the lid to the crate. The seamstress' eyes widened for a moment at the sight, but quickly she reclaimed the calm demeanor belonging of a salesman wagering a price. 

"How much do you want for it?"

"A gold piece by the ounce."

"Your insane, a gold piece for every fourth ounce in weight."

"Nonsense! You could make a fortune from a silk gland this big!"

The woman shifted her weight and crossed her arms, looking at the organ with gauging eyes before looking up to Mars, "A gold for every three. I have to purchase the equipment to harvest the silk, equipment to refine it and not to mention I'd need to pay an enchanter to preserve it."

"All of which are temporary costs to a long term profit."

"All of which amount to more than I could readily afford."

"So that's the heart of it. Perhaps I'll see to someone else," Mars said harshly as he re-closed the lid.

"Sure, the butcher may buy it for food, or perhaps you'll see it to a farmer for fertilizer."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you won't find another seamstress in town... at least not one who isn't dead."

Mars grimaced. The Drow would be after the organ, and although he may be able to keep it the odds were against him if she and the templar both made a case against him to the queen. It was as good as dead weight at this point, but he was determined to make a profit from a loss. He turned back to the seamstress and gave her a empty smile, "Capitalizing on tragedy. You should be ashamed." He would have admired her if it wasn't him she was taking advantage of.

"Trust that it'll be put to good use to revitalize the economy of our good town that you care so much for," she replied with her own hollow smile. Mars couldn't help but like her. 

"Two gold by the ounce, two dresses of my choosing and as many cloth bolts as I can fit into the crate" Mars began, and at the beginning of her protest he continued, "refuse this offer and I'll burn it at the door to your shop. you'll lose a fortune knowing you only had to pay a fraction of what you'll make, and I'll only lose whatever the farmer might pay for fertilizer."

She was silent as she mulled the thought over. Then she spoke, "Choose the dresses."

She was honest to her word and made to protests as Mars took the two most eloquent dresses of the shop, and gathered her finest cloth from the shelves and packed them into the crate until it seemed the wood might split at the ends. Finally she gave him a pouch of gold as he gave her a triumphant smile, which he hoped burned her pride, and she returned her own smile he was sure was laced with venom. 

"Have a pleasant day," Mars concluded, starting to lift the box filled with valuable cloths.

"Why is it that no word has come that the town is safe, yet a Queen's Blade is in here bartering?"

"Because the town isn't safe yet. Far from it I imagine."

"So the Queen's Blade's are content shopping when they should be doing their jobs?"

Mars once again smiled. She was hateful this woman, or at the very least harsh with her tongue. Mars couldn't help but like her, and for a brief moment he thought of the Drow from earlier. Indeed had she not carried the religious zealotry of her kind, he might of found her as attractive as he found this woman... In fact, thinking back on it, Mars did find the Drow attractive, "It would appear the Queen employs a wide sort of people. Not all of which hold duty above their own life. Besides, our job is rather loosely defined."

"But you're a hero none-the-less," she said sarcastically.

"Far from it," he continued as he left the shop. "What's your name?"

"Angela," she called out, a very feint grin on her face.

"I'll come back when you're rich, and curse you for the deal we made this day," Mars jested. He saw her shake her head as he left, with a smile on her face. Perhaps the only genuine smile he saw from her the entire time. 

[/hider]

Mars emptied the contents of a crate into a large bag which he promptly hid under the hay in the corner of the stable which kept his horse. He slid his hand along the side of his horse as he exited e stable, a creature with a horrendous coat, but a strong, smart horse none-the-less. Towards the town square the villagers were still picking up the debris, and aside from their commotion the town was quiet. Mars supposed that if there was still a threat to the village it would have descended on them by now. Deeming it safe, he made his way the lakeside where the Queens were supposed to be. Indeed, it appeared the Queen's had handled themselves quiet ably and where in no need of assistance, which was good considering Mars was beyond offering the assistance he felt paid for. 

Besides the presence of the Queen, he saw the women from his own group, as well as three new Blades.