As she walked and traded among the others she garnered a small measure of attention. A few young men were asking after her, they gathered in clumps of two or three, and whispered to one another. These young men would hear the story of her visit last year, around the time of the solstice. She had fended off three suitors, one for each day she had been present therein. Their gaze slid over her fair braids, her handsome curves and muscles, and the goat slung over her shoulder. They turned away wistfully before she caught them staring with her own glacier blue eyes framed by long blonde lashes. 

It appeared that the year away had only made the girl stronger and taller than she had been. Some wondered how living alone with no one to spar against she had become good enough to fell three warriors in three days.

If they had asked her, she might say that her constant partner was the mountain, always the greater friend and foe. 

She noticed the lowlander. A woman who was thin, small, dark of skin and hair. The opposite of the Dan in every way. Yet she spoke their language fluently, and spoke of the goddess proudly. This was enough to catch Nairas curiosity and attention.

First she spoke of the Dan and the Goddess, of victory and praise. Then when her words turned to the Witch, she began to loose her audience. It is not that the Dan were fearful, but rather they were wise. The Witch had proven her strength and protected the mountain. She had earned the respect of the Dan and their leader. Yet, many had their reservations about her magic. When the Witch had first appeared many protested against her magic. It was whispered that she easily defeated her opponents, and brought them back from the dead to be her slaves. This unsettled the Dan sensibility, yet, might was right. So the Dan at first tolerated the witch, and then began to ally themselves with her. 

Naira herself had some reservations about the supposed magic of the Witch. She believed that some things should remain dead. She had midwifed for goats who had produced kids with backwards hooves and two heads. Naira did not allow these more than a few trembling breaths on this earth. It was a mercy to cull the weak, it was the way of nature and the Dan Hurmdig. Their short lives would only be suffering, it was a mercy. 

A Dan was no goat, however, yet to be defeated and then brought back a slave would be the ultimate humiliation. She imagined that she would rather be dead. Naira though that this was only a rumor, and therefore did not worry over it very much. 

The goat made a small noise as Naira moved to the forefront of the thinning crowd. She would not disturb the woman’s prayers, but would wait patiently with the others for a time to converse and ask questions.

Naira wondered if this was only preaching. The Dan were not inclined to preaching with their words, if they wanted to prove their point they did so with their swords and fists. The woman might be looking for an army to rise against the witch, preaching to see what kind of support she might get. Naira did not like the idea of an outsider seeking to use the Dan in their own battles in such a way. 

Or this was prophecy. The Goddess was known to speak. Naira herself had spent much time alone on the mountain, but had not heard the Goddess herself.

“You are not from the mountain, yet you speak it’s language. Who do you speak for lowlander? The Goddess? Or the army you seek to build against the witch?”