"Klara! Klara, come quickly, the merchants are here!" The sound of the door banging shut followed the voice.
Klara looked up from her work, glancing out the window. Her friend Nola was dashing down the road, skirts held high and a trail of dust following behind her. She was sure to get the very first pick of items - you had to be quick to get what you wanted, which meant getting to the merchants fast. Klara glared down at the pie she was making. If she left it sitting on the table, then the whole thing would be ruined. She would need to get it into the oven before she left - her own pride, and her own unwillingness to face her mother's sharp tongue wouldn't let her ruin it.
"Donkey dung." She muttered. She would never be able to get to the ribbons and find one that would trim her new dress now. She'd have to wait until the next time the merchants stocked up - and who knew when that would be?! Ribbons, after all, were not a necessity.
Her eyes had turned to the window, and Klara forced them back to her pie. The crust, which had been sitting waiting to be filled with apples, was now full. Had she lost time, peeling and slicing the apples without remembering? That had to be it. She had been daydreaming - it wasn't as if she couldn't make an apple pie in her sleep.
She placed the pie in the oven, arranging the coals of the fire just so, then raced out to see what was left of the merchants wears.
Sitting on top of a carriage, a young white haired man sat in the seat holding the rains in his hand. “So when we get there, just relax; we’ll get you some water and I’ll give you some carrots before we head back.” His green eyes twinkled as the horse whinnied, which caused the young man to laugh. “Fine, a sugar cube too.” Shaking his head he ran a large hand through his white hair as he noted they were entering the town. Soon he was in the square. Apparently, this town really didn’t like the idea of magic and he took the job to deliver the goods; maybe it’s because his form of magic wasn’t considered scary. Someone drawing animals to them doesn’t give off the scary impression most magic does for these humans. Poor humans.
Once in the town square Aston climbed down off the wagon and opened the back. Pulling out the display stands he gave a small sigh placing the basic wears of his world onto the stand along with some fancier things. These poor people paid so much money for such simple things. If they would just learn that magic isn’t a bad thing and allow more magical people to move into town they would be charged much less.
Meow… meow…. Meow… It wasn’t long before the local animals found out that he was back in town and came out to greet him. First it was the household animals of cats and dogs, which soon came the bigger animals. They all seemed to be asking questions about him and where he was from. All he could do was put his fingers to his lips and shoosh them quietly. He didn’t need the conversation to happen or he’d scare away the locals. Taking few carrots from the sitting area, he began to feed his horse as he waited for the people to come. “You get the sugar cube when we leave.” He said with a smile as he pet the horse on the nose with a bright grin showing his straight white teeth.
Why were there so many animals around? Klara clicked her tongue in annoyance as she picked her way through the animals and the crowd. Perhaps there had been a spill of some sort, and the animals were gathered to get a taste. Still, it didn't make getting to the merchant's wares any easier. She went to the end of the line of merchants, hoping that by starting at the end and working backwards she would happen upon something nice.
There were more animals at the end of the line of wagons then at the start, but with less people they were a bit easier to dodge. Klara smiled at the young man who cared for his horse. "It'd be nice if they talked back, right?" Of course, that was a flight of fancy that could never happen. And if animals did talk back, it was surely some strange magic. But the idea itself, if it could be separated from the evil of magic, was a pleasant one.
She looked over the young man's wares, mentally calculating how much she'd be willing to spend on a ribbon.
As Aston petted his horse, he felt someone approach his merchant cart. A smile moved across his face as he turned his green gaze to the individual. Through his white hair he found a young woman looking through his merchandise. Her comment about animals made him smile. “Oh wouldn’t that be nice.” He said with a nod as one of the kittens arrived to him, rubbing his leg with her little body.
“I bet this little girl.” He said with a smile as he scooped up with kitten who meowed. “Would say, ‘Lovely lady, please take me home.’” A cheeky cheese expression moved across his face as he held up the cat in front of his face to make it ‘talk’. The kitten meowed at her and tilted its little head as he lowered the brown fluffy kitten from his face and gave an honest heartfelt laugh. “Though I imagine the voice would be a lot more adorable.”
The kitten meowed again in his hand and he gave it a strange look. The kitten was protesting that its voice would be ‘adorable’. Because the cat he had picked up was actually male instead of female and would be a protector of it’s owner and any kittens it had. A small sigh left Aston as he cradled the little kitten in his arm, turned it over and proceeded to scratch its belly. First, it protested in an attempt to bite his fingers before the kitten seemed to settle down and purr in his forearm. “Or manly since this little one is male.” A chuckle escaped his lips before he turned his gaze to the woman and gestured to the cart. “See anything you like?”
"I hardly think kitten's voices could be manly." She gave the youth a hesitant smile before returning to look at his wares. When he asked if she saw anything she liked, she shook her head. "I'm looking for some ribbon to trim a dress. Something very specific - I doubt I'll find it, but I'm holding out hope."
"Klara~!" A voice called through the crowd. Klara turned at the sound. Nola was practically jumping in excitement, a bolt of cloth grasped in her hands. "Look!" Nola waded through the crowd of animals to show off her purchase. The fabric itself was much finer than anything woven in the village, and dyed a bright green they couldn't begin to replicate. Obviously, the dye to make such a color didn't come from the local plants.
"How nice!" Klara couldn't help but be envious. Just the touch of the fabric was smooth and richly soft. Of course, the bolt of cloth had to have cost Nola all her pocket money for the year. She didn't even want to think of just how much her friend had truly spent. But Nola was fond of green, and why shouldn't she get such a lovely cloth? If only things were not so expensive! But merchants had to come out of their way to come to the village. Of course they would raise the prices to make the trip worth it.
The little male kitten in his hands hiss lightly at the girl as if disapproving what she had said. Aston rolled his eyes and put the kitten back on the ground and gave him a gently push with his foot into the other direction, reminding the kitchen that he had to leave before he turned his gaze back to the young lady at his cart.
A smile moved across his fine lips showing his straight white teeth as she finally admitted to what she was looking for. His long arms reached into the back of the trailer before he heard a call for her. His fingers wrapped around a small display stand that he hadn’t put out yet as he glanced over his shoulder at her friend who was showing off her fabric; a fabric and color he recognized all too well.
“Miss, how much did you pay for that?” He questioned rather abruptly interjecting himself in the women’s excited conversation. When she shared the price he let out a long sigh, pulling the display rack from the back of the cart, “Miss, I implore you to return that to the salesman and buy mine.” He pointed to the matching green fabric on his. “Yours will lose color almost instantly when hitting water and mine won’t. If you don’t believe me get some moisture in the corner of the fabric and watch the change. By sales law since he’s still in town he has to give it back to you. My price is half that and you won’t lose the color that easily.”
He gave the girl a nod before turning his gaze to the girl he had originally grabbed the display rack for, a gentle smile moved across his face as he beamed at her. “See anything you like?”
Nola looked at the young man suspiciously. "Master Hubert has been coming to town for years. I think I'll trust his product over some young man who hasn't gained my loyalty. Likely selling products made with magic, for that price." She turned back to her friend, and lowered her voice. "I'm headed back. Try not to be too anxious to get your ribbon...you never know what sort of things may have been done to make it."
Klara bit the inside of her cheek as her friend left. Her friend was voicing the opinion of the village, really. And she had a point - this young man hadn't visited before. He certainly didn't have a good reputation with the townsfolk - not like the other merchants. Of course, he didn't have a bad reputation either. Surely it was safe enough to buy a ribbon from him.
"Try not to take it to heart what my friend said." She commented as she looked at the young man's wares. "If you continue to come to town, you'll build up a reputation and more people will shop from you. It might take a few years, though...we like people who are familiar to us."
She pointed to a ribbon - made of white silk and embroidered with blue cornflowers - and asked about its price. "How much for the ribbon?"
