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Bausy could hear the thud of objects hitting the floor (breaking from the sound of things) as he walked up the creaky, old steps of a house that appeared to be leaning to one side from the odd way the roof had been designed. The building was white and shaped like a cylinder with two huge windows adjacent from each other and a huge, circular door leading into the chaos inside. The house stood out like a sore thumb in the grand city it was built in, but that made it more charming in his opinion. "Blast!" he heard someone shout from inside, bringing a smile to his face. He shook his head as he knocked on the door. "Aye, hold on a minute, lad!" A feminine voice with an obvious accent called from inside. There was a huge crash right before the door opened revealing a short, pale, red-headed woman; her hair sticking out every which way. She had eyes as green as clover and freckles dotting both of her cheeks. "Aye, Bausy! If I'd known it was you, lad, I would have come sooner. I'm so glad to see you, come inside quickly, we haven't much time!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door behind him.
"What are you doing, Irena? It's a bit too late for spring cleaning." Bausy examined the piles of mess everywhere, several vases smashed on the floor.
"Aye, the market's tomorrow, you know, lad." Irena picked up a book with ancient runes decorating the front and threw it in a box. "I'm going through me things and trying to find good enough goods for selling." She tossed aside a sash and a pair of pants into a laundry bin.
"You're selling?" Bausy looked at her shocked. "Irena, you can't need money." He walked over to the box she had marked 'Market' and pulled out a beautiful emerald orb with flower carvings on the outside. "You can't get rid of these things! These are from your travels!" Bausy set the orb on her dresser. For a one room house, she had managed to pack it full of odds and ends from all over the world.
"Aye, and put that back in the box you ninny." She yelled at him, throwing a red skirt into the box.
"But you said that skirt was from a princess in the far northern region. Why are you getting rid of this stuff?" Bausy cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"Lad, talk while you work. A council member will be here to check out my goods at sunset and they don't want anyone but the seller in the house when they arrive, so we have to finish before then, pricing and everything." She handed him string, paper, ink, and a quill pen. "Remember, thread the string through the paper, which you have to tear into smaller pieces, and then mark the price on it. Once you've finished that, tie it on the item." Bausy nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to get in a word at the moment as Irena flustered about. "Lad, you know that a new head of council was elected two Tuesdays ago, right?"
"Yeah, I knew that. He's instating all these new rules. I've heard old man Gerald complaining about having to raise prices on his goods so that he can pay the new taxes. How much do you want to sell this for?" Bausy held up a rooster carked from oak.
"I think 250 marbels should be enough. Aye lad, but new taxes isn't the half of it. Everything is being raised in cost to bring funds to the army because he seems to think some war is approaching or something. Anyways, you live with your parents still so you probably haven't felt the pain of the raised property taxes. I had my house custom built when I first moved in and so I never had to pay anything for it before. I had enough marbels to live comfortably and buy an extra loaf every now and then. Now I can handle the property tax increase, but he's taxing me for being a foreigner now. Just because that new council leader thinks I haven't always lived here," Irena huffed, dusting off an old jar and emptying its contents into a sack. "Label this sack 'ruby buttons' and mark it for 450 marbels." She tossed the sack to him.
He caught it and laughed. "I think the odd house and accent were a dead giveaway."
"I've told you before lad, you're the one with the accent, not me," she laughed.
"You know, you've traveled the world before. You could just leave here and go somewhere else," Bausy continued making tags so he would be ready when she tossed something else at him to price.
"I've grown rather attached to this place, lad. Also, leaving won't settle all my worries and if I leave, who's going to watch after you? You couldn't fend for yourself if your life depended on it." She smirked at him, adjusting her white blouse. Bausy watched her as she pushed things aside on a shelf. She always moved gracefully. Though her house was a mess, she always made sure she was clean and presentable before going out into society. He knew she had to trust him to let him see her clothes and hair so messy.
"You know, you've traveled the world and you could have gone anywhere and done anything. Why did you choose to live here and settle for being Gerald's assistant?"
"I've answered that a million times over for you, lad. I have traveled the world and as you can see, I have the trinkets to prove it, but during my travels I began to long for just a nice little place to settle down and to live the simple city life, so I ended up here. You remember the day I moved in, don't you, lad?" A loud whistle pierced the air. "Ah, tea's ready. Let’s take a break and grab a cup, aye?" Bausy obliged, following her to the table. She pushed everything on the table onto the floor, something glass breaking as it hit the floor, and went over to the stove. She put on an oven mitt and grabbed the tea pot, bringing it to the table. She picked up two mugs from the floor--clean mugs--and poured them each a cup. "Careful, lad, it's hot."
"I remember when you came to this city. We were young back then, sixteen or so, and I thought it was the coolest thing to see you stumbling in with your arms full of bags. There was a man with you with even more bags in his arms and you scouted about the city."
"And you followed me like a little lost puppy," she smirked, taking a sip from her tea.
"Yeah, but you were fascinating back then."
"And I still am now."
"I'll say," Bausy laughed. "I remember you walked all around and then you came to this spot, dropped your bags--you must have broken half of what was in them--and declared this spot as perfect. Then before we knew it, this house was up and I've visited you nearly every day since."
"Charming story and it never gets old. Aye, I knew when I found this city that it was the one. I sent my hired help away and I've never regretted it. Sure I miss the traveling, but nothing beats having a place of your own, you know." Irena turned the mug in her hands thoughtfully.
"Whoa!" Bausy stood up, cantering over to a crown encrusted with diamonds and amethysts in intricate designs. He placed it on his head, but it was too small. He took it off, fixing his blonde hair back with his hand. "You could fetch well over one million marbels for this."
"Give me that, Princess." Irena snatched the crown from him, grabbing a box that had fallen on the floor and placing it inside. She took the box and hid it in the bottom of her laundry hamper, making sure she had plenty of under garments piled on top. "It's so the council member wouldn't dare go in there and find it. You know those old men would pale at the sight of my undies. Yeah, I could sell this and get maybe three marbels for it after the council gets done taking their fair share of my money. No thank you."
"Where did you get that? That has to be the crown of a Princess!"
"On my travels, I came across it in a desert. I fear for the Princess who left that one behind…or rather what's left of her."
Bausy could tell Irena didn't wish to speak further on the subject. Despite the fact that they had been good friends and seen each other nearly every day since the four years she had been in Grantsen City, there was still so much he didn't know about her. "Hey, what's this?" He asked, holding up an old, dirty sack. It was rather small in size and when he opened it, he only saw a bracelet that looked worse for the wear and a ripped piece of paper.
"Oh goodness, how'd that get in the box of items to sell?" She grabbed the small sack, placing it carefully on a shelf. "I don't know what I'd ever do if I lost this."
"It's just some torn up bracelet."
"Aye, but some things are worth more than all the marbels in the world. Anyways, the sun should be setting in a few hours and we need to finish before then, so we better hurry!" Irena clapped her hands together as she threw away bits of glass from something she had broken and tossed it in a rubbish bin. The two worked together and soon the floor was free of clutter (though the same couldn't be said for Irena's shelves) and five boxes had been marked for the market. "We make a pretty good team, aye?" Irena smiled at Bausy.
"Yeah," he agreed. The two were sprawled on Irena's bed, tired from the day's work.
Suddenly there was a bang on the door. "Open up, council!"
"Oh gorgons’ hide! The council is here!" Irena whispered harshly. "Get under the bed! I'm supposed to be alone when they arrive!"
"Why do they even need to come?" Bausy asked in a whisper.
"Wonder that later, get down!" Irena whispered frantically as the shout came from the door again. Bausy obeyed and got under the bed. He watched from the crack where the blanket met the wood floor as Irena went to open the door. "Well hello there Mister Council, come in, come in." She bowed deeply as the council entered. He was tall and had a very broad chest. It was so broad that he had to turn sideways to get through the door. He was wearing black armor. In the light, Irena recognized the blonde man who was in dire need of a shave. "Ronin, is that you? I didn't know you were on council duty now."
"I will not be addressed so casually. You may call me sir," Ronin glared fiercely at her, though Irena wasn't fazed in the slightest.
"Who died and made you royalty? No matter, you're here to observe if I have any money you can confiscate and say it's a charge for running a booth at tomorrow's market, now weren't you?"
"You have no right to even speak such a heinous thought. You know if I wanted, I could have you sent to the dungeons for such heinous talk." Ronin spat on the floor at her feet.
Irena placed her hands on her hips, "So why don't you? My charm and good looks holding you back?"
"You are out of line and completely false." Ronin leaned over her, trying to intimidate her.
"False am I? Tell that to your body," Irena grinned, as Ronin blushed. "It's okay, many people have a thing for foreigners as I've been apparently labeled by your new leader."
"Shut your mouth. Fine, I see there is nothing out of place here, other than this wench before me." Ronin turned to leave.
"Who died and gave the council more power than the Princess? I doubt she'd ever send council so forcefully into people's private property."
"Wouldn't you like to know," Ronin spat before exiting the house, slamming the door shut behind him.
"What's got his goat?" Bausy asked as he scrambled out from under the bed.
"I don't know, but something tells me that this isn't the only change Grantsen is in store for and perhaps the world. Oh well, that's a thought for another time. You best be getting home, lad. I have to wake up early tomorrow if I want to set up for the market."
"I'll be here to help you carry your boxes. Who knows, maybe we'll get some royalty at the market tomorrow or a traveling caravan or maybe someone who's looking for a couple of Grantson city goers to go on an adventure!" Bausy exclaimed excitedly.
Irena laughed, "Aye, this is why I love you, lad. You're always so full of imagination and adventure. I'll walk with you until we get to Bar's farm." The two left, joking and laughing, imagining all the wondrous things that could happen at the market. After all, it happened only once a year so who knows what would happen...
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