Nua navigated between people, getting closer to the stables. The courtyard was crowded with merchants unpacking or packing their wares, errand boys and girls not unlike her, carts and animals burdened with saddlebags. Everyone was shouting, or working fervently, or both. She put on her sandals, unwilling to step into dung. Anki hovered close by, helping with the directions.

“There’s the entrance”, he said. “I’ve noticed at least four separate groups. Three of them seem to be packing, and one has just arrived. I’d go directly to the caravan leader.”

“That’s my idea exactly”, Nua said, “But I don’t know who they are. I’ll ask stable boys.”

“Don’t be too meek, Nua. Try to get yourself noticed.”

That was the opposite of what she was doing all her life. Getting noticed usually meant getting beaten up, and she tensed at the thought of it. Mustering her courage, she got near the entrance to the stables.

“Get lost!”, someone shouted.

Nua jumped back, and a rider passed her by with a huge, red-scaled musushu. He was so close she could smell the mount’s breath. She tried again.

“’Scuse me, ‘scuse me!”

She stepped into the stable, hot and smelly, crammed with all kinds of pack animals and mounts. A young man about her age, with an excuse for a beard, was resting in the corner, supporting himself on a broom.

“No beggars here; scram.”

“I’m looking for a job.”

“Who do you think I am?”

“Someone who knows if the merchants have jobs?”

“Go to the stalls, and ask them to let you clean the warehouse.”

“I did that. I want to go with the caravan.”

“Everyone and their mother want to go with the caravan”, the guy said. “Just clean the warehouse. You’ll get nothing better.”

Nua’s shoulder’s dropped. There was no sense to argue.

“Thanks for nothing”, she turned back.

“Hey, wait”, he said. “You really want to go with the caravan?”

“Yes?” she asked, her hopes raised.

“Then get a saddle, beast-eyed”, he followed with malicious laughter.

Nua’s pride acted up.

“Yeah? Says the guy who swapped his face with an armpit.”

She ran out, suddenly afraid that he’d call guards in revenge. That could always happen.

“What now?”, Anki asked.

“I guess I’ll look around”, Nua said. “I’ll try until someone cries “thief”. I will do my best not to look like a thief. You know, no sneaking about.”. She hung her sack over her arm and fastened the belt.

She got closer to the wagons and the bashmu drakes. They were at least twice as large as the musushu and walked on all fours like camels. They were warm-blooded, just like their sleeker counterparts, and the scales on their torso and the head were fused, forming something akin to plates. Supposedly it made them more resistant to heat. They came in different colors – sand, ochre, and yellow-green, with bright yellow, black or blue stripes on the sides of their heads.

There were camels, too; less common than the bashmu because of their ill temper and less capacity to carry, they were preferred by some for their intelligence. Additionally, the females could be milked.

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She didn’t even get close when an errand girl elbowed her.

“They’re mine”, she said, “Get lost!”

Nua backed off promptly. The caravan in question was unpacking, and the girl was helping them carry merchandise for a tip. She, on the other hand, needed one that was ready to leave.

She tried her luck at two others. She got almost trampled by a bashmu, elbowed again, and called slurs when she shouted that she's looking for a job.

“Beast-eyed? Is that even allowed?”

Each time, she hastily withdrew, afraid that after she wears her welcome, someone will kick her out. She was mostly ignored, however.

The next caravan looked like they were departing. A large woman with thick, greying black hair and dark skin was shouting at the others, making it apparent that she was a leader, or a least acted as one in their absence. Nua took a look at her and internally sighed. The woman was of Old Azurian blood – the nation that ruled the place before Tiberians came. Some of them mixed in the Tiberian dynasties and as such, they still governed, like – probably - the late explorer prince Flavius. They viewed themselves as the conquerors of Unsagga and were typically ill-disposed towards them.

“I don’t think I have a chance with that one.”

“And that is for the best”, Anki’s emitted a low, guttural growl. “Do not prostrate yourself before her. Let us try somewhere else.”

Nua frowned. So, the king had beef with the Old Azurians a thousand years ago and had his prejudices, too. Just like half of the world had prejudices against the Unsagga now, and no one wanted to give her a chance, even as an errand girl.

Suddenly, she had an impulse to act the opposite to Anki’s advice.

“Hello! I’m Nua!”, she shouted. “I am looking for a job in a caravan!”

The woman didn’t hear her. Nua climbed on her toes and shouted even louder.

“I AM LOOKING FOR A JOB!”

The caravan leader turned around, focused her sight on her, and frowned.

“Hessa!” she yelled. “You wanted help. That’s one of yours. And about the same age you were.”

Another woman emerged from behind the cart. She was of average height, thin but wiry, composed entirely of muscles and clad in leathers. Her left eye was covered with an eyepatch. The other had a telltale golden glint.

Nua held her breath in surprise. Anki just gazed, baffled.

“That a city kid, Ashra.”, said the woman. “Older than me back then, by years maybe, and she probably never saw a camel or a bashmu up close. The only thing they’re good for is thieving.”

“I am good at many things!”, Nua clenched her fists. “I can work. I can carry stuff, run errands, climb, scout.”

“Sounds like thieving, all right”, interjected a broad-shouldered, bearded guy beside them.

There was a collective burst of laughter.

“I can peel tubers”, Nua said, deeming it not worth mentioning that she was terrible at it. With a pang of desperation, she added, “I am fast at mental mathematics.”

That gave them pause.

“What, how do you know what that even means?”, asked the woman called Ashra.

“Ask me something. Ask me to add numbers. Or multiply them.”

“Nine times seven.”

Nua promptly imagined piles of fish.

“Sixty-three.”

“Twelve times twelve.”

“One hundred and forty-four.”

“Well, color me crazy”, Ashra laughed. “She’s a natural. Next thing you’ll be telling me that you know your letters.”

“I don’t”, answered Nua. “But I can learn!”

A little enthusiasm goes a long way, she thought. She was even worse at it than at peeling tubers, but who knew, maybe Anki’s healing changed something. Her memory did get better. Even if she failed all the same, they didn’t need to know her doubts. Also, that would be a solution to her problem with writing to Hala – either she learns, or she guilts her teacher into helping.

“Hessa, you train her.”

The woman with an eyepatch sighed.

“I have no use for a city-born smartypants. Get her apprenticed to a peddler. If I train her, she needs to have what it takes to hunt”, she reached for the sacks. “Catch!”

Before Nua knew it, a long, smooth stick flew at her. She grabbed it on instinct. Just in time, because what followed was an attack with a similar stick. She deflected a hit. The force of the blow made her slip in her sandals and land with her butt on the ground. She had no time to think about it because of a stick closing in. There was a loud knock, but that was wood again, and not her head. Hessa stepped back, so Nua got up from the sitting position in an instant, holding the stick in both hands, with her arms stretched in an awkward defensive gesture. Seeing the other stick fall again, she almost called on ether.

Hessa stopped a couple of inches from her head.

“Hopeless”, she said. “But quick.”

“So?”, Ashra asked.

“The spear, not the sword.”, said the huntress. “Sling, not the bow. No strength, decent balance if she works on it. Good eyes; a born tracker. Goin’ to be a rider, but not before she cleans the steeds every day. City girl needs to learn what animals are. I’ll take her.”

Nua just stood there with her mouth open. What had just happened? She was looking for a merchant’s servant job. Cleaning, carrying, other errands maybe. What, exactly, did she get hired as?

Never mind.

“Anki, I made it. We’re in a caravan.”

“I don’t know, Nua”, Anki was still looking at Ashra.

“She seems like a good person.”, the girl said. “And she has no idea of whatever you’re mad at. If you need to let go of some stuff, just tell me someday.”

“Girl!”, Hessa shouted. “Nua, was it?”

She tossed something at her, again. Nua dropped the stick, not sure if another trial is coming. What she caught was a pair of worn leather boots.

“Put them on later and stuff with straw, they’re too big for you”, the huntress advised, “What you're wearing now is going to screw up your feet, so better get used to these. Come with me. I’ll show you the ropes.”