Despite everything that was happening, Raile found himself unable to close shop. It was his duty as a merchant and salesman not to. If anything, the flood of refugees would possibly increase his business. He had already announced a discount for bulk purchases at the front of the shop, as well as discounts for potions and metalwork, as long as it pertained to aiding with the en-masse problem. Drake had already left, leaving his only guard as Rhenakos, who was out back at the moment. Kalina and Leilah had come back from their meeting, but had retired upstairs for the time being, obviously distraught about the state of the world and Lady Angela.

Business was doing well. For the most part, Leilah’s potions were the biggest sellers. Right behind in sales were food items of various types. On the lower end, his weapon stash seemed completely untouched. Kalina might have been disappointed, but due to the situation at hand, it seemed unavoidable.

As Raile looked around the shop during a slower point, he noted what he was low on, and started to resupply, pulling out several barrels worth of alchemical ingredients that had been delivered a few days ago.

The light blue portal shrunk until it vanished as Attie stepped away. Her eyes turned to the horseless cart in front of her. The cart was made up of wood and had thick wool cover so that water or any weather wouldn't touch it, despite the fact that the journey would be quick enough to avoid any bad weather due to portals. A single question boggled her mind as she looked at the cart. Why hadn't the villagers sent a horse along with the cart?! A sigh escaped Attie's lips as she walked over to begin pushing the cart. Without a horse, she wouldn't have the chance to have a good look at the town she was visiting! She began pushing the cart through the city until she found the marketplace. Stares followed her as a random woman pushing a cart meant for a horse wasn't a daily sight. If it wasn't for her advanced strength, pushing the cart would have been a challenge. 

Instead of looking for the best stall or shop, she just pushed the cart to the closest place that seemed to sell food. The closest shop happened to be the shop with a man with hazel eyes and reddish short hair. Attie stood up properly and walked over to the store to knock on the door. She didn't know if it was proper for a seller to enter a home without permission or if she could just barge on in. Figuring that the safer option was better, she waited until somebody came out. In her mind she practiced her bargaining practice that she learned at the village. Start with a high price and then settle on a medium price that both parties liked. Her lessons were quick, as the villagers didn't have time to teach her everything that Attie would need to know. Hopefully, the minimum would be enough. Especially now with food depleting due to the goddess dying or something. 

It hadn’t been long since Raile had started with his tasks before a strange thing occurred. There was a knock at the main door. He turned his attention to the entryway to see a young woman patiently waiting at the door, as if a guest waiting for entry. In many of his travels, he had witnessed several different tribes that lacked the basic concepts of shops, instead persisting as a whole unit, trading amongst themselves as individuals instead of using shopfronts.

Perhaps she had never been to a shop. Raile shrugged the thought off, and walked to the door, opening it. “Please, come in. Feel free to browse. If there is anything that is missing or isn’t a common item, please let me know.” He smiled. “And as long as my door is open, you’re quite welcome to come in at any time.”

He started to walk back to the barrels he had been working out of, but kept a close watch on her. It wasn’t that he thought of her as a threat. No. It was because she needed something. Everyone needed something. His eyes passed over her, looking out the window to see a horse-drawn cart, minus the horse.

Hmm.

“If I may ask,” he started, “Is that your cart outside? Did something happen to the horse?”

A man approached the door and let her in. Nodding her head in response to Raile, she wandered in and began to look at everything in the shop. Fascination lit up in her eyes as she looked at all the items that were for sale. Although she'd seen a store before, every shop was different. This shop seemed to sell a variety of things such as weapons, potions, food items, and other things. 

"Horse? Oh, the villagers in the Bohar Plain didn't have a horse they could spare." She explained, "So I ended up pushing it here. But I didn't have to push it far due to my portal magic." 

She held out her hand and demonstrated her power by opening up a portal on the floor. The portal was oval and the rim of the portal was a light blue magic swirling around. Attie closed up the portal again and walked over to Raile. Having forgotten momentarily why she had been there, there were things that she needed to get sold for the villagers. 

"So do you need any barely or wheat?" She asked bluntly. 

The customer looked around for a moment, admiring the wares before approaching Raile. Her comments about how the villagers in the Bohar Plains had skimped out on the horses brought a smirk to his face. It wasn’t that he was laughing at her situation, but more that the traders of the plains would need to step up their game if they ever wanted to do consistent business. A cart without a horse was quite useless in most situations.

“Ah. Portal magic. One of my associates has access to it, although he tends to get his destinations…er…a tad off.” The merchant thought back to the stories he was told about his bodyguard, and how the man had portaled himself over the Nyella more than once. “Anyway, I would recommend being careful with portal magic if you’re new to it. Just…keep a clear destination in mind.”

Her next question was a little blunt, but Raile was sharp on the response, nodding. “We carry both. Prices are two silver per pound, with a bulk discount starting at intervals of five pounds. I also carry discounts for those who are a part of the current coalition of trade routes that I and a few merchants have managed, if you’re interested in working something out involving that.”

He cleared his throat. “In addition, if silver is an issue, I also trade in equal value goods, as well as contacts and information, should the information be important enough to value.” He paused for a moment to let his spiel sink in. “Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

"Yeah, I know what you mean with portal magic. When I first used it I opened up a portal to Egjora." She admitted sheepishly. 

As he spoke she realized that he was expecting the village to continue trading their wares. Perhaps he hadn't heard about Dal's devistation on most villages in the Corval Basin. Attie herself hadn't seen any of it but refugees fleeing the horrors would tell tales of her carnage. Realizing that he probably didn't know about the situation in the Basin, she decided to clue him in on how desperate things had gotten. 

"Actually the silver is all the village wants. They've been hit hard with refugees and don't have enough money to keep them all clothed and healthy. That's why they are selling some of their food supply." She explained, "And I supposed most of them aren't going to be able to trade for a while until things calm down over there. Hopefully the gods will get the situation sorted out soon." 

Attie gave a little shrug and walked outside to the cart, flinging off the sheet that hide the bundles of wheat hidden in the cart. Each bundle was stacked upon another, ready to be taken and sold in shops or stalls. She began to count all of the bundles in order to figure out how much silver would be needed. During her counting, she was extremely careful as the villagers were relying on her to bring back that silver. Determined not to fail, Attie counted each bundle properly. She turned back to the merchant and walked over to him. 

"Each bundle is a pound. There are 20 bundles so that would be 40 silver." She said, "If you want to buy it all that is." 

Raile watched her count the bundles. Just by eyeing it, he had a general idea that she was telling the truth. Overall, it wasn’t the worst trade, and he knew they needed the coin. He looked to her, and looked back to the bundles.

“Tell you what,” he said as his business mind took over. “I’ll pay you fifty silver for the same amount, but only if you agree to a special deal. Once this whole thing is sorted out, I would like to establish a contract with this village that you represent, to add it to a supply route. Any excess wheat or barley that they can produce can be traded evenly for silver or other goods at the going rate. The benefit would be a mark-up similar to this, where additional funds can be added.”

The merchant paused for a moment. “Of course, I won’t rush you into a decision. I’m sure you would need to get back with the village to discuss the terms.” He walked over to the main counter, and started to count out silver onto the table.

“Fifty now, and you’ll discuss the terms with the villagers, yes? And if they decide not to, then the ten additional silver is nothing more than a messenger’s fee. A fair trade?”

"Yes!" Attie exclaimed after hearing everything that the merchant had to say. 

Her bright blue eyes glistened with excitement as she rushed over to the cart to begin pushing it. The cart was heavy but Attie refused to let it get the best of her. Continuing her shoving, the cart began to move towards the door of the shop. The cart rolled until it hit the door, unable to get through due to the cart being too wide. Attie stopped shoving and walked over to the door to see what the issue was. Kneeling down, she looked at the door then looked to Raile. 

"Hmm. I don't think its going to fit. I guess we will have to unload the cart one bundle at a time." She said, "Or we could try to find a way to pour all of the bundles into the shop."

Attie stood up and placed her hands on her hips. She hadn't thought about the consequences of pouring all the bundles into the shop. Such as, the mess it will create or the fact that the bundles of wheat might end up damaged. Walking over to the cart, she looked it over to see if there was a way to make it pour everything into the shop. After a few moments, she looked over to Raile. 

"What do you think?" She asked. 

Raile noted her excitement, which was quite the thing to behold. He couldn’t help but be highly amused at her sudden desire to try and do everything on her own. As she ran out to try and push her cart closer to the door, Raile simply stood idle to watch for a moment. It was obvious that she was not thinking clearly due to the offer he had placed. She finally got the cart to move, much to his surprise, and pushed it close to the entryway, almost blocking the entire door off in the process.

“Now, that simply won’t do,” Raile stated, crossing his arms with a smirk. “Now, now…it need not be so complicated.” He clapped his hands together loudly. “Boy? Are you here? Xeik!” There was a shuffling above them, and a scrambling sound, followed by footsteps coming down the stairs. However, it was not a boy who came down, but a cute, blonde girl with braided hair and bright eyes, wearing almost boyish leather armor that was loose fitting in all the wrong places.

“What do you want?” she asked, pouting. “I was busy studying.”

“…Ayaa,” Raile stated firmly, glancing to Attie. “We have a new business partner. Do you mind helping offload her around back?” He looked to Attie. “Ayaa here can take your cart out back and get it unloaded while we discuss the finer points, exchange coin, and sign some paperwork. And don’t worry, she’s far stronger than she looks.”

Ayaa huffed, and crossed her arms. “As long as you’re paying, I guess…” she dropped her arms. “I’ll be right on it miss. Leave it to me!” She started to the cart. “I’ll be back before ya’ know it!”

Raile sighed. “Sorry…she’s a wildfire at the best of times.” He returned his full attention to Attie. “Now…where were we? Oh. Paperwork and coin. Let’s get to it. To my office. The door behind the counter and to the left.”

Attie took her journal from her bag and prepared to sketch the new person who was coming. Instead of a short haired boy, the person who came down was a girl. Surprise struck her face as she thought boy meant a person of the male gender. Then she remembered an old friend's lesson on how boys can have long hair as much as girls. Attie concluded that the braided haired girl was in fact, a boy. As boys could have long braided hair too. Attie believed this until Raile called Ayaa a her. So this was a girl? Confusion flickered through her eyes as she tried to figure out this gender puzzle.

Why would she be called boy? It didn't make sense! Attie sat down on the ground and placed her hand on her chin and her eyes were narrowed, she was pondering the situation.  Suddenly, Raile began talking to Attie again and she lifted her head to pay attention. Attie didn't doubt that Ayaa could handle the task, as she had seen a child who was capable of holding an anvil up before. It was a magical kid but that was besides the point. Before Ayaa could leave the room, Attie gave her a thumbs up with a smile, to show that Attie believed in Ayaa. Even though they just met, Attie believed that the kid could do anything if the kid wanted to! Attie then turned to Raile with an excited smile as this was the first time she would make such a large deal. 

"She's fine! At least she is a nice kid!" Attie said, "Lets get started!"

She began walking towards the office, following his directions.