This was either the brightest idea she'd ever had, or the dumbest.
Either way, it was already proving lucrative. Her coin purse was already heavier after lightening the purses of several unwary people. These festivals were fantastic for this sort of activity! So many inebriated people, so many distracted people, and so many merchants that were easy to fluster during the chaos. Her quick change scam had already earned her some shiny new coins, and with all of it combined? She'd be able to afford a nice meal for the next few days and maybe even that silk sarong she'd been eying for the last month. Maybe it wasn't practical, but a girl had to treat herself now and then, too.
And then, in a moment of brilliance (or insanity), she'd had a flash of inspiration. An idea that could go either awesomely, or awfully, and perhaps be more sustainable?
Maybe she should enter her name in this whole marriage drawing deal?
It seemed a good idea. The crowd currently gathering looked relatively well off, and she had a chance of marrying someone with money. It was only for a year and a day, anyway. A year and a day of a roof over her head, someone else's food and money, and goddess, if things got weird, she could always just bow out before the year and a day. Who said she would honor the arrangement if it didn't suit her? She could be gone in a flash before anyone ever realized she'd run away.
And maybe, juuuust maybe, if things went really well, she could steal an inheritance.
And so she though, well, hell with it. May as well give it a go! So she'd entered her name, waited to see who the lucky sod was, perked up in interest as her name and another was drawn, and--
Poof!
...There he was.
Right there.
Blinking into existence right before her eyes.
"Gah!" Song yelped, jumping back a step when some guy was just--bam!--there. She bumped the table behind her, and the matchmaker let out a sound of protest and caught a candle before it could topple over. What the...how had...? Song stared up at him--up, because he was tall--and blinked several times to clear her vision, as though it might have been a trick of the light. She had seen magic before, plenty of times, but she had never seen magic that did...that.
"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't expect..." She shook her head, pressing a hand to her chest as she recovered, and let out a breath. "Well, that. That's a neat trick you did there. Whatever it was."
A pause, and she squinted up at him, and as she did she couldn't help but notice all the other details about him--namely that he was well-dressed and wearing--
...holy shit, were those gemstones?
Huge gemstones!
Instantly, her interest spiked, and she leaned in closer and looked up at him through thick lashes. "How did you do that?"
Either way, it was already proving lucrative. Her coin purse was already heavier after lightening the purses of several unwary people. These festivals were fantastic for this sort of activity! So many inebriated people, so many distracted people, and so many merchants that were easy to fluster during the chaos. Her quick change scam had already earned her some shiny new coins, and with all of it combined? She'd be able to afford a nice meal for the next few days and maybe even that silk sarong she'd been eying for the last month. Maybe it wasn't practical, but a girl had to treat herself now and then, too.
And then, in a moment of brilliance (or insanity), she'd had a flash of inspiration. An idea that could go either awesomely, or awfully, and perhaps be more sustainable?
Maybe she should enter her name in this whole marriage drawing deal?
It seemed a good idea. The crowd currently gathering looked relatively well off, and she had a chance of marrying someone with money. It was only for a year and a day, anyway. A year and a day of a roof over her head, someone else's food and money, and goddess, if things got weird, she could always just bow out before the year and a day. Who said she would honor the arrangement if it didn't suit her? She could be gone in a flash before anyone ever realized she'd run away.
And maybe, juuuust maybe, if things went really well, she could steal an inheritance.
And so she though, well, hell with it. May as well give it a go! So she'd entered her name, waited to see who the lucky sod was, perked up in interest as her name and another was drawn, and--
Poof!
...There he was.
Right there.
Blinking into existence right before her eyes.
"Gah!" Song yelped, jumping back a step when some guy was just--bam!--there. She bumped the table behind her, and the matchmaker let out a sound of protest and caught a candle before it could topple over. What the...how had...? Song stared up at him--up, because he was tall--and blinked several times to clear her vision, as though it might have been a trick of the light. She had seen magic before, plenty of times, but she had never seen magic that did...that.
"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't expect..." She shook her head, pressing a hand to her chest as she recovered, and let out a breath. "Well, that. That's a neat trick you did there. Whatever it was."
A pause, and she squinted up at him, and as she did she couldn't help but notice all the other details about him--namely that he was well-dressed and wearing--
...holy shit, were those gemstones?
Huge gemstones!
Instantly, her interest spiked, and she leaned in closer and looked up at him through thick lashes. "How did you do that?"