Haldraine-she had to call herself that if the name was ever going to belong to her-stood at her cart's side, yelling out the usual hawker's tirade over her meager goods. "Sturdy clothes for men and boys! Strong seams!"

At the end of her first day she had grown hoarse from all the yelling she did, but at a month in, her tone was moderated-though she lost some of her higher range to the constant work on her voice. She did decent sales, really did, and would be making enough to possibly secure her future. That is, if it wasn't for the alcohol. It was the only thing that deadened the urge to go find a man she barely knew and certainly didn't trust. More than a decade later she understood her mother-only in part. She'd been blocking out this insatiable urge to do something truly stupid for nearly a month and was fast losing patience with the whole effort.

That's why it was a blessed relief when she saw the two guards lurking not even a full block from her position, clearly checking her over. No doubt to the former thief that she had been watched by someone in the guild the whole time, but that overt surveillance was more in line with the arrogance of the guards-they didn't care if you knew. They wanted you to run as it gave them the excuse they needed to come after you. And if they were here due to stolen goods, they'd have already shaken her down and made their decision on her fate. So, she'd give this Althalos another hour before he'd come in and drag her away like property or she was giving up for the day. She'd be damned if she let these two clowns follow her to the place where she intended to dull her mind too far to pay any attention to them.

But for the moment, she'd sell what was placed in front of her. "A two-coin for trousers!"