or, should she manage to charm one of the haughty nobility, a whole silver. Her rapier she kept at her side; the city was at war, overcrowded, and hungry, so it seemed only prudent.
She looked again at the crowd. A number of people were looking at her, perhaps knowing what was to come, perhaps curious as to what the slim young woman was setting up in the center of the plaza. Here stood a small child whose tongue dabbed at the bottom of her nose, there watched a young boy trying to evade her eyes, and over there stood a cluster of guards and soldiers, no doubt speaking of her in salacious phrases.
Feigning obliviousness to the eyes upon her, she reached up and untied her brown ponytail, hair so dark it was almost black. She fluffed her locks around her shoulders, knowing that the motion of her long hair-her mane, some called it-would draw attention. And lo! when she drew her hands out, she held a bouquet of flowers, which she brought to her nose and smelled daintily.
She paused, savoring the scent, then glanced up beneath her eyebrows and saw that she indeed had the full attention of the soldiers, two of whom had their mouths wide open in surprise.
The little girl with the darting tongue toddled over to her, unsteady on the rain-slicked cobbles.
'How do do it?' she asked, her tongue still bobbing.
Kehrsyn smiled and kneeled down, her cloak crumpling against the ground, and she asked, 'Would you like to smell them?'
The girl put her face into the parchment flowers and sniffed at the perfume fragrance.
' 'Mell good,' the girl proclaimed.
'Hey,' said Kehrsyn, 'you have a jewel in your ear. Did you know that?'
The girl furrowed her brows and tugged uncertainly at one ear as her tongue once more wiped her upper lip clean.
'Not that one,' teased Kehrsyn. 'This one.'
So saying, she reached out with her hand, gently caressed the curve of the girl's ear, and produced a small, polished stone with the hue and grain of well-varnished wood.
The girl squealed, 'Momma! Momma, lookit my ear! Lookit she saw my ear!'
She ran back over to her mother, holding her 'jewel' aloft, stumbling on the cobbles in her glee but never quite falling. The mother turned on the child with a look of weary frustration but softened as the child's exuberance overflowed. The child pointed back at Kehrsyn, and the woman favored Kehrsyn with a knowing look. Taking the girl by the hand, the mother put her worn purse back into her sash and strode away.
Kehrsyn sighed and stood up again, her slender hand reaching for the hidden fold in her sash and palming another stone from the score she carried there for just that purpose. It felt good to bring some small joy to a little soul in the midst of the cold, hungry winter. She didn't want anyone to experience the same grim childhood she'd had.
Let the adults worry about the enemy that stalked the lands across the river; children needed to have their fun. So long as Kehrsyn could keep the war from stealing their innocence, she would.
She just wished it was a little easier to get their parents to show a little charity.
Despite her mother's miserly demeanor, the little girl had attracted Kehrsyn some attention, just as she'd hoped. The beginnings of an audience were forming, most notable of whom were the soldiers, who walked up to her directly.
'Olare!' said one in greeting. 'So you're a sorceress, huh?'
One of his mates, jealous that the other had spoken first, punched him roughly on the arm and said, 'Of course not, half-wit. Where's the aura? You ever seen a magician without a glow about her spells?'
'Actually, yes,' said a third, a seasoned veteran and clearly the senior of the rowdy group. 'It's rare, but it's not unknown. Why, back in Chessenta, in, uh, fifty-four I think it was, I-'
'Come on, Sergeant,' said the first, 'We hear your stories all night in the bunkhouse. I'd rather hear this maiden's voice right now.' A murmur of general agreement settled the issue. 'So, young one,' he continued, addressing Kehrsyn directly, 'are you a sorceress?'
Kehrsyn chuckled and answered, 'Of course not.'
'I think she is,' commented another soldier with a smile. 'She's already charmed me.'
Kehrsyn flushed with embarrassment.
'So if you're not a sorceress,' asked the first, 'how can you do all that stuff without magic?'
'It's easier without magic,' she said, then she leaned forward toward the soldier. 'It's easy to make jewels appear,' she said in a stage whisper, 'when guys like you don't groom yourselves properly.'
With that, she tapped at his nose, striking it so that a polished stone appeared to fly from his nostril, knocked loose by the flick of her finger.
The soldier stepped back, too startled to know whether or not to be affronted. His comrades laughed uproariously and showered him with a variety of new nicknames, from Gemfinger to Noseminer to Rocksnot.
The officer stepped forward, heedless that an audience had gathered.
'You're a gambler, aren't you?' he asked in a gravelly voice.
'No, I–I don't have any coin,' said Kehrsyn. 'Not even a wedge.'
'A likely story.'
'It's true,' protested Kehrsyn. She turned to the sparse crowd around her. 'But if one of you wants to loan me a coin,' she said loudly, 'I'll pay you back double.'
A half dozen coppers presented themselves, but she picked the lone silver egora offered by a merchant's hand and favored the worthy with a wink and a bright, wide smile.
'All right,' she said to the sergeant. 'You see this egora, right? This side is crowns, and this side is verses. Crowns, verses. I'll bet you this egora against one of your own. Done?'
The sergeant nodded assent.
Kehrsyn suppressed a smile and said, 'Are you ready? Watch closely.' She held out her right hand and placed the coin on it. 'There, it's showing crowns, right? Crown side up, got it? Now watch closely.'
She held her left hand out next to her right, palm down. With a flick as fast as an arrow, she flipped her right hand down on top of her left, concealing the coin against the back of her left hand.
'Now, Sergeant,' she said, 'tell me which side is up: crowns or verses.'
The sergeant snorted, 'Verses, of course.'
Kehrsyn faked a heavy sigh and lifted her hand.
'Sergeant,' she said, 'you weren't paying attention.'
The crowd gasped; the coin showed crowns. The sergeant blinked a few times and did nothing until the elbowing of his troops prompted him to give Kehrsyn a silver egora.
'All right, let's try it again, shall we?' said Kehrsyn.
The sergeant nodded.
'Look,' she said, 'we'll try it a different way. I'll put verses side up this time. Got it? Verses up. Remember that. Ready? Verses up.' Again she flipped her hand over with the speed of a falcon. 'For a silver, Sergeant, which side is up?'
'It was verses up,' mumbled the sergeant to himself, ensuring he had been paying full attention and remembering the chain of events properly, 'and you flipped your hand over, so now it has to be crowns. Crowns up,' he said.
'Sergeant, I'm trying to help. I gave you the answer, you know. I said, 'Verses up.' Three times I did.'
When she lifted her hand, the coin indeed showed verses. The crowd cheered, most especially the soldiers. The sergeant handed over another egora.
Urged by those around, the sergeant agreed to a third guess. Kehrsyn placed crowns up once more and flipped her hand, but before the sergeant could say anything, the soldier known as Noseminer stepped up.
'I'll make the guess this time, wench,' he said, 'and I'll wager three egorae against all three of yours!'
Kehrsyn paused and glanced around, her face paling.
'Uh… but the sergeant…' she stammered.
'I'm onto your trick,' Noseminer proclaimed. He clamped his hands on hers, ensuring that she couldn't manipulate the coin. 'The guess is mine. Don't back out!'
Kehrsyn recovered some of her composure and said, 'You-you don't have three silvers on you to wager, so I decline.'
Ordering one of his fellows to keep a tight hold on Kehrsyn's hands, Noseminer emptied his purse and indeed
