As always, Jaira’s spread of wares was quite varied. What caught my attention, however, were the barrels of various spices, herbs and plants. “Hmm. To begin with, I’ll take the barrel of cocoa beans and the barrel of sugar.” As soon as the words left my mouth, one of Jaira’s bodyguards moved the barrels out of the lineup and put them onto the landing.


    I kept going through, and soon a few more barrels joined the cocoa and sugar barrels, one containing dried dates and another containing raisins. With food taken care of, I moved down the line, and began putting aside a rather diverse supply of alchemical ingredients I couldn’t get in the region. Thunderbird tail feathers and grounded salamander scales. The beak of a cockatrice gave me pause. “How’d you get your mitts on this? Those damn things are supposedly too dangerous to hunt.”


    Jaira tensed up as she saw me showing the beak. “We didn’t intentionally hunt the damn thing, Darling, I assure you. It attacked us while we were camped, lost a lot of stock and guards that night, all killed by its deathly glare before we even realized it was upon us. I spent most of the beast’s highly valuable parts just to recover the losses of its assault.”


    I eyed the beak. It could be made into some incredibly dangerous weapons. “Since you put it out, I take it you are intending to sell it?” Jaira nodded. “Indeed. And the faster I can sell that last reminder of that horrible night, Darling, the better.” Hmm, a pair of knives for Meleri as self-defense wouldn’t go amiss.


    “Add it to the pile.” The bodyguard grabbed a linen cloth and lifted the large beak with great care. When he put it down on the porch, the white linen cloth was as black as soot. “I see the death effect is still in the beak. Which means it must not have died by any of the easy means. My condolences for the one brave enough to land the final blow.”


    Jaira nodded slowly. “Sireth, a brave man with a big heart. His battle with the beast will go down in tales. Even though he was dying from the beast’s very presence, he struck the deathblow. He smiled even as the beast’s deadly blood covered him and prevented us from saving him from joining the beast in the Great Beyond.” Jaira’s voice was unusually solemn as she spoke. He must have meant more to her than she was letting on. Well, that was none of my business.


    “Hey sis, you think I could have this?” I looked over at what she was holding. It was a rather skillfully crafted pan, spatula and other cooking implements, of a far higher quality than the rather rustic utensils of wood and iron pan I was using.


    I was about to answer when Jaira looked at it and smiled. “Darling, there is no need for that. Take it as a gift, as an apology for my earlier tactless blunder. No, no, no Morgana, I insist, that’s a gift to your sister. It’s hers now.” She was clearly not budging on this. I gave a helpless shrug. “If you say so. Saves me a bunch of gold anyhow, so you won’t see me complaining.”


    Jaira gave Meleri a beautiful smile as she watched hurried inside to put her new implements away. “That sister of yours is rather sweet. Or should I say… my aunt?” I looked at Jaira for a moment before I gave a deep sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if you ever remember who raised you after your kinsmen abandoned you. Although considering their abhorrent choice of raid target on their way, north, I can’t say I’m surprised they went with the bad choices.”


    Jaira’s pristine smile faded somewhat. “I... do, Darling, it’s just… I am not sure if I should be happy about that series of events or not. I mean, I hardly remember my parents as is. So I can’t really say whether it’s my kinsmen’s fault or not for abandoning me, or if I should be glad, they left me behind.”


    I looked at her for a bit, then walked over to her and put my arm around her. “Look, kid. I never knew your parents, but I can tell you straight. Anyone who’s willing to just up and abandon a child because they want the wealth and status of their inheritance, isn’t worth keeping around, as your own relatives made clear when they offed them for leaving you behind.”


    Jaira squirmed in my grip but couldn’t make my arm budge an inch. “I... I know… Mother Dearest.” The last two words were a mere whisper. I looked at her. “Sorry, Jaira, could you speak up? I didn’t quite hear that last part. Or are you embarrassed about being unable to keep your suave attitude in front of your boy-toys/lunch boxes?”


    Jaira went beet red instantly. “H-hey that’s unfair. Besides, I know you heard it, so stop teasing me. At any rate, Darling, why are you not telling your sister about this. Are you trying to hide it?”


    I arched an Eyebrow. “Hide it? It’s you who insist on calling me Darling rather than mom or mother in front of other people. Thus hiding our actual relationship unless I go into some really awkward introductions afterward. Man, you were so much easier to introduce to people when you were still a kid.”


    Jaira turned a light shade of red, and I was certain I heard at least one of her bodyguards chuckle. “T-that’s because it would be undignified to call you that in front of the sl... I mean servants.” I was not letting this slide that easily. “Almost as undignified as almost outright flirting with the sister of your adopted mother, ain’t it?” Jaira didn’t have a response to that one.


    “Look, I am not asking you to shower me with a child’s affection here, but a simple mom or mother would go a long way in clarifying things.” I heard the door open behind me. “I mean, now I must tell my sister that I adopted you some century ago, even more so after your little number upon arrival. Besides, it wasn’t like you seemed eager to clarify that yourself when you introduced yourself and omitted your final last name, Jaira Vèl-D?-Set Byrne.”The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Jaira opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again as she looked at something behind me. I just spoke up without turning around. I knew she was there. “Yes, Meleri she is my adopted daughter, naughty as she is. I blame her instincts and not her for the… flirty behavior, though. After all, it’s not her fault that her primary food source is the life energy of other beings. Oh, don’t get me wrong, she can get by for quite some time on regular food, but she will need life force, eventually.”


    Meleri stepped into view. “I figured there was something going on, as you seemed annoyed as she introduced herself.” I shrugged. “There were really two options when I stumbled over that scene. Adopt a kid whose only crime was having a shitty family who made multiple stupid decisions, or leave her to the not-so-tender mercy of a very vindictive and furious Nettle. Nettles vehemence towards Jaira has lessened somewhat in the years since, and Jaira can trade with Nettledale, provided she does not enter the village itself.”


    Meleri looked at me quizzically, causing me to give her a slight shrug. “I’ll go into more detail once we get to that part of the tale.” Her unasked question was pretty obvious, after all. Jaira perked up immediately. “Oh, reminiscing about the past are we, Darling? How delightful. Well, in that case, if you are done perusing, all that’s left is the payment and I will not disturb you anymore.” Jaira seemed suddenly keen to leave…


    “Hang on, young lady. Aren’t you forgetting a little something?” I could see her mumble something under her breath. “What was that?” Jaira deflated. “Fine, I will stay for dinner, as I promised the last time I was here.” Meleri looked at her with confusion, “Not a fan of my sisters’ cooking?” Jaira looked at her for a few moments, confused by the question. “No, it’s not that…” Her voice tailed off.


    I couldn’t really understand why… Soot suddenly flapped down and landed on her head. “It’s fine, Ma’am. I won’t make you eat bird seeds for dinner. You can relax.” I looked at the two. “Bird seeds?” both I and Meleri asked in tandem. Jaira shrugged. “I made a bet with Soot about whether you would remember my promise about dinner. If I lost, my dinner would be bird seeds. If he lost, he would give me a few feathers to sell.”


    Oh, well, that was silly of her. “Jaira, Jaira, Jaira, you should have learned by now, dear, to never bet against the bird. I am quite certain that those eyes of his give him a level of foresight or something. As betting against him will all but guarantee a loss, if he’s the one suggesting it.” Jaira nodded, her expression glum.


    I took a deep breath as Soot gave Jaira a loving nuzzle. “Anyway, I will look over the rest of the wares and then get payment done. Why don’t you relax on the porch with the others meanwhile, and I will-.” Meleri cleared her throat. “You will do nothing, sis. I will be breaking in the new cooking implements for dinner, and you WILL sit back and let me do it. Non-negotiable.”


    I looked at her for a moment, then with a chuckle, I threw my hands out. “Fair enough, fair enough. Dinner’s on you, but you will NOT be cleaning. I use magic for that because it’s way less of a hassle and doesn’t leave anywhere near as much of a mess you have to clean up afterward.”


    Meleri gave me an eager nod. “Sounds good to me. I hate doing the dishes, anyway. You won’t believe how happy I was to be promoted to a position so high in the hierarchy, I wasn’t on dishwashing duty no more. I mean, sure, it was more stack these, push them into the dishwasher, then pull them back out again a few minutes later, but you get my point.”


    “I do, which is why I put so much time and effort into getting both the cooking and cleaning spells perfect. Granted, I spent more time than I’d like to admit repairing broken plates because of my testing.” Meleri seemed surprised, so I gave her an explanation.


    “Magic isn’t an exact science. Wording and intent is just as important as having the mana reserves to actually cast the spell itself or the correct components on hand, should the spell require them. Even more so in witchcraft, because of its free-form nature. In fact, the only magic form that’s more free-form is sorcery, which is a magic that is a mix of intent and instinct. Which makes it virtually uncontrollable early on.”


    Jaira put a hand on my shoulder. “Darling, you’re in teacher mode again.” I blinked a few times. “Ah, right, sorry about that. I get a bit… fixated on magic because of my own interests. Hmm, I should probably get back to the wares, shouldn’t I?” I went through the rest of Jaira’s offerings and wound up grabbing a bunch more alchemical ingredients and some items to make more potion flasks and minor magical items. But it was better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.


    Meanwhile, Jaira and Meleri returned to the porch and were soon in conversation with one-another. Good to see the two get along. A few minutes later, everything was on the porch. “Hey Jaira, tally time.” I called over to her as I sat down on the stairs leading down from the porch itself while Jaira’s bodyguards cleaned up the reminder of the wares.


    Jaira went over the pile with an appraising expression, and I joined her there a few moments later. “Hmm, that’s two platinum, thirty-one gold, eighteen silver, and fifty-seven copper, total.” I gave it all a once over with my Identification spell.


    “Close, because of the high quality of this gem, you’re actually thirteen gold coins off.” I held up a high carat ruby for her to see. Jaira blinked, and I could see the magic of an identification spell across her eyes. “Damn, you’re right. Ugh, I should’ve just used the Identification spell to begin with.”


    I gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault. To properly identify the worth of gemstones without magic or a loupe is difficult unless you’re a dwarf or dragon-kin. That you were that close speaks for itself on your skills as a merchant.” I could see Jaira puff up ever so slightly from my praise, though she did her best to hide it.


    That kid, always putting up a front of a strong and independent woman, but deep down all she wanted was some praise for a job well done. “Now then, how about I get these squared away, and I’ll make your favorite sandwich for lunch?” I dropped the money into Jaira’s palm, then levitated the items inside. I didn’t need to even look at her to know she was grinning at the prospect.