There were no Kyralians, she noted. A few grey-skinned men wearing only short skirts of cloth were selling gemstones.
“Who are they?” she asked Vora.
“Duna,” Vora replied. “Tribesmen from the ash desert in the north.”
As she walked around the market, examining goods and fending off sellers with a polite smile and a shake of her head, she listened to the talk, moving closer if she saw two traders in conversation. She caught half-hearted curses aimed at the ichani who were disrupting trade with Kyralia. Some enthused about the opportunities that would come once Kyralia was conquered. Others worried that the ichani would then turn on the emperor and throw Sachaka into a war with itself.
Stara thought about the opinions of her father’s guests. They had argued that Sachaka had been heading for an internal battle already.
Trust my luck to end up in Sachaka at the wrong time.
As she and Vora turned a corner she saw a man glance at them, then give Vora a second look. His gaze immediately moved back to Stara and he smiled. She gave him a polite but distant nod, lowered her eyes and continued past.
She was amused to find her heart was beating a little faster, and not because she felt threatened. What a handsome man! Really, if father chose him as a husband for me I’d have a hard time refusing.
After a moment she glanced over her shoulder. Vora tugged on her arm, but not before Stara saw that the man was still watching her.
“Stop it!” the woman muttered. “He’ll take it as an invitation.”
“An invitation for what?” Stara asked. Was there any way a woman could have a lover here in Sachaka? Probably not after marriage, but she wasn’t married yet...
“To talk to you,” Vora hissed. She pulled Stara round the next corner.
“Just talk? What’s wrong with that?”
Vora gave a short sigh of exasperation, her gaze flicking about at all the people. “I can’t tell you here, mistress. Until you learn who it is safe to talk to, you shouldn’t speak to anyone. You may end up conversing with one of your father’s enemies, or offending one of his allies.”
“How am I going to learn who it is safe to talk to, when I never meet anybody?”
“I will tell you the names and families.” Vora frowned and glanced over her shoulder. As she did so, the handsome man stepped out of a stall a few steps ahead of them. He turned and smiled as he saw Stara again. “There is much for you to learn. We will get to—.”
“Forgive me, but would you be the daughter of Ashaki Sokara?”
Stara smiled and nodded. “I am.”
“Then I am honoured to meet you,” the man said. “I am Ashaki Kachiro. My house is next to yours, on the southern side.”
“Oh, you are our neighbour, then.” She glanced at Vora, who was keeping her eyes to the ground. “I am Stara – and honoured to meet you, too, Ashaki Kachiro.”
“I see you have not bought anything,” Kachiro said. “Does nothing here please you?”
“I am merely looking to see what is available. It is interesting to note the products that are hard to find in Capia but plentiful here, and the opposite, as well as the differences in prices.” As she stepped up to a stall he moved aside to let her past, then fell into step beside her. She was amused to find herself flattered by this. I’m getting more attention from him these last few moments than I’ve had from my father since arriving. “Clearly some wares are too prone to spoiling to be a viable market item, but there are some trinkets here I think would sell well in Capia.”
“You have an interest in trade, then?”
“Yes. My mother taught me to help her with the Elyne end of Father’s trade.”
She was sure that did not give away too much. She had kept her and her mother’s involvement vague. If Sachakan men did not like dealing with women, saying that her mother ran part of her father’s business might humiliate him and turn customers off.
“Can I ask which trinkets you believe would sell?”
She smiled. “You can ask, but I would be a fool to answer.”
He chuckled. “I can tell you are no fool.”
Feeling a tug on her arm, she sobered. To completely ignore Vora’s warnings would be foolish, too.
“It is lovely to meet you, Ashaki Kachiro; but I must return home now. I hope we will meet again in future.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful. As she began to turn away, he took a small step towards her.
“I, too, am about to leave. Since we are neighbours ...I invite you to return with me, in my wagon. It is safer for a woman to travel with company – even in the city – and I would hate to see you come to harm.”
Stara hesitated. Was it safer to refuse or accept? Would it be rude to turn him down? The chat had been nice, but she wasn’t so susceptible to a good-looking and charming man that she’d jump into his wagon at the first invitation. She glanced at Vora. To her surprise, the woman looked undecided. Then Vora gave a small nod followed by a warning look. Stara turned back to Kachiro.
“May my slave travel with me?”
“Of course. And I am sure you will want your wagon to follow.”
“Then I accept, Ashaki Kachiro.”
The conversation remained reassuringly comfortable as they strolled out of the market, gave their orders and then settled into his wagon. He was flatteringly interested in her life in Elyne and appeared impressed by her knowledge of trade, and wasn’t coy about his own life and business. She had learned a little about yellowseed crops and the uses for the oil by the time they arrived at the door to her father’s mansion.
He stopped there, however, and politely escorted her and Vora to their wagon before continuing on to his own house. As the slaves drove them through the gates Stara gave Vora a questioning look.
“So. Why didn’t he come inside?”
Vora brow was wrinkled, but she looked only a little worried. “Ashaki Sokara doesn’t like him much, mistress. I don’t know why. He’s not an enemy or an ally.” Her lips thinned. “Expect him to be displeased, though.”
“What’s he likely to do? Stop me leaving again?”
“Probably, but he would have anyway.”
Stara considered that, and how she might convince her father otherwise, as they climbed out and entered the mansion. Had she learned anything from Kachiro that might be of interest to him? She didn’t think so. Unless he needed to know about yellowseed.
As they neared her rooms she found she was pleasantly tired and looking forward to relaxing for the afternoon.
“That was just what I needed,” she told Vora. “A change of surroundings, some fresh air, and—” She stopped as she realised someone was standing in her room. Her father. His face was dark with anger.
“Where have you been?”
She paused before answering, registering the fury in his voice but catching herself before she could flinch. I am a twenty-five-year-old woman, not a child, she reminded herself.
“To the market, Father,” she told him. “But there’s no need to fuss. I didn’t buy anything.”
He looked at Vora. “Leave us now. Stara, you should have sought my permission.”