The priestess's reassurances had somewhat eased my mind. At the same time they made me wary. There was no malicious enchantment or curse on my weapon, which was a good thing. The poisonous touch of its edge was an alchemical effect of sorts. Considering the way the weapon came to be I probably should have expected something like that. The art of alchemy was not limited to mixing medicine and brewing potions after all. In fact this art was much older than actual enchanting. Now that I had time to think about it, it would explain some of the weapons and other fabled pieces of equipment that our heroes of old supposedly wielded. A glaive with a poisonous blade, crafted from the remains of a wyvern, really was not all that special in that context. At the same time that meant that any accident that might happen was entirely on my shoulders.

Yes, if something happened, it would be my fault. Those were the thoughts going through my head as we headed back to the inn after saying our goodbyes to the priestess. I even almost forgot about getting some more ribbons for my sister. I probably would have if Quu'za hadn't reminded me as we passed a shop that sold some. I let the harpy pick the ribbons she thought would fit Kaele best. In theory I knew which one I should have picked. The same ones she had chosen for me. Their color and patterns followed a certain tradition after all. Red cloth with yellow and orange embroidery was for young, unmarried women according to these unwritten rules. Curiously enough Quu'za, who most certainly didn't know of these traditional conventions, and most likely wouldn't have cared much for them if she had, picked the right colors. She apparently wanted us to match.

As we returned to the inn I put my weapon away again on the weapon stand in my room. I sat there on my bed for a while, staring at the sheathed blade, fingering one of the ribbons in my hair. It might be for the best if I were to mark the weapon with some kind of warning. Something that would anyone know that touching the blade was a really stupid idea. Maybe I could tie some ribbons with embroidered words of warning to the heft just below the blade? I could add some skulls and other symbols for those who didn't know our letters, just in case. Green cloth and yellow embroidery? That sounded just about right. The ribbons would need regular cleaning whenever I had to actually use the weapon but it somehow still sounded appropriate.

I nodded to myself, lost in thought and almost fell off the bed as someone cleared their throat. “Please, excuse me.” I placed a hand over my heart as I looked in the direction of the door and at the young woman standing there. She was one of the inns employees. Maybe even the same one who had shown me to my room when we first arrived. I wasn't entirely certain, since I had not dealt with her since then but it didn't matter much anyway. I motioned for her to continue and she did. “We just received a message for you. It seems the caravan you have been waiting for has arrived at the gate of sunrise. They will camp at the caravan stop by the roadside for the night.”

I brightened up immediately. She bowed after delivering the message and I returned the gesture. “Thank you.” As she left I headed out as well. My first stop was my sister's room. I stopped at the door though, reigning myself in, as I heard soft snoring from behind it. I pushed the door open, careful not to make any sounds, and peeked in. Kaele was lying there on her bed, snoring softly, her cat familiar sleeping curled up on her belly as well. It was a sweet scene that put a smile on my face. I decided not to disturb her and closed the door again. I headed to Quu'za's room next and knocked softly on the door. After a moment the harpy opened the door, peering out at me. “I just got news that our caravan arrived. I'll head out to meet with the caravan master and discuss anything that needs discussing. Want to tag along?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Sure!” Apparently she was ready to go as she slipped out into the hallway to join me right away. Just as well.

She stopped at Kaele's door as I headed towards the common room and the inn's front entrance past it. I shook my head as she gestured at the door. “She is napping. Lets not disturb her.” That seemed to satisfy her as she resumed to follow me.

I stopped one last time to talk to one of the servants standing at the ready near the front entrance to receive any requests or to welcome new guests. “If my sister should come looking for me, please tell her that I headed out to meet with Zul'gar at the gate of sunrise and that I took Quu'za along with me.” After receiving confirmation I left with the harpy in tow.

We walked in silence for the better part, exchanging only a little banter every once in a while when something or other caught our attention. It seemed that the guards at the gate had already been expecting us. Or maybe not. It was the same forgeborn woman who was on duty that had already welcomed us to town. She probably just recognized us and remembered our request. They supposedly never forgot anything. I was unsure if I should believe that but their memory was quite good. That much was beyond all doubt. She pointed us in the direction of the large, fenced in campsite where animals were being tended to and tents were being set up. I nodded my thanks and headed in that direction.

The harpy's eyes got wider and wider the closer we got. Sure our caravan wasn't the only one who set up camp here for the night. It wasn't even the largest but the nature of its cargo and the number of armed guards set it apart from the rest. They weren't just the armed men and women I had taken along from back home either. There were a few wearing the colors of Caer'zha as well. Apparently someone didn't want to leave anything to chance. I could not fault them for this way of thinking. It wasn't every day that this much iron and steel could be seen in one place after all. Not when it wasn't equipment worn by an army on the march anyway. And not too long ago it had been a small army's worth of equipment after all. It certainly would be enough to tempt some people of questionable character.

Finally Quu'za stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth open about as wide as her eyes. She looked at me, then at the caravan's cargo and in the end back at me speechless. I broke into laughter and ruffled her feathers gently. My laughter drew some attention to us. Among others that of Zul'gar. I was glad as that saved me the trouble of looking for him myself among all the bustling activity. He swept me up in a bone crushing hug before I could react. “Oh Maidens! You are alright! What a relief!” Was … was he crying? I patted the old man on the back and sucked some air back into my lungs as he finally let go of me. He cleared his throat. “Please forgive me. I'm just incredibly glad that you are back on your feet and back with us, my lady.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before anyone else could notice and lead me and my companion to the fire place set up at the heart of our caravan.

I sat down amidst the others and seized the opportunity to introduce my harpy companion. “This is Quu'za. We got to know each other as we cut across the hills.” She waved a greeting at all the people, anyone who wasn't busy performing one task or another, who gathered around us. I seized up the people as well, checking to make sure everyone was there. Then I turned back to Zul'gar. “I take it that you didn't run into any trouble you couldn't handle?”

The old caravan leader shook his head. “Nothing. Our trip was pretty uneventful once we were past the toll bridge. If there were any bandits they stayed well enough away.” He paused for a moment. “We might have to be more careful on our way back though. Anyone who cares for such things will know that we will be carrying coin, and not just a little, after turning all this stuff in at the royal treasury. And a caravan carrying coin is a much more tempting target than one carrying what is essentially scrap metal.”

He was right of course. I nodded. “I have some ideas regarding that.” I turned to face Quu'za. “How would you feel about gathering a few of your people, about as many as you feel comfortable commanding, and doing some mercenary work?” She looked at me with big eyes. Was she still in shock? Finally she nodded though. Good. I turned back to Zul'gar. “I'd like to hire some more mercenaries at the capital as well.” My face turned sober again although I was still elated to see my people again. “We probably will be asked to raise a banner and join the war effort after all and I don't want to strip our home of any of its defenses. Those are already strained as they are.”

One of the women standing in the second row spoke up at that. “Will we be joining the king's army then? I heard they are facing off against the humans at the gap in the south.”

I could only shrug. “Maybe. I'm not sure. I'd like to petition for us to do something different but I can't make any promises.”

Quu'za found her voice again as well. “I can gather a handful of others who have fought alongside me in the past. I haven't ever commanded more. I might be able to talk a cousin of mine into joining though, she probably can bring again as many. We will have to talk coin and provisions first though and I probably should leave tomorrow to start gathering them, now that my people have scattered after that ogre incident.”

Hearing the otherwise lighthearted harpy talk business all of a sudden was a surprise. It was a surprise but it was a pleasant one that put a smile on my face.