Snippet #2679345

"Yātrī's niece?" A gruff voice responded. The man glanced skeptically from a wooden table in the middle of the room, with all kinds of goods lining it's surface.

"Yes," Bohdana confirmed, standing in the doorway of their little stone hut awkwardly. She carried with her a small bag full of items her uncle had given her to run errands with, looped over a dark green desert tunic that hung loosely over her body. Her eyes surveyed the middle aged couple before her.

"Ye' I s'pose you look a little like him," the man shrugged, chewing on his cigar with a sort of reserved distrust of the world, "C'mere then, take your pick errand girl."

Boh entered the home stiffly, unsure exactly if that was an invitation inside or not, but when neither the woman or man complained she stepped carefully toward the large wooden table to gaze at the neat piles of various items he was getting ready to sell, "Andle's a smart man," the man huffed, gazing down at Boh over his scruffy, greying beard, "Wonder if you're as smart as 'im, girl?"

"Don't tease her, Larc," the woman chastised, stirring a pot of what smelled like some kind of potato soup. She looked upon Bohdana kindly, in almost a motherly fashion, "I'm sure it's not easy traveling with your uncle, hm? Sure you're glad to be back in a town..."

Bohdana shrugged, averting her eyes back down to the wares lay out before her. Mostly food items; dried fruits and vegetables, cans of homemade soups obviously prepared by Larc's wife, creature bait, water canteens, biscuits, jerky and other things of the like. She picked up a few things, realizing she was under the watchful eye of Larc who scrutinized everything she added to the growing pile before her. A few times she put things down, deciding on another, better looking item of the same due to doubt the gruff man slowly fed to her with his occasional grunts at her choices. Her uncle was good at this, she thought gingerly, sliding one last packet of dried nuts toward her pile on the table.

"Hm," Larc blew out one last puff of bitter smelling smoke right into Boh's face and stood, scraping the wooden chair along the stone floor, "Not bad. Ye'uncle taught you well." She shrugged again as he counted up the items and handed them back to her, allowing her to pack them in her bag quickly.

He coughed, "7 Taqa crystals then. I don't s'pose Andle has stopped trading in those, has he?" Boh shook her head and reached into a pouch attached to her belt, beginning to pull out small, glistening crystals from inside when Larc grunted, "Make it 5. Your uncle has always been loyal t'us, even if he does get the best pick of the bunch every year before Summer selling."

"Are you sure?" Boh asked, still half pulling out a 6th crystal from her pouch. He gave a brisk nod and she gently placed it back, clicking the clasp in place and handing Larc the 5 Taqa's. She nodded in thanks, turning to leave them in peace before his wife stopped her, "Wait! You're only young, aren't you?"

"Mag, let the girl be," Larc shook his head, settling back down in his chair and continuing to organize stock.

"No, here, I have a gift," Mag reached into a clay pot, pulling out a few small, brown coloured squares and wrapping them up in a cloth for Bohdana. Boh stared down at the little parcel blankly until the woman explained, "They're sweets. To keep you going."

Bohdana blinked, "Are you sure?"

"Nomad kids don't get many treats, let that be my gift to you," Mag smiled. The girl nodded her thanks once more and made her way out of the small hut on the outskirts of Dol-Duna. Boh blinked the sun and dust away, allowing the hum of noise and excitement consume her back into the growing crowds currently preparing for the Summer Bazaar.

She quickly placed one of the brown candies onto her tongue and shoved the rest in her already filled bag, enjoying the taste of sugary toffee flooding her taste buds. People pushed around her as she entered the thick of the town, already starting to set up stalls selling all kinds of goods. Boh passed a particular stall selling goats and goat goods, though what caught her eye particularly was the goats cheese. It had been so long since they had eaten such a luxury and reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet today, "Perhaps I should ask uncle..." the girl muttered to herself, sucking the sweet in a sort of composed excitement.

The Summer Festival was one of her favorite events of the year, and it had already begun.