A/N: I don't own Tamora Pierce's characters, settings or other plot elements!
"Well, here we are," came the gruff voice of the merchant who owned the cart in which Landry Kemper had hitched a ride. "The gates of Corus are just ahead."
Landry hopped out of the back of the wagon and, stretching, turned around to look at the city. Her mouth fell open and, pausing in mid- stretch, she sat heavily on the ground.
The cart had stopped on a hilltop above the city. Before her, Corus lay glittering like a spread of precious jewels. Through the center ran the River, and far away, across the menagerie of shops and taverns and homes and temples, stood the Royal Palace, its turrets shining, dazzling in the morning sun. An endless stream of horses, carts, and people flowed into and out of the city, the circulating through its streets.
Landry caught her breath and stood, adjusting her near-empty pack. She was a tall and slender, sporting a long dark-brown braid and bright green eyes contrasting sharply with her darkly tanned skin. She wore brown trousers and a loose blue shirt, belted around her waist with a length of rope. A smile lit her features; in her 17 years, she had never seen such a sight. She looked around at the people hurrying past her on their way into Corus for market day, then stepped forward and became one with the crowd.
The city was as fascinating up close as it had been from far away. All around her were people of every variety. Plump women hurried from shop to shop and stall to stall; merchants declaimed their wares; licentiously dressed women lurked in doorways, smiling and winking. Fine-looking gentlemen and beautifully dressed ladies rode above the crowd while children in rags ran underfoot.
The first thing Landry needed was to get a bite to eat, and then she would find a place to stay. She stopped at a street vendor's cart and ordered a sausage on a bun.
"There ye go, miss," he said, handing over her order with a smile.
She smiled back. "Excuse me, but I'd like to ask you-where around here can I find lodgings for a time?" she asked.
As the vendor opened his mouth to answer, a tall, sinewy figure leaned over her shoulder. "I'd try the Dancing Dove m'self, miss," said a husky male voice close to her ear, and a crumpled paper was shoved into her empty hand.
Landry spun around to find, in typical storybook fashion, nobody there. Her mysterious advisor had disappeared into the crowd. She turned back to the vendor with a look of astonishment, but he was already busy with his next customer.
Landry sighed, took a bite of her sausage and a look at the paper, and moved back into the throng.
An hour later, after a few inquiries as to the names of streets and one or two wrong turns, Landry arrived at the Dancing Dove. She studied the sign for a moment before walking in and finding a seat at the bar.
"What'll it be, miss?" winked the busty barmaid.
"Ah-ahm-just some lemonade, please, ma'am," Landry stuttered.
"Aww, won't ye have nothin' stronger?" came the mysterious husky voice inches above her ear.
Landry turned quickly to find the stranger from the sausage stand climbing onto the stool beside her. The barmaid nodded respectfully and set a tankard of ale before him, and he returned the nod. The man was tall and lean, blue-eyed and heavy-browed, with a head full of messy brown hair cut about to his ears. His features were somehow striking without being unusual, aside from a rather long chin above which his mouth was curved upward in a slight smile. She guessed he was close to 40.
Landry looked sideways at him as she took her lemonade. She was naturally suspicious of strangers taking any interest in her, but then, this could be an opening into some sort of work and society in this new city.
She turned towards the man to find him grinning widely at her. He offered a hand. "I'm Ruil," he nodded. "Welcome to Corus."
She took his hand and, smiling, shook it. "I'm Landry. Pleased to meet you-I think!"
He chuckled. "Wise of ye to be cautious, for ye may yet be sorry." He took a long sip of his ale. "So what bringeth a young lassie such as yerself to the big city all alone?"
"I'm not that young," she exclaimed, making a face. "Looking for work," she added.
"Aye," he agreed, taking another swig of ale. "One of those necessary evils, is work," he nodded, grinning.
"For some," laughed the barmaid.
"So what do you do here?" Landry asked Ruil.
"Oh, I manage t' scrape t'gether a living doin'-odd jobs," he said with a wink at the barmaid.
"I-see." Landry wasn't sure what to make of this. It sounded a bit suspect, especially with that wink at the end. She looked up at the barmaid.
"Aye, he scrapes together quite a living, he do," the woman grinned.
Landry looked at him sharply. "What do you really do?"
He laughed. "Ye'll find out, miss, if ye stick around long enough." He drained the rest of his ale. "Care to go for a walk, lassie?"
"Well-actually, I was coming here for a room-"
"O' course! Come, I'll have a word with ol' Saturn and we'll fix ye up in a jiffy."