The next day it rained. The market was still open, but few traders bothered to set up their stalls, knowing that the bad weather would drive off all but the most determined shoppers. Onua would have stayed inside too, but by afternoon her room was growing stuffy and she felt the walls beginning to close in around her. She needed fresh air.
Outside, the cold drizzle soaked through her hood and raised goosebumps down her back, but she welcomed it after the overly warm stuffiness of the inn. She wandered around the nearly empty market, stopping to examine the wares at a few of the stalls just for something to do. She had just bought an apple from a fruit merchant's stall when she heard the tell tale sounds of an argument nearby. Slipping the fruit into her pocket for later, Onua turned around to look for the source of the noise. She found it nearby, under a ledge that provided some shelter from the rain. Three young men, squires or sons of lords by the looks of them, were standing around a third man, thin and dressed in raggedy clothes, who sat on the ground. With a start, Onua recognized him as the player she'd lost her coin to yesterday.
"-know you cheated, now give it back!" The squire was demanding.
"I can assure you, sir, I didn't cheat. I'm just very good at what I do," the player insisted.
"I know what I saw, and the coin should have been under that cup!" The squire shouted, pointing to the offending cup.
"Maybe your eyes just aren't as good as you think they are," the player suggested innocently. The other boy's face turned bright red with anger, and he yanked the sword from its sheath at his belt.
"Learn some respect for your betters or you'll be the one with bad eyes," the squire growled, pointing the blade at the player's face. He raised his hands slowly in front of him.
"I don't want any trouble," he said nervously. "You can have the coin back."
"No," the squire said, smiling wickedly. "I think you need to be taught a lesson. What do you think?" He asked his friends. They laughed and nodded in agreement, and the leader took a step forward.
"I think that's enough fun for one day," Onua said firmly. The squires looked around, eyes taking in the woman standing behind them with a loaded crossbow in hand.
"This doesn't concern you, peasant," one of the squires told her. "Go away."
"It concerns me to see three gentlemen like yourselves behaving in such a way," she replied easily. "Don't you have anything better to do than threaten helpless players on the street?"
"It's none of your business how we behave!" He snapped.
"That may be so," Onua agreed, raising her crossbow. "But you'd best not cross me all the same." Scowling, the squires turned and left, muttering insults as they went. Onua lowered her bow.
"Thanks," the player said. "I'd like my eyes to stay just where they are."
"No problem," Onua said, taking the bolt out of her bow and putting both items away. "But in the future you might want to consider not insulting touchy nobles with swords."
"Couldn't help myself," the player said with a wince. "It's a weakness of mine."
Impulsively, Onua stepped under the ledge and sat on the damp ground across from him, placing a copper coin on his little table.
"You want to play?" He asked surprisedly. She shrugged.
"Why not? It's like you said, my luck might improve."
He smiled and placed one of his own coins on the table, then slipped hers under a cup and began to move. Her quick eyes tracked the cup and saw when he made the switch.
"There," she said, pointing to the cup she knew was right. But when he lifted it, the space was empty, save for a tiny glitter of magic, so insignificant that had she not been looking for it, Onua doubted that she would have spotted it.
"Sorry," the player said sympathetically. "I guess you didn't get any luckier."
"Hm," she said thoughtfully. "You have the Gift, don't you?"
The color drained from his face. "What?"
"The Gift," she repeated, surprised at his reaction. "You just used it to hide my coin like you did yesterday, didn't you?"
Relaxing a little, the player smiled ruefully. "You're the first to catch me at it."
"I have sharp eyes, and my own Gift helps me spot things like that," she explained.
"I see." He sounded interested, like he wanted to ask for more details about her Gift, but held himself back. Instead, he just shook his head in disbelief.
"You saw me use my Gift, but you let me cheat you out of your gold anyway?"
Onua shrugged. "You looked like you needed it more than I do."
"You're right about that," he muttered, looking down at the ground.
"Do you want to come eat lunch with me?" She asked suddenly.
"What?" He looked up at her, confused. "I just cheated you twice and now you want to have a meal with me?"
She laughed. "I've been on the road a while, you could say my judgement isn't what it used to be. Besides, I could use the company. The inn where I'm staying makes a fantastic stew, and I'm buying. What do you say?"
He looked like he was about to refuse, but just then his stomach gave a loud growl. He smiled sheepishly. "I'd be happy to," he agreed.
"Great," Onua said, standing up. The player followed suit. "Horse Lords," Onua said, looking up at his considerable height. "If I'd known you were this big I wouldn't have offered to feed you."
"Too late now," he said with a grin.
"I'm Onua, by the way," she told him as they began to walk toward the inn. "Onua Chamtong of the K'mir Raadeh."
"I'm Ar-" he stopped and corrected himself. "Numair Salmalin, of nowhere in particular. It's a pleasure to meet you, Onua."