Starbound

Chapter One

Serpents Nest

She walked her horse toward the gate of the fort following the peasant farmers and the people going to market. She went unnoticed as was her innate ability. She had always been a person than blended into the masses. Which was why she was here. It was the reason she was chosen to be the eyes for her uncle. She should have felt honored that she had been chosen for such a task.

Odd that she only felt grim nostalgia for it. Gwen would be riding with her band of warriors fighting Saxons and roman patrols while she twiddled her thumbs here at this hated place. Hadrians wall. Right under the nose of Arthur castus and his sarmatian knights.

'Oh the adventure she would have! The great tales she could tell! ' she thought dryly.

"Are you new here lass?" An older woman asked.

" Yes I have only just arrived. Hoping to find good work and money. " she answered both spoken and unspoken question.

"What type of work are you looking for?" She asked

"Perhaps being a serving girl in a tavern a maid to a well off family. Or a tradesmen it matters not. Work is work" she said bestowing the woman a very fake excited smile.

"And if that doesn't go well I will simply find more promiscuous means to make my daily bread. Plenty of lonely men here to keep company" Nothing more was said silence came and with it peace from annoying questions.

'I'm better for it'

She entered the muddy yard finding building and barracks. Homes and wouldn't you know a tavern. She smiled knowing that warriors enjoyed two things besides battle and bloodshed. Women and drink. A tavern would give her plenty opportunity to watch the knights and their leader. She would need to inquire for a job there once she had seen that her horse was taken care of. Noir was special to her and a constant companion.

Once having him suitably stabled in a commoners stables having paid for a night only she went to the tavern. How she detested this smelly muddy place. She stood watching for a moment as was her typical way. There she was the swirling red hair that followed in her wake. That small womanly frame bustling with energy and work to be done. The lady that would give her a job.

She walked to where she stood for the moment at the bar. Noticed immediately by those flashing eyes feline eyes. Almost the same shade as her own. Though more yellow green like that of a cat. And just as sharp. This was no fool of a simpering maid. This was a lady after her own heart.

"I don't employ prostitutes. Though yer more'n welcome to come and entertain the men here." She said with finality.

" that sounds great because I am no prostitute. Though I see that type in a plentiful number. What I don't see is someone to help you serve the customers. " she said simply returning the hard gaze the woman gave her.

"Would you like to give me a serving job or are you in no need for that either?" She asked.

"Here I will see how you do tonight. If I like your work you can have the job. If not then you can piss off. Agreed?" She slammed the mug of wine on the bar top.

"Agreed"

Vanora as she later learned the name of her prospective employer gave no quarter. The whirlwind of activity would have left any normal peasant girl breathless and quickly exhausted. The heavy jars of wine and jugs of ale made the arms grow heavy after a while. She wasn't the typical peasant girl. She had trained and wielded sword axe and how since she was seven. She very much liked her employer.

She noted the faces about her getting a feel for the crowd as the time slipped by. It was halfway into the night when many of the common men went home and mostly roman shoulders remained that she saw them. The sarmatian knights. Beautiful. Terrifying. Men after her own heart.