Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 14)

(Nice! It’s tough. I have people who have petitioned me to change some of the names in my novel because I was somehow totally oblivious to how similar the consonants are and so the names are similar in the readers brain. But like there’s Jer-REK-a, REKard, and deREK and that’s just a lot of hard syllables in the center of the word. Tbf Derik and Rekard were meant to be similar tho because I feel like father/son similarities is pretty canon in life in general lol so I’ve got like Levin/Levi, Derik/Rek, Aerik/Aeron but it may be a lil much to have Jerica too. But idk I can’t bring myself to rename them. Yet anyhow) (it’s kinda funny tho I found old old drafts last week and was reminded that Jerica’s name was originally Jessamine then Jessalyn and hecc that doesn’t fit her at all haha)

(And I’m good to skip! Derik and Zander will exchange maybe two more letters but won’t be interesting just cautioning him against telling Tomhas too much and figuring out how to pretend staying in the village isn’t atypical but I don’t feel like drafting them lol)(where would you like to skip to? Back to Ky and Tomhas?)

(Here's my take on those hard syllables: They show connection between the characters for a reader to pick up on. It may be obvious since they're related but it's still a fun detail!)

(We can do that if you want!)

(That’s true!)

(And okay cool! … at this point I don’t really remember where they were xD do you wanna skip to them browsing vendors? And do you want Tomhas to bestow money on her at the start or the trip so she can sneakily purchase him a heart box? She’s not going to ask for money)

(Yeah he's a hundred percent gonna fork over a hefty allowance. We can start at the vendors!)

(Cool!)

Markets were so novel to Ky still. Exciting. Lively. So many people and products and nice things to see and smell and — when the intrusive thoughts got the best of her — touch. She’d only ever been a handful of times. And this was only the second time as a free person… first time as a noble.

And sure as hell the first time carrying around this terrifyingly large amount of money that Tomhas had forced upon her. She had the purse clenched tightly in her left hand, which she pressed against the bottom of her deepest pocket. Absolutely certain that it couldn’t fall out or be stolen without her feeling it. It was stressful. But she was slowly beginning to focus on the products in front of her instead of being purely fixated on being responsible for her allowance. It was really cool.

All around Ky vendors were calling out their wares. Jewelry, meats, leathers and furs, sweets, flowers, masterful metalwork, trinkets and toys--all of these on display in stands and advertised on shop signs.
One peddler had no stand, but a cart pulled by a gigantic wooly horse. The peddler was an old woman, tall, broad, and square with rocky knuckles and a leathery face dominated by sharp brown eyes and a nose like a tree knot. Most people appeared to be avoiding her but a couple curious individuals observed her from a distance or examined her wares, which consisted primarily of strangely shaped stones, bones, rune sticks, and other such items.

On the end of the market opposite the woman were a small group of what appeared to be musicians, but all of them carried ancient leather drums and wore ascetic robes. Most of them had their hair long and braided or ponytailed, and their beards were mostly untrimmed. One had a series of tattoos on his face.
Opposite them were a group of skalds with their rune sticks and a sign advertising a story for one copper pellet, and they were giving the drummers disapproving looks.

Ky took all this in with wide eyes, being exceedingly careful not to make eye contact with any of them. Best to observe from a distance. A far distance. She sidled up closer to her father.

Tomhas glanced down at her, smiling slightly. "It's a lot, huh? See anything you like so far?"

“Who is the woman with the cart?” Ky murmured, voice low so she wouldn’t be overheard and keeping her gaze off the cart so there was no chance the woman would know she was talking about her.

He looked over at her. "That, I believe, is Myna Trollbeard. She travels all over the Realm selling things she finds--not always useful things, but the Drummers and Skalds find use for them. She prefers to barter items instead of taking money."


(God I knew I'd have to remember her name the second I put her in here
She's only on my novel pages right now and I forgot the first part of her name.)

(Oop haha)

“Oh.” She glanced across the market. “And that’s who they are?”

Tomhas nodded. "They've got a sort of rivalry going on. The Drummers are crazies."

“Oh?” Ky looked at him curiously. They all seemed a bit crazy to her.

"The Skalds are just spiritual nomads; they keep the traditions alive. The Drummers are actively trying to wake the gods."

Ky furrowed her brow. “Can’t you make them stop?”