Their association, odd though it might be, satisfied Mriga. When she had been job hunting and had passed through the Bazaar one day, Rahi had recognized her as the crippled former idiot-girl who used to sit there and hone broken bits of metal on the cobbles until they could split hairs, until Harran took her home to sharpen Stepsons’ swords and his surgical tools. Rahi had offered her a spot in his stall-for a small cut of her profits, of course-and Mriga had accepted, more than willing to take up her old trade. Swords got dull or notched quickly in
Sanctuary. A good “polisher” never starved… and Mriga was the best, being
(these days) an avatar of the goddess who invented swords in the first place.
“‘Bout time you got here,” Rahi bellowed at her. Various people close by, sweetmeat sellers and clothiers, winced at the noise, and off in the cattle pens various steers lifted up their voices in mournful answer. “Day’s half gone, where you been, how you gonna make your nut, I hafta kick you out, best spot in the Bazaar, eh lady?”
Mriga just smiled at him and unslung her pouch, which contained all her tools: oil, rags, and five grades of whetstones. Others in the city worked with more tools, and charged more, but Mriga didn’t need to. “There’s no one up but us and the birds, Rahi,” she said. “Don’t make me laugh. Who’s been here with a sword this morning that I’ve missed?”
“Eh, laugh, sure, sometime some big guy from the palace, you’ll laugh then, charge him big, but no, he’ll be uptown and you, not a copper, out on the stones again, you be careful!” He rammed the last canopy pole into its spot and glared at her, sweating, smiling.