The dark red horse danced in the dust as the morning sun crept over the wall of city.  He 
had waited longer before, usually with much more weight on his back, but still he shuffled his 
feet in the packed earth in the hopes that his rider would soon let him free to gallop outside the 
high stone circle.
	A hand patted him on the back of his neck.  “Calm down, Breather.” A soft voice 
whispered to the horse.  “You’re making me nervous, too.  We’ll be off as soon as the merchant 
comes back with the rest of the guards.”  The horse turned and tossed his head with 
dissatisfaction. They should go now!
	“Kenya!” A man called behind them.  The rider wheeled the horse face several others on 
horseback riding at an easy pace.  “Thank the seven lucky gods!  I had heard that you had gotten 
in a bit of trouble with a Protector last night!  We were afraid you were cooling your heels in 
jail!”
	Kenya smirked at the notion.  She wasn’t about to lose a prized position on a jewel train 
because some idiot wanted to use her head for target practice.  “I thought you knew me better, 
Ivan!  I won this spot as chief guard fair and square, and I’m not about to let you lot steal it from 
me.”  She wheeled Firebreather next to Ivan’s warsteed.
	“Well, you’re a slick young woman, but Gihan isn’t.  Seems he got himself into a heap o’ 
trouble by trying to cheat a minor judge out of his money.  He’s going to be spending some time 
with the law for quite a while.”  Ivan shrugged.  They both knew Gihan didn’t care less about 
losing this job; the old thief only used it as an excuse to get away from the swords of the law 
every now and then.
	“So what are the merchants going to do about it?  I don’t want to be going through 
Belmog’s grounds without at least twenty trained soldiers.  The newbies don’t know the right 
end of a pike even if it’s through their gut.” Kenya looked at Ivan questioningly. 
	“This coming from a girl barely 20 seasons old-”
“Still your ranking officer.”
“Must you remind me?  Suppos’dly they had a man on reserve, knowing Gihan and 
Ethan. Said his name was Taesmin Wanderer.  Know him?”
	Kenya shook her head.  “Who vouched for him?”
	Ivan nodded to the middle-aged soldier behind them. “Norvan did.”
	Kenya nodded, and then motioned Norvan to come up along side them.  “What do you 
know of the new man?”
	Novan smiled.  “Taesmin’s a good fellow.  Doesn’t talk much, but has a wicked aim with 
a bow or crossbow.  Rides on a pure warsteed, and knows how to scout.  He’s one of Wolves 
Company’s foster children from when I was with them.  I would trust him with my life.”
	“I not asking about you life, dimwit, I’m asking him if you trust him with a bunch of 
pretty rocks that the merchants want us to lug half way across the continent!” Kenya grinned and 
slapped the man on the back.  “Now that that’s settled, let go see what we got to drag today!”

	Kenya rode in front of the now orderly group of mercenaries as they rode up to the steps 
of the merchant guild.  At the entrance stood half a dozen merchants, dressed in their usual 
finery, if not a little disorderly thanks to the early hour.  Twelve pack trains harnessed to go 
waited at the edge of the street loaded down with locked boxes and tightly wrapped packages.  
Each train was tethered to two hill ponies, which in turn were connected to the train in front of 
them.  Each guard would take his position at the corners of each train, forming two lines on 
either side, with two extra rear guards and six scouts.  There were four men to a caravan, and at 
least two of them senior mercenaries.  That meant 56 mercenary guards at least, which might 
have been a tad excessive if they weren’t about to head into renegade territory.  Kenya wasn’t 
about to find herself caught by a bandit company without a good strong force behind her.  Every 
last man counted for this journey, which is why she was worried about losing Gihan.  Lousy con 
man or not, he was still a seasoned fighter with a couple of tricks up his sleeve.
“Kenya!” Cried one of the older merchants as she rode into view.  She squinted in the 
morning sun to see that it was Jaken, one of the first merchants she ever guarded for.  “Ivan said 
you got into a scrap of trouble last night, but I knew he just was sick of being second in 
command.”  Jaken smiled as he watched Ivan’s mouth drop, stutter to defend himself.
Kenya looked back at Ivan and laughed.  ‘Don’t even try.  You know perfectly well that’s 
exactly what you were thinking.”  She turned back to Jaken for a much serious note.  “Where’s 
the new recruit? I want to make sure he right for this job.” She held up a finger in silence before 
Jaken could speak about the ‘Guild responsibility’. With a quick movement she leapt off her 
horse to talk face to face.  “I know the Guild is very responsible, but this isn’t one of your typical 
trade routes.  Belmog maybe a good Company training ground, but it is also the favored spot of 
half a dozen renegade communities.  This isn’t a training practice.  We are going to need every 
man, whether the Guild likes it or not!” She smiled before a look of horror could appear on 
Jaken’s face.  “Let’s see this new recruit, shall we?  Ivan, come along, you need the training in 
this sort of business when you do finally get to take over.”
Kenya turned away before Ivan could even grumble about “someone barely 20 seasons 
old” giving him training.

Jaken showed them the way to the contracting room; Kenya knew the way by heart, but 
knew better than to wander about on her own through the halls of the Guild. She instead turned 
to Jaken.  “You seemed a tad too certain that Gihan was going to get this caught this time. I take 
it the arrest was prearranged?”
“Yes, it was planned a good week ago, after the inns reported Gihan actually taking a 
Duke’s money.”
Ivan looked at Jaken with confusion.  “Then why hire him at all?” Kenya whacked Ivan 
lightly in the head for his insolence.
Jaken smiled slyly.  “The judges knew Gihan would suspect something was up if he was 
refused a contract with the Guild.  So they gave a small…compensation for the Guild hiring a 
man they wouldn’t use.”
“In other words, they paid for Gihan’s advance, and the hiring of the extra man.  Pretty 
smart, old man.”  Kenya smiled and patted Jaken’s shoulder.  “You haven’t lost your touch, 
Jaken.”
By then they had reached the door to the contract room.  As they stepped into the well-lit 
room, Kenya was surprised to see the fire was lit. It was only early fall, so it wasn’t cold enough 
to justify a blazing fire in the morning.  
Jaken nodded to his colleague in the corner.  “I’d guess that Taesmin arrived a tad early 
this morning?” The other merchant nodded wearily.  “Ah, well.  Taesmin Wanderer, this is the 
Chief guard, Kenya Warbow.  She’s the one I mentioned yesterday.”
Only then did Kenya notice the man sitting a tad awkwardly in the corner chair.  His long 
frame did not fit easily into to the smallish chair customary in Guildhalls; he was forced to 
slouch slightly to stay comfortable.  Otherwise he was dressed just as she and Ivan were: heavy 
black wool pants with a dust colored long-sleeved jacket that came to his knees.  The only bright 
colors were a pattern of blue triangles and green diamonds that followed the edges of the jacket. 
His dark brown cloak covered his head, obscuring its features.  When Jaken made his 
introduction, Taesmin pulled back his hood with a gloved hand and stood up to shake Kenya’s 
hand.  His braid at the back of his neck bound most of his hair tightly to his head; the only hair 
loose was a gathering of long bangs that framed his tan face.
Someone had forgotten to mention to her that he was a Goyta.
Kenya tried not to let herself betray her astonishment.  Goyta were a clan of nomadic 
tribes from the south, they were a very rare sights to see this far north of the plains.  They were 
very rarely seen outside of their tribal homelands, except on fair routes.  She had grown up in a 
mountain town even farther north of here, so to her they were something more or less legends 
told around the campfire, but never seen with one’s own eyes!
Kenya heard Ivan’s mouth drop in bewilderment; it snapped her out of her surprise to 
quickly kick him in the shin.  “Norvan told me you used to be foster child of the Wolves.” She 
tried to gauge his reactions, but his face was unreadable behind the light courtesy smile.  “It will 
be good to have some good skilled soldier on this trip.  As you can see with Ivan, we’re a tad 
short with the “Skilled” aspect.” She continued her overly sweet smile towards Ivan as she 
motioned to the open door.  “Shall we be on our way then?”
Taesmin laughed and let his smile grow to a grin.  He followed the chief guard out after 
nodding to Jaken.  Only then did Ivan yell, “Why am I always the fall guy?!”
Jaken tried not to laugh as Ivan stormed out after them.

It was later that night when Kenya got to speak to Taesmin again.  The day had gone 
fairly well; the train had made it to the edges of Belmog by dusk, and the setting up of camp had 
been rather easy with the extra hands.  As Chief guard, Kenya took up one of the first night shifts 
for sentry, and as the luck of the straws would have it, Taesmin was her partner for the duty.  
Kenya settled into the niche between the branch and trunk, trying not to let her sore rear 
rub on the rough bark.  She finally got settled in, only to find herself being stared at by two blue 
eyes from down below.  “What’s wrong?  You never seen a girl climb a tree?” She whispered, 
unnerved by the fact that his eyes seemed to glow in the dark night.
“I’ve just never seen it done for sentry duty.” He looked off into the woods, as if realizing 
his stare was bothering.
“It’s easier this way, especially in forests, were the visibility isn’t so great.  So if 
someone tries to jump you, I’ll be in a position to warn you beforehand and help you if need be 
without getting myself killed in the process.  I don’t know what they would call it where you 
come from, but we call it “bait & trap” sentry work.”
Taesmin seemed to mull this over before he looked back up at her.  “Why are you leading 
this train?  You seem so… young.”
Kenya smiled at him in the darkness.  “I was waiting for you to ask that.  I may be young, 
but I’ve been doing this nearly all my life.  I’ve worked these trails the past six years of my life, 
and besides Ivan, I’m the only one whose ever lead a caravan through these parts before.  And 
Ivan is not exactly what you would call the brightest apple of the bunch.”
“Oh.” She heard Taesmin whisper, apparently surprised at the answer.  “I thought it was 
because you were a noble.”
That nearly sent Kenya out of the tree.  “A noble?! Where in Seven Hells did you get that 
idea?”  She tried not to raise her voice above a harsh whisper, but was failing due to the laughter.  
“Yeah, I’m nobility, if you call the daughter of a farmer and midwife nobility!”
Taesmin chuckled lightly.  “Well, Jaken describe you as one with ‘noble beauty and 
attributes’.  I guess I took it the wrong way.”
“’Noble beauty’?! Hoo boy, Jaken’s really asking for it.  Not that I don’t agree with him.” 
Kenya whispered jokingly.
“What? With a stork’s neck, skin like a piglet’s behind and hair the color of dead grass? 
The only thing you’d be good at on the Plains would be scouting in the winter, since your hair 
would match all the dead vegetation!” Taesmin laughed.
“I resent that!” she paused, trying to fight the curiosity.  “So you really are from the 
Plains?  Don’t you people have codes against leaving your tribe?  And I thought you were a 
Wolf.” Kenya wondered out loud, slightly embarrassed at asking so many questions.
Taesmin was silent for a moment. “There are differences from leaving and being left.”  
He paused again, hesitant to go on.  “I…I’m not really sure what I am right now.”  She heard 
him sigh.
“Oh.”

The next few days went smoothly as everyone fell back into his or her duties of guarding 
and sentry duty.  Even the woods around them were quiet.  But for some of the more seasoned 
soldiers, this only made matters worse.
“Something’s not right.  Don’t you think a caravan this size would have at least brought 
out some sniffers?”  Kenya turned to Ivan. He shrugged.
“Yeah, it’s been making me worried, too.  But I’m hoping it’s not what my gut say its it 
is.”  Ivan looked around into the surrounding trees.
“You mean a final stand?  Man, I hope your guts wrong, but that’s what mine is saying 
too.”

That night Kenya and Taesmin were again on first watch.  Nothing had gone wrong until 
nearly the end of the shift, when Kenya noticed something approaching from the east.
She took a nut from her pouch and dropped on Taesmin’s left shoulder, signaling him to 
turn toward the noise. Nodding in acknowledgment, he removed his crossbow and loaded a bolt.  
He took aim at the moving brush and counted as it drew nearer. Kenya watched from above, both 
knives drawn.
The scout seemed not to have realized his prey was armed.  Taesmin waited until the 
potential killer jumped out of the bush, letting him see his fate.  Before he could even yell a 
warning, a bolt found it’s way through his Adam’s apple and into the next tree.  
“Look out!” Kenya shouted as she landed squarely on another thief’s back, allowing the 
weight of her fall push her knife into the man’s ribcage and beyond.  She turned quickly to see if 
any more would come out of the surrounding brush.  
“Is that all?”  Taesmin retrieved his bolt from the first corpse’s throat.
Kenya turned her back the squelching noise of iron against flesh.  “I think so.  We’d best 
go warn the others.  It’s normal to send out one sniffer after a train, but not two.  I wouldn’t be 
surprised if this was an actual attack.”
As if to answer her, the sounds of yells and the clash of metal came from the direction of 
the camp.  Without a further glance back, Kenya ran to aid the caravan.

Kenya raced through the trees, ducking and weaving in hopes of losing any bandits on 
her trail.  Surprisingly Taesmin kept up with her at equal pace, weaving his way through the trees 
not too far off. 
Halfway back they found one of the caravan guards had been surprised as they had; 
unfortunately he had not fared as well.  Kenya surprised herself with her detachment of the 
situation.  The gory blow to the man’s head didn’t even turn her stomach as the bolt did, and she 
had personally known this man.  Was she becoming the cold-hearted mercenary that always 
dotted the legends back home?
Taesmin tapped her shoulder and motioned to the moving brushes down the slope from 
them. *He’s not affected by this either.* She noticed belatedly.  *He’s treating the man as part of 
the landscape, only focusing on the target and the need at hand. *   She thought, as she watched 
him take aim at the all black thief through the trees, and fire.  *Must you give up all heart to 
survive in this job? *
She had been so caught up in her thought she almost didn’t see Taesmin lean over the 
dead man to sprinkle a black dust over the man’s body.  “Rest well, comrade.” He whispered, 
before lighting the dust with his flint.  “There isn’t much here that will burn so we won’t have to 
worry about a brush fire.  The wool will work fine for kindling.”
Kenya bowed her head, a little surprised at the action for a near stranger.  But it eased her 
mind.  *No, you don’t lose your heart in this job, you just learn to show it differently. *  She 
smiled before following Taesmin back to camp.

By the time they had reached camp, it was obvious things were already in disarray.  The 
fires had been built up again, and they saw several more dead thieves, as well as several of their 
own.
Kenya barked out her signal as she entered the clearing, hoping she wouldn’t find herself 
at the end of a comrade’s sword. Hearing a reply signal, she looked around trying to assess the 
damage.  Luckily the bandits had not reached the inner camp; the caravan was still basically 
intact.
“How are we?” Kenya yelled to Norvan, who was busy bandaging another soldier’s 
wound.
“Bad, we lost half the sentries, and two of the scouts.  We were worried we had lost you 
two as well.”
“We’re alright.  Where’s Ivan?”  Kenya frowned, looking for the royal idiot of the second 
in command.
‘Nursing a torn up leg.  Damn fool went after Rogan and Morgan when we realized we 
were being picked off for an attack.”
Kenya sighed in relief, and began making rounds to see the wounded and the dead.

In the end they had lost a quarter of the mercenaries; Kenya was just glad there hadn’t 
been more.  They arrived without further to Drakehole, two days later.  When they pulled in to 
the Guildhall, there were healers ready for the various wounded who needed further help.
 Kenya saw everyone off with their pay and belongings, before packing up Firebreather 
and pulling herself up into the saddle.
“Where are you going now?”  Taesmin said behind her.
She wheeled Firebreather around.  “What?! Oh, you scared me.  I’m signing on with the 
Drakes.  I’ve seen far too much fighting these past years not to sign on with a Company.  It’s 
only now I can join with a safe conscious.  Maybe you should join, too.  They’re always looking 
for a specialist like yourself.”  She smiled.
“Maybe someday.  I still have to understand my past.”  He sighed before turning back to 
her.  “Well, until then, farewell, ‘Noble Lady’.” Taesmin bowed mockingly.
“Farewell, humble Goyta.” Kenya said, and rode off towards her new life.