The group travelled quickly and Ildri was glad for it. They camped for the night and set off with the dawn. The next day continued the pattern.

The journey could only be described as boring, so Ildri was pleased when they arrived in Hillsdowne and found a large number of people gathered. The town was decorated in bright colours and a festive tone.

"What's this?" Ildri asked the closest soldier to her.

"Hillsdowne's annual trading fair. One of the biggest around, I hear," he said.

Ildri looked towards it. They would probably simply travel around. She glanced over at Allan. "Sir Allan? Do you think we could stop for a break?"

"Here?" he asked as he moved his mount closer to hers.

Ildri smiled hesitantly. "I've never been to anything like this. I'd like to look, maybe bring something back with me."

Ildri thought that Allan would not allow it but to her surprise he nodded. "A short break would not hurt. But you must stay with a soldier at all times. Daniel, you will escort Miss Ildri and see to her safety."

"Sir," agreed the vaguely familiar soldier.

Sir Allan whirled around and spoke to his men. "We will take a short break here." He began giving instructions to the soldiers. Instead of listening Ildri looked over at the fair. Banners were fluttering in the breeze above carts and stands full of items that she could not see clearly from where the horse stood.

"Miss Ildri, shall we go?" prompted the soldier.

Ildri realized that Allan had stopped talking and nodded. He helped her dismount and she followed the young soldier towards the fair.

Everywhere Ildri looked was filled with activity. There were carts of food and vegetables and stalls with pigs and fowl which were being haggled over. A loud woman was exclaiming over bolts of fabric and there were metal workers' products in multiple places. Soldiers stood around the perimeter watching with bored indifference. Ildri assumed that their presence was to discourage thievery.

The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of normal people that Ildri might expect to meet anywhere. There were a few people who were obviously nobles and merchants wearing many different styles of garb were in every corner of the fair, watching over their assistants or talking with customers or trying to draw attention to their wares. And such wares they were. For every normal thing that Ildri saw, there were various things that she had never seen before, herbs and jars full of unknown substances, and strange metal tools of unknown purpose.

The soldier seemed content to follow behind Ildri while she looked at the different stalls. Ildri moved around looking at the various wares. She thought that she should find something for chef, Hanna and Matt. And if she was doing that she should probably bring something for the twins, too. Was it appropriate to bring a gift for Lord Wildwood to show her gratitude? He would probably prefer magical potions, which she already had anyway.

For chef Ildri found some odd spices that she thought would interest the older woman. Ildri bought a piece of metal worked jewelry for Hanna and Ildri bought some candy for the children.

"We should head back," Daniel told Ildri.

"Yes," she agreed. She could probably have spent hours more but she did not want to push her luck.

"Buy a trinket, pretty lady?" Ildri heard an unsettling voice say as they passed a stand full of odd miscellaneous objects. She spun around to see who spoke.

A well rounded merchant nodded towards her. "Are you interested in buying a trinket?" he repeated, but his voice sounded quite different than it had at first, deep and incredibly normal. "I have many wonders from around the world, step closer and see."

Ildri moved forward, and she heard the odd voice again, "Trinkets, trinkets."

It wasn't coming from the man, but rather from what seemed to be a pile of crates set off to the side. "What is that speaking?" she asked.

The merchant smiled widely. "Oh, you have a fine eye for the rare and valuable, miss," he said as he swept around towards whoever it was who had spoken.

"Or an ear, anyway," Ildri agreed absently as she watched the merchant lift a cage towards the stand in front of him. He set it down with a resounding thump and unveiled a cage full with creaturs bearing colourful plumage.

"They're birds," Ildri said in amazement.

Ildri heard Daniel mutter behind her, "An elaborate ruse."

"Trinket," whistled a large grey bird with a red tail amongst its more colourful peers.

"Yes, these are very rare indeed in these parts, miss. They are called parrots and there are many kinds in the land that they come from," the merchant said jovially. Ildri could see that he was sizing her up, seeing if she would take the bait.

"Parrots, huh? Do they all talk?" she asked.

"They do indeed, but that grey one is the most talkative indeed. But look at these other two. This red parrot with the blue and yellow feathers is called Teru. He is most intelligent and his plumage is quite beautiful. He talks as well, but he is a bit shy. He would warm up to you, certainly. And look at this green bird, also incredibly beautiful and incredibly rare. Her name is..."

Ildri stopped listening while she considered. She certainly did not need one of the strange speaking birds, but they were most intriguing. They were all so pretty. The plain grey one looked at her with its dark eye as if it was considering her worth.

"Pretty lady," it said in its odd whistling voice.

The merchant was still talking. "It's odd, usually they are quieter when I keep them covered. Almost like they knew you were coming, pretty lady. They're all very intelligent creatures and make excellent pets indeed."

"Keziah," said the bird.

"Yes, that grey one is Keziah. She's less than a year old, was caught when she was barely more than a baby. If you buy her, she'll bond to you right enough. And any of them can live for a very long time, decades. I'm actually trying to find good homes for all these creatures, so I could give you any one for a very good price. Only a bit of gold, really."

"It might be a hoax," cautioned Ildri's guard with a very Allan-like expression.

Ildri nodded. The merchant certainly looked capable of lying. But how would he manage to make a bird who could not talk appear to talk? Likely there was some sort of spell on the poor creature, even if Ildri could not feel any magic. There were ways to make magic undetectable, and Maxine had even taught her a potion that could be mixed into most potions or taken alone to mask effects.

Ildri sighed. "I'm sorry, I think that's too much, sir," she said and went to move away.

Keziah squacked loudly. Ildri continued walking with the soldier following behind her. "Wait, miss," cried the merchant.

Ildri glanced backwards. The grey bird was beating its wings against the bars. The merchant grasped the cage to keep it from tilting. "I've never seen behavior like—ouch!" he exclaimed as the bird bit his pudgy finger through the bars. He leapt backwards and stuck his finger in his mouth.

Ildri shook her head. She could probably afford the bird but it would decimate her savings. "I'm sorry, I really can't."

The cage tipped over and all the birds squacked loudly.

"Bloody mess!" the grey bird said in tones of outrage.

"Listen, miss, I'll give you the bird for ten silvers, and a small cage for the same. Hell, I'll throw in food even!"

The shrieking birds were drawing a crowd of onlookers. Ildri felt embarrassed at the display. "I'm sorry, I don't think I can..."

"Pretty lady!!!" squacked the bird again.

"Ten then! Ten silvers to take this crazy bird off my hands. How she could bond to you so quickly is beyond me, but..." the merchant said as he gingerly set the cage upright again, taking care to keep his fat fingers out of reach of beaks.

Ildri sighed. "All right," she agreed as she walked back towards the cage. The grey bird stopped shrieking and the others started to settle down.

The merchant hesitantly extracted Keziah from the group cage and put the bird in a smaller one. Ildri paid him and he handed her the cage and a satchel of food. "You should be able to allow her out once she gets to know you. I imagine that she won't want to run away." He seemed bemused at what had just happened. Keziah sat calmly on a metal perch and eyed Ildri. "You can teach her to say many words. She's a smart bird."

"Thank you," Ildri said politely and she walked away with the guard. She heard the merchant muttering behind her, "No profit. Am I running a charity here? Crazy bloody bird. What a mess."

Ildri eyed Keziah and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

* * * * *

"And what is that?" Allan asked as soon as Ildri arrived at the meeting spot.

Ildri shrugged uncomfortably. "It's called a parrot."

"A parrot."

"Yes. Her name's Keziah."

"I didn't know you were going to buy a pet."

"I didn't either. She rather forced me to it."

Allan's brow furrowed. "I wonder what Lord Wildwood will think about it."

Ildri felt a bit of nervous anxiety at the thought. "I'll deal with that when I get there," she said in the most off hand voice she could manage. "Wildwood has allowed other animals, sort of, surely one more won't hurt."

"Bloody cove," whistled Keziah.

"Keziah!" Ildri snapped. "Whatever was that merchant teaching you!?"

"Bloody bastard," she whistled again. Ildri's cheeks felt hot with embarrassment.

"Charming animal," Allan said dryly with a raised eyebrow.

Ildri sighed. No wonder the merchant had been so anxious to get rid of the parrot. It had the mouth of a sailor. Keziah fixed an eye on Ildri and stared at her calmly. What had she gotten herself into, indeed?

* * * * *

The rest of the journey to Wildwood proceeded quickly considering the new avian addition to their group. Keziah did not seem to dislike travelling but she certainly seemed to loath being quiet. She also seemed not to like it when Ildri went anywhere without her. After a while Ildri gave up and allowed Keziah to sit on her shoulder.

Most of the soldiers seemed to find the bird amusing, but a few, specifically those who had been on the receiving end of territorial bites, kept a watchful eye on Keziah whenever they were in her vicinity.

For her part, Ildri felt an odd sort of attachment to the creature. Ildri had gradually noticed that Keziah had a fair amount of magic and she wondered if that had been why the bird had singled her out. Did she want to be Ildri's familiar? Did birds think about things like that? She hoped that Lord Wildwood let her keep Keziah in the castle.

Ildri decided to wait until she was home and saw Lord Wildwood's reaction before deciding if she would make the bird into her familiar.

* * * * *

Ildri's first view of Wildwood was the new defensive walls that had been completed in her time away from the estate. While they looked safe, it made her sad things were so unsafe as to make their completion mandatory. She remembered clearly when nothing but the lord's magic had easily kept the inhabitants safe.

Perhaps because she had developed her magic more but she could suddenly feel the wards as they moved towards the main entrance. Keziah whistled loudly and she saw Allan shudder lightly. They felt it too.

It seemed odd that in such a short time what she had been so oblivious to had become so obvious.

They entered through the gate with no difficulty, and Ildri felt content to be home. She hoped it would last this time.