The heartless conqueror

Longings

When Kaurvaki walked the marketplace, Kanji noticed how she seemed to eye everything with a new curiosity. She grew curious as to what exactly had that old hag told Kaurvaki.

"Kaurvaki, what did she say."

Kaurvaki looked at her. How she put into words the very meaning of those words? She pondered as she examined a vase from another city far off. Its colors were different from that of which the fishermen vases were. She wondered as to how that could be. What was the exact differentiation? 

"Kaurvaki..."

Kaurvaki turned to her with a wide smile. 

Kanji new about how all the girls always said Kaurvaki to be very different, but that's what Kanji liked. It was good to be different like her mother told her. 

"Kanji, she isn't that bad. She told me it is good to question!"

"Um....", Kanji wasn't understanding exactly why Kaurvaki was getting excited.

She saw Kanji's hesitant look and tried explaining it to her. 

Kanji shook her head with a tinkling laughter, "Oh Kaurvaki!"

Her expression became blank, "what."

"You are truly weird!"

She blinked, then kanji laughed, "But that is a good thing as long as you are not weird weird", She grabbed her hand and looked around, "Know what I mean?"

Kaurvaki smiled and nodded, though she really didn't get it.

"Come on!", Kanji took her along.

The truth was though, that Kaurvaki didn't know what she meant. She wasn't sure if the term weird was proper, but she decided that Kanji was Kanji, and it looked like she would still be her friend.

They both went to examine the bangles that Kanji was eyeing for the Meenakshi pooja. They couldn't go too far from where the aunties were.

Kaurvaki looked around, her eyes caught the more expensive section of the marketplace.

She didn't know if she could go there. That section was pretty particular when it came to examining the items, if you weren't going to possibly anything, then there was no use in going. It was an unlabeled rule that people followed to keep their pride and dignity.

And what Kaurvaki yearned to look at resided there. Even if she did go to buy it, people would become suspicious, and wonder as to how a simple fisher girl carried the worth to even look at it.

No one knew, not even her father, for she feared he would find it useless of her. But she didn't find it useless. It was a treasure that if used properly, led a path to the laws of life. 

She glanced at Kanji, she just finished examining the items and turned to Kaurvaki. "let's go."

They continued on to where the rest of the group started to gather. Some of the Aunties had new possessions in their sacks that were more bulky-looking since they had arrived.

Then it dawned on Kaurvaki. She smacked her forehead with her hand multiple times. "Oh my! Oh my!"

"What is it!?", Kanji and the aunties looked alarmed.

Kaurvaki seemed embarrassed. "Um..."

She didn't want to look anymore stupider, so she said, "There was something Baba had asked to get and I forgot it. Could I quickly go and purchase it? I will be back in a second!"

Some of the girls were snickering, and Kanji had that amused expression of a friend, yet shook her head disappointingly.

I wonder how they would have reacted if I had told them that I forgot to buy EVERYTHING...

Neela's mother nodded, "Go ahead Kaurvaki."

She turned around and dashed to the places where she needed to purchase certain items. Trying to recall her father's words she went through the marketplace. 

Here and there she dashed as quickly as she could, she barely managed the change of money given in turn.

It would've been much less difficult if she could write down the things her father needed, but fishermen were supposed to be illiterate. Her father was always skeptical that merchants could take advantage of this fact and ask for more money than necessary. Yet he still found literacy useless in their field of practice, telling Kaurvaki to use her own judgment when purchasing

If only he would understand that there is an importance.

The last item she recalled was some tarp for the fishing nets. 

Where could that be...

As realization dawned her, she remembered that they were part of the more expensive section!

Kaurvaki strode confidently into that section of the marketplace, though some eyed her curiously. She went to the area with the tarp, and then those who looked curious went back to their work at the realization that the fisher girl just needed the tarp.

The salesman brought it out and asked for four coins.

"What!? That is high, it is only worth two coins!"

He looked shocked, then his expression subdued to suspicion. "The price tag..."

"Oh, any fisherman would know the worth of tarp!", Kaurvaki stated confidently, successfully covering up any doubt.

The salesman pretended to check the amount again and chuckled, "you are right!"

He gave her the tarps, and she returned the necessary amount of coins in returns, hurriedly taking it and leaving.

She tried looking around the place as she dried dragging her steps while walking.

Her eyes glanced here and there until there she spotted them. Stacked neatly along the side of a platform along with all the other miscellaneous items from different parts of the kingdom. They were pages of banana leaf, and some were pages of wood pulp. All lined in writing of multitudes of ink!

She didn't take her gaze off of them as she slowly walked, making sure not to gather any attention. She was nearing the edge of that section as she walked, longing to stay.

Suddenly her balance swerved, and she felt something strong knock her to the ground.

Her bag of items stayed secure in her hands, but the clouded around her. Out of habit, she said "sorry", but grew annoyed when the figure who knocked her was far off. They seemed to be in a stormy mood or just rood in general. 

Some things had fallen out, and she had no time to go after the person, so she quickly gathered everything into it, and ran back to the crew.

"What took you so long?"

Kaurvaki was panting, and Neela eyed her with amusement.

Her mother came over and brushed some dust off of her. "Kaurvaki! What did you do to yourself!"

"Um...I bumped into someone Aunty..."

"Well..."

Kaurvaki was still panting. "I couldn't find them, they left, and I had to put the things that fell out back in."

Neela's mother looked annoyed, "How mannerless! We are fishermen, yet the common people say that WE are mannerless."

The women laughed.

"Oh come on!", one aunty came over, "She is alright now! Let us go so that we reach in time!"

Everyone nodded, and they all loaded into their respective carts.