Disclaimer: As much as I love Tamora Pierce's writings, I DO NOT own them, the characters, or the story-lines. Therefore most of the characters here are NOT mine, or couldn't be made up without her creativity.

The bone-chilling winter at Tanair was long, but thanks to the hard labors of the raka, luarin, and part-raka villagers, the winter claimed few. Before Aly knew it, the snows were melting, opening the passes for merchants and traders once again. Aly remained with the Balitangs, though she no longer wore the slave collar binding her to the family. As she promised herself several months back, she wouldn't leave them until she saw Sarai on the throne, one of the half-raka daughters of the deceased Duke Mequen.
Aly and Nawat were talking while the crow-man fletched arrows, this time with griffin feathers. Their conversation was interrupted when several of his clan set up the alarm, declaring there was someone on the road. It was a merchant caravan, the first visit of the New Year.

The crows were careful to add that there were more two-leggers than usual in the group. Aly stood immediately, as Nawat looked at his clan, who were now making noises Aly didn't recognize.
"What are they saying?" She asked Nawat, as she tried in vain to interpret their anxious sounds. The crow-man shook his head.
"Nothing, just the latest news about the clan." He said with a bird-shrug, though his eyes carried a strange expression Aly couldn't quite identify. Before she could say anything to him about it, the men-at-arms on duty at the gate called out to the merchants. Fesgao appeared behind her and grabbed her arm to get her attention.
"The first merchant caravan of the season always brings slave traders, and Duchess Winnamine wishes for you to join her on picking out a few to...help out since we lost so many with Bronau and the winter season." The raka soldier explained. Aly winced.
'I don't particularly want to.' She thought, but she followed him until she saw Winnamine, the older woman was speaking to a tall, wiry man. He stood before a long chain-line of laurin, raka, and part-raka slaves. The chain was used to keep them in order, even though the metal collars around their necks keep them from escaping.
As Aly looked over the slaves with her Sight, she saw a strange glow near the end of the line. She blinked, and the glow vanished, though her eyes were drawn to the person standing in it's place, the metal collar around the girl's neck tinted a red hue. Aly turned her attention back to the slave trader, who was speaking to Winnamine.
"Now we're gonna be havin' a slave auction a few days from now, before we continue on to Rajmaut." He explained as he looked at Aly, then back at Winnamine. "We need a little while to rest up and ready our items for sale."
Aly looked again at the slave line, trying to glimpse the person that had caused the mysterious glow. She cursed quietly to see some of the other slaves blocking her view. Was that a god? Or was it a mage? She couldn't tell, but she knew that person, or thing, had something to hide.

A/N: Okay, please rate and review, I know this one's short, but it's just an intro. Oh, and this is my first fanfic, so please don't be too harsh