Chapter Sixteen, Sorceror's Call

The crowds dispersed before Alicea could deliver her memorized speech calling the people to arms, which annoyed her because she'd even included some relevant pop culture refrences and several phrases she'd hoped would be quite rousing.

"What was that for? I could have made tab on that crowd."
'the Magnificent Zack' had also declined to leave the stage.
"Next time you make wild claims about shoddy golems being sprites you may want to think twice about who might be in the audience."
"You see him, the merchant showing jewelry to that fat woman, He's the best mage in town. He knew perfectly well that Vallen's a golem, you didn't see him jumping up on stage and making a big fuss over it."
"Just because people are letting you defraud the community doesn't mean you can do it anyways."
"It's not fraud, it's entertainment. People pay to see me subdue a powerful golem. Now you came along and revealed my secret." He kicked some dust off his sandals.
"I'll probably have to leave Ruom now. I guarantee you no other city is as rich as this one."

Alicea looked over at her companions. The Gibbets were still jabbering about the fight, they were exactly the sort of people this Zack counted on watching his performance. Ishylde returned her gaze. She had a very soft look in her eyes, it was fairly obvious what she thought should be done.

"Can you fight?"
"And I still have to pay the bartender for..What?"
"Can you fight?"
"Of course I can fight, what kind of man grows up in a family of mages and can't defend himself?"
"That's not what I asked, I asked if you know how to fight."
"I can fight. I'm not some palace jester for goodness sake."
"There's a Call to Arms for all Gasca. I was sent from the monastary to deliver it."
"That's not news. Everyone knows the Ga-Vok are polishing their shields."
"We've just come from Landsen, I'd say they're doing more than just polishing shields."
"What's that got to do with me?" He gesticulated wildly. No actual crowd had grown but the market had grown silent as the shoppers and tradesmen alike turned their focus towards the par on the stage.
"If you join us for the duration, I will personally compensate you for anything you might have lost by my having disrupted your performance."

The silence became very obvious. Alicea suddenly wondered just how much he usually made in a performance. She could pay it easily, the only useful thing she'd learned at the monastary was how Nieldic commerce worked. She'd made a small fortune investing in several dangerous ventures over the last three years. Added to the completly managable salary she'd be getting with her new commision she probably could have paid for all of the services she'd aquired so far and then equipped and supplied the population of Landsen for the entirety of the war. But she prefered not to think about all those painful little silver coins, it was bad enough being in a bustling market like this one.

"Up front?"
"No, Cash on delivery. If you really are as magnificent as you say you are, you shouldn't need to worry about whether or not you can do what I'm asking of you."
"But."
"Unless of course, you really aren't as good as you say you are?"
He straightened his turban anxiously. "But..Ga-Vok..dangerous..war." he muttered.
"I suppose the people of Gasca have no use for cowards anyways." She turned to the marketplace, and started to to deliver her speech before being interrupted.
"Now see here, I may just be a street performer trying to make his way in the world. However, No man calls Zack Penault a coward. I'll fight your battles, and I'll do it for free."
Alicea smiled and continued her speech.