"I suppose that's reasonable enough."

There's a murmur of godspeak from under the wagon where Ruel is hiding, and he and Teevah emerge; Teevah runs off to one of the other adults, and Ruel approaches.

"Quite so." Sigh. "I won't demand anything for shutting down that fight seeing as I did it on my own initiative but d'you suppose you have actual work and actual payment for me lying around somewhere?"

"Work, certainly; payment I'm less sure of, but -" a table appears on the road below him, holding a variety of samples of various trade goods - pigments, spices, vibrantly dyed cloth, exotic skins, a pair of beaded shoes, several tiny paintings in a variety of styles, a selection of jewelry made of both metal and intricately worked glass, handmade iron tools with beautifully inlaid handles, and a trio of hand-scribed, hand-bound books. "Is any of this of interest?"

He hovers a foot off the ground, casually shifting around as part of normal body language.

"...Fairly good. The dye and spices, whatever they actually are, might be best leverage - fairies can get really intricate with our art so we probably don't value art objects quite as much as you might, but you can't get pepper by controlling droplets of paint on millimeter scale or playing with hot glass like it's taffy. Not interested in shoes or the tools."

"That sounds easy to work with. Malachite, indigo, and woad are easiest dyes to come by in this region, and there's a pretty good variety of spices - you'll want to talk to a merchant for a proper recommendation, but nightflower root and labadon are popular."

"Oh, I have to do my own shopping? Were you going to pay me in, what, gold?"

Kiraavi doesn't reply immediately, and Ruel steps in instead. "Gods don't often hire people; he's figuring out who to recommend you to."

"You could pay me instead, being my actual summoner and all. I'm a bit out of my depth here. Interesting, but weird and new. No gods back home."

"For the help? I'm sorry, I came in a little late, it sounded like you were asking for other work - Kiraavi will give you something for that, of course; you can name what you like, within reason, and if he doesn't already have it he'll figure out how to get it."

"Yes, for some other work. I can't go charging for things I did without a deal in place, now can I?"

"I do intend to reward you for it, once you find something you want."

He shrugs. "Dyes, spices. Seeds?"

"Easily done." The samples disappear from the table, replaced by a sturdy leather backpack, ten glass jars each containing perhaps a cup of dye, each different, and a group of plain cloth bags that presumably contain spices and seeds.

"I don't have anything to pay you with myself, but - what are we doing with the slavers, Kiraavi?"

"Hm. Lynessalia has a jail not too far from here..."

"Could he take them? It's going to be hard to keep them from escaping if we keep them with the group."

Fairies don't really need or use backpacks but it can float near him. "Good stuff. Anyway, is this a normal criminal justice procedure? I think most of Earth has stuff like, right to trial by a jury of your peers or something like that."

"Normal enough. I can find someone who'll do that, if you like."

"...You know what, I'd rather not be prisoner transport if I can help it. Certainly not going to be arresting officer again. Fairies can escape about anything and I don't much like thinking about people who can't."

"That's understandable. We'll take care of it."

"I'm sure you could find some other fairy willing to do it." Shrug. "My gut just says, you know, rescuing people from kidnappers and then immediately locking the kidnappers up against their will... Right, problem solved, huh?"

"I felt the same way when I was younger; it's a hard problem."

"And just how old do you think I am?"

"Oh, I'm sure I couldn't guess. But I've been a god of travel for a few hundred years now, I expect you haven't spent that much time thinking about bandits."

"Hmph. Well, you're right that I haven't spent that long thinking about bandits, particularly. Banditry is not a common problem in fairyland."