"I'll put word out."

She goes.

Aya lets everyone know that a terrorist representative is in the area if anybody wants a ticket out, the statistics she has on the safety of this are thus.

Is the place going to burn down.

She asked that it not be and expects this request to be honored.

No one expresses a desire to take their chances. 

Also, a relative of the family is in town and apparently likes hunting and will dump some spare meat on them probably.

They appreciate the spare meat!

Should be good stuff.

Atyel leaves two weeks later.

No more goose for dinner, oh well.

Amait stops hiding in her room quite so much. (Hiding in her room is deeply uncharacteristic behavior.)

Aya does secretarial work.

She buys thirty-six people (there were complications with the last two; she'll try again later.)

And Aya goes around and asks them if they need anything and if their prior owners had any habits they should steal.

This one let them work independently and buy their children out! This one had a really convenient embroidery for farming and will miss it. These ones don't trust her if she's their new owners' favorite. This one knows some medicine and was allowed to do that full-time at her old place to keep everyone else healthy.

"I'm her secretary," says Aya to the mistrustful ones. "I don't know that she likes me especially much."

Uh huh.

She doesn't push it. Brings what she's got to Amait.

They can work and save up to free their kids, sure. Doctor can probably doctor, she'll look at the margins. The embroidery's probably not for sale. (She checks. It's not).

"I think some magics are a little friendlier than others, do you use the one on the edge of the property - have someone there with a fishing rod, throwing in things - or is it a mean one -"

"We've never gotten anything useful out of it. I could ask Rabka where the one she ran into was, that sounds about as friendly as they come - did you hear that story -"

"I've seen her hair."

"She ran into it on purpose, with Cathei, because they were going to sell Cathei, and she got the ability to summon her back to her at any time. Cathei is a teapot during full moons, but still - that's extraordinary luck -"

"That's very specific, isn't it?"