London was everything the legends said it was, especially when it came to the smell. Osha grew up on a small family farm, and during the winter the animals had to sleep inside the family home. As you might expect, the animals passed gas freely, especially the cows, and her brothers took their cue from them to be as filthy as possible. The winter months felt long, not only because of the cold and fear, but also because of the stench of humans and animals locked up for months, surrounded by a white blanket of death.

London smelled much, much worse.

Osha and her father came to the city at least four times a month to trade their products. They did not live too far away, or perhaps the journey had become short thanks to habit. Her mother and one of her brothers travelled to sell their wares in a small village in the opposite direction of the big city, and her other two brothers stayed on the farm to look after it.

This time, halfway between the farm and London, they had been joined by two strangers: a woman and a man who wouldn't stop talking. The man, from the way he spoke, must have been a member of the nobility, but neither Osha nor her father said anything; it was more their style to observe in silence to see if anything interesting came up.

The woman could well have come from the most sordid brothel in Rome, judging by the way she dressed and spoke, but at the same time she seemed to be highly educated. Both were carrying various objects that Osha had never seen before, not even on her expeditions to the London market. The ill-mannered woman spent the entire journey giving the nobleman instructions on how to use a mysterious obsidian mirror.

Osha and her father exchanged glances from time to time to make sure they had the same theory about the strangers: their manner of dress, their completely different mannerisms, and the exotic mirrors... Clearly, this was a nobleman's son who had run away with his prostitute lover, carrying stolen goods to London to sell them and finance their escape.

Neither of the two farmers planned to say anything yet, or report them to the authorities. It was simply not their family philosophy to meddle in other people's business - especially if it involved nobles. Besides, the two strangers had certainly been a source of entertainment since they sat down at the opposite end of the cart.

"You have to press here to write the letter... no, you can't just draw it.

Well, you can if you want, but it takes too long.‘ They heard the lass say.

’Can I use elegant characters, like we do at court, or should I stick to the writing of the ignorant villagers of the future?" replied the nobleman.

Every time they looked over, it seemed as if the lass was about to hit the nobleman's ear.

When they were a few miles from the city, she said something about an insect she seemed to have captured and enclosed in one of her obsidian mirrors. The nobleman could touch the insect, and it would fly across the surface and land so that it could be touched again. The little gentleman seemed to particularly enjoy this, so much so that he showed the game to Osha and her father.

Sure enough, the mirror showed the image of a moth trapped inside, moving and flapping its wings regularly. When touched, it flew to another corner. It was a marvellous device that they could not explain, and the girl simply commented that it was a charlatan's illusion, a simple imported toy not worth questioning.

Osha and her father were satisfied with this explanation, for in their visits to the city they had found wonders from all over the world that also defied the laws of men. Moreover, mirrors themselves were such expensive gadgets that even most nobles could not afford them, so it made sense that they could perform so many wonderful actions instead of just reflecting faces.

Even more interesting to them was the material covering the device: a kind of slimy skin, like the leather of a slug. When they asked about it, the maid simply said that it was slime from a tree.

The nobleman was entertained by this toy for a long time until he finally fell asleep. Certainly, if the maid and he were on some kind of escape, the mastermind was the woman.

Once the man stopped asking offensive questions and concentrated on his toy, the atmosphere between them changed, and the maid even stroked her companion's hair, who nestled his head on her thighs. They almost looked like a pair of lovers as described by the bards.

The strangers got out of the cart when they reached the market, and the girl negotiated an agreement with Osha and her father to take them with them to the farm when the journey was over. Again, they found it strange that she sought the opinion of both of them, when it was really Osha's father who decided whether they stayed or not, but it was not too serious a mistake.

It was very strange how the young woman seemed to be in charge of the whole expedition, while the nobleman just stayed behind, looking at his mirrors. Perhaps they were not lovers, but travelling actors. Although in that case, what use would they see in staying at the farm with them?

They did not lose track of them all day, as they were too interesting to forget about.

The woman spent the whole day dragging her companion from place to place, pointing out simple objects and asking about their use. Eventually, the nobleman (or fool) left her and hid somewhere to play with his mirrors, so the girl returned to Osha's stall to ask her questions. It was then that the damsel saw her chance to interrogate her.

The girl tried to make herself sound as uninteresting as possible, but to someone from the countryside, anything can be novel if you're bored enough. Finally, Osha managed to get a decent amount of information out of her: it turns out that in the woman's country, girls and men have the same level of power. The nobleman was her companion and travel guide, but only in exchange for the girl teaching him her alchemy.

At the end of the day, Osha and her father stayed at an inn, and the strangers went to explore the city. With any luck, they wouldn't run into any trouble with criminals.

The peasants weren't too worried about them, as with their strange instruments, they should be able to fend off the thugs who plague the streets of London at night.