When she didn’t answer and kept staring to the strange man with shock the man beside him continued. “Are you a local?” he asked. After he looked at her ragged clothes, bleeding bare feet and smudgy face he shut his mouth back. It was obvious that she was either a beggar or a run-away slave.

When he was staring her with pitiful eyes, a beautiful woman’s face stuck out from the wagon. “Hey, you lazybones. Why stopping now? We have a long way to-” she stopped talking when she saw her. “Who is she?” she asked men who shake their heads. “Hey, shorty!” she turned her. “Who are you? What is your name?”

She startled. They were questions she had no answer. She had no name before she brought to the mansion and she didn’t want to use the name she got from the boy she thought her friend. While looking at her bruised feet, she just shook her head as no to the woman who asked the question.

The woman sighed. She looked at her carefully once more and got out of the wagon. “We are a merchant group travelling the continent. Where are you going? This road only leads to the desert after the woods. You can’t survive in this state.” She pondered while looking at the small kid. She was small and frail. She had bruises all over and there was nothing they can get from her. Nonetheless, the woman had a soft part for children, especially ones with a slender frame but determined to survive, like her. “Fine,” she said. “we’ll take you with us and help you pass the desert. How about that, shorty.”

She lifted her head to the woman’s words with shiny eyes. She was smiling at her but it wasn’t like the smiles she had seen so far on the faces in the slave market or the mansion. Her smile was warm and full of kindness. Without realizing, her tears started coming out of her eyes. She nodded her head while wiping her never-ending tears. The woman put her hand on her head and stroked her lacklustre hair while she was quietly crying.

When she boarded to the wagon she saw more foreign looking people in the wagon. Group was traveling with 6 people. Except for the woman and two men outside there were a woman and two built men she saw when she got in. They warmly welcomed her and gave her a place inside the wagon. Merchants were friendly and kind to her. They accepted her to the wagon without saying a word and gave her a place to sit. The woman beside her with a warm smile on her face passed her a water bottle. The woman was silent and well-behaved. Men looked like mercenaries. They had similarity one can find between siblings.

There was an extra wagon behind the one they were travelling in. It seemed loaded with all kinds of things. They were using it to put their goods. The wagon was filled with various products. There were unique from exotic fruits to precious fabrics and old books. There were some unusually colored shiny gems and unique luxurious furnitures for wealthy costumers.

The woman who asked her to join named Iris. She had bright blonde hair with dark brown eyes. She was as tall as the men in the group and had a skinny frame. She was wearing dark-coloured trousers and a loose blouse with a leather vest. She was at best 25 and married the man who asked her where she was heading. She said they were originally from Nerhania. Looks like she started this business with her husband from Nerhania and grew bigger with every member joined them. She was good with words and negotiations so that made her a good trader.

Irıs’s husband’s name was Müller. He was blonde haired like his wife but he had green eyes instead. He had a strange accent as Nerhania’s local and carefree attitude. He was wearing black trousers and brown tunic that made him skinny form seem even skinnier. He was always debonair and kind. Sometimes when he says something absurd, Iris would smack the back of his head. He was good with calculation and he was in charge of the money.

The other woman’s name was Kamala. She had swarthy skin with dark hair colour which made her blue eyes stand out more. She had a shawl around her head and she was wearing a loose dress but still, her curvy shape was clear. She had a delicate aspect with a dignified attitude. She joined them in Hadrony and was travelling for 3 months now. As she mentioned herself, she slipped that she was escaping from her abusive husband but there were still many scars she couldn’t speak of. She was warning every youngster to decide on their spouse wisely. She was mostly helping Iris with sales and sometimes Müller with accounts.

The man beside Müller was called Alonso. He had a rough look with brunette skin and ebony black hair and eyes. He seemed tough but had a kind manner in speech. His built structure looked even bigger with his tight white tunic and black trousers. He was originally from Mahony and was a mercenary. A rich man bought him and brought to Nerhania as a bodyguard but when he had gone bankrupt, Alonso started looking for another job and joined the group as a bodyguard for bandits and wild animals during journey.

The other men inside the wagon were brothers. Older one’s name was Martin and the other’s was Charlie. They both had built structure with bright skin and brown hair and eyes. Except for a scar on Martin’s left cheek, separating them was hard. Martin was mostly quiet but kind from time to time, unlike Charlie who was overly friendly and talkative. While his brother Charlie was talking non-stop, Martin was humming himself as one day he will die from his tongue. They were from the empire Caelany and used to be mercenaries like Alonso. As Charlie said, they were bodyguard of an old rich man with a vile attitude. He wasn’t paying much to his servants because of his excessive spending on luxury so they left him when he forced them to kill an innocent child for stealing a bread he hadn’t stolen. As for Martin’s scar, it was Charlie who did it when they were younger and training.

“Well, kid.” said Kamala. “You need a name if you’ll travel with merchants.”

“She’s clearly Welsian.” said Charlie. “Let's find her a name.” he suggested.

“Say now, shorty.” Iris turned her. “What do you want your name to be?”

She shook her head while answering as “I don’t know.” with a weak voice.

Kamala pondered with her hand on her chin. “She’s still so young.” she said. “She can’t decide on her own.”

“Then why don’t you talk about yourself, kiddo? Where are you from?” she looked at Charlie’s face who was asking a question which brought bitter memories. With a low voice and sometimes tears, she told what she had gone through.

After her story faces inside the wagon, which was shaking with rocks and pits on the road, became sad and tearful. Iris stroked her head and smiled bitterly.

“Looks like you had gone through a lot.” she said. “What if we choose a name for you?”

She immediately shook her head. They were kind people and took her with them unconditionally. She felt warm and safe with them. maybe this time would be different and she could trust them.

They brainstormed about for a few days. They were from many different places around Ederon so they couldn’t agree on one at first but when they got tired from searching for a name, they were already in the Middle Desert of Welsia.

When they stopped for a few hours, always quiet Martin sits beside her. “What do you want?” he asked briefly while giving her a cup of water. When she squeezed her glass as staring it and didn’t answer, he continued. “We all expect something. I am sure even a kid is the same. What do you expect then?”

She looked in shock at the man who never spoken that long the last few days. What she wanted was a question she didn’t understand the exact meaning but after the time she spent as an orphan, as a slave, as a test subject and as a traveller; she was sure of one thing. “Happy.” she whispered. When Martin’s face was confused, she smiled and said: “Happiness is what I want.” with a determined voice.

Martin’s eyes grew and looked at the bright child in front of him. She reminded him of his little brother when they were young. He smiled her and get back to the wagon.

After they departed, Irıs looked at her with a smiling face ear to ear and said “Nashwa.” When she didn’t understand “Your name.” she answered. “We will call you Nashwa from now on. It means happiness.”

When she heard Iris’s kind words with a cheerful face, she couldn’t help but burst into tears.