Spring was beautiful in Zanth, with its copper spires and minarets gleaming not far away. The gilded and silvery roofs of the Sultan of Zandu's fabulous palace gave their own soft, distinctive shimmer, too, which looked like blood under the light of the sunset.<br/><br/>The Sarista camp boasted its own colours, including everything one can see in a rainbow, and than some more. Everybody was preparing for the wedding ceremony of two members of the clan. It was a grand event, since each had at least a couple other spouses, and some of them had their own spouses, too. Truly, it was the day where the whole clan was becoming one family!<br/><br/>The head of the Petran family knew that with this event, a significant portion of the next generation might need to intermarry with another clan. For some people, there would be just too much familial relationships to be allowed to marry. The elders said it is a good thing - that the need for partners from other clans keeps the Sarista strong and united.<br/>But that was a matter for later. For now, she was busy thinking of the unusual visitors that happened to be present for the wedding. Of course, the Sarista didn't mind it. In fact, the Thaecian and the three Muses were more than welcome, as would be any musician, or just a good dancer! The Thaecian - what was his name, again? - was indeed a musician, and a wizard, and he had already shown that his wizardry is meant to improve his performance.<br/>It was a use for magic most Sarista would heartily approve. He was really glad his granddaughter, Viorica, had invited the guy.<br/>The Muses were also likely to add substantially to the revelry after the gifts were exchanged. No, these ones were not a problem.<br/>The problem was, the Thaecian had dragged along two friends of his. One was an Arimite girl hiding her face behind a Djaffir mask that was obviously made for another. It was unclear how she had found one, but most Djaffir weren't too keen to part with their masks. Not to mention the Arimite were not known to appreciate music.<br/>The other was a certament if she had ever seen one, down to the Zandir duelling sword and the left-hand dagger. And more importantly, he was flamboyant, hot-tempered and haughty all at the same time.<br/>The curious part was, he was a Cymrillian. Obviously, they had their own duellists-for-hire. Well, at least the spangalor armour shimmered nicely, as he was wearing the garish, light-weight variety known as silversparkle. It attracted some attention by the girls, and some guys. He seemed to politely ignore the guys, unless they were wearing a sword, though. Some girls seemed to elicit his interest, though. Of course, given that he seemed to be good-mannered, the clan leader doubted that would be a problem.<br/>And then there was the guy with the big, old sword...<br/>He had never seen a Xambrian wizard-hunter before and was fascinated. It was a curious sight, and the way he seemed to be listening to you and someone else when there were only the two of you seemed to confirm the bad and the good rumours he had heard. He didn't mention where his spirits were leading him.<br/>The clan leader secretly hoped it was somewhere far away. It was always better if the threat that can draw a Xambrian is far away, preferably in Aaman or Rajanin.<br/>Other than that, Xionphan seemed like a nice guy. But his fate, eternally hunting dark wizards and conversing with spirits, wasn't one to envy, the clan leader thought.<br/>He just hoped he wouldn't clash with his step-daughter, Viorica. Granted, she was an witch, not a necromancer, and wizard hunters didn't seem to mind all magicians.<br/>But it still seemed Fortuna was giving them a sign that it is time to move camp yet again. Not before the wedding, though, he decided.