Bronn whistled appreciatively and grinned at Drena. Drena got a funny look and ran into the house. She asked after Dirk and was informed he was in his room. Up the stairs she went and then began knocking on the captain's door. Dirk answered the door half-dressed, and Drena ducked into the room and shut the door behind her. Dirk dropped the rag he had been washing with into a bowl of water, saying, "Now, lass, I'm too old for all that." Drena cursed him and laughed, saying, "Do you still have those green daggers?" He reached into a bag and drew the daggers, saying, "These?" Drena nodded and handed him the green ring. "Wear this on your dagger hand now." Dirk dropped the daggers on the bed and wore the ring on his pinky finger. Drena followed with, "Now wield the daggers." As he wielded them, the ring flashed and clicked. Weird little waves of green energy sprang from both daggers. Drena smiled, saying, "I thought so. Now throw them at something." Dirk turned, and the two daggers struck a plank the carpenters were using to build a bookcase, where it leaned against a wall. Two circles of black-green discoloration spread from each dagger into the wood. The wood looked as if it were rotting as they watched. Dirk reached out to point a hand at what the daggers were doing, and one dagger jumped back into his hand. Confused, he raised the other hand, and the other dagger was in his hand. "Oh, lass," he said. A strange grin crossed his face. What a pair of deadly weapons he now possessed. Drena snorted, saying, "Thought so, my black cutlass, Bronn's red flame sword, and now your green daggers. These are all magical weapons." Dirk began asking her questions, and the story of finding the rings on the skeleton's hand, then the weapons, tumbled out. Dirk nodded his head and thanked her for her keen insight, looking closely at the two daggers.
As the days went on, plans for the auction included a dagger display by Dirk and a mock battle between Arya and Brienne, followed by one between Drena and Bronn. Some of the lads offered to juggle wine bottles as they walked around the grounds, and Bart added a tart stand to showcase the flour and seeds for the auction. This was going as much as a fair as an auction.
One evening, Calancy ran into the house, shouting, "Nymeria said she would try it!" The next day, Thomas and Caelan scoured the town for an old circus animal cage. Finally, they were directed to an old, rundown circus place at the edge of town. An old man sat at the front entrance, bored, staring off in the distance. He perked up when the two of them climbed out of the wagon and approached him. "See the juggling seal! Two copper coins." Caelan translated for Thomas, saying, "Do you have any old animal wagons you would sell?" The man nodded and led them to the back of a smaller tent where he lived. He pulled dusty tarps off three cage wagons. Two of them were quite small, but the third was perfect... well, not perfect, because it was run-down, with faded paint and a broken wheel. Thomas held out a gold coin, and the man bit it. He nodded and held up 4 fingers. Thomas held up 3. The man relented and agreed. Caelan then translated further, "I will add the fourth if you come to our auction and put on a show with your seal?" The man held up five fingers. Thomas laughed and handed him 5 coins. The man fairly danced with happiness. Thomas asked about the defunct circus, and the story unfolded: it had done well for a few years, then attendance fell off, and his acts drifted away. Suddenly, he got a thoughtful look and asked, "Would you like to add a couple of good acrobats to the show?" He held up one finger, and Thomas nodded and gave him a sixth gold coin. Caelan said some of their members would come along tomorrow to fix the wagon and haul it off. The man smiled and agreed.
The next day, Trevor and a couple of crewmen took a wagon and an extra horse to the old circus. It took some serious work, but by afternoon, the animal cage wagon was pulled to the man's front lawn. They parked it under Nymeria's tree and went to work fixing it up. Thomas revived the paint and added a few touches. Signs sprouted on the outside saying 'See the eastern barbarians battle' and various iterations of 'Buy rare gems and jewelry at auction', 'Strange and wonderful rare goods from a strange land', and 'Once in a lifetime valuable wondrous goods on auction'. They made a soft bed in the cage, put Nymeria's favorite laying rug on it, and just left the cage door open. Two days later, they spotted Nymeria lying on the rug, and Ned was curled up in her fore paws. No one said a word.
Calancy went to Thomas the next day, saying, "She says the cage door can be closed but not locked; she must have some way to open it." Thomas went to work, he removed the lock and installed a bar large enough for her to paw the door open. When it was ready, Calancy entered the cage with Nymeria, and the door was closed. The dire wolf growled low but waited as Calancy explained the mechanism to her. Then Nymeria approached the cage door and pushed on the bar with her massive paw. The door swung open, and she bounded out.