Oki nodded. "That works, Cid, that definitely works." She nods, lets out a breath, looks at Donnie. "Carts are a dime a dozen, but there's something I need you to do if we are going to sell this, and I've anticipated it."

She lowers her head, and her jaw tensed a bit. "Donnie, you're going to need to chain and padlock my wings. Being a servant to the Empire means being visibly... subservient."

She looked at Cid and spoke again, tone more serious than before. "While we are before their eyes, I am a slave, I am bound and limited - I cannot speak or respond without your explicit permission. I move where you say to move, lift what you command me to lift and sleep when you command me to sleep."

She looked the man in the eye, then to Donnie as well.

"These are the fine tools by which we unlock our treasure and add to the means of our liberation, my friends. No words may pierce my hide and no slaps or humiliation will turn me from this purpose."

She let out a long breath. "If we do get compromised, cover blown, then we strike fast and run, take what we can. I promise you this, from the heart. If they surround us and try to imprison us again, every single one of them dies, even if I use only the tools I was born with, that is a promise."

She straightens up and nods. "First, a simple carriage acquisition. Then, we advance."

(Next post from me will begin the sequence of events proper)