"It's something you can do to earn money, if you are good enough at it," Kassandra says, her head tilting again in something like rueful concession that it's certainly not easy. Or formal. Or, necessarily, respected.

"There are mercenaries in Greece, where I am from. Enough of us that if I ask someone if a misthos could help them, they know what I mean. We go from place to place looking for anyone who will give us work. There aren't always many people who can pay, so it isn't always a very good job. But it ... suits my skills."

She's not offended by the woman's surprise. If being a misthios is a common enough trade in Greece that most people know one when they see one, it's not a steady trade, not steady enough that an island like Kephallonia could really support her if she hadn't been doing regular work for Markos. There's a reason many misthioi travel, and take whatever work they can get, even if it's picking herbs or retrieving a lost item.