“I can’t sell this pin,” Rejji declared. “It is not mine to sell. Fifty gold sounds awfully low considering the price you are selling them for. I would expect that you would be glad to double your money without much effort.”
“Doubling my money is not sufficient for the risk I would be taking,” Wendal said. “After all, it might not sell and I would be stuck with it. Besides, Brontos only charges one hundred gold for his when he sells them. Why should I pay double that to you?”
“Ah but you said Brontos was hoarding his,” grinned Rejji. “I think if Brontos was selling, your point would be valid.”
“Do you have one on you?” frowned Wendal.
“No,” admitted Rejji. “I was just curious how the game is played.”
Wendal laughed loudly. “You would make a fine merchant if you weren’t in that tunic,” he said. “So what have your learned?”
“That if I had one,” smiled Rejji, “I could sell it to you for one hundred gold at least. Does Brontos live in the city? I would love to see him again.”
“He does have a house in the city,” confirmed Wendal, “but he is seldom here. Last I heard he was going to try setting up a route in Omunga. He said Fakara had become too dangerous.”
“Yes it has,” frowned Rejji. “I must continue my task. Please tell Brontos I was asking for him and thank you for explaining things to me.”
“Anytime, Rejji,” smiled Wendal. “If you finish your task, come back and chat. It will give me something to do.”
Rejji continued down the row and reversed course on the next row. After a while he realized that the ends of the rows had mostly used merchandise and he was able to skip past them rather quickly. He figured the core market was in the center and the size of the market fluctuated depending on how many merchants chose to set up on any given day. By the third row, Rejji was able to move swiftly and spot those merchants that sold the items on his list.
High sun came and went and Rejji skipped his meal in favor of getting his task done. Suddenly, Rejji felt as if someone was watching him and he twirled around to check, but could not see anyone looking his way. He brushed the feeling off and continued down the row. Rejji got to the last row as the sun started to drop. He hurried past the end stalls with only a passing glance in hopes he could finish the entire market in one day, but the merchants began closing up while he was still in the middle of the last row.
Rejji retreated and headed for the Inn of the Rose. He entered the common room and the innkeeper came over to him.
“No refunds for missed meals you know,” the innkeeper frowned.
“I understand,” Rejji smiled. “I was busy.”
“Sit at the first table here and I will send the girl out with a plate,” the innkeeper scowled.
Rejji shook his head and slid along the bench of the first table until he was against the wall. The crowd was larger than it was in the morning, but there were still plenty of empty seats. He figured the innkeeper was displeased with the arrangement Wicado had made and didn’t care to have a slave sitting in the common room. At least, Rejji thought, the service would be quick.
A man in a dark hooded cloak came in and scanned the room. His eyes locked on Rejji for the briefest moment before the man went to the last table and slid all the way in so he was against the wall and facing Rejji. Rejji tried not to stare at the man, but his skin prickled as if he was being watched again. The man sat with his head down and did not even appear to notice anyone else was in the room, so Rejji sighed and looked elsewhere. A girl arrived with a bowl of stew, some bread, and a glass of ale. Rejji looked around the room and saw that most patrons were being served roast meat. He wondered how Wicado would react if he knew the service the innkeeper was providing for his money.
Rejji shrugged and started devouring his stew. He realized how hungry he was with the first spoonful, and vowed not to skip the midday meal again tomorrow. Rejji’s skin prickled again and he slyly peeked up to see the man in the black cloak staring at him. The man looked away quickly and Rejji returned to his stew. Rejji swallowed the ale and stuffed the bread in the small bag Wicado had given him and left the table. He went up the stairs and unlocked his door and relocked it after he was inside. He made sure the window was shuttered and then fumbled around for the candle and striker. He lit the candle and sat down on the floor with his bag.
Rejji removed the bread and started nibbling on it as he retrieved his notes. He studied the different amounts charged for the same commodities and found a wide variance in price. Studying the figures further, he also found out that the prices appeared to be affected by their location, so that there was never a severe change in price in any one location. The further apart physically though, the more opportunity for a larger difference in price. This tended to make Rejji think that competition of neighboring stalls had more of an effect on price than the cost of the item. Rejji saw that the candle had burned down quite a bit while he was working on the numbers and he decided it was time for bed.
When Rejji woke the sun had already risen. He gathered up his papers and stuffed them in the bag and went down for his morning meal. The innkeeper told him to sit in the same seat and returned to the kitchen, but Rejji intentionally chose another. When the innkeeper came back and saw Rejji sitting elsewhere he scowled and came over to the table.
“You do not sit here,” he stated. “You sit over there.”
Rejji looked up at the innkeeper and smiled, “That was a wonderful roast last night. It is a shame I was fed stew from the day before. I can understand that you are not comfortable having a slave stay here, but the gold you took was a fair payment for the services the Bursar requested. I may be a slave, but I am not your slave. If you wish me not to be seen, then serve me what is served others and be quick about it. I will even do you a favor. Send me off with a bag for my midday meal and I will not come back until the evening meal.”
“Who do you think you are to tell me how to run my business?” growled the innkeeper.
“I am someone who has finished the task that was supposed to take me three days,” smiled Rejji. “That means I could just spend the next two days sitting here. It is a nice place to rest.”
The innkeeper huffed and stormed into the kitchen. A girl promptly came out with a large plate of eggs, a slice of wasooki, coffee and a roll.
“I will have a bag meal ready for you by the time you finish that,” she smiled.
“Thank you very much,” grinned Rejji.
He devoured the morning meal and snatched the bag the girl had brought to the table and moved swiftly out the door. He wasn’t sure what had made him defy the innkeeper, but he chuckled to himself as picked up where he had left off in the market.
Rejji finished the last row and stood at the last stall in the market checking his notes to see if the pattern matched. He smiled inwardly when the new figures matched what he had seen the night before and he stuffed the papers into his small bag. He wandered around the nearest stalls, which were all low-priced used merchandise. He wondered if he could find something cheap that Mistake would like. He checked the pouch that Wicado had given him and saw that it contained five gold coins. Certainly he would have to stick with looking at the ends of the rows, but he might find something that would pick her spirits up a little.
He browsed the ends of several rows finding nothing suitable that could be purchased for the gold he had. He looked at one stall whose merchandise was in terrible condition. The jewelry was all broken and dirty and not laid out well like the other stalls. He wondered why a merchant would bother setting up a stall and not even take the time to clean the merchandise or lay it out nicely. He was ready to skip over the stall when something caught his eye. He moved quickly back and peered closer at it.
He looked at the old woman selling the merchandise and she didn’t even bother to get up off her crate when he reached for the necklace. It was a terrible piece of workmanship and made with inferior metal. The chain was broken and the casing was cracked.