“How much is this?” he asked the woman as he held it up.
The woman groaned as she got up and waddled over to the stall. She took the necklace and made a great deal out of admiring it.
“Oh you have good taste,” she smiled toothlessly. “Very expensive piece it is. Twenty gold I think it is,” she stated as she watched for Rejji’s reaction.
Rejji frowned and closed his eyes and she continued talking.
“But I think maybe ten is what I was selling it for,” she bargained.
“The chain is broken,” Rejji pointed out, “and the casing is cracked. Where did you get this?”
“Oh so it is,” she nodded. “So it is. Got a girl do ya?” she smiled. “Nice gift for a young girl. Give me five gold and it is yours.”
“Five gold is all I have to my name,” declared Rejji figuring she had probably picked it out of someone’s garbage. “I think I will look around some more.”
As Rejji turned to leave, the woman shouted, “Three gold then. I’ll let it go for three gold but no less.”
Rejji heard the old man in the next stall cackling. “From the garbage to your sweetheart’s neck,” he was chuckling.
“You be quiet, old man,” the woman shouted. “The boy don’t care where it came from.”
Rejji turned back and fished out three gold coins and handed them to the old woman. Her face glowed with the feel of gold in her hands and she made a show of rubbing the necklace on her tunic, as if that would clean it up. Rejji took the necklace and thanked the old woman as he headed away briskly. He reached the center of the market and turned towards the first row. As he walked he fiddled with the necklace. The chain came completely off in his hand, but he smiled when he thought about how happy Mistake would be. A couple of rows later, the casing gave way completely and Rejji dropped the inferior metal to the ground. As he reached the first row, he saw Wendal watching him. Wendal’s stall was without customers and Rejji smiled and walked up to the stall.
“Rejji,” greeted the merchant, “you look happy this morning.”
“I am very happy,” grinned Rejji as he held out what was left of the necklace for Wendal to see.
“Looks like I owe you a hundred gold,” chuckled Wendal. “Where did you find it?”
“It was part of a cheap necklace,” Rejji admitted as he handed Wendal the petrified shark’s tooth.
“You have the making of a merchant inside you lad,” laughed Wendal. Tell me though, what is a slave going to do with a hundred gold?”
“I am going to buy somebody’s freedom,” grinned Rejji.
“Yours?” inquired Wendal.
“No,” Rejji answered. “A friend of mine was captured the same time I was. She will not last long in slavery and I fear the thought of her dying when she tries to escape.”
Wendal counted out the hundred gold coins and put them in a small pouch before handing them to Rejji. He was unusually quiet and wasn’t smiling.
“Is something the matter?” Rejji asked. “You are happy with the deal, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am satisfied I can make a profit,” Wendal said. “Rejji,” he frowned, “slaves cannot be bought for one hundred gold coins. If this girl is around your age, she certainly cost more than a thousand gold coins. Probably much more than that.”
“Then I have to figure out how to make more gold,” sighed Rejji.
“There is more, lad,” Wendal continued. “Khadorans don’t sell slaves to slaves. I have never heard of anyone buying a slave’s freedom. Oh they may sell a slave to another estate, but slaves never go free.”
Chapter 10
Marketplace
Rejji sat silently with his back to Wendal’s stall for a long time. He mulled over Wendal’s words and sought to find an acceptable exception to the rule Wendal had stated. Surely there must be some condition under which an estate would give a slave freedom, he thought. He felt the pouch of gold coins that he had gotten from Wendal and wondered what price would make an estate break with tradition. His thoughts were interrupted by a customer at Wendal’s stall, the first Rejji had ever seen. Rejji looked up as the finely dressed woman started fondling a small gold statue that Wendal had on display.
“It is one of BaGrec’s works,” Wendal smiled.
“I recognized his style,” nodded the woman. “He was such a talented artisan.”
“Indeed he was,” agreed Wendal. “It is a shame that Khadora has lost such a fine man.”
“How much is it?” asked the woman.
“It is extremely rare,” commented Wendal. “While his style is distinctive, BaGrec tried something new with this piece. Notice the eyes.”
“Oh that is different,” responded the woman.
“Indeed,” smiled Wendal. “It was one of his last pieces. I believe he was trying to capture the sorrow of his lover. It resulted in a rather unique piece. I could make this collector’s piece yours for two thousand gold.”
The woman looked at Wendal with surprise and placed the statue down. “That is a great deal more than his other pieces,” reasoned the woman. “I have been buying his pieces for years so I should know. I think you will be holding this piece for a long time.”
“It is higher than his pieces have sold for in the past,” conceded Wendal, “but BaGrec is dead now. He will never create another masterpiece and the ones he has created will soar in value. There are only so many of them after all and people who have them will not want to part with them. I suspect this piece will be sold to a collector who will resell it for five times the purchase price.”
“Really?” quizzed the woman as she picked the statue back up. “It is a shame that he will not make any more.”
The woman examined the statue closely while Wendal busied himself with straightening other items in the stall that did not need his attention. He appeared totally disinterested in the woman and the decision she was making regarding the purchase.
“Would you consider fifteen hundred?” offered the woman.
Wendal looked up from his fussing and acted like he had just noticed that the woman was still at his stall. “Fifteen hundred leaves no appreciable profit for me,” he declared. “These items are extremely hard to come by and I should be selling it for much more than I am. Still,” he hesitated, “I will let you have it today for nineteen hundred. That is the best I can do.”
The woman hesitated only a minute and then nodded her head. “Will you take a note?” she asked.
“Certainly,” Wendal smiled. “It is preferable to handling large sums of gold.”
The woman smiled and prepared a piece of paper embossed with a clan symbol on it and wrote in the amount of the purchase. She handed the note to Wendal, who gently took the statue and placed it in a velvet pouch and handed it to the woman. She beamed as she took the pouch and strode off.
“I think she would have paid two thousand,” Rejji said as he stood up.
“Of course she would have,” agreed Wendal, “but she would have resented it. By giving her a slight discount, she is now thrilled with her purchase and will return here often. The best sale is not always the one that returns the most gold immediately. One should always make sure that the purchaser leaves happy. It is the good will that is spread to others about you that will bring you customers.”
“How much did you pay for it?” Rejji queried.
“Four hundred,” grinned Wendal.
“Wow!” exclaimed Rejji. “Do all merchants make that much profit?”
“No,” answered Wendal. “There are three type of merchants basically. Those like me who specialize in high priced items are one type. The items must be in short supply and must have high quality. Sales will be few but the profits will be large. I typically only make one or two sales a day. Some days I may spend my time here without a single customer.”
Wendal nodded to a passing customer and continued, “The low end merchants make very little on each sale, but they make sales all day long. They depend on great volume to earn their profit. The things they sell must be something that is needed by everyone and the competition will be fierce. Still those type of merchants can earn a decent wage.”