Lightstar Family/Yleina/Roleplay 09

Mercantile Dispute

"Three gold for each of the quartz," the old merchant replied gruffly.

The girl frowned. At least it was more than she could get in Ornaz, or even Erahol, for that matter.

"How about--"

"No. Three gold. Take it, or leave it." He crossed his arms, not amused in the slightest, as he stared at her unblinkingly.

"Done," sighed Yleina, as she placed the pretty pink quartz gems on the table. She watched curiously as the man first placed seven gold coins onto the table and then fished about in a second pouch. From this, he removed another three silver pieces and placed them next to the gold.

"A pleasure, lassie," the old man finally cracked a grin, revealing gross yellow teeth.

The girl frowned again. She was no tax collector, but it was quite obvious that seven gold and three silver seemed less than what she should be getting. As the merchant reached out his hand to collect the quartz, the girl whipped out the dagger concealed within her sleeve and lay the point on his hand, all in the blink of one eye.

"Hey now, what's this! Guards! Guards!" he cried angrily, but she did not flinch.

"Good sir, even a child can tell you that three gold for three gems makes more than what you have placed on the table. You cannot fool me."

"Well, maybe children don't know nothing about taxes!" he retorted, still fuming, as a couple of patrolling guards finally showed up to investigate. Unconvinced, the girl did however have the wisdom to quickly hide her weapon back into her sleeve again, before the guards saw the blade.

The merchant quickly retracted his hand from the table and caressed it with his other one, as if rubbing at a sore or wound. Then he pointed an accusing finger at the girl.

"Guards, she's trying to rob me! Arrest her right now! She said she was going to kill me!"

"Hey now, what's this about?" the elder one of the guards said sternly, with a hand resting on his sword hilt.

The girl glanced over innocently as the old man yelled again, "She pulled a dagger on me! Arrest her, I say!"

"Good sirs, peace. I merely wished to sell these gems of mine," she gestured to the quartz, "and this merchant agreed to give me three gold each, which should total nine gold." She had figured out the sum by now, adding slowly in her head. "However--"

"She's a damned liar! Why are you two just standing there like idiots? Arrest--"

"HOWEVER," the girl cleared her throat for additional emphasis, "he has only produced seven gold and three silver." She pointed at the coins next to the gems. "I hardly think that is fair."

The guard who had spoken before thought about the matter for a handful of seconds before replying, "You would be correct, miss, if there were no taxes. Since there are, fifteen percent of every sale or purchase made within the borders of Idapur go to His Grace, and in return, he provides protection and stability for the entire region. A small price to pay, I would say. Although..." He glanced at the pile of coins and then raised his eyes to meet those of the still-flustered merchant. "This man owes you six silver. The correct sum, after taxes, is seven gold, nine silver."

"Wh-what? What are you talking about, you dolt! This is an outrage! Fine, I don't want your gems any more!"

This caused the girl to smirk in response, as she pointed to a sign displayed prominently on the side of the table. It read: "All sales are final!"

"Six more silver, sir, or I will be arresting you for cheating the lady," the guard spoke calmly.

Grumbling incoherently to himself, the old man huffed and puffed before finally slamming the remaining coins on the table. This caused one of the table's legs to crack, unbalancing the entire table. He watched helplessly in shock as everything slid away from his side, moving towards the ground.

Deftly, the girl slid her hand forward and caught the coins owed her as they fell off the edge. She allowed everything else to fall, hiding a grin as she rubbed at her nose. Nodding to the nice guard, she took her leave of the market and headed for the ducal palace.

After selling the last of her treasures found throughout a long time of adventuring, Yleina was finally ready to reveal her birthright.

(OOC: 250 gold for 2.5 years of adventuring... I don't know whether to laugh or cry, since Xarnelf gets over twice that amount every week! But note to self and others with Advys who plan on becoming nobles: save up 12 hours before you switch class to noble, so you can actually do things before the turn change, hah!)