<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">From the Jolly Collie, the nine of them headed to a warehouse one block away, built specifically to hold cargo from foreign merchants. The interior resembled a stable in its stone floor and the wide closed doors around the open center. A faint smell of horses still lingered, as if the walls still remembered the sweaty pack horses' relief of their burdens. Gwayn's wagon was parked in one stall, but stacked high with a few tons of textiles made it impossible for one man to move. Gwayn looked back to Kasaima. "Could I use your strength here, please?" <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Kasaima gave a nod, and knelt down so that Trey could hop off his shoulder, landing on Aldwin. Aldwin was surprised, but couldn't resist lifting a finger to stroke behind Trey's ears. Kasaima braced his arm against the wagon and pulled. It was an awkward position, but it was enough to slowly pull the wagon out of the stall. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Misha watched this, and finally came to a decision of his own. "One second," he said as he clamored over the canvas-covered wagon to the back, careful not to scrape his great axe against the wagon or ceiling. After a brief scuffle, he called back, "Ready!" <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The wagon gave way much more easily, rolling out of the stall into the wide atrium. The humans were awestruck when Misha emerged, pants draped over his four-legged taur body as he pushed the wagon. Even Howel seemed impressed, raising an eyebrow at his new form. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Gwayn was quick to recover, and once the wagon was out, he began removing the canvas with Reed's help. The lighting was dim, but the vibrant rugs still seemed to shine and wash the warehouse walls with greens, blues, and purples. The rugs on top were the smallest, but also the thickest. Fifteen feet in length each, all six of them lay side-by-side atop the fourteen rolls of long carpet underneath. There was a good variety there, with only a couple duplicates among the colors and designs. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">With his massive taur body, Misha could easily peer into the wagon to appraise the rugs. "These are very fine rugs," he declared, "but not that fine. I'll give you forty apiece for the top rugs, and fifty apiece for the carpets." <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Gwayn shook his head. "Sixty apiece for each. Twelve hundred total." <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Misha crossed his arms. "You're not going to haggle?" <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">"I see no need. I've gone to a great deal of trouble hauling these rugs. I'm not about to sell them at a low price, to be sold at a high markup up north. You're welcome to buy everything at the same price as I would set up north." <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Misha remembered again why he set his own prices for his clocks in advance, and left trade negotiations up to diplomats and the court. "You're not exactly in a strong position to negotiate. You've had two of your own guards rob you, and leave you with only two horses to barely pull your wagon--" <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Gwayn waved off Misha's arguments. "Yes, yes, and a couple days to leave Metamor to do it. I'm ready to accept a temporary hardship for long-term profit, as I'm sure my men are." The four guards all showed a subtle disagreement with that assessment, Jerrod least of all. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Misha's lone ear twitched. He disliked merchants; their greed was all too often their undoing. But he also disliked troublemakers, which they would quickly turn into if they stayed. He was tempted to just buy the whole inventory and be done with them; he could certainly have afforded it. But twelve hundred was a steep sum for a bunch of carpets, especially as Kyia often provided fine carpets for free. Storage wasn't a problem, but it would just be more trouble for him to go around finding a buyer for them. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Finally Misha spoke. "Here's my offer. I'll pay six hundred gold for four of the top rugs and six of the carpet rolls. That should be enough for you to get another two horses, food and provisions for a journey north and south, and lodgings in Starven to complete your business. The rest will be up to you." </div> </div></div>