lying.”
Holo murmured quietly and held the pyrite up between her lingers.
“It’s not good for much, but it’s often sold as a souvenir. And since it looks like gold, sometimes it’s used by swindlers. Was anybody else buying it?”
“Oh, indeed. Many. The fortune-teller had great skill, enough to impress even me. He claimed that with dice like his, anyone could road the fates, so all that were gathered wanted the pyrite dice he was selling. He made up all manner of reasons why they were desirable.”
“You mean the dice?”
“Indeed. Even the ones less perfect in shape than this he claimed would ward away sickness or evil.”
Lawrence felt a certain professional respect for anyone who could invent such a lucrative business. Festivals and fairs often sparked strange fads.
The charged atmosphere made for great business, but pyrite—that was quite an angle, indeed.
“Amati bid down the price on that die, too.”
This genuinely surprised Lawrence. “He bid it down?”
“The crowd had gotten quite enthusiastic. I’d not seen that sort of competition before—it was something to see, indeed. I expect
I could sell the die quite dear now.”
Lawrence thought of Batos, who traveled the Hyoram regions. Did Batos know of this? If he had pyrite on hand or connections to gain it, there might be excellent business to be had here.
Lawrence had gotten that far in his train of thought when there was a knock at the door.
“Hm?” For a moment, he considered the possibility that Amati had spotted Holo’s ears and tail, but then he decided that the perceptive Holo would have noticed if that were the case.
He looked from the door to Holo and saw that she drew the bedclothes up over herself. Evidently the visitor at the door was not of the dangerous sort they had encountered in Pazzio.
Lawrence walked over to the door and opened it.
On the other side was Mark’s young apprentice.
“I apologize for calling so early in the morning. I have a message from my master.”
It was hardly “early in the morning,” and Lawrence couldn’t imagine what was so pressing that it would inspire Mark to send his apprentice on an errand just when the market would be opening.
He wondered if Mark had perhaps fallen gravely ill, but no—were that the case, the boy would not claim to have a message from his master.
Holo shifted underneath the blankets, popping her head out.
The boy noticed and glanced her way. Seeing a girl on a bed covered from the neck down in blankets was evidently more than he had bargained for. He turned away, red faced.
“So what was the message?”
“Oh, er, yes. He said you needed to know right away, so I ran over immediately. Actually—”
The shocking news had Lawrence running through the streets of Kumersun a moment later.
Chapter 3
The town of Kumersun rose early.
Lawrence crossed the broad north-south avenue and headed west toward the trading company. Here and there on the way, he .potted many people erecting what looked like signposts.
Lawrence glanced at them as he ran with Marks apprentice. They seemed to indeed be signposts of some kind, but he could not tell what was written on them. It was a script he had never seen before, and the signs were decorated with flowers, turnips, or bundles of hay.
Undoubtedly they were used in the Laddora festival, which began today, but Lawrence had no time to investigate.
The boy was fleet of foot and showed no signs of tiring, perhaps from being worked so hard day in and day out by Mark. Lawrence had a fair amount of confidence in his own stamina but was hard-pressed to keep up. It was just as he was running short of breath that they arrived at the trading company.
The normally forbidding, tightly closed doors of the company were thrown open. A handful of merchants stood at the entrance, wine cups already in hand despite the early hour.
Their attention had been directed into the building, but upon noticing Lawrence’s arrival,
Holo murmured quietly and held the pyrite up between her lingers.
“It’s not good for much, but it’s often sold as a souvenir. And since it looks like gold, sometimes it’s used by swindlers. Was anybody else buying it?”
“Oh, indeed. Many. The fortune-teller had great skill, enough to impress even me. He claimed that with dice like his, anyone could road the fates, so all that were gathered wanted the pyrite dice he was selling. He made up all manner of reasons why they were desirable.”
“You mean the dice?”
“Indeed. Even the ones less perfect in shape than this he claimed would ward away sickness or evil.”
Lawrence felt a certain professional respect for anyone who could invent such a lucrative business. Festivals and fairs often sparked strange fads.
The charged atmosphere made for great business, but pyrite—that was quite an angle, indeed.
“Amati bid down the price on that die, too.”
This genuinely surprised Lawrence. “He bid it down?”
“The crowd had gotten quite enthusiastic. I’d not seen that sort of competition before—it was something to see, indeed. I expect
I could sell the die quite dear now.”
Lawrence thought of Batos, who traveled the Hyoram regions. Did Batos know of this? If he had pyrite on hand or connections to gain it, there might be excellent business to be had here.
Lawrence had gotten that far in his train of thought when there was a knock at the door.
“Hm?” For a moment, he considered the possibility that Amati had spotted Holo’s ears and tail, but then he decided that the perceptive Holo would have noticed if that were the case.
He looked from the door to Holo and saw that she drew the bedclothes up over herself. Evidently the visitor at the door was not of the dangerous sort they had encountered in Pazzio.
Lawrence walked over to the door and opened it.
On the other side was Mark’s young apprentice.
“I apologize for calling so early in the morning. I have a message from my master.”
It was hardly “early in the morning,” and Lawrence couldn’t imagine what was so pressing that it would inspire Mark to send his apprentice on an errand just when the market would be opening.
He wondered if Mark had perhaps fallen gravely ill, but no—were that the case, the boy would not claim to have a message from his master.
Holo shifted underneath the blankets, popping her head out.
The boy noticed and glanced her way. Seeing a girl on a bed covered from the neck down in blankets was evidently more than he had bargained for. He turned away, red faced.
“So what was the message?”
“Oh, er, yes. He said you needed to know right away, so I ran over immediately. Actually—”
The shocking news had Lawrence running through the streets of Kumersun a moment later.
Chapter 3
The town of Kumersun rose early.
Lawrence crossed the broad north-south avenue and headed west toward the trading company. Here and there on the way, he .potted many people erecting what looked like signposts.
Lawrence glanced at them as he ran with Marks apprentice. They seemed to indeed be signposts of some kind, but he could not tell what was written on them. It was a script he had never seen before, and the signs were decorated with flowers, turnips, or bundles of hay.
Undoubtedly they were used in the Laddora festival, which began today, but Lawrence had no time to investigate.
The boy was fleet of foot and showed no signs of tiring, perhaps from being worked so hard day in and day out by Mark. Lawrence had a fair amount of confidence in his own stamina but was hard-pressed to keep up. It was just as he was running short of breath that they arrived at the trading company.
The normally forbidding, tightly closed doors of the company were thrown open. A handful of merchants stood at the entrance, wine cups already in hand despite the early hour.
Their attention had been directed into the building, but upon noticing Lawrence’s arrival,
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