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Lord Gregory Carth walked confidently into the shop he'd chosen. He was looking for a very specific item for Slave, who was following along behind him obediently. Today, he wore black trousers with a white silk shirt. Over the shirt he wore a vest of red velvet and a suitcoat of matching color. At his waist hung his weapon of choice, a rapier.
Exactly two steps behind him, Slave walked with her eyes fixed on his back. She wore a simple dress of light blue. It fit snugly and had a low neck. The hemline was at her knees. On her feet she wore simple black shoes. It was a big change from how the lord used to dress her, but she was very happy to be done with rags that barely covered her young body.
"Master? What are we doing here? Slave could not read the sign."
Carth did not answer her. Instead he beckoned for her to come forward and look at the items displayed in a glass case. There was also a sign fixed to the glass with the shop's name on it.
"Try reading it here, Slave. The letters are smaller, so you should be able to read them better."
Slave obediently came forward and stared hard at the letters. It had been a very big surprise when the Master had ordered that she be taught to read, write and to do simple arithmetic. She had been delighted to finally be permitted to know the mystery of the funny looking lines called letters and numbers.
"R-r-read-ing and R-r-rit-ing Emp-empor-emporium," she said slowly as she sounded out the words, "Reading and Writing Emporium. Is that what it says, Master?"
Carth smiled proudly and patted her head. "Very good, Slave. Yes, it says Reading and Writing Emporium. We are here to purchase a quill just for you."
"Really? Slave gets a quill all her own?"
"Yes, but not if you get too loud."
Slave immediately closed her mouth, though she did not stop smiling and retreated to her customary place of two steps behind her Master. Carth looked around impatiently. He had been told that this was the place to get quill pens of excellent quality, he only hoped that his resources had been correct.
((OOC: I would like for Karuka to handle this transaction please. Thanks!))
Esmerelda, the manager and co-owner of Reading and Writing Emporium was a slender, golden-haired woman with sparkling green eyes, and she stepped up to the front as soon as she noticed that she had a customer.
Smiling benevolently at the short, cute woman, she made a curtsy to Lord Carth.
"It is a pleasure to see you, my lord. How may I be of service?"
Carth smiled half-heartedly at the girl behind the counter.
"Ah, service! What I am looking for is a quill pen, but not just any quill pen. I want one of fine quality. It must be perfect. The person that is going to be using it has small hands, so I don't want anything too big or heavy, but neither do I want a child's school pen. What do you have in that respect?"
While he waited for an answer, Slave looked around the shop. She saw a variety of writing pads, different colored papers and many varieties of writing instruments. Some were very simple, while others were fancy and looked like the type of pens that only kings and queens used.
Esmerelda leaned on the counter, thinking.
"Well, we have everything from goose quills to eagle quills, and even a few from more exotic birds. We have pen knives, for when the nibs get dull, and we have silver and steel tipped quills that don't get dull, but steel ones rust if not taken care of."
She glanced at Slave and her tiny hands. "But...perhaps she'd like to pick out her own quill?"
He raised an eyebrow, surprised that Esmerelda had figured out who the quill was for.
"Perhaps, but not until I've seen something worth my money. A silver tip sounds good. I wouldn't want her cutting herself with a quill knife. I was thinking something a little more whispy than an ordinary bird. I want something that is light, almost airy. Also, what kind of prices are we looking at so far?"
"Silver tipped generally run anywhere from five to fifteen gold, and our lighter feathers tend to run in the ten to twenty range. H'mm..."
She looked at Slave for a moment, then fished around behind the counter, pulling out a wispy light blue feather that curled at the end, with a silver nib.
"How about a pretty blue one to match your dress?"
It had just enough weight at the tip to make writing easy and flow well, but otherwise was light, and was suited for a delicate grip.
"If there's not enough room for you to grip it well, I can shave off a little bit more of the feather, until you have room to write comfortably."
She looked back at Lord Carth.
"We also have a variety of parchments and inks in various colors, if you're looking for anything else today."
Slave was silent. She knew better than to answer unless Master instructed her to do so. She stayed where she was and waited patiently for her Master's instructions.
"Blue would be fine, if all she wore was blue. She is not your customer, I am." he said curtly, slightly irritated, "Kindly direct your questions to me. Now, as for color, white would be much more suitable as it goes with everything."
Esmerelda raised an eyebrow at her "customer." She disapproved of nobles who thought they could own anything -- or anyone. But here in Salvar, it was dangerous to make mention of such.
"Very well then. My...lord desires a white, light, silver-nibbed quill."
She pulled out a few to the specifications, then glanced over and spotted another one.
"Those are common goose quills. This quill, however, comes from a very rare, very hard to find eagle, and has been enchanted to be light. It's more expensive than any of our other quills, though."
Carth frowned as though there was a bad taste in his mouth.
"Common? Common goose feathers are for common people. I want something worthy to be used by the king himself. No common goose feather will do that. However, you neglected to name your price for that rare feather, I might be willing to purchase it, but that would depend on the cost. I am not spending more than I absolutely have to."
Slave waited patiently through the entire proceedings. She wanted very much to have a pen all her own, so she was determined to be as perfectly obedient as possible. She had been around her master for 10 years and she knew that he was doing his best to keep his temper in check. She had learned the warning signs many years ago. His voice got colder and more calm the angrier or more frustrated he got. When he was really mad, a vein would stick out on his neck. It wasn't doing that yet, but she was sure that if this lady didn't find something he liked soon, it wouldn't be long before. Shortly after it got to that point, she would begin to doubt very much that she would get a pretty new quill.
A noble who is also a spendthrift. Feh. Probably doesn't even regard his servant as anything more than an animal. Poor kid.
She reached over, gently lifting up the feather and watching as pastel tones rippled through it with every movement.
"This is a one-of-a-kind quill, and the price on it is a hundred gold."
Slave could not stifle her gasp of wonder as she gazed at the beautiful quill. She knew at once, that if Master gave her a choice, that she wanted that one. However, she was very much afraid that he would not want to spend 100 gold for a pen. He did not believe in spending money frivolously on things like pens. Realizing that he was speaking again, she drew back to where she was supposed to be, behind her master.
"Pretty yes, but the changing colors is a little too much. At least at that price. I will not pay 100 gold pieces for a writing instrument, no matter how frilly or 'rare' you claim it is. I wouldn't pay more than 50 for that. What else have you got that's not as fanciful, but still has a silver nib and a light feather?"
Esmerelda shrugged eloquently. He didn't want the pen best-equipped for the job, and this was honestly the best she could offer.
"We have eagle feathers, but anyone can get a silver-nibbed eagle feather for a mere fifteen gold. We don't have anything lighter or less fanciful in white, though. We have some nice ones in various blues and greens, and even a red one or two, but nothing else in white."
She looked at Slave sympathetically. She'd seen the girl's eyes light up, and wished she could mark the quill lower -- but she'd gotten it herself for ninety-five. A hundred was barely any profit at all.
"I thought I already said that I didn't want something so common as an eagle or goose feather? If I wanted an eagle feather quill, I could have one made at my manor for far less than 15 gold. In fact, I could probably get a pen just like that 'rare' one for quite a bit less than 100 gold pieces just by providing the feather myself or going to a different shop. Frankly, my dear, if you paid more than 50 or 60 gold pieces for that feather, then you were cheated."
On hearing that Master would not spend the money on the pen and figuring that it meant they might leave without the pretty feather, Slave's face fell, but she knew better than to say anything about how much she wanted it. She had been instructed to be quiet and quiet she would be until he told her to do otherwise. She gazed longingly at the beautiful feather pen, mesmerized by the way the colors moved through it.
Esmerelda's lips curved into a sly smile.
"Oh, but it is a bargain, a hundred for this. My lord neglected to ask what a pen such as this can do."
She tapped the pen on the nib, meanwhile getting out a piece of parchment and setting it on the table.
"Blue."
Nothing seemed to happen, and then she placed the pen on the parchment and drew a straight line in royal blue ink, without having first dipped it into an inkwell.
Again she tapped the nib. "Black." This time, as she dragged the pen across the paper, a black line formed. So the same for red and gold.
"Plain ink in various colors, without the need for an inkwell. Break the quill, break the enchantment, but with proper care...but you don't want it."
The merchant twirled the soft pen in her fingers, letting the colors ripple in a dazzling display. She set the parchment beneath the counter and moved to put the quill away.
"I'm afraid I have nothing else to my lord's specifications, so he shall have to seek what he desires at another shop."
Lord Carth's eyes flashed angrily. Enough was enough. He was tired of this merchant and her shop.
"Who said I didn't want it, girl? Perhaps I should leave and tell everyone I meet what a poor salesperson you are. You have led me to believe that quill was just a fancy feather. You have insulted me by ignoring me and talking to my slave instead. You neglected to tell me a price until I asked specifically for it and you also neglected to mention special qualities about the pen until I mentioned leaving. What other hidden qualities does it possess, hmm?
That feather quill itself is not worth much more than 40 or 50 gold pieces. The enchantment is not something extraordinary either. My mother had half a dozen pens with same enchantment. My aunt had at least 20 different feathers, each with the same color-changing enchantment. That enchantment is not worth more than 15 to 20 gold. Which means the very most that feather quill is worth is 70 gold pieces. But since you obviously don't wish to sell it very badly, perhaps I will go to another store."
Carth turned to leave and saw the look of longing in Slave's face as she gazed at the spot where Esmerelda had put the fanciful pen. He stood there torn between wanting to storm out of the shop and the insultingly poor saleswoman and wanting to reward Slave for her hard work.
Normally, this would not have been a hard decision. Normally, it would not have come up to begin with, but his ladyfriend, Lady Venus Aphrodite Taraguan, had convinced him to go and purchase a gift for Slave as reward for the hard work she'd been doing in learning her letters and numbers.
The slave looked up at him imploringly, "Master? Master, Slave really likes that pen. It is very pretty. Slave promises that she'll be very, very careful with it. Can she have it, please?"
He stood there, looking at her, indecision painted on his face for any new customer to see. Should he get it anyway or go on?
Esmerelda considered the oldest trick in the book: telling him he couldn't have it. That would almost surely accomplish one of either two things: making him storm out of her shop and trying to ruin her, or making him buy the quill at any cost. However, since he was buying for a slave, it was more likely that he just wouldn't buy the quill. Not that he deserved it, in Esmerelda's opinion, but the girl he was buying for looked so wistful it tore the shopkeep's heartstrings.
"I'll let you have it for ninety, but no less. And I could go on all day about how it's worth more than a hundred, but it would be a productive use of neither of our time."
Sorry for the wait, I'll be prompter from now on.
Lord Carth, glanced once over his shoulder, then back at the young woman that had been at his side for around ten years now, never once complaining about her life and always doing whatever he asked of her eagerly. He looked at her a moment more then sighed.
What have you done to me, Venus?
"All right, all right, you can have the pen." Turning his back on Slave's delighted smiles, he walked back up to the counter.
"Put in a box or whatever. I'm only doing this for her. If she were not here, you would not be getting even half a goldpiece."
While he waited for the pen to be ready, he carefully counted out exactly 90 pieces of gold and placed them on the counter.
Slave nearly burst with joy at hearing that Master would get the pretty feather after all. She almost threw her arms around him, but checked herself in time. Such behavior would not be acceptable in public.
"Come here, girlie," started Esmerelda, before remembering the kind of man the sweet brunette's master was.
"Pardon me...please direct your servant to come here, my lord, so that I can shave the feather's shaft to fit her hand while retaining as much feather as possible."
Slave waited for Lord Carth's barely perceptible nod, then timidly approached the counter. Eyes wide, she took hold of the quill and held it very carefully. She was thrilled that Master was being so very generous.
"Does Slave get to keep the pretty feather now, Lady?"
"Yes, yes," Carth answered, impatience evident in his tone. "I've already paid Esmerelda more than she deserves for it. Now, hold still so she can trim that feather."
Slave closed her mouth and did as she was told, holding very still.
As he waited for the feather trimming to take place, Carth mulled over his decision. Even 90 gold pieces was a lot to pay for a new pen, when he had access to a great many more. Shaking his head, he stepped forward.
"On second thought, you can have my aunt's complete collection of color-changing pens, Slave. She has a wide variety of feathers and colors, far more than what you'll get with only one pen."
Quickly, he scooped his money back into the coin purse, making sure to count it as he returned it to its former location. The last thing he wanted was to have some of his money disappear. Satisfied that all 90 pieces were safely back in their comfy home, he put the money bag away. Turning on his heel, he walked to the door.
"Come along, Slave. We'll go to my aunt's house today and get all those feather quills."
Slave gave one last disappointed look at the beautiful feather, then obediently followed her master out the door. She would have liked to have the brand new one, but the idea of having a lot of them piqued her interest.
Artifex Felicis
09-06-07, 11:03 PM
Esmerelda watched as the two left her shop, wqucikly going over her inventory a second time. She had known some slaves to filch items and did so out of habit. She sighed, almost sad that such a nice girl was not living her own free life.
((Transaction completed!
No gold lost.))
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