Translated From Sarconain Highway

The Great Market was a few days after the Fall Festival.  Craftsman and merchants from all over the mountains, south-western Teranse, and eastern Corvan came to market their wares.  Sarconia City, though little more than a legend on the plains, was still an important trade center. 

The Market Square in the city was usually bustling with activity, but today, it was truly hectic.  The Breakers had loaded whatever they had about the farm to barter with into the wagon and set out soon after dawn.  Jasper took in everything with profound excitement.  Besides the usual Sarconian inhabitants, there were several of the Corvanie - tall people with tight-sleeved clothing that was cut far differently than any Jasper had ever seen.  They seemed to like bright colors, and their vivid clothing stood out from the more quietly dressed Sarconians.  A group of stately people glided past with a guard of four Scouts.

"Elves," Jack whispered in Jasper's ear.  "Probably diplomats."

John Breaker found a place where the wagon and its contents would be undisturbed, and they all got down.

"You boys have a choice," said Mary.  "Either serve as Alethea's escort or babysit Anna and Stephen."

Jack and Jasper chose Alethea almost without pausing to think about the matter.

"Stay together," Mary said.  "Meet back here at the wagon about two hours before sunset.  Alethea, bargain carfully; don't let anyone fool you."

Jack, Jasper, and Alethea wove through the stalls, taking an overall view of things.  A Corvanie merchant's daughter approached Alethea, a beautifully woven shawl in her hands. 

"Lovely, is it not?" she asked, holding it out and allowing Alethea to finger the fabric contemplatively.  "Trimmed with beads too, as is the latest fashion in the Corvanie Court."

"It is beautiful," said Alethea, before moving on.

The entire area was filled with things to see.  Weavers displayed exotically woven fabrics, jewelers flashed their hand-crafted regalia before shopper's dazzled eyes, cooks and bakers offered the most scrumptious refreshments they knew how to make, woodworkers presented nearly everything that could be made from wood - from stools to instruments, and smiths showed off their work as well.  Musicians were everywhere.   Here and there, Scouts patrolled the area, keeping the Market orderly. 

Each of the three young people had some money to spend on whatever they liked.  They wanted to survey the market before making their decisions, however, for the coins they carried in their pockets were hard-earned.  Copper regals were the least valuable coin in the  internationally accepted currencies.  The only difference between countries was the queen whose image was stamped on the coin, and no one really bothered to concern themselves about whether the queen was Corvanie, Strianelian or Teransen.  After that, however, names and appearance divided.  The Corvanie had silver kesks, which weighed an a ounce, tuets, which were half an ounce, and jirs, which were a quarter of an ounce.   The Strianelians and Sarconians used one ounce sliver hios, half ounce neoms, and quarter-ounce ses.  The Teransens used the same currency as the Strianelians.  But here at the Market, no merchant would complain if a customer used both kesks and hios to pay for his or her purchase, for they all weighed the same, and the merchants were more concerned about getting the right weight of sliver  than having all the coins match.

"Did you know," said Jack as they wandered through the booths, "that the name of the coin ses is the same as the Elvish word for 'moth'?"

"You are serious?" asked Jasper.

"Quite," said Jack.

"Then how," Jasper asked, "would they come up with a name like that?"

"From what I hear," Jack replied, "the first time this currency came out, the coin was stamped with the image of a moth."

"A moth?!"  Jasper said, shocked.  "Why?"

"I don't know."   Jack's attention was now drawn by a smith who was showing a knife he had made.

"Perfect balance," the smith said.  "Excellent for throwing."  He continued his sales pitch, ending it proudly with, "Only five kesks, my friends.  You'll find no better price anywhere."

Jack, who, up to this point, had been listening intently, snorted.  "Ha," he said softly.  "Unless there's something extra-special about that knife that he did not mention, I can get one just as good for only three hios; two ounces less than his price."

They continued on, admiring the wears.  After a stop at a booth for cider and bread, they settled down to bargaining for their purchases.  Alethea had decided on a shawl from Corvan.  It was bright blue and fringed with purple beads.  An expert at haggling, Alethea talked down the price a great deal, and, when she counted her change, she found that she had quite enough to go and visit one of the bead workers or jewelers.  Jack wanted a knife, but not the price of six hios that came with it, and so spent almost an hour talking the merchant down to three hios and one neom, which, Jasper had learned, was only a neom more than the usual price for knives.  Jasper had not yet seen anything that he particularly wanted, so, while Jack bargained for the knife, he accompanied Alethea to the jewelers and waited patiently while she cooed over the beautiful jewelry.

While Alethea critically examined every necklace, bracelet, broach, clasp, and ring in her price range, Jasper's attention was drawn by a tailor.

"It'll keep you warm, lad," said the man, holding up a gray cloak for Jasper to examine.  "Elf-made cloth it is, so it'll last almost forever."  The man was warming to his subject now.  "The cowl is deep to keep off the wind, and the hem is deep too, so there's room to grow.  Of course," the man twirled the cloak, "if you don't like this style, I've got some with sleeves and some with slits in the sides, if you'd prefer.  I've different colors too.  Black, a couple shades of green and blue and several shades of brown."

Alethea, having made her purchase with surprising speed, now joined Jasper and felt the cloth critially.  "It's good fabric," she said, "and the stitching is firm as well."

The tailor grinned with pleasure.  "None better, miss."   Seeing that Jasper was becoming increasingly interested, the tailor brought out every color he had and spread them on the makeshift counter for Jasper and Alethea to examine in the late afternoon light.  Alethea advised Jasper that a cloak of this quality was a good purchase, so he set about deciding on a color.  At last they narrowed it down to a brown and a green; Jasper liking the simple, straightforward color of the brown, and Alethea arguing that the green matched his eyes.  Jasper couldn't have cared less about his clothes matching his eyes, but wasn't sure how to tell Alethea that.  He was at last rescued by the tailor's wife who, seeing his predicament, pulled Alethea aside and told her that expecting boys to choose a cloak just because it matched their eye color was a vain hope.  Alethea reluctantly gave up her stand.

The tailor nodded vigorously.  "Brown then.  Basic, sleeves, or slits?"

"Basic," Jasper replied.

"Alright," said the tailor.  "I have five kinds of clasps, or you can go with a tie."  He laid out the choices.

Jasper quickly eliminated three of them, thinking them too elaborate, and decided against the tie.  He finally chose a clasp that slid together and locked, forming a square.  The tailor's wife folded up the cloak, Jasper paid the tailor with a hios and a ses, and, thanking them, he and Alethea joined up with Jack and headed for the wagon.  

There was plenty of things for them to do when they got there.  While Alethea looked after the twins, John, Jack and Jasper loaded the wagon with bolts of cloth, books, and farm tools under Mary's instruction.  Then they climbed in to go home; John, Mary, and Alethea in the front seat and Jack, Jasper, Stephan and Anna in the back.