LITMIR.BIZ

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ran through the numbers in her head. A good offer would attract other sellers, but would set a price higher than the market. She made her bid at slightly above value and it was accepted immediately. The young man looked very pleased with himself. They moved to a vacant desk where the deal was documented and signed before a runner took the contract to the money-changer. Again, she began walking. Her voice once again announced her offer. “Buying Poh fish.”

      ~

      Word spread quickly of the young woman offering good prices and before the end of the day she had bought all the stocks of Poh fish available on the upper though a few shrewd characters held their stocks. It pleased her that she was now a major holder of the fish and she had declined any offers for deals in other commodities though the prices represented good trades. The entire day had cost her only a small portion of the gold and jewels she had stored in the safe-hold of the traders. Soon the money-changer would check the notes and reallocate the amounts to the appropriate dealers while the Poh fish would be transferred to the storehouse she had rented. Valry, another spy who had come to Frith to work as her assistant, would check and sign for each delivery. Tomorrow, these too, would be cross-checked by the money-changer. She found a spare chair and called for one of the house staff to bring her a mulberry wine for her own private celebration but before it arrived a runner approached with a message.

      Trader Radford respectfully requests a meeting to discuss mutually beneficial business.

      An ordinary note that gave little away but Clarise knew her deals had attracted the attention of at least one person on the floor. She followed the runner down the stairs and to a cubicle two seats away from Skamon. The eyes of many dealers followed.

      “Please sit,” invited Radford.

      Clarise lowered herself gently into the chair and studied the trader while she waited for him to speak. He was about thirty years old, good looking and well dressed. His mouth smiled giving his face the appearance of friendly honesty but his eyes did not move. They searched deep inside her looking for any weakness he could take advantage of. He was good and would have made a fair spy but she was better trained. She allowed him to see a young and beautiful girl, wealthy and honest but lacking in knowledge of the ways of the world.

      “You have attracted much attention today,” he started.

      “I only do what I have come to do.”

      Radford leaned forward with elbows taking the weight of his shoulders. “But when a beautiful woman enters and begins her career by buying only one product heads are sure to turn, if not for the first reason then for the second.” Clarise sat quietly accepting the compliment and waiting for Radford to get to the reason for his message. “Why Poh fish,” he asked.

      “My mother once told me to deal only in what I knew and understood. I have two uncles and an aunt living in Frith who must have their fish each day and will pay what they must to get it. If this one product can make them part with their coin so easily it is the one I wish to control.”

      Radford leaned back and Clarisse could feel the eyes of the room upon her. “So you have ambitions. Would you be seeking a monopoly, I wonder?” he asked.

      “Not necessarily, but it would be nice to hold a large enough portion of the market that I can influence the prices.”

      Her honesty impressed the trader. “We do not speak in such a way here. We may think it and we may plan for it but we do not say it,” he chastised. Radford sat waiting for her reaction but received none. Clarise watched the questions cross his face like banners on the street during one of Xavier’s military parades. Was she young and naïve? Did this girl have a plan? Was she privy to knowledge he did not possess? She watched the problems resolve themselves into acceptance that she was exactly as she seemed, exactly as Clarise wanted him to see. “If I were to offer you more, would you be interested?”

      “How much more?” she enquired.

      “I am able to offer a substantial amount, at least what you have bought today.”

      “That is a large quantity of Poh fish and would require a good deal of coin,” she pointed out.

      A scowl crossed Radford’s face. “Don’t play with me. I see your beauty and it does not influence me. I know you have much more than you have spent today.”

      Clarise bowed her head. “I am sorry if you feel that I treated you badly. I only stated that a deal of that size would require a great deal of coin. I did not deny that I had it.”

      They stared at each other across the small desk until Radford broke the silence. She could feel the eyes from around the room taking in their conversation. “Alright, I will agree to match the quantity you bought today. What are you prepared to pay?”

      Clarise sat back in her chair and smiled. “Not interested,” she told him.

      Radford was stunned. The woman had done nothing all day but buy Poh fish. Now he offered to double her stake, and he knew she could afford it. Still she declined. “Why? It would give you the holding you seek and I am only trying to help a promising woman become a respected trader.”

      “You asked me not to take you for a fool. Please provide me the same courtesy,” she admonished.

      “How do you mean?”

      “Your offer represents only a quarter of what you hold in your warehouses and you are the major trader of Poh fish in Frith. Even if I obtained all that is available from every other dealer you would still control the market.”

      “So, you have done your research too. That is good. But you would still be the second largest trader in Frith,” he encouraged.

      “My research is extensive and I know that you currently control the markets for blue shark, Sardonel grey mushrooms and black scrub fowl as well as Poh fish. I will become a major trader and earn a position on the floor but I will not do that by accepting second place.” Her words were offered as a simple statement of fact and she showed no reaction to his glare.

      “Yet you turn down my offer when you have the chance to become second only to me and yet you decline. Why?” he asked.

      “Because it is not the deal I wish to make,” Clarisse informed him. Despite himself, Radford was curious. He asked Clarise to make a counter offer. “I will pay the same as I have offered all day for a minimum of sixty percent of your holdings and I will pay a bonus if you make your entire stock available.”

      It was Radford’s turn to sit back and smile. The girl’s proposal was audacious if unrealistic. “And if I will not sell?” he asked.

      Clarise smiled. “Then my holdings are of little use to me. If I cannot have a controlling interest I will have none. I will sell all I have bought and look to another product. I think the open market would be the best place to dispose of my interests, don’t you? I am sure a fifth of what I paid would be a fair price. I will find enough customers at that.” She began to reel off a list of names and fear crossed Radford’s face as he came to realise she knew all his customers.

      “You will destroy the market,” he protested. “I will survive on my other interests but it will be many months before Poh fish prices return to normal. Many traders will suffer.”

      “If I do not control them then they are of little interest to me. Do we have a deal?” she proposed.

      “Who are you?” Radford asked, suddenly very curious.

      “I am no one of importance. I grew up in Roeleigh, in Sardonel, where I learned that business requires more than just the ability to play with numbers. My mother taught me that” she mused. “And father taught me opportunities must be created for no one will give them to you. They said I should understand my own abilities and failings and use them all when preparing a deal. For the last three years I have traded in Roeleigh, Greycross and Parinaw. Now I have decided to try my chances in Hoate. Now, do we have a deal?” Her smiled told him she would do as she promised but her story had enough truth in its tale to convince him of its merit.

      Radford laughed. “You know, I believe you

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