QUEEN'S MARKET

By rodlox
[email protected]

Helm's POV
spoilers: The Pact.
previously on QOS: "The State has given these people a gift." -Tessa.
NOTE: I didn't mean to use one of Lucy's phrases - it just slipped out.

~~~~~

Stepping down from Trent, my horse, I step up to Jose's apple cart. Just a little something to tide me over until dinner, I assure myself. Picking up two apples, I hear Jose telling me, "That will be seven realaes, doctor."

"What?" I ask, disbelief clear in my voice.

Jose lowers his voice. "Doctor Helm, I am already giving you a discount for your helping my sister."

"Oh thank you so much - wait, that's a discounted price?? "How did prices get shot up so much?"

Jose shruggs. "The Queen of Swords yesterday, she rode through the plaza, golden realaes pouring out of her pockets. Everyone rushed to pick them up."

Not everyone, at least not me. And I can guess what happened next. "And then, when people were buying everything with their newfound wealth, the prices rose in response." Jose nods.

Damn that Queen! She's introduced inflation to a poverty-stricken blink town!

~~~

end