Given

Chapter 2:1

Pronunciation Guide:

Orire N'jem = Oh-ree-reh en-jem
Duvvy = Doo-vee/Doo-veez

***

The first part of Yenni's sea voyage was uneventful. She had her own cabin, the sailors were pleasant and respectful, and the runes on her palms were mercifully unchanged. Then they reached the Northern Islands.

In some ways they were like home, with the same turquoise ocean and green hills, but up close she saw the stilted houses dotting the hills were an array of bright colours: pink and blue and yellow.

They made land at an island the Creshens called Sainte Ventas, and Yenni had her first taste of the Cresh Empire. The people here looked so different: some dark-skinned, like her, but some lighter. Were these native Creshens? She had never seen one in person before, but she'd heard they were pink-skinned, and the people she saw were more of a golden brown. Perhaps they simply had Creshen heritage.

Morayo, her father's head-of-ships, led her through the busy port. The place smelled of frying fish and seawater. People smiled and said good morning as they passed, and street sellers called and waved trinkets in their faces, reminding her of the large market back home. Yenni wanted to stop and see, but she could tell Morayo was reluctant to slow his pace and she trusted his judgment. He took her to a pretty blue building with gleaming white tiles. A man with skin a few shades lighter than hers and hair like a puffy red halo stood behind a counter at the back, and as she approached he gave her a wide smile.

"This will be your first test, princess," Morayo said beneath his breath. "Time to trade."

"Hello!" Yenni said in Creshen, excited to finally put her years of study to use. "I am here to trade with you!"

"Is so?" the man said. "Come, show me your wares."

Yenni had not brought much, as once she landed in the capital city she would have to carry everything on her own. Her plan was to liquidate some gold and precious jewels and use the money to buy whatever she needed in Cresh. She only brought things that had been gifted to her, so as to please the Sha.

"I have this," she said, and from her back-satchel retrieved an assortment of jewelry and gold figurines. The man's smile somehow got bigger, and beside her she saw Morayo stiffen.

"How much can you give me?" she asked.

The man spread out her things on his counter, squinting and scrutinizing each piece. He even bit one of her figurines.

"Let's see," he said finally. "For dis, I can give you five hundred duvies." He spread his arms like it was the grandest sum in history. Yenni froze: was it? Was that enough? After all her research on Cresh—the people, the customs, the language, the food—she had no idea how much things were worth.

There was something she was supposed to do when trading in Cresh, her tutor had said. Bargaining...yes, bargaining! He'd said sellers would sometimes name a price ten times lower than what something was worth.

"I want five...thousand," she countered.

The man spluttered. "Five tousand for dis? You'se a teef or what?"

"I...pardon?" the man's Creshen was strange.

"I will give you two tousand," he said with finality. Despite herself, Yenni turned to Morayo. She wasn't sure, but she thought she might have seen him shake his head.