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Something wasn't right about this whole setup, Val thought to herself as she examined the furs. This was a feeling that was intensified by the truly outlandish price that the woman quoted to her. Surely she couldn't be serious, Val thought, but it seemed that the woman wasn't making a joke.
"Erm..." Even for Val, who made more money than almost anyone else in Arakmat, that was a lot more than she wanted to drop in the bazaar for a cloak. She half-wondered if these people had recognized her as the Consul, and so were marking up the price just for her. There wasn't really any indication of that, however.
"I don't think I'm...prepared to spend that much," Val said. "That's...an awful lot of money, no? You might be...selling more if you weren't charging so exorbitantly." Her face softened a little at this point; she wasn't entirely unsympathetic to the plight of the poor, and the boy's condition in particular worried her a little.
"Do you have anything else? Something that isn't...isn't so pricey?" She cast another glance at the furs. Val couldn't immediately identify what was so odd about them, but she knew there was something unusual about the feel. Then she looked over at Elmaryia, wondering what her friend would make of the whole situation. Maybe she'd have some better insight.
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