Meeting the three pottergons who pled poverty despite working as studio pottergons producing one-off works of great beauty had been a lot of fun. It had also taken some of the fun out of selling pots at market. Denziu had thought they were the competition. Now zie realised that zie was the competition. Zir efforts to sell high-end pottery into the market were tapping the veins of what Chahur, Sharen, and Lanith needed to survive. It wasn't a heavy market here.

This thought tempted Denziu to fly ahead to rejoin the caravanners at once. Zie doubted that they would have made their way all the way to Trauma by now.

Yet zie stayed the course and went back to that market square zie had noticed, near the green glass cathedral with its four-petal flower held on high, and briefly visited zir wagon again. (How strange it was, thank Gruent, to just walk away from such a valuable thing as a flying wagon!) From the wagon zie took a bolt of silencing cloth, and zie went around to each of the other merchantgons at the market asking if they would buy either.

There was an enchantment seller as zie hoped, and that was the last Denziu saw of the armring of magic sight. Denziu updated the bill of sale for the pot that swapped for the armring of magic sight to record the price of the armring as well, so that it would be clear that the barter had been a good one.

The bolts were a bit stickier. The enchantment seller said that while they might have a valuable enchantment on them, they were not of the right kind of thing to sell at an enchantment seller's shop, which was focused largely on wearable jewellery or ceramic spelltiles. The pottery seller of course had no interest. There was a clothier in the square, but although he recognized the cloth, he said that the cathedral was not in service to Uttermost Dark, and he seemed to consider that to be the whole of the matter.

The surprise success came from a lantern-seller in the market. The lantern-seller was a black and white ('orca-pattern') veserus, an unusual sight with no waterways in the vicinity. Tending a large cart displaying row after row of lanterns, the lantern-seller said their home was occasionally beset by anti-necromantic protests at unpleasantly early hours that necessitated sleeping through dragons being deliberately noisy outside. That really perked Denziu's attention!

"Why are you the target of anti-necromancers?" zie asked.

"These are necromantic lanterns," said the lantern-seller, with a gesture over zir stock.

"Oh!" said Denziu, who was suddenly keen on barter. "Whyever are you carrying necromantic lanterns here? And in the open? Oh, but that sounded bad. I'm sorry. I just want to know."

The veserus lantern-seller nodded to Denziu. "Forgiven, of course. Taking offence is bad for business," zie said with a smile. "These are a subsidised good in Jiasote. The government is keen to prove to dragons that their will is protected if they insist on protecting it. So each of these lanterns is a little flaw in Gruent's vision, darkening the theome for its land god to protect the liberties of its residents, and they are much cheaper here than in most theomes."

They spoke of prices, and Denziu found the price of the lanterns so staggeringly low that zie asked a pointed question: "What stops me from buying up your entire stock to carry it away in my wagon and resell somewhere else?"

"I would be an unfaithful lantern-seller," said the veserus vendorgon. Zie shook zir head and said, "There is a statutory limit on how many pieces can be bought and sold at once. That said, I could give you the directions to a wholesaler warehouse in exchange for a bolt?"

Denziu leaned in as zie said, "And you will pay in coin for the other three?"

The veserus nodded.

The deal was swiftly completed. Denziu sold four bolts of silencing cloth at an excellent price for three bolts, and zie learned somewhere to buy an exotic good in bulk. Then, zie bought the statutory limit of subsidised magic lanterns, by which action zie walked away from the lanternseller clutching a bundle of three lanternsticks to zir left breast. The lanterns knocked on the ends of their sticks, being not really meant for carrying together like this.

When zie had packed away the three lanterns, zie decided to fill all the empty space in zir carriage with more of them, and flew at once to catch up with Choave's caravan. Zie was concerned that zie needed to refresh zir coinpurse to have enough to buy a wagonload of magic lanterns! So the caravan halted along the road for a rest, and Denziu ate a handpie from Lorma while talking about caravan shares with Chatulerin and Choave. They were more keen on this drawdown than they had had been on the last, and gave Denziu better than a promissory note, but a rather heavy sum of coin for the purpose of filling a wagon with a valuable trade good. This was the kind of thing that the caravan's reserves could profit by! Particularly if Denziu decided to roll the profits back into the caravan, as zie expressed was zir intent.

As zie flew back to Mania again, Denziu reflected that the caravan was a better place to keep zir savings than 'under a rock', which was not literally (but quite metaphorically) where zie had been keeping zir coin. Zie resolved when they got back to Denxalue again that zie would bank more of zir savings with Choave to help the caravan trade in more expensive commodities and perhaps shake up its route planning.

The wholesaler for the magic lanterns turned out to be on the inner ring of Mania. This was a clue for Denziu's former wonderings about what kind of business would prefer the inner ring: one with a set address and no need to be precisely where the customers are. It was an industrial district with warehouses and workshops, but even here there were clouds of luminous fog roiling along the streets; they contributed no scent, but were as immaterial as the haze of Inaildoro.

The price at the wholesaler was worse than the price at the market. Inquiring about the discrepancy, Denziu was informed that the subsidised low price was only intended for the end-users of the lanterns. What the wholesaler could promise instead was a fair price, supported by consistently-supplied trade. Denziu didn't grumble, but bought enough lanterns to fill up the space in zir wagon which had been opened by selling the four grain storage pots zie had moved since Xeladash.

With a new trade good in zir wagon, zie flew back out over the wilderness of Jiasote. The amicus breeze buoyed zir up as zie surveyed the snowy forests of Jiasote. This was more how vashael should live, zie thought. Doing business in high places, and taking off under the power of their own wings! Vashael architecture made so much more sense to zir now, inaccessible as it might be to wingless species such as izerah, veserus, and kalla. And sometimes, particularly where swaivshon had modified vashael sensibilities, even those flourished in vashael communities, as that lantern-seller did in Mania.

When zie spotted the caravan again, zie overflew it and landed on the road ahead of them. They’d all seen zir and Choave had no need to call the stop. There was a brief conference with Choave and Chatulerin after which Denziu surrendered zir coinpurse entirely to replenish the caravan's liquid capital, yielding up as well the whole return from sales of pottery thus far, and thus becoming a notable shareholder again. The near-complete success of Denziu's initiative on the caravan trail had substantially enhanced Denziu's savings.

With that done, Denziu resumed the position alongside Ekis that zie had walked for so many days to get to that point. Playfully, zie fetched out one of the lanterns that had been left upon its carrying-stick, and lit the pale blue flame that could burn forever inside of it. Zie offered the lantern to Ekis, who took it wonderingly. "How much did you pay for this?" she asked.

"Not too much," said Denziu.

"I wonder that we might not carry more of them to the south, then. There is a good market for these in Atney, and if Choave knows a distributor who will take them, it will be a very easy transaction to complete," said Ekis.

"This is necromancy," said Denziu. "The vendorgon said to me that it darkens the land god's vision. If we are in a mind control theome, it is controlling us a little less for having these."

"Are you still worried about that?" asked Ekis. "I think if these are available here, they must not stop the theome's healing Fates from operating."

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"Perhaps a little light is harmless," said Denziu.

"Likewise a little dark, for the land god," said Ekis. She handed back the lantern on its stick, and Denziu extinguished it again, then half-turned to set it within zir wagon. Zie nudged it inside by pushing its stick, and left it there with the stick partially extruding. This was the best zie could do; zie could not fully restore the lantern to its position inside the wagon while pulling it.

The walk was shorter this time, for a good portion of the journey had been crossed while Denziu was in Mania. Still, Denziu ached with it. They hurried upon the ground, and moved nevertheless at a tiny fraction of the pace that zie could fly. "I wish we all had flying wagons!" zie said aloud.

"But then you would leave me behind," said Ekis, who had a flying wagon but no wings.

"Perhaps you could trade with the deep-under?" said Denziu, thinking of the (likewise wingless) myrskor and myrghon that zie had seen at Hydalath's under-market.

"And leave behind my good friends? I’d rather learn to fly with wings of my own!" said Ekis, "I mean, while we are speaking of expensive magic."

"Is there such a thing as a winged izerah?" Denziu asked curiously.

"Not by Fate! By Necromancy, it’s a super-risky spell!"

Kishka spoke up from behind them to say, "If you want an alterationist, I hired one to set my scalepaints in!"

Ekis called back, "That is a much smaller operation! There is almost no risk at all in that!"

"What’s the risk?" asked Denziu.

"Alterationism destroys your Fate completely," said Kishka, intercepting the question from the next row back.

Ekis said, "The new wings can rot off! Or rot can set in elsewhere! Or everywhere! Necromancy breaks the land gods' protections!"

"Yeah, because it destroys your Fate! But that heals," said Kishka. "Just stay away from necromancy of all kinds for a few years after!"

Denziu thought this conversation was totally beyond zir and baffling, but then an idea occurred unexpectedly. Zie asked, "How about dealing with a necromantic healer for a while afterwards?"

"That's how you do it!" said Ekis.

"Or that, yes," said Kishka. "But get a good one. A patient one. Little spells go a long way, even if they don't seem to fix everything in the moment."

Chatulerin said to Kishka, in a tone that wasn't a call across the rows though Denziu still overheard it, "What do you mean that destroyed Fate heals?"

"Oh," said Kishka, "Only for a moment is it possible to be without Fate. The instant after an alterationist spell completes, you start growing a new Fate. The problem is that you need a substantial amount of Fate built up to protect wings."

"I wonder if it can be done by geomancy," said Denziu.

Ekis shook her head vigorously. "Only a land god can grow wings with geomancy!"

They were lively in conversation about this and other subjects, as the spire of Trauma arose on the horizon ahead of them.

It was a similar city externally to Mania. The buildings that cluttered the outer rim of the raised city-platform were less colourful. The luminous fog that poured off the city platform like ephemeral waterfalls was a pure white colour. Yet in being a city hoisted up off the ground by a round platform that was supported by arching buttresses from a central spire, it was the same.

Ground-bound as they were, the caravan went to the base of the spire rather than to the city platform. They found there a welcome centre at the base of the spire that they walked right past, though the main road went to it. Along a side road that circled the spire, they found a great gap open in the base of the spire, where they hauled their wagons in underneath the gleaming metal construct. They entered a great warehouse with platforms large enough to carry four wagons which could rise and fall by unseen force.

Choave bid them all stop, and Oghai stepped lightly away from the caravan to depart through an office door for some negotiation, and not long after the group was being placed on the rising platforms.

Denziu was on the second group, and felt vertiginous as the ground fell away under zirself with the steady rise of the platform. It was like the first leap of flight, yet a much smoother and more inexorable force than zie had ever felt before. Shortly after, this was followed by an instant of lightness as the platform stopped, and the four wagons pulled away into another level that looked like the domed interior of a caravanserai. There were other merchantgons here already and the atmosphere was lively.

When they had all put away their wagons and unlimbered to gather again, Choave said to the assembled caravanners, "We'll have a day at market tomorrow. Jiasote is often poor despite its massive architecture, so don't be too ambitious with your prices. And Denziu, don't sell your new lanterns here. You haven't filed the appropriate paperwork to get reimbursement yet."

"Should I?" asked Denziu.

"You're not staying for more than a day. I don't think you have anything to sell here," Choave said.

"Zie'll sell with me," said Lorvaza, and Denziu nodded.

That evening, Lorvaza assured Denziu that fate-charms sold well in Jiasote. The prices attained were a bit low, but the market interest was solid, because the dragons here all wanted new and better Fates. Lorvaza was excited to enter the market at Jiasote with Denziu's flying wagon making her look better.

The next day, Lorvaza led Denziu up another rising platform, and this time they exited onto the city platform level. Carrying Lorvaza's chest of enchanted jewellery in zir wagon and with the lanterns packed away out of sight, Denziu prepared for a day in which selling pots was likely hopeless, but selling enchanted jewellery might work.

Zie set out one lantern to burn with its pale flame just to seem more like a magic seller. The wagon and the lantern made Lorvaza look so much more like a wealthy, capable enchantment seller.

Lorvaza spent that whole day actively engaged with customer after customer, recommending fate-charms to them. Meanwhile, Denziu all but fell asleep. The market at Trauma proved one of the most boring days of the entire caravan journey. Zie was unwilling to raise zir voice to hawk zir last pot, which zie didn't expect anyone to be interested in here in a city so dedicated to healing that it was called Trauma. Besides, it would have been rude to shout while Lorvaza was already engaged with a customer. Denziu knew zie was gaining an easy percentage with every customer just for showing up with the flying wagon.

The day passed interminably.

At length, Denziu was roused by an inquisitive customer, a female kalla wearing a coat! Serafustin's ethereal pink version had not told Denziu what colours to look out for, but after a moment of fascination, Denziu resolved that she was not the kalla wearing the coat that Serafustin had warned Denziu to look out for. Yet she was certainly a kalla taking an interest in the pot.

Unfortunately, when Denziu quoted a price, she flinched and started to pull away, so that Denziu could tell instantly that haggling was not a way to retain her.

With a sigh, Denziu went back to being a silent vigil at the side of an animated Lorvaza for a while longer, before zie decided no harm would be done if zie took zir few appropriate goods around the shops. Zie trusted Lorvaza to sell that last pot at some appropriate price (if at all, which wasn't likely), and went about to the other vendorgons of the market plaza at Trauma asking if they would buy either the bone knife zie'd gotten from Taithorkey or the silencing cloth. Zie collected a number of prices before settling on any of them, and eventually turned in the knife and the cloth to the highest bidders. The artfully carved knife went for a good albeit small price for it was a good albeit small item. Two bolts of silencing cloth went for decent prices one each to two vendorgons, and while the price was not excellent Denziu accepted it as a kind of service to Fate. The bolts of silencing cloth were going to someone in Trauma who would benefit from them. Gruent's heavy Fate manipulation would see to that.

At least it was a day of rest! Even though they didn't part for lunch. The crowd did not yield, so neither did Lorvaza abandon sales! Denziu's stomach was grumbling for a meal when the two packed up at close of market, and Lorvaza was fairly beaming as she divvied out Denziu's take. The two of them visited a seller of spiced beef flatbread who had stuck around as the merchantgons were packing up in order to sell a last wave of food to the merchantgons themselves.

After that, Denziu took zir share from Lorvaza's good market day to Choave and Chatulerin for one last conference of shares and funds. With zir idea of banking with Choave, zie felt little need now to have assets separate from those of the caravan. Zie ate bread from their stores; why not return profits in a usable form? Next time zie joined in, zie would carry cargo for Choave to repay him. With zir carrying capacity reinforced by zir flying wagon, perhaps zie could pull two wagons next year!

Here however was a change: zie would be departing the caravan temporarily to travel to Evonthe for most of a week. This was the plan that zie had discussed with Lorvaza at Akima, and zie was still holding to it, for there would be no chance of selling the last pot at Wraquo. The cultured theome Evonthe was a better bid. For staying at market there, zie needed six days of funding for a wagon berth at a caravanserai in Evonthe.

"Will there be a caravanserai in Evonthe?" zie asked.

"Oh my, yes," said Chatulerin.

"It's a more popular stopping point than Wraquo for luxury goods," said Choave.

So Denziu received a last disbursement of funds from zir caravan share, and had it recalculated one last time accordingly, and that night zie wondered if zie would be okay departing from the caravan for days at this point, as far from home as zie had ever been.