Prompt
Lately, the local market places have been filled with new traders offering their wares. It seem as if many across the land are trying their hand at selling clothing, weapons, and trinkets. With so many new faces, now is the best time to go to the market and barter for the best prices.

So go ahead and grab your goods or grab your gold and take a shot at bartering.

The dance had been in preparation for years now, Aseara knew that she was behind on her intended schedule but with Afsana putting her on cleaning duty she had even less time to work on what she really wanted. Some of the nobles had begun questioning her, wondering if perhaps she had lied and there would be no great dance. It aggravated her to no end to know such rumors were doing around but she did nothing to quell them. Let them think it was over, she could use this dance as a bargaining chip if she wished it.

There had been mention from the merchants that more and more travelers were joining the city markets to offer their wares. The more merchants there were, the more bargains Aseara could strike. She still had a few missing pieces to get for the dance, perhaps this was the right time to buy them. Afsana would not be favorable to use the Red Amaryllis's money, so Aseara would have to use her savings and hope that things didn't go awry. Afsana had made it clear she would not give support to Aseara any longer and that if the wind girl wanted to continue with her production she would have to figure it out on her own.

So, Aseara took a day to herself, bringing with her a few other of the girls who were on her side to come shop with her. She had few friends left but she would make sure to keep them close and ask their advice on what to buy and how to get the better bargains. The rumors had been true, as soon as the girls had arrived in the marketplace, it was packed. Aseara had never seen the district as busy as it was now. She was sure they could find something, and so Aseara divided the girls up into groups of two, with herself alone, before letting them lose with a list of items of what they needed.

Aseara for the most part browsed the wares. She visited the merchants selling dresses and such first, asking for prices when she found something that caught her eye and then asking if measurements were included. Once she was satisfied with her findings she moved on to the accessories. There were a lot more accessory vendors here than anything else with all sorts of baubles to sell. These too Aseara inspected, mentally marking the shops that sold what she was looking for and those that offered her the best price. Once she was finished, she reunited with the other girls at their meeting point.

"I've found a shop that has really nice dresses," one girl began, recounting what he sold and the prices he offered. Aseara nodded as she explained and crossed from her mind the shops she'd found. The other girl had the better bargain for them.

"Good good, what about shoes, anyone find a good place for shoes?" Aseara asked.

"I did, the merchant said though that it would be better to buy them closer to the dance itself. He plans on giving us a cheaper price because it will be whatever is left from his inventory."

"Good good, you're sure he has enough of what we need?"

"Yes, he's good."

"Alright," Aseara began. "For accessories I've found a couple of places that sell things we could use. They're all in the same price range but I'm sure we could get them down to something a little more reasonable.” Aseara recounted all the merchants to the others.

“Are we missing anything else?”

“I think that’s it for today,” Aseara tried to think if they were missing anything else. “All that’s left is to put in orders. So here’s what I want us to do, go back to the merchants and play them a bit. See if they’ll lower their prices for us. Once you have both of their final prices pick the lowest one and put in an order. Everyone clear?”

“Yes.” Everyone replied before separating into groups and going off.

Aseara herself went back to the merchants and began figuring out who would lower their prices the most. Once she’d found the merchant, she placed the order for all the girls. He’d been more than happy to receive such a large order and gave her a date one when everything would be ready for her. Aseara met back with the rest of the group and headed back to the Red Amaryllis. Soon the dance would be ready after so many years and Afsana would regret all the things she’d done.