Crystallis Verdantglass's Arc

Chapter 14 of 18

The laborers finished clearing the rubble at half past eight. Crystallis walked back through the archway into the hall. Three druids stood near the stalls he'd promised them, glass pieces already arranged on display tables. The woman from Thornwick was there too, checking her list of buyers. One druid stood apart from the others, arms crossed. He held a wooden sign with a red hand painted palm-out against his chest. "I'm not selling," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "This is wrong. We don't trade sacred work for coin." The other druids looked at Crystallis, waiting. He could argue, but the buyers would arrive in twenty minutes and this druid had already made his choice visible to everyone. Crystallis walked past him to the remaining two druids. "Your stalls are yours," he said. "Display what you want. Price it how you want. I'll bring the buyers through." The druid with the sign turned and left through the archway. The other two stayed. Crystallis counted that as enough—two artisans willing to sell meant the marketplace existed, even if it started smaller than he'd planned.