All right, Hay-ner. You've got us. Now what exactly

have these characters done that we're responsible for

and what are our options? I thought one of the big sales

points of the Bazaar was that there weren't any rules

here."

"There aren't many," the Deveel said, "but the few

that do exist are strictly enforced. The specific rule your

friends broke involves fraud."

He quickly held up a hand to suppress my retort.

"I know what you're going to say. Fraud sounds like

a silly charge with all the hard bargaining that goes on

here at the Bazaar, but to us it's a serious matter. While

we pride ourselves in driving a hard bargain, once the

MYTH-ING PERSONS 19

deal is made you get the goods you were promised.

Sometimes there are specific details omitted in describ-

ing the goods, but anything actually said is true. That is

our reputation and the continued success of the Bazaar

depends on that reputation being scrupulously main-

tained. If a trader or merchant sells something claiming

it to be magical and it turns out to have no powers at all,

that's fraud ... and if the perpetrators are allowed to go

unpunished, it could mean the end of the Bazaar as we

know it."

"Actually," I said drily, "all I was going to do was

protest you billing them as our friends, but I'll let it go.

What you haven't mentioned is our options."

Hay-ner shrugged. "There are only three, really. You

can pay back the money they took falsely plus a twenty-

five percent fine, accept permanent banishment from

the Bazaar, or you can try to convince your fr—aahh, I

mean the fugitives to return to the Bazaar to settle mat-