The Wind Riders

by Kris Kramer

  Chapter 7 - Nentini Oln

  Galen awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than he'd expected. He'd slept in beds before but not recently, and he expected to wake up with all sorts of pains in his back and neck. But he felt good this morning, which seemed to him to be a good omen. He sat up and glanced over to see Margis, in bed this time, still asleep. Sunlight poured in through the window, and Galen stretched as he got out of bed. He dressed quietly and slipped out of the room, hoping the door wouldn’t creak as it had last night. It did, but not enough to wake his Second. Galen stepped out and went down the hall to Iago’s room. After a few quick raps, Saalis opened the door.

  “Mornin’ Pilot,” he said, stepping aside to let Galen through. Iago still lay in his bed, but the knocking had woken him up. He rolled over and rubbed his face.

  “I apologize, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Galen said.

  “No worries, Pilot. It’s time to get up anyway.” Iago sat up and rolled his neck around, stretching.

  “Good. Saalis, I need to speak with Iago. Do you mind waiting in one of the other rooms?”

  Saalis raised a questioning eyebrow. “Sure. I’ll go drop in on Jonir and Hal. If they ain’t up yet, then they should be.”

  “Thank you.” Saalis nodded as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. Galen sat on the edge of Saalis’ bed while Iago grabbed his shirt off the floor and put it on.

  Galen hesitated, making sure he knew what needed to be said before he started. He took a breath, and then launched into his concerns. “I need to know what our plan is now that we’re here, and I don’t mean in general terms. I know you have friends who can help us, but I need to know how you’re going to contact them and how you will arrange for us to meet about what appears to be a very dangerous topic.”

  Iago looked at Galen for a moment. “You want to know who I’m trying to set up a meeting with?”

  “To begin with, yes.”

  Iago nodded slowly. “Ok. Tonight, if we’re lucky, we will meet with some people who work for a man named Nentini Oln. He’s kirza, which means he runs a merchant guild, and he also owns some warehouses here in Avis and another outside in Harbortown. He gets a lot of timber and fur shipments from Kirn merchants up north and sells ‘em here. He’s a very wealthy man.”

  “How can he help us?” asked Galen.

  “Well, he also has other interests, like slaving, fighting, and a few other trades. That means he knows a lot of people who can do a lot of things. I can’t say for sure he has dealings with crystals, but I’d bet he does. And if he deals in crystals, then he has to know purifiers.”

  “You want us to make a deal with a slaver?” Galen asked, appalled.

  Iago shrugged. “If you have any other suggestions Pilot, let me know. Crystals are not to be taken lightly here. Any dealings with them that aren’t approved by the Clerics can get you killed real fast. So unless you want to go ask the Clerics if we can borrow a few of their purifiers then we have to take what we can get.”

  “I don’t think that tone is necessary.” Galen said, trying to sound important. “And I certainly know we can’t go to Clerics. But I don’t think a slaver is much better.”

  Iago paused for a moment. “I apologize. But you have to understand, this is how things work in this city. You and I may not like what goes on here, but there’s nothing we can do about it. The only thing that will help us, in the short term, is getting crystal purifiers, any way we can. And Nentini Oln is our best chance at that.”

  Galen cursed himself. He'd known deep down to expect this; that they would be dealing with their enemies in some fashion no matter what. He resigned himself to the notion of negotiating with someone who traded living people for money because he knew that Iago was right. Once they had purifiers they could continue their war against this evil. It seemed no one in this city was blameless for what happened beyond these walls.

  “Yes, I know. I… realize that what is best for us now is to get our ships flying no matter what. Now, how do we set up this meeting?”

  “It’s already done, I think,” Iago said as he started picking up his things and putting them back in his bag.

  “What? How?”

  “I went out last night and found a friend who could set up the meeting. He’s going to try and do it today.”

  “Last night? When?”

  “After we got to our rooms.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything? Who went with you?” Galen was agitated now. He tried not to show it, but the fact that he’d been caught off-guard by this information upset him.

  Iago shrugged and stuffed his cloak into his pack. “Some people don’t take kindly to being approached by a friend with five strangers. I thought it best to find him on my own.”

  Galen paused. He didn’t know if he should be angry at Iago for doing this without him, or at ease that the meeting they needed was set up already. He remembered that he wanted out of this city anyway, so he decided not to burn any bridges just yet.

  “Was anyone with you?” Galen asked, wondering if this explained Margis' disappearance last night.

  “No. I went alone. Why?”

  “No reason.” Galen decided to keep some secrets for himself. “But this is good. We have a meeting set up now, and we can get this done quickly, I hope.”

  “I think so. When they find out what we’re offering, they’ll be more than happy to deal with us.”

  “Does this meeting tonight require everyone but you to be absent again?” Galen said dryly.

  Iago smiled. “No, Pilot. We need everyone at this meeting. If it’s just me they might think I’m trying to cheat them, but with all six of us there, they’ll take it more seriously.”

  “Good.” Galen took a deep breath. Tonight would be his first real test at negotiations. He needed to make sure he was ready to bargain. “When is it?”

  “Sundown at the Honest Soldier Inn. It’s a few blocks from here, but we need to take our packs with us. We should stay there a night or two.”

  Galen agreed, and then excused himself so that he could gather his own things. He returned to his room to find Margis still sleeping. He nudged him on the shoulder.

  “Margis. It’s morning, get up.” Margis groaned a bit and rolled over, glancing at Galen with half-closed eyes, while Galen grabbed his pack and threw it on his own bed. “You need to get your things together. We’re moving to another inn,” he said.

  “We’re what?” Margis sat up, rubbing his eyes.

  “We’re going to some other inn, to meet with one of Iago’s friends. We’ll be staying there a while.”

  “Why are we moving? We just got here.”

  Galen paused, considering his answer before saying it. “We have to keep moving to make sure we don’t attract attention. Also, Iago has past troubles here so we have to hope he isn’t recognized by someone who could cause us trouble.” He hoped that sounded like this was his decision.

  Margis sat still for a moment, either considering Galen’s reasoning or just waiting for his body to acclimate to a waking state. Finally, he leaned over and grabbed his own pack. “I wonder what got him in trouble here. He’s never said yet has he?”

  “That’s his business. If he wants to tell us then he can. But there’s no need to pry into the personal affairs of someone if they don’t ask for it.” Margis nodded in resigned agreement, but Galen, despite meaning every word he said, also wanted to know a bit more about Iago’s history here. For a brief moment, Galen felt that if Iago couldn’t trust them with the reasons why he was wanted here, then maybe he shouldn’t trust Iago. But that feeling passed quickly.