She reached into her belt and tossed a silver coin to Restes who snatched it out of the air. “I’ll pay for five, just in case. Do you think I could spar with her? Just to warm up.”
Restes glanced at Belle. “Do you mind? It might do you some good to work with someone else.”
Belle shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Restes spoke to the new arrival. “What’s your name?”
“You can call me Nen.”
“Just Nen?”
She thought for a moment. “You can call me Nen of Far Far Away if you prefer.”
Restes motioned to the wall behind him. There was a rack filled with wooden swords and quarterstaffs. “Grab a practice sword. This is just training, and your partner is a novice, try not to hurt her.”
Nen picked out a wooden blade and came over to stand across from Belle. “I promise to be gentle.”
As Belle got into a fighting stance she got a good whiff of Nen’s scent. Belle’s eyes widened. “I know who you are.”
“That’s nice,” Nen said. “I know who I am too.” She dashed forward as Belle was just holding her sword out. She swung with all her might and smashed her wooden sword into the middle of Belle’s face. Had Belle been what she seemed, her nose would have been flattened and she’d be on her back. In reality. Nen had instead hit the ogre in the chest just below the throat.
“Stop!” Restes shouted. “This is just practice! You could have seriously hurt or even killed her!”
Nen had danced back to her starting point before Belle could even move her feet. “I’m sure she’s fine. I have a feeling this wooden stick can’t hurt anything but her pride. Isn’t that right, my pretty?”
Belle frowned and rubbed the spot where she’d been hit. “I thought you said you’d be gentle.”
“I was,” Nen grinned and swung her wooden blade through the air three times in the span of a heartbeat. “If I decide to be rough with you, you’ll know it.”
“You’re kind of small to be making threats.”
She took hold of her practice sword with both hands and lifted it above her head. She dashed forward two steps and brought it down with all her strength on Belle’s wrist. He ‘thwack’ was loud enough to echo through the building.
“Ow!” Belle dropped her wooden sword and shook her hand.
Nen took another step and pressed the tip of her sword to the (illusory) side of Belle’s neck. “Being big just makes you more of a target sometimes.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Restes yelled. He ran forward and grabbed Nen’s sword. “You could break her arm!”
When Restes wrenched the wooden sword away, Nen made no effort to hold onto it. She danced back a few steps as Belle rubbed her wrist and glared at her.
“Sorry, got a little carried away there. Are you all right, pretty girl?”
“I’m fine,” Belle muttered and picked her own wooden blade back up.
“You know, anyone would think that a fighter serving a White Mage and carrying a magical sword would be very skilled. Especially if they knew about your hidden strengths,” Nen said with a wide smile. “I thought that myself. But I can see it’s not so. You can’t use that sword at all, can you? You’ve always just relied on your strength and that thick hide of yours to see you safely through. Well, that’ll probably be enough to get you to the finals. But Varca will turn you into dog meat.”
“I can handle Varca even without a sword,” Belle said.
“No, you can’t,” Restes said. “She’s giving you too much credit thinking you’ll even make it that far.”
“Why are you taking her side?” Belle asked sounding hurt.
“I’m not. I told you from the start you’ve got no hope.” Restes turned to Nen. “You obviously don’t need any training. If all you want is to practice and warm up why don’t you wail away on one of the straw bags?”
“That’s all right, I think I’ve had enough.” Nen began walking towards the door.
“That’s it?” Restes asked. “You paid a silver mark. You sure you don’t want to do anything more?”
“Not today, though I may drop by again. I’ve seen what I needed to.” She gave Belle a cheerful wave and left.
“Bitch,” Belle muttered beneath her breath.
XXX
Waldo had escaped from the palace before Melissa could come grab him. His first stop was to the local herbal shop. He’d been delighted to discover it was a proper herbal shop with mandrake, devil grass, lotus blossoms, and all the other essentials for brewing potions. Knowing how rare they were now, he’d made sure to stock up.
He’d been slightly disappointed to discover there were no high end, special ingredients such as ground unicorn horn, kraken ink, or dragon scales. In Alteroth, such precious items were not always available… but they did pop up from time to time. When Waldo had asked the proprietor, he’d stared back and wanted to know if Waldo were serious. Mage guilds were very rare, and the one here in Torikai was among the best known in the world. If the shop supplying them didn’t carry any special ingredients he doubted he would find them anywhere outside of Alter.
With different pockets bulging with the components they did have, Waldo set out for the Great Market. He didn’t have any specific need, but he could look around and see if there was anything that might be useful. Maybe he would buy Alice a silk scarf or something, lately, she’d been in a bad mood despite getting to spend all her time playing with the queen and her maids. Women were hard to please.
As Waldo was heading towards the market he sensed a mage approaching him.
“Good morning, Master Rabbit.”
“Master Leiznam.”
“I was wondering if you could come to the guild hall with me. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Waldo frowned. “This isn’t about Belle is it?”
“It’s about a rare opportunity. Please, it will not take long and could be incredibly rewarding for you.”
Waldo sighed. “Very well.” He didn’t need to offend the guild master, and the market would remain open until the horrible ball of fire set.
Together they headed to the guild hall.
Chapter 19
Purple Is A Pretty Color
Wilfon was a midlevel merchant of Merchant House Arand. He’d spent ten years focusing on the wool trade in Sagin, Lothport, Thabas, and Hyannis. Each spring he’d led a caravan of wagons up into the hill country of those four nations. He’d visit one little village after another meeting with the shepherds, weighing and inspecting the freshly sheared wool, haggling over the price, and then moving on to the next tiny, miserable, fly speck of a village. Then, when every wagon was loaded down, he’d go to the city of Vermilha and try to squeeze out as much silver as he could from those damn thieving clothing merchants. He would make a profit, never a very large profit, but a profit nonetheless. He’d spend the winter in Vermilha until it was time to set out and do the whole thing over again. Except for the occasional bandit or goblin raid, it was a rather boring way to make a living.
So, one winter he met with Lord Arand and got permission to sell his trade route and instead go to Trezibon. He’d sold his villa and everything he owned to scrape up as much money as he could. He arrived in Venezia, bought a small galley, hired a local crew, contacted a Tarisean trader who promised to introduce him to the right people in the Caliphate. He went to Trezibon, risking pirates, krakens, and storms. He arrived at the Golden Port, surrounded by strangers dressed in bizarre sheets and turbans who spoke a barely comprehensible version of the human tongue that sounded like nothing but screeching to his civilized ears. The sun was always blazing, the food was so spicy it would burn a hole through your throat, and the dockside inns were filled with only three sorts of people; thieves, whores, and thieving whores.
He spent four months trapped there, trying to find a silk merchant who would sell to him. His Tarisean trader, a dirty little monkey names Hafal, would go into the city promising one of his many contacts would
come through. All he needed was a little more time, and just a little more silver to help things along. So, Wilfon sat on the docks suffering stomach pains, sweating through his clothes, listening to his crew’s constant complaints, listening to Hafal’s empty promises, and watching the coins in his purse slowly vanish. Every miserable day brought him one step closer to ruin.
Then, one evening, he got into a dice game with a caravan driver named Ahmad who bet an introduction to his employer, a silk merchant named Kadri, against a gold ducat. Fortune finally showed some pity on him as his toss came up sixes. The next morning, he met Kadri, a short bitter little man who had to be at least a quarter dwarf. All the gold and silver he had left bought him four bolts of silk. That night, he took Hafal drinking to celebrate the good news. Then led the thieving little monkey to an alley, where he cut his throat and got back just a little of the coin the man had stolen from him.
Returning to Venezia his galley very nearly sank in a storm. When he made it back he sold the ship and used the money to pay off what he still owed the crew and book passage for himself and his four bolts of silk to Genesa. One bolt bought him a wagon, horses, and a place in a caravan bound for Torikai, where Merchant House Arand had trading rights. Three months on the road and two bandit attacks later, he was here, standing in the House of Black Glass as a drow noble woman was inspecting his silk.
Wilfon knew that Lord Arand and most merchants would not trade with the drow. They had a bad reputation, and only the bravest or greediest traders would work with them. Wilfon didn’t give a damn; he’d risked every copper he’d had, spent nearly a year of his life travelling, suffered endless misery, committed murder, and nearly drowned. He was going to get the best price he could for his silks, and everyone said the drow paid more than anyone else.
“Do my goods please you, lady?”
“I would like it better if some of this were purple.”
“Blue, red, and gold are very popular colors,” Wilfon assured her.
She took some of the blue silk and pressed it to her cheek. “It is wonderfully soft. Where does this come from?”
“A distant land called WuLan, at the far end of the world. It can be found nowhere else, and it’s a secret what plant or animal is its source. It is most difficult to acquire, and most expensive.”
She nodded and put the silk back down. “I suppose I could have something nice made. How much?”
“How much would you offer for them, my lady?” After all his hardships and expenses, he had a total of twelve silver and eighty-two copper coins left in his purse. When he’d sold his home and originally set out he’d had forty-three gold coins. If he couldn’t get back more than that, then everything would have been a waste.
The drow noblewoman went over to a wooden cabinet and opened it, he could not see what was inside. She leaned in and took a moment, then shut the cabinet and came over to him.
“I offer you this.” In her palm were two glistening stones, each about as big as the tip of his pinky.
Uncut diamonds
He plucked hem from her hand and tried very hard not to reveal his excitement. He took a small lens he always carried with him to examine the stones. He was not a jeweler, but every merchant worthy of the name knew the fundamentals about gems and precious metals. Both stones were a good clear color with no obvious flaws. He would estimate each to be worth at least thirty gold coins!
“These are quite nice,” he admitted sounding bored. “However, I did bring you three bolts of silk, I don’t believe this would be quite enough.”
She rubbed a finger across her lips and considered. “Oh, very well, they are pretty.” She returned to the cabinet and opened it again. She gave him a third diamond of comparable size and quality. “You drive a hard bargain.”
Fool! He thought as he dropped the stones into his purse and bowed to her. “We have an agreement, noble lady. The silks are yours.”
“I’d like more,” she said. “And bring me purple next time. I will pay double for purple. You can go now.”
“Yes, my lady! I will see you again in a year’s time!”
As he was escorted out he was already making plans to return to Venezia. He would get a much sturdier galley. Since he now knew Kadri he could use that connection and not waste so much time sitting in port. He would also bring along a proper chef and large supply of regular food. He was so busy with his thoughts he barely noticed a human girl in a leather jerkin passing him in the hall.
XXX
“Fool,” Valeria laughed to herself as soon as the merchant was gone. In her cabinet was a large clay bowl with hundreds of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Humans really did love shiny things.
The door opened, and a human girl strolled in.
“Ah, Nendera, how did things go?” Valeria waved a hand in her direction. The ruby on her finger glowed and the illusion dropped away, returning the other woman to her true form.
“Badly,” the drow blademaster said. “The ogre has no chance against Varca.”
“None?” Valeria said in surprise.
Nendera shook her head.
“Well, I suppose you would know. That’s very disappointing.”
“Well… there might be a different solution. I have an idea.”
XXX
This visit to the guild hall was a little different from his initial one. This time, instead of being given just a peek into the library and then denied admittance, Leiznam led him straight down the hall and into the room. Ten-foot-high bookcases lined the walls. Every shelf was covered with books, there were literally thousands. It couldn’t equal the Corpselover family library of course… but it was still wonderful!
There were four long tables in the middle of the library. Leiznam led him to one of them. On it was a singled huge bar of gold and five stacks of books. Beside Leiznam there were eleven other mages gathered there. All of them in crimson robes with some animal depicted in gold thread. Waldo realized this was the entire guild except for Garibaldi.
“What is this about?” Waldo asked cautiously.
Leiznam walked around to the other side of the table so that he was standing with his guild.
“You keep saying you aren’t acting on behalf of Avalon, that you are here completely on your own. If that’s true, then we would like to reach an agreement with you.” Leiznam waved a hand at the table and everything piled atop it. “That bar is worth exactly ten thousand gold marks. These books contain all the spells my guild has acquired. If you really do have a Talent in Illusion they’ll help you master every sort of spell, including audial and full immersions. Some of those texts have spells from some of the other schools, as well as potion recipes and seal formulas. Altogether, those are the most useful books in our library. They’re all yours if you want. We’d only ask you to do one thing for us.”
Waldo stared at the gold and the books. He could just imagine returning home with that massive bar as one of the spoils of his quest. His mother would be immensely pleased. It would be real, tangible proof of a successful First Quest. Waldo wanted the books and the knowledge they contained even more. His Talent in Illusion wasn’t worth much, but he would at least be able to squeeze out all he could from it. Getting back all or most of the potions and seals he’d had would be even more useful. Maybe he could figure out exactly what he’d done wrong with the binding ritual and fix his Contracts with Alice and Gronk. He wanted to bury his nose in those pages and devour them.
“And what would that be?” Waldo asked, his fingers already twitching.
“That you go and never return,” Leiznam said. “Take your wife and take your beast and go. That’s all we want from you.”
“You mean now? Before the tournament?”
“Yes,” Leiznam said with annoyance. “That is the whole point. Leave tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning and you can take all this with you.”
“I wish you’d offered this to me when I arrived!”
“Well we’re offering it to you now, will you acce
pt it?”
Obviously, the wager on Belle was forgotten. The thought that taking a bribe and running away would damage his honor never even entered Waldo’s mind. That it would hurt the reputation of the whites was a plus. The idea this would protect Belle and make Alice happy did occur to him, but those considerations weren’t what mattered. Something that did interest him was how Valeria would likely react if he broke their agreement and fled. Drow didn’t take that sort of thing well, especially not when it was done by someone they considered part of a lower race. He’d always hoped to work with some drow and it would be a shame to ruin what might be a promising relationship. (Always assuming Valeria didn’t plan to break her word and betray him.)
“If I leave now I think Valeria will want to kill me.”
“So? You’re a White Mage. Given what you preach she should want to kill you. That’s to be expected. It’s the two of you getting along that’s bizarre.”
The Rabbit Great And Terrible Page 19
