Finally, the ten warlords began contacting Zoran about trading arrangements. Via a Message spell from their Mage, a warlord sent him word that a trade meeting was desired. Accompanied by General Janos, Emil, Renata, and a few Security men, Zoran began visiting the warlord fortresses, conducting business meetings. Warlord Eduard of Kin Province was the first to request such a meeting. His fortress was bleak and sparsely populated. He explained that most of his men were out manning the huge border with Vraz Province, where Baron Kazimir still fielded a sizeable garrison army on his border with Kin. Not surprisingly, Eduard wanted swords, armor, and then grain, in that order.
“I’ve put together one thousand drun of gold,” he stated. [A drun is roughly 1/16th of a pound.] “We have about five thousand drun-worth of gems. The wagon is loaded and ready for shipment, but the roads to Brn are still not finished nor is it safe to transport such a sum. I do not trust other warlords; besides there are bandits who would stop at nothing to acquire this wagon. What are you going to do about it? When will we get our weapons, armor, and grain?” he asked belligerently.
“I assume that you trust me,” Zoran answered a bit testily. He nodded. “I can take your wagon back with me, guaranteeing its safe delivery to Brn. I will then contact the other planets and put together your order.”
General Janos broke in, “Baron, you ought to ask what grade of weapons he wishes and the quality of his armor.” Zoran grinned and nodded to his General.
“Right, you heard him. I admit that I have much to learn,” Zoran replied. Warlord Eduard snickered. He liked this youth, who was not afraid to admit that he didn’t know everything.
“Military grade. None of those fancy Duska blades. We have to defend our borders and that means arming everyone I can find. Same with armor. Chain mail tops, forget full body chain mail. That’s way too expensive. We’ll take ring mail if chain turns out to be too costly or will take too long to make. We need it as soon as possible here. No telling when the Baron will strike. It is summertime and that is when he traditionally attempts to take over another province.”
“Okay. Thanks. Eduard, after the devastation my dragon friends cost him last year in Sholov, I don’t think that he will be attacking you this summer. I strongly believe that we have yet a little time to prepare,” Zoran tried to encourage the warlord. It did appease Eduard, who actually was looking for just such a confirmation of his own take on the situation.
Since the wagon weighed only a few hundred pounds, Zoran was able to Shadow Walk it and his companions back to Brn. He counted out the funds and had Aldrick verify the value of the gems before he began negotiations. As he got ready to actually make the attempt at trade, Zoran suddenly recognized that he had no notion at all of how to proceed! Here was a complete arena in which he knew absolutely nothing! It shocked him.
Uncle Milan, help! Business, this time. Duh, I have just gotten my first request for supplies from Warlord Eduard. Naturally, he wants weapons, armor, and grains. How the heck do I proceed? Who do I contact? Honestly, Uncle, I don’t know what I am doing with business affairs!
Baron Milan roared with laughter. With his Duska given telepathy, Zoran could sense his mirth and he flushed. Relax, Zoran. I’ve already worked this out. My younger daughter, Dusana, is seventeen now. She has an incredible knack for business dealings. She is betrothed to Baron Tom Witherspoon’s son, John, also seventeen and heir to his throne. I’ve discussed this at length with Tom. We both feel that it is high time that these two get their feet wet with real world dealings. Terra is an agrarian planet, awash in trading throughout the Federation. Hence, it is vital for his son to become an astute businessman. That my Dusana is following in Tom’s footsteps has endeared her with Tom. If this is acceptable to you, we will send both of them to stay with you for a year or two to help you get things going there and train someone in how to conduct proper business affairs.
Uncle, I don’t know how to properly thank you. Say, yes I do know. How would you like an ancient magical bastard sword? It belonged to the original founder of Adapazan, Baron Valentýn Vladislov, first Baron of Adapazan. We found a stash of his things.
Incredible, Zoran! Yes, that would be a treasure of treasures! Thank you nephew! Okay, I will tell Dusana and John to make plans to come to Brn. Shall we say in two days’ time?
Perfect, just perfect. Oh, please tell them to expect rather crude living arrangements here. We’ve only got an Archmage tower for accommodations.
I know, nephew, I know. Okay. I’ll get on it. Expect their arrival on Wednesday. Thanks again for the incredible gift!
Zoran set to work clearing out another storeroom, next to the room shared by the sisters from Asami. He’d forgotten to ask his Uncle if he should keep the two in separate rooms. He knew how he would have loved to sleep with Zdenka and decided to allow the young couple to make this decision for themselves. If need be, he could put one of them in a smaller room on the fourth floor.
At lunch, he told everyone about their new guests. Zdenka immediately insisted that the two unmarried teens have separate rooms! The sisters volunteered to move to the fifth floor into the room next to Zdenka and Zoran. His crimson face told all that his gaffe was a big one, and he quietly said nothing but thanked the two grinning teens.
With gusto, he prepared the vacant room for the teens and helped them move their few belongings into their new room. A bit later, he’d finished making up the beds, over the protests of Zuzanna, who continually insisted that he was doing her job. “Next, you will be emptying the chamber pots for me,” she teased him.
“Oh, do they need emptying?” he teased her back. She threw a pillow at him and laughed.
Five minutes later, it was back to utter boredom for Zoran. However, he then had an idea. Little did he know how pivotal this idea would become to him. He contacted Rayna and Lida. Say, do you know who Kazimir may have fathered children with, besides mom? I know that he has found one of them and is making this Damek Kamil his heir. We ought to find any other of our half brothers and sisters and get them on our side.
Super, little brother, Lida replied. The two volunteered to find out. Just how they could escaped him, especially when they reported back with the information in less than two hours! There were two other half-sisters out there. One was called Zuza Vavrin, age ten, who lived with her barmaid mother, Hana, in Chynava, Dorum Province, outside the city of Dorum. The other was fifteen year old girl called Kamila Lota, who lived with her mother, Eva, who was a cook at an inn in Toky, a village not too far from Dorum.
An hour later, highly enthused, Zoran, against all of the protests of General Janos, teleported to the inn in Chynava. Karel, Jarka, Bernard, and Emil came with him, though they had cast Invisibility on themselves and promised to be on the qui vive and remain in the background. The inn was a rundown, seedy one, just right for Kazimir to visit clandestinely of a night. He walked up to the barkeeper. “I’m looking for Hana Vavrin. May I have a word with her?”
“Cost ‘u a pint,” the burly man replied. Zoran tossed him a coin and he slid a filthy mug of ale over to him. “Hey, Hana, another one to see you.” Zoran moved to a back corner table, where he could not easily be overheard.
A thirty year old, pretty blonde haired barmaid, dressed in a provocative but colorful dress, covered with dozens of make-shift patches, walked over to him. She sat down opposite him, sizing him up. Where to begin went through Zoran’s mind. “Well stranger, I be Hana.”
He noticed that the barkeeper kept a sharp eye on him, as did two other hooded men drinking at another table. “Hana, I want to talk with you about your future. This is extremely important. It’s about your daughter and you. Please, is there somewhere that we can go and have a private talk? It is vital that we speak honestly.”
“I take men to my room. Give the barkeep a gold and follow me,” she replied. Something about this young man pricked her interest. He didn’t look like the ordinary kind looking for a quick lay. Zoran tossed a gold coin to the barkeeper, who grinned, b
it it, and deposited the coin in his cash box. Quickly, Zoran followed her up the back stairs. He sensed his other Invisible men following him. To hide the noise of their footsteps, Zoran made as much stomping noise as he dared.
She opened a door and beckoned him follow her inside. Such squalid conditions Zoran had never seen before. A young girl wearing mostly rags sat in one corner playing with a filthy doll someone had obviously discarded. He was surprised to see a small boy about her age playing with two broken toy soldiers in another corner beside a dirty bed. The girl, seeing Zoran, immediately got up to leave, tugging on her brother’s arm. Evidently, Hana often brought men up here, and the children were trained to quietly leave, Zoran guessed. “Please, allow them to stay. This concerns them as well.”
“Well, just who are you and what do you want? Only last week some of the Baron’s men came by here. At least they gave me a gold,” she stated flatly.
“First, is this Zuza?”
“Yes, she is Zuza and he is Jan. Why?”
“Hi Zuza. Is she the daughter of Baron Kazimir?”
“Why? That’s what his men wanted to know. Give me a gold and I’ll tell you.”
Zoran gave her ten gold coins. That got her undivided attention, as he suspected it would. “I am Baron Archmage Zoran Vladislov, the Kazimir’s youngest son. I have a new Circle of Ascension and am representing the Free People of Adapazan. Zuza is my sister, well half-sister. I want to give her the rights to her birthright as the daughter of a baron. I want to help her to become a Duska and to learn as much magic as she can learn. Will you consider moving immediately to my place in Brn Province, where she will be safe and can learn all that she can from my wife, Archmage Zdenka? I will do right by you, Hana. I will see that you are well taken care of. As the mother of a Duska, you should not be living in such a hovel. You should be honored and revered as the mother of a Duska!”
Hana’s eyes opened wider and wider. Her face flushed and began fanning her face with her hands. Then, she fainted. “Mommy! Mommy, what’s wrong? What did you do to her?” Zuza cried, running over to her mother. Jan did too.
“She’s okay; she just fainted. Here, she is coming around, Zuza. The news was a bit of a surprise,” Zoran explained. He helped her sit up as her eyes opened.
“Mommy, are you all right?” a worried Zuza exclaimed.
“Yes, yes, dears,” she said very softly.
“Mommy, I want to learn magic! Can I? Mommy, please, can I learn magic?” Zuza begged.
“Me too, mommy. I want to learn magic too,” Jan added, tugging at her arm.
“Are you playing a nasty game with me?” Hana finally collected her wits. Such an offer just could not be real.
“Allow my companions to enter, and they can vouch for me.” She nodded, half expecting to see a bunch of the Baron’s soldiers coming to arrest her, though for what, she did not know.
She saw no one entering the room and began to think this was some kind of joke being played on her. One by one, the Invisibility spells were canceled, and she saw Karel, Jarka, Bernard, and Emil standing just inside the door, making the room rather crowded around the door. “Allow me to introduce my dear friends. This is Archmage Karel, Mage Jarka, Mage Bernard, and Archmage Emil. Now do you believe me?”
Seeing such powerful men and women standing there finally convinced Hana that this was not a joke. “Are you really against Baron Kazimir?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” replied Jarka. “I’ve killed several of his assassins and some of his Mages. You will be safe at our tower in Brn.”
“Okay, I will trust you to be who you say, but you must take Jan too.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t dream of leaving him behind,” Zoran replied honestly.
“And train him in magic too,” she added.
“Not everyone can learn magic; however, we will do our best with Jan. I cannot guarantee that he will be able to learn magic. With Zuza, once she becomes a Duska, there is no doubt that she can learn magic,” Zoran tried to soften what must be a blow to Hana and Jan. After all, only one in ten had any ability to learn magic.
She hesitated a moment, as if resolving something in her mind. “Okay. I can accept that for now. Do you mean for us to leave now? This very minute?”
“Yes, with Kazimir’s men around, it really isn’t safe for Zuza here. I don’t want anything bad to happen to my little sister,” Zoran replied.
“What about the barkeeper?”
“Forget him. Pack your things and let’s get you safe in Brn,” Zoran replied.
It took all of two minutes for them to pack. She had stowed away twenty coppers and had only one other dress. The children had even less. Holding hands, the group teleported to the main street of Brn, just before the Tower. As they arrived, Aldrick and Sofie were flying around the tower, on their way back from feeding.
“Mommy, look! Dragons! Real dragons!” exclaimed Jan and Zuza nearly in unison.
“Then it is true — all the rumors that we’ve heard about dragons coming to Adapazan and burning up the Baron’s army in Sholov are true,” Hana said wildly excited with the sight of the two dragons.
“Yes, they are my friends. Emil here is their son.”
“You are a real dragon?” exclaimed Jan, completely in awe of Emil.
“Yes, want to see?” he said, unable to resist the boy’s enthusiasm. He changed into his true form and took flight around the Tower before landing in the street and changing back into his human Emil form once more.
Hana then said what she had been holding back. “Jan is Zuza’s twin brother. I never told anyone, not even the Baron’s men when they came around last week. I knew that the Baron would take him away from me if he knew about Jan. Please, you must do the same for Jan, please. He is your half-brother.”
“Incredible! Put her there, Jan,” Zoran offered the lad his hand. The boy took it and they shook. “Absolutely. Both will be allowed to become Duskas and learn all the magic that they can.”
“Well, they don’t know how to read or write. I don’t either,” Hana admitted.
“Not a problem. We will have to teach them to read and write first thing,” Zoran replied.
“Mommy, when I can read, I will read all the books to you,” Zuza promised. Hana smiled.
“Come on; let’s go inside and meet my wife, Archmage Zdenka. She’s our magic teacher here. This is her tower,” Zoran suggested.
Awe. That is the best way to describe the three’s tour of the Archmage Tower and the new construction site. Zdenka, of course, tested the two children and found that they were suitable for her training. Out of curiosity, she also tested Hana.
Hana hesitated, and then sighed. “Well, my first impulse is to grab the gold; my children are desperate, but he’s bleeding to death. I have to set a good example, so I will see if I can help him and then ask him for some of the gold for my children.” Zdenka suspected this might be her answer and smiled.
“Okay, Hana. How about you? Have you ever thought about seeing if you can learn magic?”
Hana was startled. “No. I mean I have always had to work constantly to stay alive. Then, with the twins, it became even more difficult to manage. Do you really think it is possible?”
Zdenka replied. “First things first. We get you three some descent clothes. Then, I am going to twin you three up with two teenagers who are also learning how to read and write. They can help you get started.”
“But we have no money for clothes,” Hana objected.
“Don’t worry. Zoran will be helping to look after his little brother and sister. We could use some additional hands with maid and serving duty around the tower. What say I put you to work part of the time, when you are not studying. That way, you can help out too.” Hana agreed eagerly. Hence, Zdenka sent the three off with Jarka to find the seamstress. Her orders: get them each three new outfits and pitch these old ones! She gave Zoran the task of finding lodgings for the new guests.
Since he also planned to see if the other sister a
nd mother would move here, he set to work on the fifth floor. He consolidated the “observation of the sky” room with several others, making two smaller rooms available for the new families. “I am rapidly running out of quarters here,” he jested.
After the new arrivals had gone shopping and had a bath, Zoran showed them their new room. Hana had never had such luxury, and Jan and Zuza were very happy with this fine new bedroom. At last, Zdenka took them to the first floor study area and introduce them to Chika and Akira, who took charge of them, eager to help others, who like themselves, did not know how to read and write. Of course they now could do both somewhat.
The next day, Zoran repeated the process, this time heading into Toky to look for the fifteen year old girl called Kamila Lota and her mother, Eva. He found them both working at an inn. Eva, wiped her hands on her apron, and offered him a cup of tea there in the kitchen. She was around thirty-five, but still had an attractive air about her. In her youth, she must have been a rose in this village. Kamila, tall and thin, was working as a waitress, serving tables.
“Well, you are the second person in the last week to come here asking about Kamila. I thought I said everything the last time they were here,” Eva began, rather annoyed at having to stop her cooking. Kamila, with her long brown hair, sat beside her mother, curious about this tall man and why he wanted to speak to them.
Zoran introduced himself and gave an almost identical speech as he had to Hana yesterday. “So Kamila is my sister and I want only the very best for her.”
Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town Page 37
