The Merchant Prince

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

MIRA

I set down the pen and leaned back from the table in Gralbast’s study, massaging my hand. I’d like to find one of those writers that made it look like being a spy was exciting and give them a few good whacks with my staff. So far, it had just been either boring, tedious or monotonous.

Mikolosk brought me a cup of hot tea. Mikolosk worked for Gralbast and looked as old as dirt. He was butler, assistant, foreman, legal advisor, and anything else Gralbast needed him to be. I wouldn’t exactly call him kindly, but he was definitely attentive and dutiful.

“Thank you, Mikolosk,” I said, picking up the mug.

“Rasha tea has certain restorative properties,” he told me. “You looked like you could use some. From what I have seen of your preferences, I took liberty to sweeten it.”

Before I could say anything else, he turned and walked out of the room. I turned my attention back to the work in front of me.

We’d been in Pokorah-Vo for nearly two weeks now and a lot of my time was spent reviewing and consolidating the information my team was bringing in. We’d done a few deals with the trade goods we brought, a little here and there to spread it around, but we were stalling so we could prolong our stay in the city and gather more information.

Rispan came in and I saw right away from his face that something was up.

“Hang on,” I told him. “Let’s get Mooren and Gralbast.”

Once the four of us were assembled, Rispan filled us in on what he’d overheard.

“Zerg!” Gralbast pounded the side of his fist on the table. “I knew those two were up to something!”

I’d suspected Gralbast was supplying Rispan with information on who to look into, and this confirmed it. But as long as they were getting results, I’d let them run with it.

“We can’t sit around waiting for them to burn us out.” Mooren scowled.

Their conversation faded to the background as I pondered the problem. The strategy against us was pretty solid. But that was because we were sitting as an easy target. Something had to change quickly, and we couldn’t reveal we were on to them.

“How fast can we offload what’s left of our goods?” My question cut across some rant from Gralbast.

His eyes narrowed speculatively, “That depends on how cheaply you let it go. Why?”

“And what about a return caravan? How soon can goods be made ready to ship out to Su Lariano?”

“On my own,” he answered, “a decent shipment would take a couple of weeks to put together. I take it you want to move faster than that?”

“I do.”

“How much faster?”

“I want to be on the road in three days.”

Gralbast let out a long breath.

“And,” I added, “I don’t want them to know we’re leaving until after we’re gone.”

Gralbast stared at me, his face blank. Then he chuckled. “Alright. I think it can be done. But we’ll need more ready resources than what I have.”

He tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. Coming to some conclusion, he stood.

“Well, we’ve no time to lose,” he said. “We’ll need to talk to someone tonight. She’s the only one that can make this happen.”

On the way out the door I grabbed my cloak and settled it over my shoulder with the raven clasp that Rispan had found for me someplace. He’d asked and, using my amulet, I gave him an image of what a raven looked like. A few days later, he’d shown up with the clasp.

We walked with Mooren ranging ahead and Rispan coming up behind. After about ten minutes of brisk walking, we approached a large shop, and the lights were still on. The door was barred from the inside however, and Gralbast pounded on the wood between the glass panes until someone came.

It was a bulky Urgaban, his face was scarred and battered from old injuries. One look at him told me I probably didn’t want to see the other guy. He pulled the bar from the door and cracked the door enough to speak with us.

“Shop’s closed,” he growled. “Whad’ya want?”

“Please tell Bavrana that Gralbast and his partner Raven are here to see her,” Gralbast told him.

The man looked over his shoulder and I could see a woman give him a nod. He opened the door and motioned for us to pass. He closed and barred the door behind us while we faced the woman.

“Gralbast,” she nodded to him. “And you must be Raven.” She looked at me.

“You are well informed as always,” Gralbast told her. “Forgive the late hour, but we needed to speak with you on a matter of some urgency.”

A slim smile formed at the corner of her mouth. “I love it when someone comes to me on a matter of some urgency. It means they are desperate, and I’ll get a better deal.”

“That’s one way it could turn out.” I smiled. “Or they could just decide the deal isn’t good enough and they’ll hold off until they have time for a proper negotiation.”

“Oh, I like this one Gralbast,” she said, eyeing me. “I wondered why you would be willing to take on a partner. He definitely—” she paused for a moment, studying me. Then her eyes widened in surprise. “She definitely has potential.”

I glanced anxiously around, but of course, there was no one else in the shop.

She smiled, “Don’t worry. Your disguise will fool almost anyone in Pokorah-Vo. It would have fooled me as well if I hadn’t spent some time trading at the human settlement.” She turned and headed toward the back of the shop. “Let’s speak in my office.”

Her office held a large desk in the center. Shelves along one wall seemed to contain ledgers and records. Behind her was a cabinet and she pulled a bottle and three glasses from the shelf and put it on the desk as we took a seat. Rispan and Mooren stood by the door, looking like hired muscle.

She filled her own glass and set the bottle down, motioning for us to help ourselves.

Gralbast poured and we each tipped our glasses to our hostess and took a sip. It was very smooth with a hint of smoky cherry.

“As I am sure you’ve surmised,” Gralbast started, “I’m in the process of establishing trade relations with the Ulané Jhinura. Specifically, this is with the city of Su Lariano.”

“It had come to my attention,” she said dryly.

“As head of the Merchant’s Guild, you—”

She held up her hand to stop him.

“When you were head of the Guild, you could lecture on what the position meant,” she cautioned him. “When you gave up the position, you also gave up that right.”

“Of course.” The new expression I was seeing on his face could only be called contrite. “Poor phraseology on my part. What I mean to say is that from what I understand of your policy, I believe you would be in favor of such relations.”

“Perhaps.”

“Particularly, if you were brought in on the ground floor as a key player?”

“I’m listening,” was all she said.

She was probably a really good poker player, because I wasn’t getting anything from her, even with my amulet.

“I’m sure you’ve seen some of the goods we brought,” I cut in. I couldn’t let Gralbast run this. I needed to establish my position.

Bavrana seemed to sense the shift and she turned her attention to me. “Yes.” She nodded. “I have acquired some to see for myself.”

“You probably haven’t seen much silk in a long time,” I said. “Su Lariano has an exclusive deal with Laraksha-Vo for silk. You can only get it through us.”

“Us as in you and Gralbast?” she asked. “Or as in Su Lariano?”

“I represent certain people in Su Lariano.” I leaned forward. “People who would like to establish friendly relations with Pokorah-Vo. Relations that included open trade. Relations that also brought an end to s*****y and raids.”

“An end to s*****y?” Her eyes widened. “That alone will earn you some enemies. Opening trade will also make you a target for those who profit from the black market. Either way, you’re a threat.”

I leaned back in my chair.

“It’s unlikely anyone would know about your aims for s*****y,” she mused. Then her eyes flicked back and forth between me and Gralbast. “But the others. That’s why you’re here.” She looked hard at Gralbast, “This one still has his connections. He found something out.” She turned back to me. “What is the situation and what are you proposing? No hedging. You aren’t here for a deal; you need another partner.”

She was right. This wouldn’t work if we weren’t really on the same side.

“Rumors will be going around in the next few days about our shipment including some secret, volatile substance,” I told her. “When Gralbast and I die in the subsequent fire, few questions would be asked.” She had raised her glass to take a drink, but it froze halfway to her lips. “I don’t plan to be in Pokorah-Vo that long. We need to sell the rest of our cargo and load up a caravan back to Su Lariano. I want to be on the road in three days and I don’t want them to know what we are doing.”

“Bold.” She nodded. “This is doable. I’ll take your remaining goods. I’ll pay your going rate minus ten percent.” She smiled at my raised eyebrows. “Bulk discount. We’ll worry about the tallies later.” She winked. “Veselek!”

Immediately the scarred doorman stepped into the room.

“Get a dozen of your most discreet teamsters. We have goods to move tonight. Put it in the warehouse by the east wall.” She looked back at me. “They’ll need someone to go along and show them.”

“Mooren?” I asked him.

He nodded and followed Veselek out the door.

“Now then.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “What do we send on the caravan?”

“I’m sure we can take as much Kerelahin as you have.”

“What?”

“Sorry, it’s what we are calling your singing sculptures,” I explained.

“Gralbast has been busy.” She glanced at him. “That can be arranged. What else?”

“We need Réni,” I told her. I turned. “Rispan, can you get Réni please?”

“Don’t worry about the front door,” Bavrana called after his already retreating form. “Veselek has guards watching outside.”

She turned back to me thoughtfully, “What else are you trading with Laraksha-Vo besides silk?”

“I really don’t know.”

Her expression told me she didn’t believe me.

“Seriously,” I told her. “They came to us about some political alliance. It wasn’t until we were looking at coming here as traders that the subject of trade with them even came up.”

She gaped at me, “How can you expect to bring people together if you don’t start trading goods?”

“That’s the same thing Réni said.”

“At least someone in Su Lariano has a good head on their shoulders.” She rolled her eyes. “This is the one you sent for just now?”

I nodded. “She knows about trade a lot more than me.”

“About trade, perhaps,” she said. “But I imagine you can hold your own quite nicely when it comes to trading.” She put emphasis on the last syllable. “What was this political alliance supposed to be for anyway?”

“I don’t know all the details, but something about an equal voice for all the races, and open interaction.”

“I see,” she mused. “And how is this equality project working out?”

I thought about that and scowled, remembering how some of the Ulané Jhinura had felt about me.

“Not so well?” she guessed. “Yet they made you a citizen, yes?”

I thought about that. “I suppose so. An honorary one, anyway.”

“And if you can come here as a trader for Su Lariano, it would only be logical that you would be able to do business in Su Lariano, yes?” Her eyes were bright as she looked at me.

“I know that look,” Gralbast said. “What are you getting at?”

“We are going to have a side venture, you and I,” she said to me.

“We are?”

“I’ve traded with practically every race on this world, and do you know what I have found that Urgaban can do better than anyone else?”

I shrugged.

“Cook! You are going to open a restaurant in Su Lariano, with me as a partner.”

“I am?”

“Yes.” She grinned. “You are!”

Gralbast chuckled, “I must be getting old. I should have thought of that.”

“I don’t get it,” I told them.

“This is not only about trade and profit,” Bavrana said, “though there is going to be a lot of profit. If we open a high-end Urgaban restaurant in Su Lariano, everybody who is anybody is going to want to be there. This will create a demand and lead to lower end Urgaban restaurants opening. This is going to require ongoing trade in order to keep the right spices and ingredients on-hand. It also means you will need, at least initially, Urgaban chefs to cook it. Urgaban, living among the Ulané Jhinura.”

She went on with all the ways this could be leveraged to assist in an alliance, but also how the proposed alliance could be used to bolster launching the restaurant. Finally, Rispan returned with Réni.

“Réni,” I said, “thank you for coming. This is Bavrana. She’s in charge of the Pokorah-Vo Merchant’s Guild. She’s also a new partner. Please work with her to figure out what we will send on a caravan back to Su Lariano.”

“Of course.” She smiled at Bavrana. “Pleased to meet you.”

“One more thing,” I said to her. “We will be on the road in three days.”

Réni’s smile faltered, but she nodded.

“What do you have there?” Bavrana asked. She was looking past me to where Rispan stood, trying to suppress a grin.

From behind his back, he produced a black felt hat. It had a wide brim, and one side was pinned up and sported an iridescent, multicolored feather.

“I saw this on one of the shelves as I went by,” he said, holding it out to me. “It’s perfect for you.”

Curious, I put the hat on my head.

“He’s right,” Bavrana observed, “and it will enhance your disguise.”

There was no mirror handy, so I had to take their word for it. I doffed the hat in a mock bow and put it back on my head.

“That will be one silver,” Bavrana said to Rispan.

“A whole silver?”

She shrugged. “An experimental hat from some unknown hat maker… on your head… Maybe three coppers. But — A gift for the great trader Raven, which will come to be known as his hallmark? That’s worth at least a silver.”

Rispan just laughed and tossed her a silver coin he pulled out of his purse.