Silver Mage (Book 2) (20 page)

“Our manifest also states how much we sold. If the countries find that we are hiding goods then we could find ourselves in deep trouble so it will be best to tell them about the use of the magical trunk. They will put a price on it and we will have to claim the gold that you send back on your manifest even if we don’t have it with us. It will mean a lot more paperwork but it’s better than ending up in prison for tax evasion.”

“I think I will let you take care of that,” Bren said looking confused. “If you need some help Lillian is quite good at things like that. If not for her I don’t think my country's finances would have fared nearly as well as they have.”

“Then I will have a talk with her once we reach the inn,” Jin said weakly. “I know the basic principles because my mother beat them into me but honestly numbers are not one of my skills.”

Bren couldn’t help but laugh at the way Jin looked as he admitted his weakness. “We cannot all be good in every facet of our life. To tell you the truth there are times I have thought about taking off my boots so that I could have a few more things to help me count.”

CHAPTER XX

Once they arrived at the inn, Bren and Jin talked to the other members of the group. Bren and Cass knew most of the people in an official way but as for their skills outside of combat there was little input they could give. In the end it was decided that Lillian would handle the money and paperwork, while Faye and Shariel would help with keeping the inventory and manifest up to date. Sadly most of the guards had come from poor families or belonged to the magical races and had no skill when it came to dealing with such things, but still they could be useful in the face of trouble so no one thought harshly about them.

What really surprised Bren was that when the others learned of the rule about family names Lillian, Phena, and Faye all agreed to formally join the Torin family. Bren tried to talk them out of the decision but his words were met with stern glares and open looks of contempt. In the end he threw up his hands and relented. The guards were safe though since it was rare that any guard belonged to one family though it did happen from time to time. Cass still signed the paper along with the girls and Jin quickly had it sent off to the Merchant guild for formal recognition. Bren didn’t understand the need for it to be done while they were gone, it wasn’t as if it would really change anything but still it wasn’t his choice to make so he remained silent.

That night they decided to stay in the town aptly named Border Hill. Jin spent most of the night in various pubs trying to garner any bit of information he could while the girls went to the market district to see if there was anything that caught their interest. Out of everyone besides Jin, Faye seemed the most interested in the business of trading. From Bren’s point of view it didn’t really suit her innocent demeanor but it was nice to see her smiling, so he wasn’t going to complain.

Before they left the next day they found that Flynn had sent them a full truck worth of items from Torin. Most of the items were everyday things such as lights, or heating plates that didn’t require wood for cooking, though there were a few swords as well. Other than that, Jin and the girls had also purchased a few things to trade along the way as well as a few packages to be delivered to towns that they would pass along the way.

Most of the packages only paid a small amount for delivery but it was a way to pay for the cost of traveling without much of a risk unless you lost or damaged the package then you were liable for the contents inside. Not everything was large packages either, the largest bulk were letters that people wanted to send to loved ones who lived in different towns. For a copper any letter could be sent with a merchant. They didn’t take up a lot of room and while a copper was not much, it added up quickly.

Once everything was settled they left town. It was a little later in the day then Bren would have liked but there was little he could do about it. He had thought posing as a traveler would make traveling easier but in the end it caused more trouble than it solved.

“Waiiiittttt,” A voice yelled out as they left the gate of the city heading northeast. Bren turned around to see an elder lady trying to run after. He quickly called the others to a halt to wait on the women thinking that she had a letter that she wanted delivered. “Dear lords an old lady isn’t meant to run,” The woman said between gasps of air. “I hear that you are headed to the port of Deliah. Would you mind if ride along with you. These old bones aren’t meant for walking.”

“I would be our pleasure…” Bren said smiling.

“My name is Lisa but just call me grandma, everyone else does. I asked to come with you but I don’t have much in the way of coin,” Lisa said her face showing slight embarrassment.

“There is no way that I would charge my grandma for passage,” Bren said with a small bow. “Right now most people are walking. I am afraid the wagon seats are a bit uncomfortable after a bit.”

“That’s fine dear,” Lisa said with a motherly smile. “I have a pillow to sit on. Once you get as old as me you tend to carry around things that make your life a bit easier.”

Bren couldn’t help but smile as he watched the old gray haired lady climb into one of the wagons. When he noticed that Faye was watching him Bren blushed a bright red and turned to Cass. “I think we need to get a few more horses and maybe another wagon in the next town.”

“Are you sure? If we do that now then it will cost more when we have to charter a ship,” Jin rang in from behind them. “I think it would be best to try and sell off as much of the items as we can before we reach the port and then restock once we hit land. It will save us a fair amount of gold in the end.”

“I agree,” Cass added. “Better to travel light for now. No reason to make things harder on us later just to make it easier now. I don’t think anyone will die from a bit of walking. If you want though we can get you a horse, but I didn’t know you were so weak
as to ride while the rest of us walked, or maybe just a pillow to sit on while you ride in one of the wagons so you don’t have to hurt your backside.”

Bren tried to retort but everyone was laughing so hard that Bren couldn’t get a word in. After a few moments Bren simply hung his head in defeat. “I was just thinking of how to make us move a bit faster,” Bren mumbled to himself.

That day as they traveled Bren found himself talking to Lisa. For an older lady she was spry and full of witty comments, and more importantly a lot of knowledge. She had originally lived on one of the crest isle but had moved when she had married more than fifty years before. With her husband dead and her children grown and moved on with their own lives she had an urge to move back home where her sister and brother still lived.

Bren enjoyed listening to the old ladies stories about her youth and the things she had done over the years. It almost seemed like something out of a story book. Not only had she once traveled around with her husband who at the time had been a simple sell-sword, she had raised three kids and ran a small restaurant.

That night as they camped Lisa demanded to be allowed to cook in order to pay back their kindness for letting her travel with them. The meal was far from the simple fare they had been used to eating over the past few weeks. Lisa used the meat they had picked up in Border Hill and cooked it over a low fire while using a small pan to catch the dripping to make a thick richly flavored sauce to pour on top of it. After eating only a few bites, Talen one of the older guards offered to marry Lisa causing the older woman to blush.

Though the atmosphere had lightened since they had first left Torin, now that Lisa was with them it had almost turned jovial. There was none of the tension that had been hanging over them lately. They hadn’t spoke about it but they all knew they were headed into dangerous territory and just that knowledge alone had left a dark cloud hanging over them but now it had dissipated completely as if it had never existed.

Bren had not given much thought to letting the elder lady join them at first. It had been a simple thing, that he figured would not hurt nor help them in any major way but he had been wrong. The older lady treated everyone as if they were a child but not in a bad way. She made you feel at home even when you were walking along the road. It was a mysterious power and one that in the end might be more powerful than magic.

It was two days before they reached the next town. It was a little larger than Border Hill and surrounded by small farms. The closer they got to the town the more people they saw. As they drew close Bren noticed that many of the town children had gathered near the entrance of the town.

“Many merchants will carry candy with them to give to the children. In all honestly it’s a blatant bribe to have them spread the word to the rest of the town that a merchant has arrived. I don’t remember how the custom started but over time it has just become a habit. I am sure mother prepared enough to last for a few days,” Jin said in reply to Bren’s unspoken question.

“Lillian, Faye would you mind getting the treats out of the back and handing some of them out to the children,” Bren hollered to the two ladies. Phena now wearing her disguise joined the other two
ladies in passing out sweets to the children. Not only did the children take the sweets they bombarded the small group with questions. Avalanche also enjoyed playing with the children and many of them took turns trying to ride the rock hound like a miniature horse. One brave little boy tried to flip up Phena’s dress, for a moment Bren thought Phena would kill the child but instead the Vathari mage simple lifted him up and swung him around until the boy started laughing uncontrollably.

It was the first time Bren had really seen Phena interact with children. She normally had a stern and matter of fact attitude but now she reminded him of an older sister. Bren and Phena’s eyes met for a moment and she gave him a harsh look then went back to playing with the children.

While the girls played with the children Bren and the others headed into the town proper. Though it would take up a little time Jin wanted to stop by some of the shops and see if they could sell of a few of their goods. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the port and they wanted to lessen their load as much as they could before then so that the fee wouldn’t be outrageous. It was much cheaper to transport a chest of gold than a wagon loaded down with goods.

The first stop was a small goods store that sold everyday items to the locals. They sold a large amount of their goods at the store though some of it had to be traded for other goods since the shop didn’t have enough gold to purchase everything they wanted. Oddly they ended up with more than they left with thanks to the prices of the magical lights.

After three more stops they had reduced their cargo by a quarter and ended up with enough gold that Bren feared they would have to get another chest. He had never paid much attention to the cost of goods since he had become king. All he had to do was sign and stamp a piece of paper and the rest was taken care of by his accountant. Their last stop was to the moneychanger.

“Why are we stopping here?” Bren asked slightly confused.

“I am going to send some of the gold back home so that mother can open an account for our family. Now that we have official members in the family we need to start an account so that we can build some credit,” Jin explained.

“Why would we need to build credit?” Bren asked. “We have more than enough gold to buy whatever we need.”

“True but it is not always a good idea to carry around a large portion of gold. If you are attacked by bandits you could lose everything in one go. If we have letters of credit we can go to any major moneychanger and get the funds for a large purchase if we need to. Then the moneychanger will send a request to the guild and the money will be delivered to them. It does come with a bit of a fee but it’s much safer than traveling with huge sums of gold.”

“What happens when the caravan carrying the gold is attacked?”

“They are usually heavily guarded but even if they are raided then the council covers the cost of the gold. It is one of the benefits to being a member of the guild,” Jin explained.

It was fairly simple to deposit the money at the moneychangers. All they had to do was sign the paper. Apparently most of the family carried around a stamp much like his royal crest but since they were still new that was forgiven though it was suggest they have one made soon. Once everything was
taken care of Bren and the others met at the inn for a quiet night in town with warm beds. Lisa was a little hardheaded about having Bren pay for her room but relented when he started begging her in front of the inn.

Bren didn’t know why he went so far to get the old lady to stay in the inn. He just knew that if he allowed her to sleep in the wagon while the rest were warm inside it would nag at him and he would never get any real sleep.

As he was headed to his room Bren was stopped by Faye who asked if he would mind talking with her for a short time. Though Thuraman protested Bren followed Faye back to the room she was sharing with Phena. His Vathari sister was not in the room at the moment making Bren suddenly aware that he was complexly alone with Faye. A cold chill ran down his back as he looked around for Lillian who always seemed to show up anytime the two were by themselves.

“What did you need to talk about?” Bren asked nervously as he heard the door close behind him. It was an odd sounding click that for some reason reminded him of the prison cell he had been once locked in.

“Nothing really,” Faye answered as she sat done on the edge of the bed. “We just haven’t had any real time to talk together since the whole business with the tower.”

“That’s not true,” Bren replied. “I remember talking during the dance not that long ago.”

“A handful of words does not count as a real conversation,” Faye said hotly. Faye’s face flushed red for a few seconds but calmed quickly. “I just think that you’re moving too far away from me. When we were on the farm it was so easy to talk to you but now you are a king and I am just a simple plebian.”

“You know I don’t think of you like that,” Bren said quickly trying to comfort her.

“Then how do you think of me?” She asked turning toward him her eyes wide with a hint of expectation in them.

“Like a friend, my first friend,” Bren answered smiling.

“Friend,” Faye said her voice sounding slightly disappointed.

“Is something wrong?” Bren asked confused.

“I was just hoping that you would say something else,” Faye said bringing her face close to his. “I have tried every little thing I could think of to let you know what I was thinking but nothing has seemed to get through that thick skull of yours.”