The Sorcerer's Legacy (19 page)

“We got our boats, lad!” Zeb shouted ecstatically. “And at a darn good price, thanks to Simon. This is one shrewd man you have here. Never in my life have I seen someone chew down a price like him.”

“It was, ah, just good negotiating, ah, Master Azerick,” Simon mumbled.

“Good negotiating my left foot! We were bidding on this nice four-masted cargo ship. A real beauty just built three years ago but the owner was forced to let her go to the creditors. Simon recognized this other scoundrel as a man the creditors pay to force up the bidding, so Simon tells Toron to go stand real close to him and just scowl, and you know nobody scowls better than Toron,” Zeb laughed loudly.

“Well this shuts the scoundrel up real fast and we get the boat for half of what she’s worth! The next ship is a real pretty three-masted schooner, and when another bidder looked eager to fight a bidding war with us, Simon tells Toron to go growl at him! I asked Simon if the man was another plant and he says, no but it worked well last time; and darned if the man didn’t make another bid and we got her for a song!”

“That is wonderful news, Zeb, good work, Simon and Toron,” Azerick said, showing his pleasure.

“That’s not all, Az. After the auction, we go and look at another decent four-masted hauler. She’s a little older but in good condition and really put together well. She kind of reminded me of my wife!” Zeb cried and got everyone laughing.

“We go below decks to check out her hold and when the captain ain’t lookin, Simon pulls a bit of sawdust out of his pocket and sprinkles it along the seam of the hold and says he fears there may be termites and gets a thousand gold crowns knocked right off the top!”

“Simon, I have to admit I am surprised at you,” Azerick said jovially.

Simon misconstrued Azerick remark as criticism and quickly tried to defend himself. “Well, ah, oh, I felt that the ship was overpriced and the captain, ah, was too stiff on his, ah, negotiations, Master Azerick.”

“Well, it sounds like you certainly loosened him up,” Azerick commended. “So you bought four ships all together?”

Zeb shook his head. “No, and you can blame me if you disagree, but I had one ship commissioned to be built and she didn’t come cheap, even though Simon still wheedled down the price far better than I could have.”

Azerick was taken aback by the price Zeb quoted. “Ok, so what makes the ship so expensive?”

“It was a plan that came to me last winter when it got so cold up here. The ship is double-hulled and the wood twice as thick. The keel and everything under the waterline is hardwood and the entire bow up to the bowsprit is sheathed in iron and comes to a sharp wedge like a chisel,” Zeb explained.

Azerick scratched his head in confusion. “Other than ramming pirates, why would you want that?”

“She’ll cut through ice like a hot sword through butter! Az, all the white furs you see the rich nobles wearing, and you don’t see many, come from animals that live on or near the ice flows. Those winter pelts are worth a fortune and the only way to get them is an overland trek through the northern tundra and trade with the barbarians that live up there. That makes for a very small supply of an item that has a high cost of acquisition. With this ship, we can sail right up to their front door, hunt and trap the animals ourselves, and make a huge profit!”

Azerick turned back to Simon. “What do you think of the plan, Simon?”

“Well, ah, according to the laws of business, ah, it is an excellent idea, if it, ah, works and I have faith that, ah, Captain Zeb can make it work,” Simon replied.

“It sounds like a reasonable plan. Do the shipbuilders say they can get the ship afloat this season?”

“Just barely,” Zeb nodded. “And only because no one else is commissioning ships right now. In fact, the shipwright was quite pleased to get the order so he could hire back the men he had to lay off. You know, you have really been a blessing to this city, son, whether you realize it or not,” Zeb remarked sincerely.

“How is that, Zeb?” Azerick asked in confusion. He had made it a habit to keep mostly to himself and not get himself involved in the affairs of the city or its residents.

“How many folks you got employed around here?” Zeb asked.

Azerick looked to Simon who immediately gave him a quote. “Six hundred twenty-three, as of this morning, Master Azerick.”

“Nearly every one of those people working for you was in dire straits; and with the winter promising to be even worse than the last one, the gold you’re paying out means the difference between life and death for many of them. I was here last winter and it wasn’t pretty and this year’s gonna be worse by a long shot from what I hear. You told me you were tired of being an instrument of death and wanted to give life, well you done it now and you done it big, son, real big,” Zeb told him solemnly. “You’ve made more than just a home for yourself, you’ve made a legacy.”

Azerick did not know what to say to that. He knew that the work he provided the people was important, that was why he hired far more than he really needed. He did not need all of the outbuildings or the surrounding walls repaired any time soon but he hired everyone who wanted to work to help them in these tough times. He had no idea that his employment was so critical.

Maybe this is what all his pain had been leading him to all this time, to give him the empathy and ability to help others. Even after living in hardship in Southport, Azerick never really considered how large scale the problem of deprivation really was. He thought about how a simple attempt to make himself a home had turned into a mass work project, an apprenticeship, and a home for several other people. How far would this go? It was a lot to think about.

The summer came and went. To see it off, Lady Miranda, under the suggestion of her mother, put together a summer festival. There were parades, a circus, and festival games and contests, but no magic show. Azerick had given all his workers the day off so that they might attend and enjoy spending a bit of the money he paid them. He also let Ellyssa and Peck go and celebrate with a bit of spending money, but he was in no mood to celebrate. He even went so far as to ignore the duchess’s invitation to be the guest of honor.

Peck and Ellyssa had a grand time watching the circus performers perform daring acts of acrobatics, performing horses, dancing bears, and a  man who stood inside a cage with huge lions and tigers with nothing but a whip and a chair making them do tricks. The two had just left the circus when Ellyssa felt a tug on one of her pouches. Fast as a cat’s paw, she grabbed the pilfering hand, rubbed a piece of raw wool she kept tied to the bottom of her shirt, and cast a spell that sent a powerful electric shock to whomever she touched.

Wolf let out a yelp of pain as the searing electricity traveled up his arm and through his body.

“Wolf, what are you doing here?” Ellyssa demanded.

“Whew, is my hair smoking? It sure feels like it, and I’m all tingly from my nose to my toes!” Wolf said as he laughed at his rhyme when the pain passed.

“What are you doing here, Wolf?” Ellyssa repeated. “I thought you hated cities.”

“I do, but this is prime urban poaching! You should see everything I got,” Wolf replied, proudly holding out a sack that bulged heavily at the bottom.

“Wolf, that’s stealing and if you get caught they will put you in jail! This is not like stealing food from the kitchen. How would you like to spend all winter in a tiny, cold jail cell without Ghost?”

Wolf’s smile slid from his dirty face. “I wouldn’t like that at all.”

“Then you better leave people and their stuff alone,” Ellyssa crossly advised him.

“Ok, hey take a look at this!” Wolf said as he reached into his sack and rummaged around, back to his usual gleeful self.

Wolf pulled out a small bronze statue of an archer affixed to a marble base.

“Where did you steal that?” Ellyssa asked sorely.

“I didn’t steal it, I won it in an archery competition!” the half-elf proclaimed proudly.

“Really, that’s neat, Wolf, good job,” Peck and Ellyssa both congratulated.

“Where’s Ghost?” Peck asked, looking for the animal that was normally Wolf’s second shadow.

“He stayed home. He likes the city even less than I do. In fact, I better get going. There are too many people here and Ghost is probably lonely by now.”

Wolf fled the hustle and bustle of the city and went back to his quiet woods. Peck and Ellyssa spent a full day taking in all the sights, sounds, and especially the foods of the fair before returning to the keep, exhausted from their day’s activities. They were so tired they even turned down Grick’s rat chasing invitation, but they did bring him back some of the unique food and a few trinkets from the festival that he quietly but gratefully accepted.

The rains came quickly after the summer festival as if the event itself was the only thing staving off the wet and cold fall season. Azerick decided that a coach would be a prudent purchase after he fought off the pretentiousness he felt about them, a decision he came to terms with the third time he was caught in a bitter squall while riding Horse into town and came down with a nasty cold.

He was able to beat back some of the symptoms but no potion he knew of would cure the virulent illness. Azerick had even paid extra to have a three-sided cab built onto it to shelter poor Peck who became his coach driver. The first few days were nerve-wracking for both Peck and his passengers as the stableboy became accustomed to this new mode of transportation. But Peck tackled the new task with his usual determination and quickly gained proficiency.

Azerick and Ellyssa were in the herbalist’s shop to restock their own supply for Azerick’s lab as well as those ingredients needed to treat the sorcerer’s cold. Peck waited in reasonable comfort sitting in the cab of the coach wearing a warm jacket as Ellyssa and Azerick did their shopping. It took longer than necessary because Azerick, as usual, turned it into a lecture and quiz on the various herbs that were available.

Peck looked up from his daydreaming and found that scruffy, poorly clothed children were slowly encircling the coach. Most were running their cold-reddened fingers along the glossy midnight blue and black enameled sides and trim but a few were looking up at him expectantly. One of the boys, perhaps thirteen years old, overcame his trepidation and spoke to Peck.

“Is this the magus’s coach?” the sodden, shivering boy asked.

“Aye, it is. He’s in the shop there buying stuff to make his potions,” Peck looked down from his vantage point and answered.

“Does he turn folks into frogs and summon demons up there in that castle of his?”

Peck laughed at the question. “No, I’ve never heard him do anything like that, but I suppose he could if he had a mind to,” Peck guessed.

A girl, perhaps all of eight years old, spoke up. “I heard he trapped the ghost what used to haunt the place in a bottle and makes her tell him the future and talk to the dead.”

“No, he never did any such think like that,” Peck assured the girl.

“How do you know? You’re just a coach driver ain’t ya? Were you there when he beat the ghost?” she asked.

Peck shook his head. “No, I wasn’t there but my friend Ellyssa was and she told me all about it. She’s his apprentice ya know.”

Another girl, perhaps eleven or twelve spoke up, the proverbial ice having been broken. “I heard all wizardry is black magic and all wizards are evil. They snatch people off the streets and cast their spells and test their potions on them.”

Peck shook his head again. “No, that ain’t true at all, at least for Master Azerick. He’s a good man. I was orphaned and he hired me to take care of his horses and drive his coach. He once gave me a gold coin just for stabling his horse when I was a stableboy at the Golden Glade and now he teaches me how to read and write, and a man named Ewen comes and teaches me how to fight and swing a sword.”

Azerick and Ellyssa walked out of the herbalist’s shop at that moment carrying their purchases of herbs, roots, and various barks. The vagrant children parted to clear the path so the sorcerer and his apprentice could climb into the extravagant coach unimpeded.