Annabeth P.O.V

“I’m so proud of you. Sorry I couldn’t make it in time for your other matches.” Dad said with excitement that dropped off because of the implications.

Dad had been gone from the capital for almost two months. In fact he left about a week after Ajax’s discovery was made public. But I knew just how important this auction was. I tried hard to keep the guilt I was feeling off my face, hopefully I had gotten a better handle on it with my social skill leveling.

This had been the third auction in the last five years that had contained one of the fruits of Longevity. The fruits came in four varieties: apples, cherries, pears and coconuts. The fruits were extremely rare, as for their value it could range from priceless to less than nothing depending on who they were for. All four of the fruits did the same thing, they reduced one of the four mental stats of the person eating them in exchange for making them slightly younger.

The last two auctions had offered apples and coconuts respectively. One lowered a person's Wisdom and the other their Intellect. This latest one however announced that they would be offering not one but two cherries, the most valuable one of the four fruits seeing as it would trade Perception for youthfulness.

Dad’s representatives hadn’t managed to win either one of the fruits in the previous two auctions and I knew it was the work of one of my cousins. My being born and dad wanting to pass the family head position over to me meant that he was trying to push back the clock as far as he could and they were working against him, all because of me.

“Now, now.” he said as he placed a hand on my head and stroked me gently. “None of this is your fault. How about you tell me more about this last match of yours.”

“Lexi is the worst match-up in my entire class…” I pause for a moment at that. “ With the exception of Ajax, but he isn’t taking part in this tournament.”

The idea that someone younger than me was already so far ahead of me that he was winning the 6th year tournament without anyone to provide even a challenge was a little disheartening. Not only that but from what our people have noticed over the last year his rate of improvement seemed to match mine despite him already being so much higher. At least if the teams he was joining on his sponsored delves were any indication.

“Focus on the match.” father gently admonished.

“Right… As I was saying she is a bad match-up.” I got back on track. “She is a mage, that already makes it harder to prepare against compared to a physical fighter, what really gets to me however is her versatility. Despite not having the same amount of power behind her spells as I can put behind my fire she knows the chants for all sorts of different elements.”

“Yes, I imagine her grandfather has been extra generous with her.” dad said, and he was right. Lexi had gone through a bit of slump shortly after the start of the year. Not enough for anyone who didn’t know her to notice but Ajax’s versatility as a spellsword had made her question her own path. Her attitude changed, back to the same mischievous one she had before, if a little more competitive, after a few extra lessons with her grandfather over the course of a month.

“She’s never shown me those shadow chains before, I couldn’t even feel them as the spell traveled.” I exclaimed a little as I thought back to how the other semi-finale ended.

“Yes, a more advanced application.” father said. “The spell actually started at her location the moment she finished her cast. Shadow magic has always been one more focused on subterfuge, as long as there are shadows connecting the start and end point of a spell feeling them travel is much harder. “Do you have a plan in mind?”

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“Yes, I’ll…” I didn’t get to finish my sentence as the door opened.

“Apologies for the interruption , my lord.” My fathers head informant said as he and one of his people entered.

“What is it?” my father asked.

“We have a more detailed report on the recent change in the market for honey,” he said. “The report is extensive and the situation is both delicate and rather urgent. Not only that but our details are incomplete.”

That wasn’t a great situation, an urgent situation without complete details is a bad spot for one to be, though it isn’t something unusual for him to be informed about as the current head of the Goldmancer family.

“Go on.” Father prompted, and his head informant nodded to the other man.

“Yes.. Yes, sir.” the man faltered when he didn’t see me leave the room, he must be one of the juniors as dad has been having me attend these meeting for a while now.

“As reported on previously almost the entire capital’s supply is coming from a single organization, one led by Judy Hearthbound.” I felt my spine straighten slightly at the mention of her last name. “Not only that but we have also confirmed that the honey they sell is in fact mana infused. A similar result to the elve’s mana rich tea leaves if not to the same extent.”

“Is a confirmation all we have after a week of investigation?” there was nothing in his voice or tone that showed any annoyance though I could tell he didn’t like being interrupted for just this.

“No, my lord.” the informant bowed. “We have also learnt that their stranglehold on the market comes from having the beehives stored in wooden crates in the middle of the farming plots. Further inquiries have confirmed that the bees were gathered from the surrounding forest and… effectively rehoused there.”

“The mechanism for the container is not that complicated.” the informant continued. “We have purchased one from the same carpenter that has created all of his, much like a lot of other people, he has been making a killing selling them at almost twenty silvers each, yet none of us have had any success in getting any bees to actually stay there.”

“You are dismissed.” the head informant said and only continued once the three of us were alone. “This seems to have given House Hearthbound a monopoly on the market, our information suggests that stealing one of the hives off his land will have the bees remain regardless of their relocation, though everyone is wary of doing so.”

“Why?” I ask not seeing how all the pieces fit together.

“All information suggests that the hive must remain in an open place.” the informant continues.

“With nobody else succeeding anybody that steals it will also be essentially announcing that they are the thieves.” I cut him off as my mind worked putting the puzzle together. “A new noble house having a legitimate sustainment methold stolen from them within months of being granted the title will have everyone looking to get their two licks at punishing the thief.”

I left out that some wouldn’t be condemning the thief out of honor or duty but because they want to see what they could learn about the method by questioning the thief.

“Exactly so, my lady.” the head informant said. “That would be all sir.”

With that the informant awaited my father’s signal and took his leave with a deep bow once it was given. “Well, how would you approach this situation?” dad asked me once the door closed.

“The market for honey is too small and not profitable enough to be worth angering an entire faction.” I think aloud. There were quite a few viscounts and barons who were granted a title and almost saw their houses fall from thieves like that, not only that but they were almost exclusively granted their titles as a reward for combat making quick to violence now that they were more established and could get their hands on another thief. “The real prize is the method of enhancing the honey, if it is like the elven method and can be replicated that is the real prize. I would approach and see about trying to extract that method in exchange for protection and guarantee of leaving the honey market for them.”

“Not a bad approach.” father said. “From the reports however it seems like there are two different unknown factors at play here. One is the enhancing method and the other is the bee taming method.”

“How does that affect us?” I asked, unsure of why we would be interested in the bee taming method, it wasn’t something big enough to affect us especially once others got back into the market once the bee population recovered.

“We could approach them in regards to their bee method with a generous deal. Having them share that method with us and having us use our reach to profit outside the capital while sharing a large portion of the profits would buy us good will. Not only that but it would build a working relationship that we can use to work our way to trying to get the enhancing method.” dad explained. “Not only that but who knows, we might even be able to figure out the enhancing method just from learning about the bee method.”

DONG!

The bell from the central tower of the capital rang.

“That’s enough for today.” dad said hearing the bell. “Are you all set for tomorrow?”

“I am.” I confirmed. “I have a plan that I am 70% sure will work.”

“That is good.” he said with a smile. “Now off to bed, you need to be rested.”