The Duchess wasn’t sure how Adam had managed to put her on the back foot. She was certain she had held all the cards, and yet Adam seemed far more relaxed. With each conversation, Adam had grown far more confident, and after speaking of the Iyr, he had finally broken out of his shell.
“You spoke of a business which deals with enchanted weapons?” Dalia asked, finally pushing forward towards what she really wanted to talk about. There were many things she could tolerate, all for the sake of their relationship with this business he had mentioned.
“We are,” Adam confirmed. “I would have brought my axe, but I was told to leave it behind. Luckily for you, my brother was allowed to bring his axe.”
Dalia had spent much of her time in the political world. Guilds, unions, domestic nobles, foreign nobles, pirates, beasts, all tried to harass her in order to try and topple her from her throne. She couldn’t help but feel the last sentence was something meant to threaten her.
Jurot reached for it, and the knights went for their own blades from beside the Duchess. Jurot did not pause however, holding up the axe as blades were drawn, but were stopped by a motion of the Duchess’ hand. Jurot held her gaze, holding the axe in front of her. If he truly wanted it, he could have split her skull in half, even if the three guards tried to stop him.
“May we cast Identify on the axe?” the Duchess asked, reaching for the weapon, feeling its power as she gripped it.
“Please do,” Adam said, before his thoughts quickly flashed to the most pertinent issue. ‘They can’t just figure out it’s me from a simple Identify spell, right?’
[No.]
‘Can they find out it was me?’
[With greater magic, yes.]
‘Hmm…’
“May I tell you what it does?” Adam asked, hoping that she had limited access to greater magic at this moment.
“You may.”
“It’s an axe which assaults both body and mind, with the strength of an even greater weapon. It holds three charges, which can smite one’s mind, but with great strength, that greater than even the weapon itself. It may even heal the wielder. The charges are regained over several dawns.”
“It holds a Greater enchantment?”
“Yes.”
“You work for an enchanter who created such an item?”
“We do.”
‘If that is true, it is no wonder that you would not wish to work under even my family,’ the Duchess thought. “You may enjoy the desserts. Our pastrier has knowledge of recipes from the Confederacy, and is familiar with Aswadian cuisine.”
“Fancy,” Adam replied, before eating more of the dense desserts, which seemed to be coming out by the tray full any time they were even half empty.
As the minutes passed, with Jaygak eagerly enjoying the desserts from beside Adam, the others also enjoyed themselves, though with not quite as much vigour. The tea was subtly flavoured in comparison to the desserts, and Adam could taste how the different coloured flakes danced on his tongue with unique flavours. ‘Damn. I need to hire this chef.’
The Iyrmen spoke their tales to the Duchess, who didn’t seem to mind spending so long with the group.
‘Does she not have any other people to meet? I thought nobles were meant to be busy? Oh, who am I kidding, a noble life is easy mode for the most part. She probably needs to check on any of her stewards to make sure they don’t get too much power thought. I wonder if her treasurer is siphoning gold from her? Is there a guard who is in love with her? Is there a guard and maid romance? Damn, I bet there are so many cute stories in this place. Unless she’s the kind to behead people for doing anything she didn’t like…’
A guard returned with the axe an hour later, with a small piece of paper that was furled up. She unwrapped the ribbon and checked what it said, before handing it to a guard who would dispose of it.
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“Your enchanter is truly great,” the Duchess said.
“They are,” Adam confirmed.
The Duchess, noting how Adam had been vague about their identity, and even their gender, decided against asking for more specifics about their identity. “What is their goal?”
“To enchant.” Silence filled the air for a moment. “We deal with everything else, of course, as the Chief Executive Officers. Though, there are the Directors above us, three of whom are the parents of Iyrmen who are here, and then above them are the President and the Enchanter, the President being my Aunt, Jurot’s mother.”
‘A simple structure.’ The Duchess looked to Jurot, whose mother was the President, seemingly holding the same rank as the Enchanter. She was probably the one who dealt with the business if the Enchanter only wanted to enchant, given the opportunity by the Iyr’s great resources.
“Do you sell bespoke weapons to nobles?” Dalia asked.
“We will soon, Your Grace,” Adam replied, smiling slightly. “I’m sure you understand that creating such great weapons takes time, effort, and requires particular materials. The Enchanter is interested in, for now, allowing a single noble family exclusive access to ordering magical weapons for some time, before allowing more noble families eventual access to ordering magical weapons, until opening it up to more, potentially.” ‘I really should have rehearsed that…’
The Duchess glanced between the other Iyrmen. Each who had parents in higher positions, while they themselves were quite high up too. Then her eyes fell to Adam. Adam, who was the one leading the group, speaking on their behalf, and on behalf of the Enchanter. “Why is it that you hold such a high position in the business?”
“A few reasons,” Adam replied, smiling. “I am decent at magic, and the Enchanter and I have a fairly decent relationship. I am the Head Alchemist of the business, or I will be once it starts rolling. I’m also close to the President and the Directors, and of course, having an Executive who is my brother also helps. Long story short, right place, right time. Fate, one might say.”
“I have heard that you were an alchemist,” the Duchess stated, noting how lucky the Half Elf was. “You had some business with Sir Harvey, though it went poorly.”
Adam wiggled his ears. “I’m not Human enough for some people.”
It made sense for Adam to be fairly high up in the enchanting business due to his skills and abilities. Jurot’s axe was also a great weapons, perhaps matching even the greatest weapons the entire land had to offer. A Greater Enhanced weapon, and even if it held one charge, it would have been coveted by all manner of beings. Even if Jurot was an Iyrman, this weapon was worth risking one’s life for it.
“This exclusive deal with the Enchanter, how long would it last, and how many weapons would be offered?”
“That depends on the offer,” Adam replied. “The Enchanter is interested in knowing how many weapons they will need to make, for how long the exclusivity contract will be, and how much each weapon will be bought for. Of course, the Enchanter will also take into consideration all these factors from all the families which will make an offer.”
“Which families will be offered such a chance?”
“Any noble family of sufficient rank. I believe it goes King, Duke, Marquis, Count, and then Baron?”
“That is correct.”
“Then Count and above, for now. I came to you first due to your gifts, Your Grace.” Adam held her eyes for a long moment.
The Duchess flashed an innocent smile, as though she had no idea he had accepted for such a reason.
“We have the authority to discuss a contract, and we will bring it back to the Enchanter to discuss it. Though your gifts were great, the Enchanter no doubt wished to inform the Duchess first of the situation, before all other nobles.”
“I will remember the Enchanters intentions,” Dalia confirmed. She wondered if that was true, or if it was because he feared her. “I will not poach the members of the United Kindom. If the Enchanter has need of any materials to work with, we would be surely be willing to gift such as a show of good faith.”
“You have gifted us more than enough, Your Grace.” Adam glanced around towards the knights. “I will be sure to keep in mind that the Duchess has offered us not just the greatest gifts, but the most insightful gifts.” Adam bowed his head towards her slowly. “We will take this into consideration when we send out word for our business.”
The Duchess thought about pushing for a deal now. She was sure she could do so, but considering how well everything had gone, she decided against it. If there was no enchanter behind them, she wouldn’t have been so free with her gifts, and would have pressed them into her service. However, though Adam was a decent warrior, and Nobby seemed great too, the Enchanter was worth more than every single person within Fate’s Golden combined.
“Many special materials flow within this city, such which will be offered at an appropriate price, if you will refuse them as gifts.”
Adam smiled. “That is greatly appreciated, Your Grace. I suppose we shouldn’t take too much of your time. It was our honour to meet with you.”
“Yes,” she replied, simply.
Adam and the others prepared to leave. The Duchess had sized them up. The others were decent enough warriors, enough to fill out the lower ranks of her guards. If they were Experts, she could have offered them decent positions, but poaching any one of them could have offended the Enchanter.
The Duchess stood and began to lead them out towards the nearby carriages. “If your business finds trouble in East Aldland, for one reason or another, you may send word to my estate. The silver plaque should be proof enough of your affiliation with my great family, but if it is not, I will send a letter to deal with any minor matters which may occur.”
Adam remained silent for a moment, thinking about the silver plaque she had offered to them within the scroll. “Thank you, Your Grace.” ‘She probably is the best choice…’