“There is a warrior watching us from the stairwell,” Todd announced.
“Who is he interested in?” Grandmother asked. Valin listened to this exchange with some alarm. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized Todd had the Guardian boon. That was a hard one to trick. No wonder he was discovered at Stoneshelf.
“I think me,” Todd responded. “He has a distinct red tinge and I am the only red here. I don’t recognize him.”
“Interesting,” Grandmother responded. The three of them were sitting at the ‘outdoor’ inn tables in Londontown. They were waiting for Valin’s third candidate for the shop keeper position. Grandmother rejected the second candidate quickly, leaving them with a wait until the third. The first candidate was acceptable. Grandmother planned to hire her if the third wasn’t more impressive.
“He is coming over,” Todd announced.
“Do you want to avoid him?” Grandmother asked.
“I’d like to see what he wants,” Todd admitted.
“We’ll find out then,” Grandmother said. “Can you identify him, Valin?” Valin casually turned to get a good look at the approaching warrior.
“He is one of the king’s guards,” Valin responded. “He is not family, so his career is limited. I do not know his name,” he admitted. I should know, Valin thought to himself. He should know the name of anyone interested in his primary or near associates. He was rusty.
“Todd,” the man said, when he reached the table. His attention was all on Todd, he didn’t even glance at Grandmother or Valin.
“Do I know you?” Todd asked politely. The warrior was near Todd’s age, maybe a little younger. Todd, at thirty one was considered old in the structure. Most people didn’t live past forty, the dangers of life eventually caught up with everyone.
“I am your cousin, Lucas,” the man stated. “Harry’s son.” Now that Harry’s name was mentioned, Grandmother could see this man’s resemblance, not to Harry and Todd, but to Muriel. Muriel would be this man’s sister, so it made sense. If Lucas was Todd’s cousin, Harry must be Todd’s uncle, not his father. Grandmother was happy she managed to work that out without asking. That relief left her in a good mood.
“Lucas,” Todd responded. “Yes, I remember you. What brings you to see me?”
“Can you tell me what happened to my parents?” Lucas asked. “I have always wondered.”
“Your mother died in the halls during the search for a new square,” Todd said. He decided to break that old bad news quickly. “Harry is the head of the guard at Melbourne.” Valin covered his surprise at this answer. Valin knew Melbourne. It was a lost square to the north. He couldn’t believe Todd, who he thought of as honest to a fault, could give out that false information without even a flicker of guilt.
“He still lives?” Lucas questioned, surprise in his voice.
“Yes,” Todd replied, the ‘why would you think differently?’ was incorporated into Todd tone.
“And my siblings?” Lucas asked.
“Five survived the journey,” Todd responded, giving their names.
“I have five children myself now,” Lucas said. “The youngest was born less than six thirty-six days ago.”
“It must be a busy household,” Todd said politely.
“My oldest wants to be a crafter,” Lucas explained. “I’ve tried to get him apprenticed, but because of my position in the king’s guards, none of the crafters here will take him.”
“Have you tried paying?” Todd asked. “A friend of mine says you can usually buy what you want and there are less hard feelings that way.”
“I tried, they still refused,” Lucas said.
“I don’t see how I can help you,” Todd responded to his cousin. “I am not a crafter.”
“I was hoping you could ask in Melbourne if anyone there was offering an apprenticeship,” Lucas asked.
“I am not certain I can do that,” Todd responded. “Considering the friction between our squares.” Lucas looked disappointed, but resigned. He nodded his head in understanding.
“Perhaps there is another option,” Grandmother said. Lucas jerked, turning to look at the woman sitting next to Todd in surprise, as if he just now noticed her there. Grandmother’s don’t notice me spell obviously worked. “How much did you offer to pay for an apprenticeship?”
“Ten silver a thirty-six day,” Lucas responded. That was an insane amount. The rent for a shop was the same. It appeared this man really did want this for his son.
“You should send him to the Wizard’s Tower,” Grandmother said.
“The what?” Lucas asked.
“It’s a school, in the east. It costs twenty silver a student for three thirty-six days. They teach a variety of subjects; reading, history, physical defense, crafting,” Grandmother explained. “It runs during the winter.”
“History? Like the Romans?” Lucas asked. This wasn’t the first time Grandmother heard the Roman empire mentioned by one of Todd’s family. One of his ancestors must have really liked them.
“Yes, like the Romans, but also things like the founding of Londontown, the formation of Chicago, the wizard’s war and the battle of Redfalls,” Grandmother said. Now Todd looked surprised. Valin certainly was. He thought a lot of those subjects would be on the forbidden list. “The number of open slots is always limited. They insist on equal amounts of girls and boys. Your chances of getting your boy in would increase if you could find someone who wants to send a daughter.”
Lucas sat down on the bench next to Valin. Grandmother was surprised he finally settled after standing for so long.
“Do the students take all the subjects?” he asked.
“No. Some subjects are required for all the students, like reading, but other subjects are elective. The student chooses what they want to take,” Grandmother responded.
“Does that mean the girls can take… physical defense?” Lucas asked.
“There are no limitations on subject matter based on gender,” Grandmother replied.
“My daughter wants to be a warrior. That isn’t allowed here. She is only nine. Is that too young for this school?” Lucas asked.
“They accept students aged eight and up. If a student is over sixteen they can try for one of the residence positions and get a discount on the tuition.”
“Adults can attend?” Lucas asked.
“Yes, but they have to attend alone. There is no housing for families.” Todd was pretty certain Grandmother was making a lot of this up as she told Lucas. He was making mental notes since Grandmother usually meant what she said. Lucas turned his attention back to Todd.
“Is this school real?” Lucas asked. “Will my children be safe there?”
“No one can guarantee another’s safety in this world. The school is real, your children will learn. If it is within the power of the instructors, they will be returned to you safe,” Todd assured his cousin.
“Recruiters come by our square in the fall,” Grandmother announced. “Perhaps Todd or Harry could try to get a slot for your son or daughter.”
“When is the fall?” Lucas asked. “We don’t use seasons here anymore.”
“It starts about two months from now,” Todd said. “two thirty-six days,” Todd clarified, remembering Lucas’s use of the term and Grandmother’s easy acceptance of it, “and is three thirty-six days long.”
“I will consider it,” Lucas said, rising to his feet. “I need to discuss it with my spouse.”
“I hate playing favorites,” Grandmother admitted, after Lucas left, “but in this case I am going to. I’m not going to stretch it past one son and one daughter.” She turned to Valin. “It would be convenient if more squares heard rumors of the school. I have sixty slots for structure children, I would like at least thirty of them to come from squares other than ours.”
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“Fifteen girls and fifteen boys,” Valin clarified.
“Exactly,” Grandmother agreed. “I won’t allow another boy to sign up until a girl does, or the reverse. It would be nice if we could get a boy and girl from each square and Chicago. There are eleven squares, twelve settlements.”
“Fourteen squares,” Todd said. “You’re forgetting Home, OpenSky and Peking. We may never have visited it, but Kai has the crystal on his map.”
“Oh, that’s true. I should make the time to go, even if it is just to pick up the crystal.” Grandmother said. “Back to the current subject, it would be nice, but I don’t see how we can coordinate visiting all those squares before fall. We had a hard time visiting them all last year. Next year I may have to actually organize recruiters. This year I’ll be happy if we can pick up some students from two or three squares.”
“Which squares?” Valin asked. He was unsurprised they visited all the human squares last year. He was sure they were buying and selling spells.
“I have no preference,” Grandmother replied. “Evenly spread across the human region would be nice. That would help disperse the reports of returning students and help recruitment next year.”
“Harry doesn’t have any other human squares on his map,” Valin commented.
“Everyone in the team has all the crystals from last year,” Grandmother responded. “We can all send you out. If you don’t want to touch the crystal in the square, you’ll have to return back to the north gallery.”
“The run back from the north gallery is quick enough,” Vain commented. He already did that run once, when he realized there was no portal keeper in Londontown and he needed to get back to Home Square to tell Grandmother about the candidates he found.
“We should take Harry out and make him pick up the other crystals,” Todd suggested.
“Hmm…” Grandmother murmured. “That is actually a good idea, and not just Harry, but all our transportation room tenders. I am not seeing it happen this year, but we definitely need to take them along on the next tour.”
“Here comes the last candidate,” Valin said. The candidate came out of the inn behind Grandmother, so she couldn’t see the man approach.
“Have a seat,” Valin said after he exchanged greetings. “This is Eric,” Valin said to Grandmother. “He’s a member of a minor branch of the royal family.”
“Which branch?” Grandmother asked.
“I’m a grandchild of the mad queen’s daughter,” the man said openly. “Are you the shop owner?”
“Yes,” Grandmother replied. “I am looking for someone to run it for me while I am out of town.”
“Great,” Eric replied. “I can do that for you.”
“Which daughter?” Todd asked. He really couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“The oldest, Mary,” Eric responded. “Irene didn’t have any children.” Mary’s was the most minor line. Mary vanished from Londontown before the wizard’s war. The children she left behind were barely considered royal. Eric was wearing blue touched leathers. The blue was the crafted shade, so he could not be more than tier three.
“Not yet anyway,” Todd responded.
“What?” Eric asked, obviously confused by this comment.
“Why do you want this job?” Grandmother asked.
“I thought it would be amusing,” Eric responded in a lighthearted tone. Todd could see Grandmother dismiss the man. That was too bad. Todd suspected that Irene was devastated by the chasm between herself and the rest of her family in Londontown. Todd didn’t think he could ever mend that rift, but he saw no reason not to try.
“That response won’t get you the job,” Todd told Eric bluntly. “No matter how minor the line, you are a royal. Think about it for a minute and tell us the truth, no matter how ridiculous it sounds to your own ears.” Eric followed Todd’s advice and thought for a moment.
“I need something to do,” Eric said. “Something clean and honest and not connected to the family at all.”
“Do you have the healing addiction?” Grandmother asked.
“No,” Eric responded. “The only benefit to being part of the minor line, no one bothers trying to control us.”
“In this position you might become someone that people do want to control. How do you feel about that?” Grandmother queried.
“It frightens me,” Eric admitted, “but I still want the job.”
“I’d like to offer you the position,” Grandmother said after casting muffle, “but before I do, I’m going to admit to you that I too am a descendent of the mad queen. Are you still interested?”
Grandmother’s don’t notice me spell worked by masking the target’s real appearance with an average look for the square. As Eric studied Grandmother looking for some sign of who she really was the spell started to fail. It was just too low tier to hold up to intense study. Eric’s eyes widened as he involuntarily leaned back.
“Yes,” Eric responded. “I still want it.”
“Good,” Grandmother said. She flicked her hand, dismissing muffle. “Valin, if you can go find the first candidate, Lilly, I’ll hire her too. Now that I consider the dangers of Londontown, I think the shop will do better with two clerks. They can watch each other's backs.”
Grandmother walked her two new hires over to her shop and let them inside. Even Valin appeared impressed with the shop's contents. Grandmother added the two Londontowners as clerks using the pay surface/shop interface, then walked them through how to run the shop.
“It is very difficult to steal anything from a shop,” Grandmother told her two clerks, “so don’t worry about it. I haven’t given you the ability to change prices or remove items from inventory by any other method than someone paying for it. If someone tries to strong arm you into letting them have an item for free, go ahead and let them try to take it. You can personally hand it to them, tell them it is theirs or whatever, and the shop will still work to retain it.
“If they do manage to get the item from the shop, one of two things will happen. The inventory price for it will be taken from them and added to the shop’s account, or the item will turn into dust in three days. If it turns to dust the next time you're out of the shop, it will reappear in here.”
“Wow, really?” Todd asked softly. He was standing back from Grandmother’s little lecture to Lilly and Eric, so only Valin heard him.
“Yes,” Valin said. “It’s part of why I always keep a shop.”
“In order to avoid retribution, I’d explain that to any strong arm men when they first start threatening,” Grandmother advised.
“You’ll get paid a minimum of two iron coins an hour each day you are in the shop for the first six hours. If you work longer hours you won’t get paid more minimum. You will get paid a sixth of all sales. If you are both in the shop at the same time, the sixth will be split between you. I’ll let you decide if you want to work common shifts or alternating,” Grandmother explained.
“The inventory in the front is very nearly all unique items with high prices, at the back of the shop is the more common and affordable pieces. I don’t expect the front items to sell much, so don’t be surprised at the prices. Here let me show you how to find the price using the interface,” Grandmother activated the interface and began walking her clerks through the use of it.
“I asked around, no one remembers a shop here,” Valin commented.
“I was born in this square,” Todd countered. “I’ve never seen a shop here either. I believe Irene set it up before the wizard’s war.”
“Does she have any more in other squares?” Valin asked.
“I don’t think so,” Todd responded, “but if you want to be certain you will have to ask her.”
Valin started asking Todd his opinion of the squares they visited last year. Todd decided Valin was deciding which square he should try first to get Grandmother’s students from. After a few more questions Valin cast muffle and Todd knew the elf was going to ask something sensitive.
“Why did you say you are from Melbourne?” Valin asked.
“Grandmother doesn’t want Londontown to know where Home Square is. She knows we will be found eventually, but she wants to put that off as long as possible. She is worried there will be war between our squares if the crystal here fails,” Todd said with a nod to the tiny protection crystal floating in the courtyard outside the shop’s windows. “She was making arrangements to resettle the residents at a potential square to the west of Home Square, but reopening this shop makes me think she has some new plan to rebuild the crystal here.”
“The selkie swept Melbourne,” Valin announced suddenly. Todd wondered what drove the elf to make that statement.
“Yes, we know,” Todd responded. “Grandmother had friends there.”
“The selkie lost the crystals in three squares and halved the crystals in three more. I’ve never seen a harsher retaliation by Control,” Valin commented, “and the humans weren’t without fault.”
“Humans never are,” Todd conceded.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Grandmother said to her clerks. Valin dismissed his muffle with alacrity. “I’ll be back in six days or so to see how you are doing. I’ll restock your inventory then. If you get any special requests, write them down and I will see what I can gather.”
After a few last minute questions from both clerks, Grandmother, Todd and Valin exited the shop.
“I believe my work in this square is done for now,” Valin announced. “Can you send me on to Newcastle?” Newcastle was one of the squares Todd described as the most receptive to Grandmother’s offer to buy spells. Valin fetched his belongings from the inn, before joining them in one of the apartment stairwells. They climbed up. When they were out of sight of everyone Grandmother cast conceal on all of them, effectively making them vanish. They crossed over to the stairwell closest to the back door before going back down.
“Why doesn’t he touch the crystals?” Todd asked, after Grandmother sent Valin on to Newcastle. The elf tried to pay for his passage with physical coins but Grandmother refused to accept them. “You're going on my business,” Grandmother told Valin. “I’ll pay the cost.”
“I suspect there is some way to trace him though the square crystals. It may be a perk of some kind. He was reluctant to touch the rest and gallery crystals but he did. I think his reluctance there might just be a habit,” Grandmother theorized.
“He couldn’t recall what crystal he touched last before the upgraded rest,” Todd commented.
“Exactly,” Grandmother responded.
“What’s next?” Todd asked.
“I’m going out to the Speedwell, to design the pulleys and manufacture the wheels. I need to come up with a design that uses structure components for the load. That way if the Speedwell parts fail early we won’t fall to our deaths,” Grandmother commented.
“Alright,” Todd said, “Let’s go.”
“You can stay here and wait for Lucas to get back to you on whether he wants to send his kids to the school or not,” Grandmother offered. “Or you can go back to Home Square to finish your preparations for ‘the inn is never full’.
“You promised the clerks you’d be back in six days. I can run down Lucas then. We’ll probably have to sweep a bunch of rooms to get new inventory for the shop, so I’ll have a couple days to find him,” Todd countered. “That leaves about six days before the event where I can finish up preparations. While you're working on your design, I can run out to the villages and spread word of the school.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Grandmother admitted. “We can put a notice up on the trading stations screens, but I think it might go over better if we had a physical sign in the villages.”