There was silence on the table. Matt was glancing at other tables to look if they were listening. His eyes darted around, face to face. When they had no target, they would admire the craftsmanship of his cutlery afterwards. He didn’t look comfortable, but he was managing. Kathrynne sat there, still contemplating about the information and its implications. She stood awkwardly and said goodbye to us. It seems she understood his intentions, but not in its complexities and implications. No doubt she would thank him someday. Hopefully someday soon
He shifted and focused on Matt. Let’s take care of this problem now.
Matt was in his own world, shoulders slumped, messing with his food. He was the epitome of someone struggling. “Did something happen Matt?” Joe asked. Matt has been acting weird; he always acted formally with everyone, including Joe himself until they became friends. But since this morning he has been… more open and free with everyone. He was acting different and Joe wanted to know what changed and why; He had to know.
Matt looked at him and sighed, “It’s nothing important Joe it’s just…” he paused formulating his words, “I had a conversation with Marcus yesterday, it was how I wasn’t opening up. It really put into perspective certain things I was struggling with, and I thought maybe I will follow his advice”
“Really?”
“Yes he was quite persuasive”
“Can you be more specific?” Joe asked smiling
“You know damn well what I am talking about!” Matt scowled
“No, I want to hear what Marcus said to you”
Matt sighed “He said I behaved like someone who had a stick up his… um…uncomfortable place and I should learn to laugh more because I laugh like a little girl. Happy now?”
Joe started laughing, he now remembered the conversation and the dumbfounded face of Matt when he heard Marcus say that to his face. He was sure there was more to it but seeing Matt getting red-faced already, he let it go. Usually it was Matt that teased and made fun of Marcus but yesterday was an exception. Drunk Marcus was funny Marcus; and Joe wouldn’t trade that for anyone.
“That’s good to hear Matt, I would have said something sooner if I knew it would have such a great effect” Joe eyed him, “but of course, only Marcus can convince you with his idiotic logic and wanton ways” Matt scoffed and shook his head. It seemed he felt guilty about Marcus’s confession. Good, as long as it doesn’t hurt my plans, it’s fine.
We talked for a bit more and parted ways afterwards. It had been afternoon already and Matt had preparations to make for the lecture. He seemed determined to make some connections, regardless of him being dealt a bad hand.
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Stepping out of the building changed the mood greatly; from a joyful atmosphere of youth to the sombre tone of dark clouds that shadowed the sky; a perfect contrast. Today had been an eventful day and he couldn’t help but feel the need to sit in his chair and relax with a hot cup of tea and finish the book he had been reading.
He reached his dorm when the drizzle had turned into pouring. He stepped into the dorm and locked the door behind. The room was pitch black with the occasional pitter- patter of rain clashing at the windows. He dumped his jacked on the stand and went to the kitchen; made tea for himself, grabbed matchsticks and went into his room. Opening the door, he lit the candles and saw him there; a man maybe in his fifties, his greying goatee and slightly hunched posture caught his eyes first, conveying his years long of service and piling stress. Second was his uneven shoulders, tilted to his right as he leaned on a cane. When he saw Joe he limped forward and greeted “Good evening young Lord”
“Sigmund, I told you to not come here unannounced. It will bring me great trouble if someone sees you”
“Forgive me young Lord, but the matter was of grave importance. I couldn’t hold off any longer I…” Joe paused him. He went to his desk by the window and pulled out a chair. He turned to his book and took a sip as he signalled him to continue.
“As I was saying, your esteemed grandfather will be making an important decision regarding your future after your return”
Joe narrowed his eyes but didn’t look up. It’s not that he didn’t know something would happen when he returned, it’s the forewarning which caught him off guard, a forewarning he didn’t expect; certainly not from Sigmund. Sigmund continued after not receiving a response “I will be honest young lord, your esteemed grandfather has been thinking it over for some time and has already made his decision” he paused eyeing Joe “And he seems adamant”
“You don’t happen to know what the decision is do you?”
“Forgive me, I would have confided in you if I had known of it. Unfortunately, I was kept out of the decision”
“Of course” Joe scoffed. As if isolating the poor man was not enough, now the old man was even keeping his own retainer out of the loop. He must be out of his mind to push him out like that. Especially an asset like Sigmund.
“Believe me young lord, I wouldn’t…”
“Your concern is duly noted Sigmund. Do you have anything else to inform?” Joe asked turning the page. He had no time to waste with apologies or assurances which can’t be ratified. He had wanted Sigmund sure, but he will not attempt to persuade someone who now holds no value to him.
Sigmund pursed his lips “Yes, Sir Oskir had requested a meeting concerning his annual trips with Master Thril. He would like to pursue his obligations on a former date and extend its duration”
“I will be the judge of it. You set up the meeting as soon as I return”
Joe had to stop him, or minimize the risks. Oskir has been antagonizing him against Joe for who knows how long. He couldn’t have his best hand turn up against him in the crucial stages.
“Of course young Lord”
“How are we faring in the market?” Joe prodded
“Although we have already established connections with local producers and have adequate stockpile of products & raw materials; due to our earlier announcement we are expecting many 3-4% of the local producers to desert us” he paused, a smile creeping up his face “even after taking account intervention from the big three noble families”
“Those are safe numbers. I assume the information was of some help”
“It was a great boon young Lord, having actually entered the market 2 years earlier under false pretence, we had plenty of time to establish good local connections and have unfiltered information about the market. Not to mention the insider information about trade deals between local noble families was a great deterrent against unified action against us. I must commend your information network and congratulate you for a plan well executed. Your esteemed grandfather would be proud” he smiled.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Will that be all?”
Sigmund’s smile faltered “Yes, that will summarise the events I wanted to discuss”
“If that’s all, you can leave. Anymore of your presence will alert someone.”
Sigmund sighed, “Of course, I will take my leave then”. He sneaked a last look, then turned around and limped out of the room
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As Joe sat at his desk peering through the window, pouring had stopped and the sun peeked out of the clouds. Glistening light bounced off the pane glass of the window as he sat there reading his book. The door creaked open as a man wearing long sleeved fappy shirt and a brown overcoat came in. He very much looked like a commoner, a bit dull perhaps; nondescript enough to ignore him completely if one was not looking for him. He had no distinguishable features except, his eyes; his sharp eyes. Joe might be the only one to recognise him, and would consider him a threat. Not to himself of course. But a threat nonetheless.
“Did you come through the front door?”
“Don’t worry I locked it when I came in”
Joe measured him; he wouldn’t get tired of Zach’s antics, he was the perfect blend of order and chaos that Joe admired and had very much use of. His aloofness and unpredictability perfectly contrasted his meticulous and efficient work. To top it all off, his competence in his field made him one of Joe’s best assets.
Zach trudged forward, his movement made no sound. His easy going smile and relaxed posture was enough to throw off a seasoned royal inquisitor. He took a casual glance at the room, his eyes not resting at anything beyond a few moments. Until his eyes trailed at Joe’s desk “Did you not finish that book? You have been reading it for quite a while”
“No I didn’t, it’s not easy to get all the subtle nuances of a philosophical text. You won’t have to just read it; you have to understand the perspective” Joe eyed him “You should read it”
He scoffed folding his hands as he leaned on the sidewall, “No thanks, I would rather do something productive than to read that book.”
“Productive like?”
“Like banging a nobleman’s wife and stealing his coffers” a grin crept up to his face “For information of course”
“Of course” Joe repeated.
They eyed each other and burst into laughter. Perhaps Zach knew this was serious and they had work ahead of them; tough work no doubt and thus tried to lighten the mood, but now all the fun was over as they became serious.
“Why did he forewarn us?” he asked.
“I misjudged him”
“You misjudge someone? That’s unsettling”.
“I misjudged his loyalty to our family” Joe clarified “Although he might be fiercely loyal to my grandfather, he wouldn’t forego a potential asset like me. He wouldn’t want to weaken the family” Joe chuckled “But he might be the only competent person on the old man’s side.”
“Yeah, real competent” Zach scoffed. “A competent person who still uses old codes to relay secret messages”
“Give him a break Zach, not everyone is a spy master whose job revolves spying and finding patterns. Besides, we benefited from his lapse of judgment. So we should be thanking him.”
“Alright I got it. But don’t you think we gave them too much information?” he inquired.
“I had to” Joe admitted. “We didn’t know what they wanted, and it was impossible to deny them any information. But so long as we control the flow, it would benefit us. Though now that even Sigmund has been driven out, I think there will be a surprise for us when we return”
“Something big?”
Joe nodded
“Should I prepare safeguards?”
“Yes, although I don’t think it will be life threatening, we can’t let our guard down. The most they could do is isolate me and try to take over. Besides it will be unwise if they acted that way before the change of ownership; else the old man has gone senile. You just keep an eye out for moles within the company”
Zach caressed his chin as a scar across it revealed itself “I guess that could work.”
It would work; and they would weather this storm intact. Although Sigmund can be over exaggerating, as Joe couldn’t think of anything the old man would do to him without harming the family in turn. No matter what it may be, Joe wouldn’t let the old man get in his way.
“Do you have anything to report?” Joe asked.
“The church is giving us problems, our operators are in their 4th year already and are still denied access to elite ranks. They are recently becoming even more restrictive if the word is right” he said.
Joe hummed
“Joe” he said hesitantly, “I don’t know why you even insist on infiltrating the church, with those resources I could have infiltrated more noble families. And besides I don’t think the church is a target we can afford to use our resources on. Their influence has been declining as already. I don’t see any benefit.”
Joe didn’t answer his question as he held his book “Did you know about who wrote this book?”, he didn’t wait for a reply “His name was Joel Larson. He wrote about religion; its reach and implications concerning governing powers in society. It was written a hundred years ago and he was publically burnt on the stake for it.”
Zach’s eyes went wide.
“Can’t believe it, can you? Even I couldn’t, until I read about him and got this recently” Joe tapped at the leather bound book “Very few of these remain today. All others had either been destroyed or keep secret in somewhere.”
“He wrote in his book about how, the Creed of Zyasy were abusing their power and collecting additional taxes on businesses and peasants. He accounted ethnic cleansing of barbarians, empowers and many more in the name of religion.” Joe said narrowing his eyes “This is the past Zach. A past no one knows of; A past which is being systematically erased from the annals of history. A past where those who had the power to stop these acts, did nothing” Joe spat at the end. He was repulsed by their behaviour; so much destruction, so much death; it was all meaningless. There was no glorious win to attribute it to. He hated meaningless death and destruction. That idiot has singlehandedly halted the advancement of a whole nation.
“The reign of the mad king” Zach muttered, his face was pensive. He had shifted now and stood straight facing Joe.
“Yes, and they were his personal executioners” Joe finished
“But why wouldn’t your majes…” he paused as realization dawned on him. “the Creed of Zyasy has authority over educational institute and your majesty should be happy to overlook the omission of his father’s disastrous reign”
He didn’t say anything but Joe knew he was piecing the puzzle now. He would be much vigilant from now on.
“But they don’t even have a seat in the open council” Zach argued, he was more subdued now “Even if they have some kind of plan, without the support of any house or backing, they can do nothing aside from thrashing like a mad animal”
Joe turned to him “Zach make no mistake; a cornered animal is the fiercest. Although the creed’s influence is dwindling, and they find themselves in a precarious situation now, you underestimate the power of religion. It always has, and will be, a man’s last resort to weather this harsh world. And faith is the one thing people cling to in desperate times”
“Desperate times huh?”
“Desperate times” Joe asserted.
They lapsed in silence as Joe went back to his reading and Zach furrowed his brows. He was contemplating, and Joe didn’t have any mind to interrupt him. In fact, he frequently nudged his subordinates in making tough decisions or force them in distress situations. He wanted fully functional people capable of helping him, not mindless puppets.
“Do you have anything on Thril?” Joe asked
Zach face soured “What about him?” he huffed “Don’t coddle him Joe, he should take care of himself. I don’t think he will be naïve enough to buy into that old man’s nonsense”
“That nonsense if repeated long enough can become truth for him, and you know this better than me” Joe eyed him “And I am not coddling him, he is the only true combat empowered I have and I can’t have him betraying me in crucial times”
“That’s why I told you to have backups”
“And I told you that he is not like our operatives. He will be my guard someday” seeing Zach opening his mouth to retort, Joe clamped down “I don’t want to repeat myself” He hated repeating himself. He had to be firm and couldn’t let his authority be declined by his subordinates.
Zach gritted his teeth “Alright I will see what I can do, but my resources are stretched to the limit and I have more important tasks to do than to babysit a grown man”
“That’s all I ask”
Joe knew Zach harboured animosity towards Thril, but he never let it hinder his duties. That’s why he was Joe’s best subordinate; a competent spy who can keep his emotions in check or at least not let it hinder his mission. Joe stood up and clasped his hands behind his back as he inched near the window. He observed the sun set into the horizon as he remembered something “Do we have anything on the House of Sherrington?”
Zach raised an eyebrow “No I don’t think so”
“Place some men and do the usual, if you find anything then good, but if not, don’t take action” Joe said
Zach sighed “This will take a lot of time”
“Doesn’t matter, just keep an ear out. We want a leverage nothing more” He just wanted some assurances, nothing more. After all, they were friends. Weren’t they?