“Father!”

We both exclaimed in unison. Marianne tackled him around the knees, and I managed to grab his torso. Despite my struggle not to act older than my age, it was a relief sometimes to be childish. Having a family was a new experience for me and I didn’t plan to waste the opportunity.

Jonathan Luz, head of the family and my own father. His hair was a black tangle that while being military short, was by no means military straight. His stature was slender but with a height that put most men at his chin, a picturesque bureaucrat. Had I myself not seen him engage in his usual sparring with the local guardsmen, I would not have believed him capable of wielding much more than a pen. He smiled warmly down upon us. Then scooping each of us up proceeded to carry us through the main entranceway to the manor. Wrapped in his embrace I truly couldn't be happier and every servant we passed seemed to mirror that sentiment with small smiles to themselves. Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with allowing myself to be cherished from time to time. I was acting like a child. As such, I only tightened my grip around him.

“How was work father? Did you manage to find a supplier for those regiments at Ashantel lake?” I was bringing up the last assignment he'd been working on. While most girls my age would have shied away from the dry paperwork and complex trade routes, I loved it. Every one of his contacts had an amazing report with exhaustive information. I felt as if I could watch the trickle of money, a complex system of deals and negotiation. Every time he brought a new set of reports, I could feel the anticipation brewing with new information. The intricate observations and deals of foreign and domestic markets were fascinating.

“I did. But I'd rather not discuss work. I'll show you the maps later. How have your studies been going?”

Thinking back on the magical lessons I'd secretly been teaching Marianne for the last few weeks, I found it hard not to grin. “Well enough.” I didn’t even bother to broach the subject with him anymore. Even without my stepmother, the progress of finding a proper magic instructor wouldn’t get anywhere…it was a lost cause. What was all the more infuriating was that, as I had mentioned before, he had an aptitude for all affinities of magic. And he had combined his talents into creating a sword style of his own. Illusion to hide his blade, body enhancement to increase its impact, etc. It was mesmerizing to watch, and I wanted to learn every function he used. His sparring matches had been some of the primary inspiration for my fascination with magic.

“Husband dear.”

Lady Anna, Marianne's mother, and father's current wife. While she was naturally elegant father's return had pushed her to accentuate her womanly charms. Normally I wouldn't have minded, believing that she could do as she wished. But this prompted Father to set both me and my sister down and sweep her into a loving embrace. Considering that work had kept him away from the manor for almost a month, I decided to let it pass without comment. I had intended to wait until they were done with their greetings but… as one kiss led into another.

This whole scene was starting to feel decidedly sorted. Enough so that when I started dragging Marianne away her ladyship didn't speak out against it. Oh well, we could have our bonding time tomorrow.

Turning I found Charles looking rather pointedly at my sister and me. "Charlie I think we'd like some tea and cookies." Judging by the small smile on his face he knew that I knew what was about to happen. Glancing over my shoulder the sickeningly sweet lovers were still embracing.

Was father kissing her neck! Marianne is far too young to be exposed to this sort of thing.

“Immediately Charlie!” I hurriedly began dragging the innocent blonde-haired child behind me hoping against all hope to save both her and myself from asking/answering awkward questions.

“Astella! Father just got here I want to say hi!”

“There will be time for that later; for now, Mother has him first.”

“But Astella!” It was at times like this I remembered she was only seven.

Depending on how one looked at it, that timely getaway would prove either one of my best or worst decisions.

***Interject: A Merchant’s Road***

I watched my oldest daughter as she examined every inch of the latest intelligence maps. We were alone in my office and had laid out my latest reports. Why a girl her age was interested in these scraps of parchment I couldn’t guess. Unbeknownst to her, she was looking at the cumulative spy reports pulled together by yours truly. In aiding my disguise as nothing more than a humble logistics officer, the information had been collated into a map with the various merchant caravan routes plotted out and notes concerning prices penciled in the margins.

To the average man, this would have been nothing more than pure gibberish, to a merchant a detailed trade route, and to a kingdom, it was the lifeblood of a spy's network. One asset always affects another; for example, when the cost of coal goes up so does the cost of running a forge and in turn the price of worked iron. The report that had caught my attention was on the fishing industry. The Coastal Empire bordered a vast amount of coastline and as such, a large amount of food came from those depths. What was suspicious was several agents reported increased fishing operations and the scarcity of lumber. The additional fish hadn’t found their way onto the open market, the saturation would have sunk the price. Someone was most likely stockpiling. Only one of the great merchant houses or the Coastal Empire would have that much influence. Most fishermen would not arbitrarily increase their activity unless the market would buy. My conclusion, given the relatively short life of fish and the loss of lumber, without a large civil works project, it was likely that a large quantity of fish was being smoked. If dried properly, it can have a shelf life of up to two years. It was the typical starvation-staving ration kept by a mostly ocean-fed country.

A frown creased my Astella’s brow, "Father these lumber prices seem rather high. And added with the increased fishing…" She flipped through a few pages that would be offered to his majesty and council. "The amount of dried fish being shipped across our borders hasn't substantially increased. Are they stockpiling it?"

At the age of nine, she was already smarter than some of the ministers on the King's council. It had taken me half a decade to get them to recognize my reports for what they could be and that was with General Bale pressing hard for my intelligence.

"It could be. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, after all, dry fish only has a lifespan of two years. And the current military is far too weak to act that soon."

"Hmm…. You may have a point, but it doesn't have to be their military necessarily. Mercenaries without a trade have a hard time providing for themselves. They rampage when not fed or paid. It could be cheap fare to keep them from cutting loose while close to our borders."

Her eyes gleamed a cold light while examining the map from every angle. Meanwhile, cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck. How had she... This was indeed the report I was intending on bringing to the General of the King's Council. Goods and services were the lifeblood of any Nation, trading them freely with mercenaries or allied powers was simple yet effective payment. It was my personal belief that the Coastal Empire would, without hesitation, ally itself with mercenaries, thieves, and any rotten bastard willing to shake hands. What disconcerted me was that my little girl had already deduced such a thing. Perhaps I've been letting her get too close to my work. I had intended for her to maybe take on the mantle of a merchant or send her away to an academy for magic, whichever she chose, but to have her already so knowledgeable in the ways of war was eerie.

“Perhaps sweetheart, but there's no use thinking about that now. How have your studies been going?”

“Fine.” She didn't even so much as look up from the table. “You know father I believe you should reexamine your ties with-”, suddenly she stopped. Then she began flipping wildly through the reports.

“What is it dear?” I was curious what she might have found despite dreading the outcome.

“Turner reported good nails were hard to come by…”

Turner was one of my worst agents, mainly because he wasn’t. The man was actually a friend of my father's who sent in letters detailing his travels. I still perused his tales for tidbits, but I never expected anything other than long-winded odysseys of his exploits, the food he ate, and the women he flirted with. Still… “Oh, and what so odd about that? Apprentices always turn out nails for practice. It’s not odd to see shoddy products on the market from time to time.”

“Right but…” Turning even more pages in rapid succession. “He was trading in imported textiles, what merchant trading in high-end goods would let himself be seen as shoddy? That’s no way to sell your wares to an upscale buyer. And to that end, what smith in their right mind would sell inferior goods to a wealthy looking customer? Better question, how did it take four smithies before he found the number of nails required?

“But apprentices-“

“Right, but it’s never been an issue until now. Why?”

I didn’t have an answer. Cheap iron or maybe missing smiths? The solution was not going to come to me, and I had no idea how to answer Astella’s questioning look. “There's no need for you to worry yourself over such things!” When had my daughter grown into such a shrewd agent?! Mentally I braced myself for what was to come, “I don't want to speak any more of work. Tell me, what you have been learning in your lessons?”

Immediately the atmosphere changed, growing from an energetic discussion on national security to a tepid examination of a young girl studies. "It’s… fine. Really I'd like to learn some magic…"

Internally, I winced. It was everything I could do to keep that pain from my face. My wife and I had agreed that magic should be kept from our daughters, not for petty reasons mind you, but there was a relative of ours that would not take kindly to such a revelation. Despite my position, I'd even hired assassins to maintain the secrecy of our daughters’ talents. It was that important to me that their abilities never come to light. One was a prodigy with fiery hair, green eyes, and a thirst for knowledge, just like her mother. And the other was a miracle of the gods with her mother's blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. Should my hand be forced, I would start a civil war to keep them from danger. For better or worse, General Bale understood this and had done his best to keep everything under wraps. Ultimately, we all knew that should the truth be discovered before the girls turned 16 it would most likely end in copious amounts of bloodshed and the instability of the kingdom... Not that I hadn't prepared any number of contingencies ahead of time but still, prevention was the preferable method.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“My dear you know that's not possible. You'll learn all about magic when you're older.”

“And when will that be?!” Finally, she was acting her age as an indignant tantrum exploded. It was such a departure from the shrewd merchant and spymaster she was a moment ago.

“When you're older Dear. You're too young for-”

She stomped her foot and stormed out of my study. I would have reprimanded her had it not been my fault for bringing up a sore topic. She had asked and asked again to learn magic. I had known bringing up her studies was a dangerous game, but I wanted to keep her out of the political arena. If she started diving too far into that area of expertise, unsavory options such as bribery, blackmail, assassination, and... Adult interests may be brought up in manipulative ways. I wanted to keep her far away from what I did. My work was unsavory at times and not appropriate for a girl of her age. I may have been nothing more than a spymaster who pulled information from a variety of sources, but I had done my fair share of killing.

Sighing I took a seat in the leather chair behind my desk. It had been several months since I'd seen my daughters and yet I somehow managed to bungle the whole affair. Marianne, being as young as she was, was still happy to see me but became closed off when I had asked her what she was doing for fun. And Astella my firstborn was far too clever by half for any normal girl her age. She had just stormed out of my office, and I didn’t think this would blow over before dinner. But it didn’t matter, I would just have to put more effort in. Struck by a sudden premonition I knew I was going to make it up to them somehow. Fortunately, I had the time, my absence had not gone unnoticed as voiced in my wife’s letters. I had told my office I would be away until the start of the new year and left everything to my second in command. She had nearly throttled me for doubling her work.

While trying to devise the right spell for my headache, one of my agents quietly slipped into the office. After flashing me the hand sign that she had confidential information, I responded with the go-ahead.

"Sir I would like to report that the lady Astella is blackmailing me with the trap you set." As a matter of course a spymaster would hire servants with obvious vices. An impregnable Castle was far too daunting a task. Better to leave an obvious opening in the defenses and funnel your enemies before they grew too clever for you. As such, I littered my household with supposed thieves, gamblers, adulterers, etc. The fact that none of them had reported any issues so far almost made me curious whether I had gone to too much trouble. But for my daughter to abuse my security measures…After a moment of shock, I gestured for her to continue.

“My first assumption was that the lady and her younger sister wanted to skip class. They have been slipping out into the gardens overlooking the city. While the approach is far too open to ascertain what they're doing in secret, I have examined the garden afterward and have come to my own conclusion. I believe they are practicing magic. Several dead shrubs have been revived seemingly overnight. Currently, the gardeners are taking credit, but I believe it is the work of those two.”

I was stunned. How had they managed it?! No. This was all Astellas work. There was no way Marianne could have gained the knowledge necessary but her sister on the other hand. My gaze fell on where I kept my tomes on magic locked up, the scratch marks were just visible. Then I looked back at the table where my 9-year-old had calculated the probability of war based on the price of fish. Again, cold sweat, she was too clever by half. I could put a stop to her but, if I was being honest with myself, I was scared of what she would do next. Stealing my tomes had been one thing, teaching her sister another, what insanity would follow.

“Very well carry on with your assignment. Follow them to the best of your ability; if they appear to be in any danger step in and inform Charles for cleanup. Do not tell my wife under any circumstance. However, report to me before my departure for further instructions.” It was the best damage control I could think of. Short of locking her up, I didn’t think anything would stop Astella and she wasn’t a prisoner. With a curtsey, the young etiquette teacher left the room.

Burying my face in my hands I slowly began denting the desk with my forehead. I had intended these agents to provide whatever services and information necessary to string along with plotters, provided it didn't immediately harm the household. My agents were skilled in drawing out negotiations and I had no doubt they could hold off until my orders were relayed. Still for my daughters to be practicing magic… “Is a civil war really what we want?"

My question was supposed to fall on deaf ears, but Charles replied, " I really hope not Sir." He had slipped in as Ivens left with hardly a sound.

Goodman that Charles. My immediate supervisor at the time had recommended him and every day I had been singing his praises. Initially nothing more than a common soldier he had grown into a true gentleman's butler. Even with his polished exterior, he had the internal core of a solid soldier. I had several reports from the local guards that he had defended townsfolk from local gangs of ruffians in town. And that was another issue that needed to be dealt with.

“Charles, thank you for looking after them while I'm gone. I hate to ask more of you but how is the city fairing in my absence? I've hardly had the time to review the local constabularies reports nor the mayor’s half-hearted missives." While Barron Elmfort was the ruler of these lands, the screws my father had put to him left the majority of governance in my hands. Not that I was complaining. Better a merchant is in charge of a trading hub rather than a ham-fisted noble with no sense for commerce.

“It's not looking good, sir.” Despite his servant’s attire, Charles adopted a military-like standing with his one remaining good arm. "As you can guess from the reports, gang theft is on the rise and none of us have any explanation. It doesn't seem to be a lack of guards nor a matter of embezzlement, both of which we've investigated. I suspect there's something more dangerous lurking in the city's recent trends.”

“Damn it all the hell, why is the epicenter of my network infested with crime?!” The question came out like a dry hiss as I slapped my desk. Sighing deeply, I regained control over myself. It was hard to stay levelheaded when my family was so close to matters beyond my comprehension. And the town was itself important. It allowed me to funnel most of the merchant traffic and collect detailed reports from traveling operatives. “Sorry Charles. Please investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible. I need to know why the heart of my network is currently experiencing fluctuations in both trade and crime that are not as expected.”

“Yes sir, I will continue investigating.” Giving me a quick salute Charles made to leave.

“Wait.” I pulled out a small bag of gold and silver. “Use this to accomplish whatever you need. Bribes, mercenaries, whatever, I don't care. If there’s any leftover you can keep it.”

Opening the bag Charles’s eyes widened for half a second. And no wonder, he was looking at over two years of the salary for the head of the King's guard; when it came to my family, I was not prepared to cut corners.

Returning to a normal parade ground ease, “Yes sir I will investigate the matter thoroughly. You have my word.” Again he spun on a heel a new ferocity in a step. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, “I will keep them safe, Sir…”

I knew he would. Astella was the last reminder I had of her mother. And Marianne and Anna were equally as precious to me. I saw a determination within Charles. In my absence, he and my family had bonded more than I thought. At that moment I knew I could leave the task to no one other than him. Only he would see things through to whatever bitter end they may take. I nodded firmly as everything that needed to be said had been.

As he closed the door behind him, I took a moment to look again at the scratches on my book side cabinet. A low chuckle bubbled up from within my chest. They were minor at best and only someone with a skulkers attention to detail would have noticed that the cabinet had been tampered with. Given my earlier agent's reports and Charles's letter, I had a grasp on what was happening. With a final sigh, I finished out the night by collating my reports for his majesty. As an aside I added Astella's observations on the quality of iron nails.

*** Return to Normalcy ***

“No, absolutely not!”

“You don't have a choice in the matter, Charlie.” My voice was as sweet as honey…Albeit that honey was lathered thick over an iron bar about to break a man's kneecaps, but honey nevertheless.

Father had felt guilty over my lack of education and our time apart. With that guilt, I had put effort into pressing my case at every opportune moment. Marianne and I would go to the city. During every meal, when he was alone with his wife, Etc. I had popped up out of nowhere. At first, he had been adamantly against it, but I was nothing if not persistent at wearing him down. And it had led us to our current course of action. He had left at the start of the new year, and now Charles would chaperone us in town.

It had taken over four months, but I finally secured an invitation for myself and Marianne to visit the city together. This would be our first time in the city and for such an auspicious occasion. Snowmelt was the most important holiday of the year. While some farming communities celebrated the last day of harvest, the town of Luz celebrated the first caravan of merchants in the spring. Typically, it was an event spectacular where merchants and citizens alike offered their finest wares and food at discount prices. This event usually took place before all the snow melted but enough had cleared to open the roads. It gave the townsfolk a reason to celebrate what was in effect their first harvest.

It was a massive event that neither myself nor Marianne had been to. I had maximized his guilt when broaching the subject to secure our attendance. Of course, it was conditional on Charlie's accompaniment, not that I minded that. Charles on the other hand thought there was wiggle room for disagreement. I would brook no argument.

“Charlie, we are going. Your attendance is a condition of our visit. I don't understand what the issue is, please enlighten me so I can fix it.”

He hesitated; a few seconds stretched on before he let out a hearty sigh. “If you leave my side, you're restricted to the manor grounds until the end of the year. That's not considering what your father will put you through if you foul this up.”

“Oh, come on Charlie you know as well as I do, I'm a perfect angel and I've always followed the rules.” I gazed up at him with the innocent smile of a small child. He reprimanded me silently with the knowledge of what I was truly capable of.

“Just don't make a scene. And", this time with a significant amount of emphasis, “the lady Marianne is in your custody.”

Now it was his turn to lace iron into his voice. And unlike mine, there was no hint of sweetness. This was an absolute order, ordained by the steward running the household, Charles.

Under normal circumstances, Mother would have been in charge. However, at this point, she was four months pregnant and in a bit of a bind. While I didn't remember Marianne’s pregnancy this one would be hard-pressed to leave my mind. The woman was up at all hours of the night, sick before and after every meal, and irritable enough to fluster even my good-natured father.

Fortunately, most of that was kept away from me. With her odd sleeping schedule and bouts of sickness Marianne and I had enjoyed more quality time together even outside of our etiquette lessons. With the increasing cold, our outside sessions had grown fewer and far between. We had even gotten to the point where Marianne was teaching me a thing or two about magic. I was certainly surprised when she'd helped the kitchen cat deliver her kittens. The site had made my stomach roil but Marianne had gone about her work as if nothing had happened. In the end, all of the kittens were healthy, and the mother was a spry young tabby that had energetically begun hunting mice that very day. Frankly, I hadn't known Marianne had that kind of grit in her.

“Miss, you do understand it's dangerous in the city? You're exposing not only yourself but the young lady to danger.”

This was the first time I felt a tweak of annoyance at Charlie's words. “Yes, I understand. However, I'm not foolish Charlie. We will stay by your side, and everything will be fine. Honestly what harm could befall us with you as guard. Or do you think so little of yourself?”

That last part probably didn't need to be added as he began to scowl at me. I stepped over the line, and I recognized it. “I'm sorry.” It was a contrite apology delivered with the tone of acceptance of one who was in the wrong. “It's just I've been looking forward to this for so long…”

Charles finally eased up on the dower look. “All right Miss if it means that much to you, but so help me if you cause a situation I will. I will…” even Charlie didn't have words for the hellfire that would rain down upon us.

“It'll be fine Charlie; I believe I know what I'm doing!” I said with pride puffing out my chest, I needed to keep my promise to my younger sister no matter what.