It was the middle of the night when Alaric woke me. Half asleep I looked at my friend with confusion and a bit of anger. Does he have to wake me up at night?
“Lucius we are near the port. You can see the lighthouse of Alexandria! You have to see it”, Alaric explained and I followed him eagerly. He looked unusually excited.
The lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the seven wonders of Octanian. It would also be the first wonder we had ever seen. I had already made plans to visit the other wonder in Aegyptus, the great pyramids of Giza.
My expectations were humbled the moment we reached the deck. Yes, we could see the lighthouse, but it was nothing more than a small light at the horizon. Niloticus joined us soon after.
“It is even better up close”, he said with a smile and gestured in the direction of the city.
“Who built it?”, asked Alaric.
“The lighthouse was built by the house of Ptolemy. They used to rule Aegyptus before the empire arrived if you remember”, teacher answered.
“What are our plans after we reach the harbour?”, I asked Niloticus. He had yet to say what we would do upon our arrival.
“First a visit to a small mansion. Your father rented it for the next few years. After that a visit to the governor of Alexandria”, he answered.
“Can’t we explore the city a bit before? We don’t need to go to our mansion immediately”, I asked teacher.
“I guess it can’t hurt to satisfy a bit of your childish curiosity. I will instruct the servants to prepare the mansion. We will visit the market first and then a bathhouse. Not gonna leave behind a good impression in your current condition”, he said.
I nodded and sniffed myself and Alaric. Yep, we definitely could smell better, but it was not easy to clean oneself on a merchant ship. We talked a bit more about our plans in the city. The library was the destination for the second day in the city. Alaric was also interested in visiting the local gladiator schools.
I headed back under deck and rested for the coming days in the capital city of Aegyptus.
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“And remember to be discreet. I want you to move the things in quietly. No need to inform the entire east of our presence just yet”, teacher instructed the servants, which were currently unloading our baggage.
“What do you think, how many months before the first people try to kidnap you? The prince of the enemy in their own borders must be a wet dream for the eastern humans and elves”, Alaric asked and my expression fell for a moment.
“They may already know, but what is done, is done. The governor of Aegyptus has guaranteed my protection. And if anybody wants to get me, they will have to pass a 300 years old crocodile first”, I said. Not really sure how safe I was. Teacher’s hand landed on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry I have trained you well. Every abductor is in for a surprise if they think you are defenceless. Just remember to keep your weapons near you and don’t get knocked out”, Niloticus advised helpfully.
“Don’t be scared. After all, you have me, the grand Alaric, heir of house Dracula and victor in most of our bouts!”, Alaric said and announced his presence to all of Alexandria.
“The only reason you win nearly every time is, because you don’t want to fight with ranged weapons”, I countered.
“Come on. How am I supposed to evade bolts or arrows, if you can read and interrupt my magic? There is no way to fight for me”, he said. “I would just poison or kill you in your sleep normally, but alas that wouldn’t be much of a bout, right?”
I shook my head at Alaric’s reasoning. I had never seen his stealth and infiltration skills but was quite sure he couldn’t pull such a thing of. The runes on the mansion would take him hours to crack. Furthermore, one mistake during his infiltration would sound the alarm and destroy the surprise effect and his chances of success.
“Now, now, young vampire. You underestimate my student. He is more than capable to escape ambushes or take a beating”, Niloticus said with a smile and I shuddered at the memory of my training sessions.
Multiply times teacher had surprised me from behind and it always hurt like Tartarus afterwards. Those golems just hit far too hard. Once is a coincidence, but every time is clearly deliberately.
We left the harbour as we discussed, to my dismay, my survival probabilities. Teacher gave the harbour guards a few ducats and registered himself as ‘Mister Smith’. The guard didn’t search or question us and ‘controlled’ the next ship.
It seemed where ever you go, corruption is always following. After a few turns and splitting up with the servants we reached the marketplace of Alexandria. It would be an understatement to say I was impressed. Never in my life have I seen such a diverse and livelier market.
A gigantic square of shops and stands opened up before us. Thousands of people were negotiating with each other, while groups of guards and statesman mediated in conflicts between seller and buyers.
All kind of races were selling and buying wares from and to each other. The diversity of the wares were impressive as well. Some things were known to me from reports, others I saw for the first time. We were currently at the shop of a textile merchant and examined his wares.
“What fine fabric”, Alaric said as he touched one of the textiles. I copied him and was astonished as well.
“What kind of material is this made of?”, I asked. An old voice behind me answered the question.
“It’s silk, my lord. Produced by the city of Antioch. Its production is one of the most guarded secrets of the local rulers”, a human woman answered my question. She seemed to be the shop owner and probably around fifty years old.
“A local product from Syria you say? What does it cost compared to cotton or wool?”, I asked interested in this product and a way to acquire its production secret.
“300 ducats for the one you are currently holding. A ball of fine wool or cotton fabric would cost only up to 10 ducats maximum”, she explained and I stood there petrified for a moment. Alaric joined me.
“300 ducats is the annual salary of a legionary for a year”, he whispered right next to me.
“Yes it is expensive my lords, but the quality is worth the price”, she showed us a few more pieces, and we had to admit, that it felt and looked better than anything we had worn before.
“If you want a tip from one man to another, women love clothes made from silk. It is one of the best presents you can make your wife or lover”, Niloticus interjected in our discussion.
“Yes it would be a perfect present for many occasions”, the saleswoman confirmed.
We continued to bargain a bit, especially Niloticus, but the price couldn’t be reduced to more than 10 ducats. We also found out, that the province of Aegyptus taxed the trade with goods. The province would get a percentage of the goods price on purchase, depending on the kind of wares. That meant in the case of silk a 33% rate. They would have got around 100 ducats.
We explored the markets a bit more and found out about the commodities present. We asked the merchants where they got their wares.
Aegyptus itself produced mostly livestock and grain. The province of Anatolia metals, tools and weapons. Syria with silk and spices from the eastern mountains. Hellas produced wine, cotton and wool. The elven provinces of Thracia and Dacia focussed on materials from the great forest, such as wood, fruits and all kinds of animals.
Those were the main products of the races in the east. Aegyptus also produced a lot of fish and sea fruits, but so did the other coastal provinces. The trade of the empire ran over the cities of Alexandria and Constantinople. It made these two cities the currently biggest trade hubs on Octanian.
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Trade in the west was interrupted by the local policies of the western countries. I made another note in my head to fix that. We would have to raise our own production of commodities to compete with the trading network of the east. And one good way would be to steal the production process of silk.
Alaric bought two daggers made by a dwarven smith and teacher bought a piece of jewellery for an ‘old lover’. I had my eyes on an egg at a store, which sold captured creatures.
“What kind of egg is that?”, I asked the salesman. He looked young, finely clothed and was probably a noble himself. He was part of the sea-folk, a Vodyanoies, basically a humanoid toad or frog. One of the ruling houses in Alexandria, house Bilibin, consisted of this race.
“You have good eyes fellow noble. That is the egg of a black wyvern. They are a small sub-race of wyverns and live mostly at the eastern edge of Octanian”, he answered and pressed the black egg into my hands. I examined it carefully, but couldn’t find out anything special.
That was until I used mana sight. The egg itself and the creature inside had both a mana cycle. The shell got weaker and weaker while the creatures' mana grew. Both flows were mainly consisted of darkness mana with a bit of fire and wind mana in the mix.
I studied the egg with interest until my seller took it back from me.
“So are you interested in acquiring one of them?”, he asked. A quick look at the price discouraged me directly. 6600 ducats for one egg was far more than I could afford.
We explored the shop a bit more, but I found nothing interesting I wanted or could buy. It was nearly noon, and we headed to prepare ourselves for the governor.
The bathhouse didn’t differ much from those in Messana. We went there quick and I got instructed by Niloticus to avoid certain topics with the governor. Firstly the ongoing war between the elven and human provinces against Neapoli, secondly the local power struggle between the houses and lastly the ongoing corruption under state officials.
I was a bit disappointed at the last one but didn’t plan to ruin our chance to visit the library of Alexandria. There would be enough time to get the information from other sources. Namely, local enemies of the governor or from local gangs and merchants.
The governor seat was located in the southern district of the city. Secured with an extra wall and plenty of patrols to keep order. There were a few bigger buildings, but we headed to a smaller and more antique building. I recognized the style, an old republican architectural style.
A quick exchange with merchants had told me, that currently, house Caesar was ruling the city, and they seemed to have moved the seat of government back into its old position. Even if most of the actual government business was still handled by the new town hall.
We entered the building after being controlled three times and handing over all weapons. Those controls seemed a bit excessive, but then again the current condition of the city was mostly unknown to us. We had to wait just a few minutes for the governor. His aide, a human woman around 30, lead us to his office.
The office was decorated fairly normal. There were several objects from the old republic and statues from Julius Caesar and Cleopatra though. Probably to strengthen their claim on the houses' origin.
Behind the desk sat an older human with grey hair, blue eyes and a short beard. He gestured for us to sit down. There were three seats. Alaric’s seat was behind mine because he is my aide and teacher sat to my left.
“Greetings Lucius Vespasianus and Niloticus from the undying tribe. It is an honour to have both of you here in my city. My name is Caesarion Caesar. Current head of the house of Caesar”, he greeted us but left Alaric out. Something to be expected.
“Greetings governor. We are happy for the chance to study in your city”, teacher said and signalled me with his eyes to continue.
“Greeting as well esteemed governor. May I ask you a question?”, I asked him and noticed his smile when we addressed him politely. He enjoys having leverage over the heir of a country and a famous member of a tribe. The governor seemed to like his power. It would explain why he guards the government district strongly.
He may be afraid and unwilling to give power and influence away. That is also why teacher said I shouldn’t speak over the other houses. The last thing we need is him to think we support his enemies.
“Is it correct that we have access to the old imperial and republican section of the library?”, I asked him. Niloticus had already informed us, but I wanted to have some small talk. It also didn’t hurt to confirm it.
“Yes, that was arranged. We will give you access to all sections in fact. Consider the favour our house owns to Belisarius repaid”, he answered. I was a bit perplexed. We had never heard that their house owned our ancestor a favour or for what. Niloticus also shook his head. Maybe the library can answer my questions.
“I also wanted to know who my contact person for the government would be? As you know I am also here to study Alexandria’s and Aegyptus’ government affairs”, I asked, the governor nodded his head and answered.
“The post of governor of Aegyptus’ is currently vacant, but I can give you a contact nonetheless. For the city affairs my niece Livia, and for Aegyptus Pyrrhus from house Ptolemy”, he explained and I noticed his unease state when he spoke about house Ptolemy. Now I would like to know even more about the current power games here.
Niloticus continued to ask the governor a bit more about other arrangements. He managed to get access to a few registers of the city, but the governor clearly wanted to prevent us access to most of them. We also got a few guards to secure our mansion in the city.
When the details for our stay were finalized I and teacher signed a contract with the governor. It was basic legal stuff, like he guaranteed our safety in Alexandria, while we follow the local rules. We would also be denied access to the library and state affairs if we damaged documents or broke the law.
The conservation ended with a few handshakes and good fortune for my stay here. He had also informed me, that his niece was waiting for me downstairs to give me a round trip of the government circle and a rundown of its affairs.
Niloticus said his goodbye for today. He had business in the city and would head to our mansion afterwards. We should just be careful to arrive at our mansion in time. I arrived with Alaric downstairs and was welcomed by a young woman.
She was a human with short black hair and blue eyes. She seemed to be around 15 years old.
“Greetings Lord Vespasianus”, she bowed to me and nodded in Alaric’s direction. “Shall we start the tour?”
“Yes that would be great”, I forgot the rest I wanted to say as she linked her arm with mine and lead me around. Alaric’s quiet laugh at my predicament brought me back to the situation.
“So you are the niece of Caesarion. Are you being trained for a role in the government?”, I asked her.
“Yes as the eleventh person in the succession of house Caesar I decided to become a diplomat under uncles' administration. That's why it is my task to ‘take care’ of our foreign visitors”, she did come a bit too close for my taste in the last sentence and I felt a tug on my mind.
A quick use of my mana control and mana sight negated the effect and showed the culprit.
“I would advise against influencing foreign officials with magic. It could lead to a diplomatic incident” I said and removed her arm from mine. Confusion and then understanding showed on her face.
“Forgive me, lord. It was just my curiosity”, she said and gave me a quick bow. “Would you like to send your aide away to continue the tour more privately?”
I was about to deny her request when Alaric interfered in my plan.
“I am going to take my leave your majesty”, he said while holding back his grin at my predicament and retreated from the government business. I would get back at him for letting me alone in this situation.
I just shook my head and continued the tour with my overly intimate guide.
“So how long will you stay here in Alexandria?”, she asked.
“Between 4 and 5 years probably. Before I head back would like to visit other cities in the east”, I answered.
“Which cities?”, she inquired.
“Antioch and Constantinople for now. Maybe Athenae as well”, I said. “Tell me about the other houses in Alexandria.”
She flinched at my words and didn’t answer for a while.
“We are not allowed to speak about details. Just know that the other two houses are trying to regain control over Alexandria and Aegyptus. We just managed to secure both positions under uncle and father and with father’s death the office for the province of Aegyptus is empty”, she explained.
“My condolence for your loss”, I said. She showed a weak smile before her expression brightened.
“Never mind, what happened has happened. I just want to do my best for the house and the city”, she said and continued our tour.
The city was divided into several districts managed by several appointed chiefs. The council members advised the governor. There was the treasurer, warden, marshal, steward, chancellor and court diviner of the city.
The governor would be appointed by the vote of the three major races in Aegyptus, the demi-humans, sea-folk and humans. The current situation of the city is the result of the power struggle for a new governor of the province.
We continued our tour, but I realized that I wouldn’t get many details out of her. The only things she did inform me about was their local policies. They had raised the tax on trade and abolished their percentage-based tax on the citizens. A fixed-rate was introduced.
It led to more taxes for the poor and fewer for the rich. Another point is raising unrest from within the population and their enemies are surely fanning the flames as well. Most local policies secured the nobles their rights and wealth.
It would be a dangerous game for the other houses if they use the mob for their goals. They could find themselves in a similar situation when they don’t change anything meaningful under the next government.
I excused myself after the tour and turned down further advancement from Livia and a dinner invitation. She really wanted to make a career in Alexandria and would probably do anything to get allies on her side. It could also be that her uncle wants to encourage an alliance between our houses through me and his niece.
I still thought about the situation in the city and the power struggles. I would need my own rules to stop my vassals from fighting under each other.
I talked a bit with Alaric about my tour, and he told me what he ‘achieved in my absence’. A black egg lay on the table, The same I had in my hands today. Niloticus shrugged his shoulder when I asked him if Alaric stole it.
Alaric told me to trust his skills and discretion. They wouldn’t be allowed to search the mansion anyway, because it was owned by a foreign royal house. Also, he insisted that nobody would be able to track the trail down to us.
I wrapped the egg up in a wool blanket and put it near the fireplace. The day ended with a few discussions on my further education and our visit to the library. Later we went to bed. Alaric’s room was next to mine while teacher's was downstairs.
I just hoped we wouldn’t get problems, because of Alaric's actions.