Clause, the receptionist and I, which I had to check with the flick of an eye, stared at Strause in the reception hall. We just stared at him for a moment. Agape, though I was the only one openly gaping, at him.

“Strause,” Clause said, “What kind of falsified information do you have access to, that I do not?”

Strause, for his part, looked hurt, betrayed even, as he answered he made sure to put as much pain into his voice as physically possible, he even tried to sell it, taking on a pained look, like he had been stabbed in the heart.

“Clause, my dearest brother, how could you slander me so? Would I lie to you, about such an important piece of information? How could I call you family, if I were to lie to you? Did Father disown me by letter? When have I ever lied to you? I would never do such, nay, have never done you the disservice.”

Clause, the receptionist, and I just looked at him, not buying it for a second.

“Ok,” he said, “I’m not hurt, but I’m not lying about Timmy’s. They do fall into wells like, way more often than any other child ever should.”

None of us had anything to say about that for a few, utterly unnerving moments, before the receptionist asked, “What is the ratio?”

Strause looked at her like she had just asked if a sparrow was a northern long wing, or southern long wing.

“I don’t know, like two or three to one? I don’t have exact numbers on how many kids fall down wells, Beatrice.”

He said her name with scorn, but she just hummed before telling me, “Gunther is free now miss.”

I nodded before turning to Clause, “Annabeth’s just fine, she has beast magic. She’s in her grove, it would take a whole lot more than a wolf to hurt her there if it meant any harm, it would have been turned away… after all, it keeps out the fog, and that’s a god-awful undead thing that wants to kill me, um, Mi’Lord?”

Clause turned back to me, and caught himself, which was mostly just him blinking once, before nodding once in reply, “That is good to hear, and I am no [Lord], not yet. I am to a proper [Lord] as a prospective apprentice is a Mage. I have not yet become a proper [Lord], I am but a noble scion.”

It was… flowery? [Lordly]? I supposed, though not haughty or cocky, which was nice. Nobles were so often cocky or demeaning, but Clause didn’t strike me that way.

He just seemed cold, distant, and also the center of the universe, he never looked like the universe didn’t revolve around him, though it had the stink of a skill to it.

“Do you have a skill that hides stuff around you? If you don’t mind me asking?” I asked.

“A noble never reveals their skills,” he told me, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly for a moment, as readable as granite, or even less so.

I shrugged, and then, without thinking about it all that much, “Hey Strause, where can a girl find a sandwich like the ones you brought? I was thinking of having a girl's day out with Anna.”

He gave a comical look, an OHH, like a [Gossip] who just heard the best new scoop to die for, but straightened up a bit before answering, “It’s actually Joan's family restaurant, I can show you there, what with you being followed.”

I was taken aback, stupidly checking behind my back as if the cat would just be there, hiding in the window, watching me.

Clause, for his part, looked between the two of us, and Strause stared off into space before nodding to himself.

“I think that did it, they’ve gone and run off,” he told me before giving me a thumbs up.

“You are, as always, a bit spooky,” I told him, only for him to nod in affirmation.

Clause for his part, a bit slow on the uptake, asked, “What does she mean the sandwiches you brought? I don’t get it.”

“We had a bit of a shindig at Beth's house last night, Gunther was there with Joan and me. Oh, I have got to tell you about it later,” Strause told him.

That just made Clause look more lost if anything.

“You had a party, and you brought a bunch of people… and I didn’t make the cut? I suppose me and Beth didn’t end our last talk on the best of terms…”

“Clause,” Strause said consolingly, “It wasn’t you, it was me defending my honor, also, let's head out, you have an appointment with a clipboard, no doubt. I’ll see you around Saphine.”

He started to pull Clause along, and I waited to watch the human tornado that was Strause sweep his brother up in conversation.

“I still can’t believe you wouldn’t bring me to clear your name… Well, no, I suppose that makes sense.”

“Brother, you wound me. And to think, you, my favorite brother, are doubting my honor.”

“I’m your only brother-”

And with that, they were gone.

My ear flicked, and I looked to the [Receptionist], “Does he give you a headache?”

She responded with a look that could scour metal, eyes slightly baggy, “Yes, please head on in. [Caravan Master] Gunther doesn’t have all day.”

I nodded and started to pad along the way they came, following their trail back along the blank wood floor and to a door that held no sign of who sat behind it. It could have been a broom closet.

I knocked and waited a few moments before a muffled Gunther said, “Come in.”

I opened the door and saw Gunther behind a desk covered in some parchment and writing slates and, of all things, an abacus.

She was similar to last night, she still had blond hair, merchant clothes, and was still five feet tall, but she had a pair of glasses on that made her eyes look huge. They were half again the size I remembered.

She looked expectantly, then when she saw it was me, she grumbled and took off the glasses, letting them drop to the table.

“Expecting someone?” I asked her.

“Anyone but you, why are you darkening my door?”

Who was she expecting? Maybe my stalker? No, no, that doesn’t make sense. I can't think of how she could even send a cat that big after me, and I can't think of a reason why she would, I doubt she was that angry with me.

“I was looking for some stuff, and I did promise that I would buy some stuff from you. What kind of person would I be if I broke my promise?”

She looked at me like she didn’t believe me.

“What? That’s why I’m here. Though I do have something else I want to talk to you about,” I told her.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She kept looking at me, like a disapproving mother who caught her kid red-handed.

“What? That’s it. I’m here to buy stuff and see if I can pay for some services.”

She kept looking at me for a few seconds, then grumbled, rubbing her head.

“This is just what I need, a person with money bumbling through this battlefield. Did you buy anything on your way over?”

“Just some herbs, I managed to avoid most of the bad whammy’s. One guy almost got me to buy maize at a ridiculous price, but I turned it around on him.”

She looked at me, one dainty eyebrow raised, “You turned it around on him? How? Tell me.”

I told her about the [Merchant], and she took it in. When I got to the end, she started to smile, then she laughed, one part thoroughly chuckle, one part cackle.

“That,” she told me, “Was the best news to reach me all day. That other merchant, did he go back to his stall or run off?”

“Well,” I told her, confused, “He ran off. He looked a little frightened, I think.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t excitement? Oh, well. He better have been running to the [Criers], tomorrow half the city will think they are selling bad grain. HeHAHaha.”

Was that excitement? He looked like he was frightened. Am I just out of touch? Maybe…

“Well, at least something good came from it, or two things, I suppose, I doubt whatever caravan he was part of will use a skill on me again.”

She grinned a big toothy one, “I bet all of them will be weary of using skills, that merchant was coming really close to the type of thing that gets people thrown out of a town. Five skills? On one person? What a waste… Still, I wish I knew why all this competition is rolling around now, at best, they generally only bring weak competition, if any at all, to the Moarn Valley… But no, a half dozen caravans all rolled in two nights ago, they’re messing with the price of grain, all of them, which means it's deliberate.”

Her smile took on a different look then, more like a snarl than a sign of laughter.

I squinted at her, “Wait, is all the grain priced high?”

She rolled her eyes a little, “Not all of it, we have some lower-priced gain. What's left of our grain anyway, Clause bought a lot of grain for Mourns Granary’s, not sure why… What's with your face?”

I had contorted my face, furrowing my brows as the idea got pulled in and rumbled around in my head, connecting a few dots.

“Because the valley is probably going to have a massive crop failure, and the winter is going to be extra bad, or at least nature thinks so.”

I think, for a second, me and Gunther were on the same page because after about half a second was up, she let out an oath that would make me blush about elves and where they stuck their bits.

It was easy to see why a bunch of caravans would roll in now.

A normal caravan, bigger than most, always comes in and sells grain and buys whatever it was that Gunther bought before leaving. So they had a low amount of grain but enough to sell it at a more reasonable price. But if you factored in that Moarn might have a bigger demand, the equations were simple enough for even me to do.

Keep your price up until they sold out, then, when the harvest failed, the high prices were the normal prices. Sky-high demand for grain to feed everyone's family meant that the sky-high prices for grain were more ‘reasonable,’ especially when your other option was starvation. Then, they could sell whatever was left over during the uncommonly hard winter, a winter that would see people unable to forage for any significant food and leave a husk with no money behind come spring when the passes became traversable.

“That would explain why they have so many guards… Fine, fine. I’ll figure out my response later. Why are you standing, coming, sitting? We have a business to talk about. You don’t have to stand around, I’m not your boss.”

I hadn’t even really paid attention to the fact I was standing, but I was, so I walked over to the chairs, pulled one out and gave my legs a rest. They were bare wood but not uncomfortable.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, steepling her hands in front of her face, holding her head on her thumbs.

“I’m looking for some food, shoes, and armour,” I told her, “Are those things you have, or do I need to go get some stuff from somewhere else.”

“Well, that’s a very concise and not at all eclectic shopping list. Armour, good shoes and food? Let's see… [I think I have what you want]… Yeah, I have a bit of each, but I can’t promise that the shoes or armour are what you are looking for, just that I have some of both… You could probably go to a cobbler, though, and I know one of those, so it’s mostly just the armour that’s in the air… what are you looking for specifically?”

I nodded, “With a skill like that, I’m surprised you don’t magically know. I’m looking for armour, not a specific kind, but I don’t have any proficiency, so just the kind that most people could use well, lighter armour, probably cloth, I just want something to put a layer between me and someone who can stab me; otherwise I’ll end up ruing all my cloths again, and now that I think about it, if you know any cheap tailors that can make some more rugged cheap cloths I wouldn’t mind that either.”

She thought for a second before nodding, “I have both that I can reach out for and can get cloth… Nothing fit for you, so I would have to see about getting it modified for your upper body… I think I can do it, no, I can, but it will cost a bit, with my fee that would be about two gold for a decent set of cloth armour fit for a [Caravan Guard], and three sets of rugged working clothes, tunics, breast coat, and pants, and a cloak, if you want it.”

I thought about it for a second, but I was missing some pieces. I didn’t know the quality of the cloth or what level the tailor would be that made the cloths. If it was the lowest cloth and a normal [Tailor], it would probably be a high price, but if they were like my tunic, a bit better quality, then it would be about right. A breast coat was probably right; it was just a padded cloth jerkin and would be reasonable at a price point like that, and pants were rather normal clothes and would be like the tunic.

I decided to buy a bit of time to think and asked, “Will they have belts? I wouldn’t mind having an extra in case mine get cut while fighting.”

“I could throw them in for a few extra silver, say… two gold, ten silver?” she asked.

I could have just said yes, I could have paid for that with the coins in my pouch right now and been done with it. But I didn’t feel like just saying yes. If you had asked the me of old to pay without bartering, I probably would have.

That was a bit easy… Maybe even two easy. I think she’s trying to seal the deal too quick.

But I had been changing, I had been ever since I had stumbled up into Anna’s grove. And for whatever reason, I felt a little more confident in the idea that I could push that number down a little bit, and not just take the hits and roll with them.

“I don’t know… You say you have all this, but I have no assurance on any of my good’s quality. One gold, and sixty silver.”

Gunther looked at me contemplatively before shaking her head, “They would be the same quality as my caravan’s guards, the human ones anyway, no… But if could assure you of their quality… Hmm, lets say you can come to me before my caravan leaves after mid-summer and get them stitched up for half price, For one gold and ninety silver?”

I knew she was being a bit fast… Hmm…

“That doesn’t assure me of their quality, quite the opposite… But, I suppose one gold and eighty silver for all of that, and I can get each thing fixed once on the house, then for half off?”

She nodded, “I would be amenable to that, [Deal]?” she asked, reaching out her hand to shake.

I took it, making sure to match her squeeze.

She smiled, and I smiled back before asking, “So, how bad did you rip me off?”

“Only about thirty silver. Our guards that take the kit we give them pay a discounted one gold and fifty silver, taken in small instalments. Or one gold and twenty if they buy it straight up.”

I clicked my tongue, “Crafty little [Merchant], how much is it before you tack on your share?”

“A gold,” she told me, her smile predatory, “we get our cloth from here, it’s not great, but it’s durable. I have a few younger lads getting some more. It doesn’t sell well, but we can always use cheap cloth.”

“Damn. So, shoes? I’m not looking for much, just some sandals and a pair of winter boots. I’ll need some if I’m going to stay here, and if you’re leaving in summer, I’ll want them before you go.”

She nodded, “For a pair of sandals… and I assume you want the type the Beastkin prefer, if your toes are anything like your fingers, and a pair of boots like them, I’ll say sixty silver.”

“Forty for two pairs of normal shoes, they’re not premium goods like armour.”

“[Deal]”

We shook on it, and she told me unprompted, “I got you down to a more normal price for those ones, you have to aim lower.”

“Merchant,” I said.

She laughed, “You say it as if it’s a curse now food, what kinds of food? Or do you want to browse, we can do either.”

“We can browse, but in a bit, I want to ask if you are up for something.”

“Oh?” She asked, not at all surprised, “Pay half up front, and I’m all ears.”

“Deal,” I told her, bringing out a gold coin and five silver, sliding them across towards her.

Her hand shot out before picking them up and depositing them somewhere below the desk.

“So, I’ve inherited some things, but I need to actually go pick them up. They’re quite hefty, so I would need a cart and a small winch. In theory, I could get them all on my own, but I would have to haul them back to Anna’s cottage over and over. It would take days to go the few hours there and back, while they are not fragile, I don’t want to leave them be.”

“Sorry for your loss. A few wagons wouldn’t be missed for a day, and I have [Work Hands] for lifting, but I would need more information before I can agree or set a price. What are you inheriting that you would need moved? What kind of stuff? What are you moving, that should be up on the table, I cant go moving Illegal goods or goods that will get my people hurt.”

I looked at her, but telling her would do no harm. She didn’t know where they were for one, and she would have to contend with me, and Anna, both because I had agreed to take her along with me, and because I bet she would want to see it, even if it was just once. She would have to cross both me, an unkillable person who could take vengeance on her, and a noblewoman who was the daughter of the local [Baron].

“Well,” I started, “How much do you know about [Lore Masters]?”