Like everyone else in the world, Danica couldn't do everything, so, over the next six months, she slowly began to specialize. In the end, she focused on two groups. The first was craftsmen who were new to The City and had excellent skills but no money to open their own shops. The second was those who were already established but had recently learned important information about trade opportunities that they themselves could not afford to pursue.
It didn't matter what was being crafted or what the trade might be. Once she was certain that there was a high potential for profit, she passed the information along to Alicia and Aldus, who then investigated in detail. Like any truly smart merchants, they didn't try to take over. Instead they provided whatever each business needed in order to succeed. That could be funds for traders who had discovered new sources for gems, ceramics, or even specialty woods from Africa. Sometimes they would train craftsmen who didn't understand how to run a business (or provide someone skilled to do it for them).
No matter what was needed, they provided it...in exchange for a 15% stake in the business. Their offers were always accepted. Nobody would trust someone who, out of the blue, appeared and offered loans. They'd be suspected of trying to cheat the borrower. However, investing in the business with such a minor stake meant that, no matter what, the original owner would remain in control.
By the Spring of 728 AF, Aldus and Alicia were making twice as much as they had before beginning to work with Danica. More importantly, none of the other major merchants in town learned that they were the ones backing so many, suddenly successful, small businesses in The City. There was a confidentiality clause in every contract. That those they contracted with remained silent was no surprise to Alicia and Aldus. Their ability to do so was part of what they investigated before they made their investments.
Danica never told Stavros how much she was making, nor did he ask. However, the looks she exchanged with his father now and then were those of two people who were incredibly pleased with themselves.
He did notice that she was voracious in devouring every single book he could find in the bookstores of The City, or that Sara could find in the libraries, that dealt with trade. It didn't matter if it was a history about trade routes, books discussing where things came from, or something about how currency values fluctuated. If it involved trade, even peripherally, she would read it.
To be truthful, he mostly ignored what she was reading. He was focusing all of his attention on his own studies, and on writing. As Paolo had agreed, once they turned 14, Stavros and Consuela began to help him with editing his book.
Danica eventually asked Stavros what it was about. As he was struggling to find a way to say something without saying anything, she said, "Now look. You and I...I don't want us to be one of those couples who waste time by trying to pry into each other's secrets. Everyone has some things that they have good reasons for not talking about. If this is something like that just tell me. Besides, we don't have time to waste on worrying about things like that. Both of us are far too busy, right?"
"That's for sure. Even with us reviewing things in the bath every night, it seems that we're never quite caught up. So, uh...yeah. I can't tell you what it's about. Paolo may tell you if you ask, but... Wait a minute. I just had an idea that might solve several problems. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"
After quickly reviewing her plans, Danica nodded slowly. "Yes... There's nothing pressing. What's on your mind?"
"Well, there's this bookstore, sort of anyway, called Brewster's Books. It's a bit far from here, which is why I've not taken you there yet. But, somehow, I think that the owner there will be able to answer your question about Paolo's book since he's provided some reference books to Paolo. Not only that, but I heard them mention once that they have over 10,000 books. Even if they can't tell you about what Paolo is writing, I'm certain that you'll find some books that will be useful."
Danica's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how something can be "sort of" a bookstore. Regardless, just hearing about how many books there were, her eyes lit up with anticipation. No matter what, it should be well worth the trip.
"Sure, let's go, after we've finished our homework, OK?"
Seeing his nod and smile, she couldn't help but relax and smile back. Their relationship had started off in a very strange manner, and it still was to some degree, but she was now thoroughly convinced that there was unlikely to be anyone else who suited her so well.
April 26 in The Year 728 AF
Just as they arrived outside Brewster's, they saw a literal horde of students from Ingvold enter the building. Stav turned to Danica and said, "Well, I guess we'll have to put up with a bit of crowding. We've come too far to just turn back. Is that OK?"
Seeing her nod, they entered the store and found, to their surprise, that it was both silent and totally empty. As they looked around, checking to see if all those people were somehow hiding behind the rows of shelves, O'Malley smiled at them and said, "I saw that you were coming, so I routed those other children into a separate instance. This way we can talk without being interrupted."
After looking at each other, and realizing that neither of them had the slightest idea of what O'Malley was talking about, they turned to them and were about to ask what was going on. However, O'Malley beat them to it by saying, "Now, Miss Danica Karongo, you want to know about Paolo's book." After looking at her more closely for a few seconds, they continued, "Well, you actually want to know about a great many things, don't you? Regardless, there's only so much we can do in a single day, or even in a single lifetime, so let's start where we are and go from there. Is that acceptable?"
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Danica nodded, nearly numb from trying to keep up with what this O'Malley person was saying. Meanwhile, Stavros just rolled his eyes while he was thinking, "Same old drill as usual." After being around O'Malley for several years now, he realized that there were, as always, two possible outcomes each time they met. Either Stavros would never figure out what they were talking about, or, sometimes months later, he'd finally figure out what they meant. Being around O'Malley was often maddening, but it was never, ever boring.
O'Malley slipped a wink in Stavros' direction and continued speaking, "Since you agree, what you want to see first is on the desk in Alcove 4." Seeing confusion, they added, "Count from the left as you go in. You'll understand when you get there."
"Now, hurry along. Another group from Ingvold will be arriving soon, and I need to send them to the same instance as the other students."
"Uh, sure, right away." Stavros shepherded Danica toward the hallway, hiding a smile as they went. O'Malley was a being about whom he understood only one thing. He couldn't understand them. That being the case, he'd settled on looking forward to whatever was going to happen next when O'Malley sent him down the hall into the "special" store.
As all first-timers did, Danica froze when she got a look at their destination. While she was gaping, Stav was counting. Soon enough he'd found the assigned alcove and headed them that way. Once they arrived, he saw a comfortable looking armchair and a desk with two books on it. He settled Dani behind the desk and said, "You go ahead and get started. I'm going to grab a book I was reading the last time I was here. I'll be right back."
"Uh, sure. OK." Still numb from what she had seen, Danica picked up the top book and opened it to the title page. Her confusion was immediately overwritten by excitement as she read: "Case Studies in Economics: The Nabataeans. Political Effects on Trade Routes". Ohhhh. This should be good!
She quickly set it to the side and opened the cover of the second book with her forefinger. Just inside the cover was a sheet of paper with closely spaced handwriting. "Miss Karongo, while the subject matter of this book is not specifically relevant to your current needs, the same general principles apply to shipping by sea and the location of ports. Oh, by the way, you are not to mention the title or any specifics of the content to anyone under any circumstances. Once you begin to grasp the contents, I'm sure that you'll understand why. Also, before you ask, 'Yes', your language ability works with the written word as well as spoken language, and is also much faster. So, don't worry about anyone else in the family picking it up and reading it. Nobody else on this planet can read the language it's written in. Should someone ask you about it, just tell everyone that it's a novel written in an obscure, African language you happen to know. There's no hurry, but, when you're finished, please return it to me. There will be someone else in The City who'll need it sometime in the next few years."
Odd. Does that mean that the language is from a different planet? She shuddered. Right now, her mind didn't want to go there. Instead, she flipped to the title page while thinking, "Why in the world is there a need to be so secretive?" Suddenly she froze, only her eyes moving as she scanned down the page, "Portal Distribution -- Economic Effects on Intra-Galactic and Inter-Planar Trade".
Very slowly and carefully she closed the cover, then picked up the other book. She wasn't quite ready for...whatever Portals were. She'd start with reading about the Nabataeans. At least she'd heard of them before. As she recalled, they had something to do with the spice trade, or something like that, several centuries in the past.
When Stavros returned, he found her immersed in the book. Smiling affectionately, he quietly sat in the armchair and picked up from where he'd left off in his own volume.
They left about two hours later. Stavros had put the book he was reading back on the shelf it came from. "There's a lot of information in it, and I need a week or two every time to digest what I read the time before. If I had it at home, I'd probably go through it so fast that I'd forget half of it."
Danica nodded. As they proceeded back up the hill, her mind was on the Nabataeans. Some of what she'd read would be immediately useful. She'd have to discuss it with Aldus and Alicia within the next week or so. As for the other book... She expected that she'd better bite the bullet and at least read the introduction. Given the subject matter, it was likely that she'd be just like Stav and need a week, or maybe a month, to digest each chapter.
After they left, O'Malley had a huge smile on their face. What they'd said about "nobody" on the planet being able to read the book was entirely accurate. Even "Lady Blue" wouldn't be able to read it, which was likely to drive her crazy when she discovered that the book existed. Even with what had happened recently, she'd still not truly admitted to herself that things sometimes happened without her needing to meddle. A small dose of humble pie was definitely appropriate.
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For the first time in his life, Stavros began to understand why he'd heard people complain of becoming tired after walking uphill in The City. To be frank, he'd always thought that there was something wrong with them. After all, he and 'Suela had invariably run up the hill without any problems. Consequently, both he and Danica had discounted the slope, what with it being so gentle. Danica could be forgiven, as she'd only walked uphill for any distance once since her arrival in The City, on the day she'd first started at Chapman.
Today however, she soon found herself not only running out of energy, but also developing cramps in her legs. Finally it got beyond what she could tolerate, so she stopped. "Stav, I just can't go on any further. I'm exhausted, and I have cramps in my legs that are killing me. I'm going to have to rest for a while."
"Oh gosh... I'm so sorry! I should have known," exclaimed the very flustered Stavros. "I just didn't think..." He sighed deeply. That's what everyone always told him was his main problem. He didn't think, he just 'did' whatever it was without planning ahead.
"Well, we're only about 500 meters from home, so it's not like it's going to be a major problem."
"Huh? Whatever are you talking about?"
Instead of answering with words, Stavros did so with action. He bent over and easily picked her up in a "princess carry" and headed up the hill at his usual brisk pace.
"Ah, no! Don't. Put me down! This is soooo embarrassing!"
"Sorry sweetheart, not a chance. You need to get home and into the bath as soon as possible, and this is the way we're going to do it. So quit wiggling. If I drop you, we're both going to regret it. You concentrate on holding onto the books. O'Malley will have a hissy fit if they get damaged, especially if it's because we were careless."
Reflexively, she wrapped her arms more tightly around the books. She barely knew O'Malley, but, considering how clean the "store" was, and how orderly everything was, she didn't doubt Stavros' words for a moment.
Seeing that she had quieted down, Stavros broke into an easy trot. They should be home within another two minutes.