Born a Monster

“Of course. What is this matter?”

“Are you still on good terms with the Makura of the Bay?”

“That is uncertain; they were incredibly upset with all surface life the last time I spoke with them.”

“I noticed from your historical records that some highly profitable trades were made with them.”

“Again, this was before some idiot dumped poison into their waters.”

“Yet they did not kill you, nor did they sink they ship you arrived on.”

I shrugged. “What would you ask of me?”

“Take these banners that identify you to them. Represent our family for a single trade. Four days there, four days back, at most two in trade. You can be back here well before the storms hit in force.”

.....

“I am inclined to say no.” I said.

“You DARE? Remember to whom you speak, boy!” He flung his napkin down onto his plate.

I had been tied to a stake for burning. I had been tortured, twice.

All right, only once by professionals.

I managed not to laugh at his display of temper.

“You live with a strong woman. You know I travel with such. You must have SOME clue what will happen to me if I tell Gamilla she is in charge of the finances, and then go behind her back in this matter. No, I pick the fights I have some chance of winning.”

He pushed his plate away. “So, she is strong and you are weak. My wife should not have gambled upon you. Get out of my sight.”

“As you wish, sir.”

“WAIT! Tell your woman her terms are acceptable. Be at the docks at dawn tomorrow, ready to board the Wanton Sharkbite.”

“Ah! I know Captaine Levemont well. I’ll be happy to make her acquaintance again.”

“This isn’t a social outing; we expect this to be mutually profitable.”

“I can make no promises on behalf of the Makura. Tell me, did Gamilla mention they prefer sheep or goats over chickens?”

“No, she did not. I’ll take it under advisement. Now, get out of my house.”

Being in his house wasn’t something I’d planned on, anyway. The sheer levels of stress he inflicted had pressed my social abilities to their limits.

I would have to ask Gamilla what terms she’d offered him that he seemed so upset.

Freed of the need to meet with our financiers, I made my way to the coast to soak up mana of Sea and Sun. At the docks, I readily identified the Sharkbite’s profile in port. Like all ships, there wasn’t a lot of room inside, but I now knew her for one of the larger vessels in these waters, and with a crew skilled and professional.

Honestly, I was surprised she was here; most of her runs were between the Isles and Furdia, after all.

But... weren’t we owed a bit of good luck, after all that had happened to us, recently?

Incidentally, be careful when absorbing Sun mana when happy. Yes, it’s easier, but remember you can only store so much. I had enough meridian problems, thank you.

On that topic, my water meridians were near revolt at the thought of taking in Ocean mana. I had to coax it in with a little bit of River mana, and I had to keep the volume of mana relatively slow.

Something else I’d have to work on, big surprise.

Well, maybe my assigned quest was something I could do at the same time?

[You have been assigned a quest by your patron deity. Found a shrine and gain at least two times seven worshippers to glorify his name.

Mandatory Goal: Found a shrine to Sobek, in an appropriately holy place. Reward: Five quest points. Not Achieved.

Mandatory Goal: Gain fourteen worshippers. Reward: Two quest points. 0/14 achieved.

Optional Goal: Have such icons and artwork as to shame the local shrine of Lir. Reward: one quest point. Not Achieved.]

Well, okay, that first bit made sense. But fourteen worshippers? What, was I supposed to import them from the Numerian Empire?

I was due to meet Manajuwejet in two nights, at the start of the new moon; I’d ask then.

Actually, did the Numerian Empire still exist? It seemed to me that all the tales I’d heard from that section of the world were over a millennium old.

No, no, focus. What was I doing, again?

Oh, crap! I was supposed to be in the market, helping to shop!

It turns out that you CAN sprint on a scarred leg. Not something I’d recommend for the fun of it, unless you’re a masochist, but sure, you can do it.

#

Compared to what we were used to, food prices were insane. “Okay, what’s with the food prices?”

Kismet answered me, “Normal just before a storm. People buy extra food. More demand, same supply, higher price.”

“But this much higher?”

“Do you want the lower quality ingredients?” Madonna asked. “Then shut up and trust us.”

“And thank us with a sugary treat later.” Kismet said.

There wasn’t a lot of room to haggle in the market; the vendors knew what their goods were worth, and while they may have needed to sell while their goods were fresh, they didn’t need to sell to us.

Chicken was the cheapest meat available, so those were the animals we bought.

“So how much did we spend?” I asked.

“About double our budget. How is the Hell of Greed not filled with human merchants?” Madonna asked.

“Don’t ask me,” Kismet said, “I’m just about ready to send a few along their way.”

“Oh, does that mean a lively sparring session this afternoon?”

Kismet grumbled something.

“I agree.” I said. “Let’s get the groceries to the inn and then you two can get back to class. Oh, did either of you want to visit the Makura again?”

“Rhishi, that’s dumb. They hate all of us right now.”

“We should get back to trading with them sooner rather than later.”

“Besides, someone needs to keep the crew in line.” Madonna said. “If you and Gamilla are both going, then that’s our task.”

“And to hire new crew.” Kismet said. “And train all day. And when IS the next spa day?”

“Probably not until our first trade next spring.” I said. “Although I’ve got my reservations about our budget.”

Kismet squinted. “If you are cheating us out of our spa days...”

I sighed, and she batted at the air between her and my eye.

“I’m serious about this, Rhishi.”

“As is mathematics. There are no free funds, especially if food costs this much.”

“Come on, Donna, let’s get back to training.”

“Don’t fret, husband. I did notice you purchased sugar. A few cookies will do wonders for her mood.”

“I promise nothing.” I said. I’d been hoping to use that sugar to take the bitter edge off the black tea, but if I were to bake cookies, I’d need to make enough for EVERYONE... there was just barely enough sugar, and I should probably add chopped nuts to make up the difference.

I should probably do something nice for Gamilla as well; she had seemed upset to suddenly be on the Spiro errand. I couldn’t figure out why; our share of that deal could feed our crew for at least two months.

IF the trading went well; if the Makura wanted to trade at all. Okay, there were some pretty substantial uncertainties there.

Although... why hadn’t this been among the first trades we’d attempt in the Spring? If the Makura were willing to trade with us (another if), why not make that another port of call? Much like our crew, the Makura needed to eat.

I wondered if I could convince them to make their own shrine to Sobek; probably not. What did I know about their religion or their culture, anyway?

These were things that I could learn, or at least start to learn.

Tonight, my dual concerns were feeding the crew properly and preparing for the next day’s journey.

Oh! The journey! I’d need a weapon and a tool knife. A shield if I could get one. Linen work clothes...

I located my System list, and found it annoyingly long. Well, put off the tent and hammock, there were no plans to sleep off the ship. Balancing money and time versus actual need... Okay, if Gamilla was going through something similar, I could see how she was upset.

Still, it felt good to get out of port, even if it were only for the final trade of the year.

The final trade of the year... our second winter... We were already on our second year here.

My time in the Isles was coming to a close. My official mission was a failure, even if my secondary mission was doing well.

And if the profits from this trade would help us survive the winter, then it aided both missions.

She had wrangled us one in four coins of profit instead of one in ten. Something about exclusive trading representation, or something like that. Generous, considering she could have demanded half. Obviously, Hadrian was of a vastly different opinion of the matter.

.....