“Yes,” she answered with a wide smile. “It was nice to have a reason to use my knives again.”
“You know, I could find you a job in town if you’d like. Primes, you could open your own shop; I know you’ve got the skill, and I’ve got the capital.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m quite content with where I am now,” Hana answered. “Though I must admit, I wouldn’t mind the opportunity to practice now and then.”
“That can easily be arranged,” I cut in, “as long as I get a meal out of it.”
“Of course,” she laughed. After taking another bite of her dinner, Hana returned to her previous conversation. “Speaking of work, Ellie, how’s the business been? You mentioned something when you arrived about a taxing week.”
Elise groaned and shook her head, then grabbed her wine glass and drained the half-full vessel in one gulp. “Not so good,” she said eventually, wiping a few dark red droplets from the corner of her mouth. “I’ve lost five caravans in the past two weeks. Not just the goods, but the whole damn caravan; wagons, horses, men, everything.” She shook her head and gave a bitter laugh. “I know it’s bandit season, but they usually aren’t so thorough about it.”
“Bandit season?” Lia asked. “There’s a season for bandits?”
Elise nodded. “Winter for Kaldan is bandit season for Lybesa. All of the northern farms will be sending the bulk of their crops out to bolster Kaldan’s food storage, which means all the trade roads will be at their busiest. Naturally, that means people looking to acquire those goods by less-than-legal means will be at their busiest as well.” She traced her finger around the rim of her empty wine glass. “Without the Mountain Gate, everything has to go south. The Lybesian Midlands are...what’s the right word...not lawless, exactly, but certainly less enforced than the rest of the country. I would normally avoid the area altogether this time of year, but my options are limited.”
I averted my eyes down onto my empty dinner plate as my role in her hardships became apparent, but she moved on without pressing the point any further. “It’s only about two days of travel across the Midlands that’s really troublesome. You’re generally safe once you reach Oraille, so I’ve had my contacts send word whenever one of my caravans rolls into town. Since the start of the season two weeks ago, half of my crews have failed to arrive.” Her finger stopped on the edge of her glass, and she let out a heavy sigh. “I just hope my people are alright, somewhere out there.”
“We could look into it for you,” I offered, glad to find a way to ease my conscience. “Lia and I were planning to go down that direction on our trip to the capital anyway. It wouldn’t be any trouble.”
Elise raised a finger as if to scold me, then paused as her expression changed from one of consternation to slight amusement. “Were I talking to anybody else, this is where I would remind them that my caravans are always escorted by three armed guards, and that two civilians on holiday would only be putting themselves in danger by hunting down the missing wagons.” She laughed as she grabbed the wine bottle from the center of the table and poured herself another glass. “Given what I know about you two, none of that really applies in this situation. Even an organized company of bandits wouldn’t be an issue for you, would it?”
“Not even a little bit,” Lia remarked casually as she chewed on the last of her bihorn.
“In that case, I won’t pass up the opportunity to potentially save my men. If you manage to find them and send them home, there’ll be a hefty reward waiting for you when you return,” she stated, “plus a bonus should you stumble across the missing wagons and goods in the process.”
“We don’t need a reward, Elise. After everything you’ve—”
She held up a hand and cut me off. “That’s not how I do business. You’ll be doing both me and my men a service, and you’ll be rightly compensated, end of story. If you’re not interested in coin, I’m sure we can find another agreeable reward.”
“If you insist,” I shrugged, already updating my mental list of necessary supplies for our remaining renovations.
“I do.” She took another hearty sip of wine and sat back contentedly. “Now, enough about my business. How have your endeavors been lately, Marten? Is the area everything you hoped it would be?”
“I can’t complain,” he answered. “The local contracts you gave us have kept the wagon moving nonstop. Given this new information about the Midlands, I think we’ll be content to stay local for quite some time.”
“We went to Caelum’s forge yesterday!” Marin chirped, excited to find entry into the conversation. “We managed to get everything he wanted sold down to the southern market in one trip!”
“Oh, did you now?” Elise chuckled. “Out of all the leads I gave you, I’m surprised that one worked out. Caelum has always been a prickly old man, to put it nicely.”
“As a prickly old man myself, I get along with him just fine,” Marten joked. “He was very appreciative of our more personalized business offer. And our lower fees.”
“Get back to me when you try to use that business model with a few hundred employees,” Elise countered. “Until then, we can peacefully coexist in our own markets. Unless, of course, you’d just like to come work for me.”
The business conversation continued well into the evening until the leftovers were cold and the wine bottle was empty. We moved into the living room for our usual nighttime ritual of playing cards, splitting into three even teams. Marin and Elise both boasted of their superior skills when the game began, but the copious wine consumption from their side of the table at dinner proved to be too much of an obstacle for
