Chapter 34: Trade

“I still can’t believe my magic box opened for you?” I said, to Sable.

“I’m as surprised as you are, daddy. I just told the box we needed to charge the crystals to help you, and it opened for me,” he replied.

“You are probably the only person it would open for too, son,” I said. “My entity likes you for some obscure reason.”

Sable chuckled, “It loves you, dad. I think you frightened it when you collapsed. So it was willing to trust me so Trixi and I could help you.”

I looked around the table, “I believe I also need to thank a lot of other people for helping me.”

Foxi grinned at me, “Hey, big brother, it was no trouble at all. I had fun helping with the project.”

Rexel blushed profusely, “Yes, thank you Princess Foxi for your assistance.”

“No worries, big guy,” she said and winked at him, making him blush again.

Dazzle looked at me and grinned, “You should have heard the noises on this ship the last day and a half. A brothel madam would have been proud.”

Tom kissed Dazzle’s cheek, “And you were one of noisiest. I’ve never heard you scream like that before.”

“He wasn’t the only one screaming,” Reilly added as he looked at Sandy and took her hand in his.

“True, I was unaware my dear Heidi could also be so vocal,” Doctor Roberts added. His shy wife gave him a brilliant smile. I got the impression a few inhabitations were overcome in their marriage.

Andy added, “Jamie and I would have helped, but unfortunately I think my father’s items are either broken or don’t wish to come to me. I wasn’t a very good son.”

“Oh!” Sable said, he hopped down from his chair, and to our surprise, he ran out of the room.

“I’m sorry Andy. I don’t know what he did to those items, but they were very sick like him. It is very hard to be a good son when your father doesn’t love you. Children pick up things like that faster than adults do.”

Sable ran back in. He stopped beside me and handed me my satchel. “I dropped them your box, daddy. They fell out of your clothes when I was helping Trixi undress you.”

“How did you know I hadn’t put my satchel on?” I asked him.

He rolled his eyes, “I can see it, daddy, even if others can’t. I’m allowed to open it remember,” he reminded me.

I looked at Trixi. “Can you see it when I’m wearing it?” I asked her.

“No, and I’m allowed to open it, too,” she said to Sable.

“I think it’s part of his latent ability and the fact he is both closely related to you and very special to you, Bron,” Rexel said.

I looked at Sable, and I could see his bag. But I’d thought I could see it because I put the spell on it. Interesting, I decided. I opened my satchel and removed my magic box. I could see the ring and medallion lying at the bottom. They still didn’t look well, but they did look better.

“Well, well, well,” I muttered. One of the special boxes was glowing. I had thought they were to go to my spouses. But I knew that I didn’t want or need ten spouses. Maybe I would comply with my other spouses’ wishes and end up with six. That would be about my limit I’d decided. I got the feeling the boxes also knew this.

I enjoyed spending time with my spouses. I enjoyed spending time with my calves. My grandfather never had enough time for any of us. For most of the people on our property, he didn’t even remember who was a calf or a wife. He just screwed whoever took his fancy at that moment. I just couldn’t do that.

I grinned at Trixi, “Please don’t be surprised. I do not love Andy like I love you and he will not be our spouse.”

Her eyes widened, “Really, one does?”

I nodded, “I think I know why it has decided. I will discuss it with you later. I think you will agree with me and like what I tell you.”

I looked at Andy and said in a serious voice, “Do you promise to serve your people, all of your people to the best of your ability?”

“I will try very hard to be a better ruler than my father was, Bron. It is the least I can do. I do know that if I don’t, and you find out, you will spank my arse and cry while you do it,” he said.

“True,” I said, and I handed him the box after I removed it from mine.

He looked at the box and then at me, and then back to the box again, “What is this?” he asked with mild trepidation.

“Your mages box. The other items are damaged. They will take some time to recover. Also, I think you have different disciplines, so they don’t suit you. Just be aware, these items are less tolerant than your father’s items. It is also a full set.”

“You will not be a High Mage like me, but you will be powerful enough. You may need a second wife too,” I pulled out a bag of crystals and held them while I waited for him to open the box. I added a couple of little spells on them too.

He opened the box, and I looked to make sure it was full. I was pleased that it was, as I believed. “Lore, Nature and Energy. Lore is a good trait for a ruler to have. The other two are an interesting combination.”

“Energy often goes with Earth, but in your case, I think it will come in handy. Energy can assist Nature mages too. My Deputy-Mayor for Horn City had a similar ring, but Nature is his primary. He has a real thing for plants.”

“You may find you’re more a people and animal person than a plant type mage. You should probably heal even better than I do. Mixed with Lore you should find learning about people and what they need and think, even though you can’t read their thoughts or control them, are good traits for a King.”

Rexel nodded, “I agree, Andy had always been a compassionate and tolerant man. Nor is he the fool his father pretended. That’s why you were always sent you to sort out diplomatic problems, Andy.”

“I though he did it just to get me out of his sight,” Andy replied.

Rexel tutted, “My boy, how often did you come back without finding some middle ground in a dispute? Even your marriage to Jamie was a benefit to your father. It meant he could deal with Lord Sydney though you and don’t have to do it directly. I heard that he was planning to send you to see Queen Mary.”

I looked at Andy and grinned, “Yes, I do think you should go pay her visit. Tell her that you wish to meet Lord Owen Lots and his lovely family.”

Albi looked at me and frowned, and I grinned at him. He shook his head and looked at Andy, “Sammy is twenty-six, and she will knock your socks off and most likely rock your world.” He looked at me again, “How did you know she was a shifter?”

I rolled my eyes, “Silly question, Albi. Why did you think Ewan didn’t wish Owen to inherit?”

Trixi and Foxi were following the conversation, and I could see they were both thinking hard. Foxi’s eyes went wide at the same time as Trixi’s did. Trixi said, “Oh goodness, I do remember that bit of kerfuffle. His father is a shifter, isn’t he? Ewan hated shifters as much as King Tylor did.”

“Didn’t he try to disown his sister or something on the grounds it was an unnatural act or some such thing for her to have a son?” Foxi said.

“Yes, Mother had just come into power, and he tried to slip the case through the courts before she had adjusted. However, she already knew what he was up to so she stopped it. It was why she had no intention of him marrying me.”

“Even though she had to pretend that he had a chance as long as I agreed, she knew I wouldn’t. I could barely tolerate being in the same room as him. I think she was hoping I’d marry Albi or Henry as she at least got on with their families.”

It was Andy’s turn to frown. “I thought all your Shires were matriarchal, Trixi?”

“All except the Lots Shire. An ancestor had saved the life of a Queen and her daughter at the time. The Lots had a habit of having more sons than daughters. So she granted their wish for the oldest son to be the heir since they didn’t have any daughters,” she replied.

Foxi added, “It was such a shame Lord Ewan only had daughters. He had tried to get my mother to change the law back but she wouldn’t. Even if he married Trixi, it wouldn’t have mattered what she had since she was a shifter. It was his best solution.”

“Plus getting Davin Shire,” Trixi added.

“Wait, the unnatural act was having a son?” Vet Olsen asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “Some people consider a child born male when a parent is a shifter is unnatural. The thing was Ewan’s sister wasn’t the shifter. It is very rare that a shifter in male form will pass on the shifter gene to a non-shifter female. The gene is normally activated from the mother. Male born shifter can pass on the genes for his forms but not the gene to shift.”

“Owen wasn’t a shifter though. I remember him telling he wasn’t,” Foxi said.

“No, most shifters born as male can’t shift. Sable is a truly rare breed. However, some shifters have the mutated gene like Sable. They may not even be aware that they do. Matting with a non-shifter in their male form can activate the gene in the child especially if they are female like Samantha and Hugh.”

“I’ve read about it happening to some of my people’s ancestors. It’s nearly as rare as a male shifter. Phil Bay gave me a book and apparently, it had happened in his family’s History. Owen’s father took his spouse’s name. He was a Bay. A lot more of Phil’s calves prefer male form to female than in many of the other Herds.”

“Hugh is a female shifter?” Foxi asked with surprise.

“Yes, he just prefers male while Samantha prefers female. Owen may have the gene, but he was born male and said he can’t shift. His children will mostly not be shifters unless he mates with a shifter. It’s the luck of the draw sometimes. He wasn’t particularly worried about it,” I told them.

“Will the mutated gene affect any children I have with Samantha?” Andy asked.

“I can’t see why it would. She is a shifter and can change to bull and lanky like her sire. Hugh says he can’t change to his animal forms as easily as Samantha can but he has no trouble with gender in human form. He is probably closer to your age, but Samantha is the better match for yours and Jamie’s temperaments.”

“Well, it might be a while before I can get to Lime Island. My father has left a hell of a mess,” Andy said sadly.

“Well put that lot on. I’m sure the mages that have helped me will be more than happy to help teach you. I’ll drop this bag of crystals in your box, as they will also help you. You may wish to use some for improvements, but I’d leave some in reserve if you can.”

“If you know of any crystals growing here it would help you if you could collect some. I will send you some more if you can’t find any, once I get back to Horn City, I’ve not found them in Ochre City, they must still be buried under the citadel,” I told him.

Rexel responded, “I’ve never heard of anyone having found a source of those crystals here. We know what they do, but we don’t have spares lying around. If they are under the Palace, then they are probably buried like in your Ochre City. Not many underground areas are accessible.”

We watched as Andy put on the items and the delight when he connected to his entity was obvious. I felt Andy was at peace with himself, and he would make a very fine ruler for Weston for many years to come.

He already had a fine son for an heir, if he chooses to retire at some point.

Since I was now best mates with the King of Weston, I finally got my ship unloaded.

Captain Hail was delighted to get moving. I’d checked out Tomas’s ship Pity and repaired it. Dazzle was going to act as its Navigator for the time being. Pity was a little smaller than Mercy, and her hull was set-up very differently as she was designed for grain and produce and not livestock.

We had planned for her to travel empty but Tomas and I had found time to do some shopping. Weston may not have a lot of gold and silver, but they did mine copper, zinc and lead. Ochre had asked for these items if I could find them.

What silver they did have was extracted as part of the process of recovering the other metals. Lord Darren Nous of the most Northern town operated two small smelters near the Torrent River. We had heard on the dock that flooding had temporarily shut down his operation.

Tomas, Rose and I went to see him. We asked if he had any spare ore from the mine that hadn’t been processed. He had grumbled and said sort of. He showed us the barges and explained that the rock was partly processed at the mine to remove most of the tailings.

The lead and copper sulphides were sent to him to be further refined. He then extracted the different metals. He had access to a natural gas source that he used to heat his furnaces. Copper, Lead and zinc were the most common metals removed. They were hoping to find more silver, but they hadn’t so far.

When I asked for fifty tonnes of each and a price per estimated percentage of lead or copper in the ore, he happily supplied the last assessments of the ore. It was assessed by a mage who he believed was very reliable. The sulphates were sitting on the barges waiting for the clean-up of his plant to be completed.

He couldn’t accept another delivery until he unloaded the barges. The mine was bitching at him to return them. So if I wanted it, it was available. We took it. He got the barges re-floated and sent them the 15km downriver to the port so the crates could be loaded onto the ship.

On our way back into town, we stopped at another large set of buildings that I’d noticed and that Tomas had said was a cloth factory. He said they made the heavy cloths used for sails, tarps and the industrial bags like those that lined the crates the sulphates were shipped in from the mine.

Some cloths were made from hemp and others from the cotton they grew here. The looser weaved produce bags were mostly made from hemp. Cotton was also used for clothing. I was fascinated, so we went for a look. I found the whole process very interesting.