Chapter 5: South

As I had predicted, Snort managed to get half his heifers pregnant in the first four days.

Tally and I decided to split the herd into six lots before he did the rest. Five lots had ten cows in each. Half were pregnant, and the other half were not. The sixth lot included the other ten girls and Snort.

If the owners of the first five lots wanted Snort to finish the job, they would have to pay his new owner. Else, they could put them to their own bulls. We considered this fair and the feedback Tally got was that the interested parties also thought so.

The buyers were effectively buying fifteen head and had a good chance of getting their own bull from the calves. Our bighorns normally fell in the start of autumn and dropped a month into spring. These girls would be late dropping, as they wouldn’t calf until mid-summer.

Since these people barn the animals over winter, the calves should be big enough to survive their first winter. They should be ready to breed after the second one. If the owners were smart, they would wait to get the other half of the stock pregnant in the normal breeding season.

Due to the illness, quite a few breeders were looking for stock rather than trying to sell off what they had. Tally said that word had gotten around and the smart breeders were already following my instructions. They had reported that the illness had abated and they had no new sick animals. Stock-feed was now an issue.

If anything, this just meant more of them were interested in the animals I had for sale. The local farmers were also happy to sell the breeders their extra grain, but it cost them. I was glad that I went shopping the day I shifted the herd as the price of grain went up.

I purchased enough to cover the week the herd would be in the paddock and stocked the ship. I was able to hire space in a warehouse to store it and the hay I still had left on the ship.

Captain Hail decided to head back to Cora’s hometown for the next six weeks until it was time to meet up with us again. He would do the alterations I wanted on the pens in his hull.

Cora’s people had a lumber operation that would provide the materials and labour he required. I also suspected he had a thing going with Beki and the crew didn’t seem that unhappy to be leaving Garson.

Cora had an aunt who lived not far from the sale yards, and she took us in for the week we were to stay in Garson. Vera and her partner Tabby were delighted to have us and to show us their city.

They helped us acquire the necessary finery for the ball and provided all the gossip on who was who. They were a little reticent to say anything against Lady Di, but Cora and I both got the impression we had to be careful how we dealt with her.

Apparently, she had a lot of influence on Domo Ethan and was his great-aunt. I was interested in learning that her family had originally come here from an island to the north-east of Federation four hundred years before. No one knew which island.

It was said that she was over two hundred years old and wore several magical items. She was a formidable mage and not a lady to slight. We heard other rumours of strange goings-on at her estate, but it was difficult to determine if the information was factual or was gossip.

If anything, the rumours didn’t inspire us with a desire to spend the rest of the winter at her estate. We learned it was located 200km south-west of us. Tabby even located maps for us. Di’s property included the lower half of a mountain range that ran mostly south-south-east on this side of the Slit.

The one good thing was that she bred the livestock I was after. We had met with Lady Di two days before the auction to iron out travel details. We were to travel to her primary location and then tour her southern estates so I could advise on how to manage the herds better.

She told us that she would then organise for me to travel to one of her properties north of her homestead. This manager hadn’t had the illness that her southern managers had dealt with. For the five weeks of work that she expected from me, she would allow me to select a bull and fifty head from her stock at half the normal rate.

She also gave me a letter from Domo Ethen that allowed me to drive my livestock across his lands to a wharf that was located 100km to the west of Garson. I could also approach his managers and purchase any other stock I required if they had any to sell.

I decided that since I would be working and not spending that much time in Lady Di’s company, then my time would be well spent. I sent a note to Captain Hail to expect us at the wharf mentioned in the last week of winter. For us, this is the sixth month of ten in our year.

I just hoped we made it in time to meet him.

The ball was an interesting affair.

I had a hard time keeping Cora by my side and fending off the people interested in me. I wasn’t into their style of dancing, so I refused the offers, stating that I had two left feet.

I had plenty of people wishing to talk to me about my livestock and the sickness that I was well entertained. Cora refused as many dances as she accepted, preferring to stay with me. Her aunt Vera and Tabby had been invited, since were staying with them, so they ran interference for us.

I did have to dance with Lady Di. I felt compelled to dance with her when she asked. This annoyed me, as I knew it wasn’t my decision. I hated being forced to do anything and fought the compulsion she was pushing at me. I guessed I could be as stubborn as my grandfather was.

I didn’t make it a pleasant experience for her. I think stepping on her foot twice and then her dress and ripping it got the message across that I was a crummy dancer. The fact I was stiff in her arms and stopped her from pulling me in close were not what she expected from me.

I was worried that by me not submitting to her charms, it would only make her more persistent. I unwittingly found a convenient out when one of the hangers-on asked me if I was looking for any extra spouses or husbands. He was of Pix decent and not a shifter.

“No,” I replied.

Lady Di asked me why not. In response, I replied, “Until I gain Bull status, I can’t give birth to a calf from anyone but my master nor can I select a spouse for myself. Even if I could choose a spouse, I’m not allowed to choose a non-shifter.”

“Why ever not?” she asked. We both knew that she wasn’t a shifter.

“Several reasons. The first being, I am property. I belong to my master and can’t choose a permanent mate without his permission unless I challenge for Bull status and win.”

“The second is that it is against our beliefs and heritage for a Bull to marry non-shifters and one day I will be a Bull. It is also preferable that my spouses can transform to bighorn although exceptions can be made if their forms are advantageous.”

I then had an inspiration and held up the hand with the ring on it. “The third is that my master has a compulsion spell on this ring. I must return at the end of winter whether I wish it or not. He does it to all his agents so we can’t run away.”

“It is a very effective method of control, as I can’t remove the magical ring. As the weather warms, I will be compelled to return. The longer I delay, the more it will hurt. I have no choice in the matter and must return. Only he can remove the spell.”

Several of the people looked at Cora. She made me a grin when she replied, “I’m not his spouse. His master gave him permission to buy several slaves to assist him. My mother sold me to him for ten of his bighorns. Personally, I think he got a bargain.”

“Bron choose me because I was young, healthy and have herding experience. Being a shifter, I meet his master’s requirements for an acceptable slave and possible spouse even though I can’t change to bighorn.”

I added, “It is common for the Bulls to have us agents’ select breeding stock for them while we buy other livestock. We are even allowed to use the slaves as long as we don’t impregnate them or them us.”

It was obvious that the people standing around Cora and me found our lifestyle foreign to them, but they all accepted what we said as true. I found it interesting to notice that Di and several others accepted my explanation of the magical ring being spelled in such a way as being a fact.

It was as if she and they had done the same thing in the past. I hadn’t thought it could be done to a true mages item, but I knew spells could be put on other items as I had done this myself when I made the travel shield for the ship.

I wondered if that was the cause of the wrongness, I felt about her and Domo Ethen in particular. I turned this thought around in my head and looked at it from several angles. I came to believe that they had found a way to corrupt magical items with coercion spells.

The fact she had tried several times to compel me, reinforced this belief. My spell books warned me to be careful of how I used this ability since I had this skill. I decided I had some studying to do. I reasoned that I should be able to block her compulsions better than I had been.

I did have a full set of items and four disciplines at my control. I suspected she might have the same number of disciplines but not the same ones as me. I also felt she didn’t have a full set as I did. That should make me the stronger mage. Her advantage was that she’d had a hell of a lot longer to practice than I had.

Cora and I managed to leave the ball together and with our virtues intact.

The auction went well.

I was amused when I realised one of the agents was bidding for Domo Ethen. He even tried to buy Snort. However, when Lady Di realised what he was doing, she gave him such a dirty look he backed out, so she had the highest bid.

She also acquired one of the other lots, as did Ethen. The other three lots went to three other bidders. Their bids must have been set above the maximums Ethen and Di had set for the lots.

Knowing they both wanted Snort and more heifers meant they had to keep enough capital in reserve and they both knew he wouldn’t go cheap. I’m not sure Lady Di had expected that there would be such strong bidding.

The conditions of the auction were that the full price must be transferred into my account by the end of the next day. If not, they forfeited the animals and the ten percent deposit they must provide at the end of the auction to secure the sale.

Cora and her relatives had explained the banking system to me. Once I had an account, the teller would issue me with a roll of vellum. They would write the amount and then use a metal stamp to verify the bank the money was stored in.

When money was deposited or removed from the account, the vellum would be re-stamped, and the new amount added. I could take it to any bank to conduct business. It was also accepted practice that if I used a bank other than the one I started at, I should return to my bank at regular intervals.

My bank could then copy the transactions and check them against any claims from a different bank or vendor to make sure my tallies matched, and I wasn’t cheated. Receipts help my claims. When I left, I could close the account. It was also a good idea not to lose the vellum.

To open the account, I had sold most of my salt. It surprised me how much pocket-change the salt provided for me. I added half the money from my large bag of coins. I deposited the money that Cavil gave me as a separate transaction so I could track his money and mine.

I then learnt that by displaying my account sheet to a merchant I could then write a debit slip so they could be paid. This method was only used if the bill was for a large sum and the merchant trusted me. Most merchant’s preferred cash for small purchases.

I also learnt the larger the value on the vellum the better the service I got. I was told to get a stamp made that identified the transactions on slips as mine. By having the stamp verified on my account, the bank would then only accept withdraws from my account if the stamp was on the slip.

I got a stamp made. I think many people thought it odd that it looked like a wolf’s head with horns rather than a bighorn with the floppy ears. Cora laughed and asked where its fishy tail was. Cheeky wench.

We left for Lady Di’s property two days after the auction.

I learnt that while snow could be pretty, it was bloody cold.

We were less than 10km from Di’s homestead when it snowed heavily. The previous night the temperature had dropped considerably and kept dropping during the morning as the clouds built and the day darkened.

Cora and I had made sure we had enough clothes and equipment for camping, and to suit the winter conditions before we left. Even so, I wasn’t a fan of snow. I come from a climate where I only wore long sleeves for sun protection.

I found being rugged up against the cold constricting. Eight days in Di’s company didn’t sweeten my disposition either. During the trip, she kept pressing and trying to counter the spell she thought I had on me.

She even tried to influence Cora. That made me really mad, and I was still fuming. Cora had a natural resistance, but even she found Di getting under her skin. Di and I had words two nights previous.

We had stopped at one of her properties to spend the night. We had arrived at lunchtime, and I was asked to go look at her animals. I spent most of the afternoon moving from barn to barn.

By the time I had finished, I was exhausted, and my magic seriously needed a good boost. I entered the room Cora, and I had been given to find Di with her head between Cora’s legs and her arms wrapped around Cora’s hips.

I could hear Cora moaning, “No, no.”

When I looked at her face, she seemed as if she was in some sort of trance. Her eyes were rolled back. She was pushing at Di’s arms but didn’t seem able to push her away. Her hips were lifting to Di’s mouth, but she didn’t appear in control of them.

I grabbed Di by the hair and reefed her head back. When her eyes met mine, I snarled, “Release my slave from your spell, witch.”

She looked at me in defiance, so I backhanded her hard. I then pulled her off Cora and dragged her back onto the floor. I straddled her chest, dug my knees into her breasts and pressed down until she grunted and started trying to draw breath past the pain. She clawed at my legs but I still wore the thick leathers, and she had no effect.

I still had hold of her hair and dug my long fingers into her head. I turned her face to mine as I changed my grip to the back of her neck. I locked my eyes on hers and growled, “You will not defy me. You will not try to force your will on me or mine. This is your first and last warning. You will obey me in this.”

Finally, I saw the fear in her eyes. “You will obey me. What will you do?” I growled as I reduced the pressure on her chest so she could breathe. I still held her head firmly in my grip, and my eyes never left hers.