Chapter 20

Rotrington approved of the plan to rescue the damsel, helped Rolly buy up the gold he needed, and asked if he could come along. Rolly had planned to ask Sir Bryant, but Rotrington pointed out that too many men who looked like soldiers might cause suspicion. A decrepit old advisor, who knew the ways of the court, and a baron partially crippled in a fall from a horse, would look better.

There really isn't much to do in a cold castle in the middle of winter. Rachel had her first sleigh ride, and Rolly had a blacksmith and a cobbler make a couple of pairs of ice skates for them to use on the mill pond. He stayed and watched the blacksmith work just to keep warm.

Rachel had fun designing clothes. Her raven hair and dark skin stood out against the long, white, quilted coat that she had made. She trimmed it in fluffy white fox fur at the collar, cuffs and hem. She designed Rolly a western style leather and fleece sheepskin coat that seemed more practical than the local alternatives. Hose were common for men's leggings so she had a pair of woolen long underwear made for herself. She also designed tartan patterns for herself and Rolly.

Rolly was busy making long pants fashionable.

The wedding plans were finalized and spring came. The wedding ceremony was held outdoors under flowering fruit trees with nearly all of the knights in attendance, wearing their finery. At that time Rotrington, who was a legend to the knights, selected each of the men he wanted to use in Vanina, and swore them to secrecy.

The whole barony celebrated the wedding. The wedding gown was white, low cut and low belted with ermine trim. The bride's jewelry was understated, and she had small white flowers in her cascading hair. Her bouquet was of violets. Any of the peasant girls watching from the sidelines could relate to what she was wearing.

The ladies all wanted to see what the exotic baroness would wear at the ball, and they were not disappointed. For the wedding feast in the great hall, Rachel changed into a costume that said power and wealth. It was an old Spanish influenced design made of fine red material with black and gold trim. Large pearls were the jewels of choice. She had her ladies-in-waiting wear gowns in a similar style but of different colors.

Over winter she had made Rolly shave and get a hair cut, and they sat for wedding portraits as soon as their costumes were finished.

The ships had retuned a few weeks before the wedding and the captains reported their findings.

First, the merchant, Mardeno, liked physical power. The local contests were both public and private wrestling and boxing matches and he would sometimes hire the winner, especially if the man were exceptionally big, or gifted, or exotic looking. This Rolly already knew, more or less.

The captain entered one of the giants in a competition, and the merchant just had to have him, especially with his brother, who was just as large. Mardeno was willing to pay the captain for his crewmen, but there was a veiled threat, so the captain knew he had little choice. The merchant did much the same for the four redheaded sailors, especially after he found out from the giants that they were skilled swordsmen from the northern fjords.

The two giants now walked on the right and left of the merchant whenever he was in town.

The spies also found out that the merchant trained with his guards, both with weapons and bare hands, and sometimes challenged someone else's champion, bet on himself, and often enough won.

Second, the Doge of Venina was an honest man who upheld the laws of his city, but he was also a wily trader and knew what his waterfront and dock space was worth. He would not be impressed by a title, only by the worth of the merchandise. His city coffers grew from taxing the trade. – He expected to be treated like a king, so tribute had better be up to snuff. The captains told Rolly of the gifts other merchants had presented when asking for a trading house. There was no guarantee that the gift would get the house, but the doge's people pretty much told the applicant before hand if it would be enough. It was with those men that you haggled, and if they or the doge didn't like you the doge might accept the gift of audience and refuse the application.

Third, the doge wished that he had rejected Mardeno's application. He didn't like the man at all.

Forth, there was an old law that stated if it were agreeable to both parties there could be a fight to the death, winner takes all, but it had to be officiated over. It was rarely used, and then usually by the lower class when there was a terrible offence.

And fifth, the man's home could not be stormed. It was easily defended, and he had skilled warriors for guards.

Rolly asked how the half barrel of spicy powder was received, and the captain told him that according to the spies, not well at first, but some of the spies had talked it up and purchased quite a bit; and on the return trip they found that the price was much higher. As a result the captain had the others buy it all back, to increase demand in Venina. They bought it no matter the cost, and said that they had made a fortune on the spice down the coast and would resell it there. All in all, even with buying back most of the paprika they had made a profit.

Over the winter Rolly had a deck and cabin put on the largest of the cogs and had workmen add some carved woodwork and a new paint job to make the boats look like something a wealthy man might take as a transport.

They loaded the three ships with winter furs, narwhal and walrus ivory, raw gold in different colors, ingots of refined gold, fine linens, raw flax, bales of the best quality wool, whale oil, and several barrels of their best uisge beathe, which had been aging for three years in wine casks. This tapped out Rolly's personal accounts, but Rotrington, Dannir, Sir Bryant, and the Battle Harbor Shipping Company pitched in.

The trip was a long one, a week out of Port Balkat the captain pointed out the landmarks to the hidden harbor. They stopped at several ports to refresh their food and water supplies and got a glimpse of the cities that merchants from Port Balkat normally traded with. A month into their trip they rounded the southwest corner of the continent, and two weeks from then they sailed into Venina.

As they approached the harbor they saw several small fishing villages, usually with a few smaller merchant vessels. The captian said that a lot of small scale trading went on in these villages by traders who were not big enough to enter the main harbor. When one of them got a full load by bartering and buying in the village harbors he would sail in and do business in Venina. Trader's could make a living that way, but they would not get rich. Venina harbor only had space for big business. The only small business that went on there was from fishing boats. Food for the city had priority, but those boats were in and out, so they didn't take up space the way a merchant ship did.

Venina harbor was naturally protected, and just large enough for the city, or the city was just large enough for the harbor. The city consisted of stone and white-washed brick buildings with terracotta shingled roofs. Smaller structures filled the flatland and lined the lower elevations along the hillsides around the harbor. Higher up more vegetation could be seen in between larger residences.

The climate was suny and warm most of the year, so each house had a cistern that collected water from the rooftops. There was also an aqueduct that brought water into the city.

Two buildings stood out, the large customs house on the waterfront, and the Doge's Palace on the hillside high above. If the Doge's Palace had not been situated where it was the custom's house would have appeared to be the residence of the leader of the city, and at one time it may have been.

The hillsides were dotted with other palatial homes of fitting stature for the wealthy and powerful families of the city. Behind the hills that faced the sea there was enough arable land to grow food for the city, but it was cheaper to bring in much of the grain that was needed by ship.

Tidal flushing kept he harbor somewhat free of the waste that drained into it from sewers etc, so although the scent of the waterfront was strong, it was 'of the sea' from such things as drying sponges, dead seaweed, and the fish market.

They secured lodging in the best inn in the city, which was at an elevation high enough to be above the odor, and to catch the cooling ocean breezes. The next day Rotrington, with one ship's captain, a trade official from the barony, and a paired set of three blond guards and three black-haired guards walked back towards the waterfront where the city customs house sat. There the captain registered his cargo and his intent to trade.

Rotrington and the trade official made formal request for an audience with the Doge to apply for a trading house in the name of Roland, Baron of Sachs-Tyndell-Kenty-Balkat (on the voyage Rotrington convinced him to claim the Kenty-Balkat Corridor and the far side of the river for as far as he wanted. The old swordmaster said that Rolly had a right, due to lands conquered during his cattle campaign. It didn't matter that he couldn't protect the area, he could still claim and control it.

The customs house said that they would pass the information on, and someone from the Doge's Palace would be in contact. They also informed him that someone would inspect the ships' cargoes later that day. The group walked down to the waterfront and the captain pointed out Mardeno's trading house and his boats. They walked by in hopes that notice of their body guards would be passed on.

On the way back to the inn they passed a sword shop, and Rotrington had to go in. All of the barony's best swords had been made in the northeastern cities, and were mostly brought back by knights who had been on campaigns. Sometimes they used family money to buy more than one sword to sell back home. The swords in Venina rivaled the best Rotrington had ever seen. The city was too far away from the barony for him to have even heard of Venina steel. How he would like to spend his final days working with a skilled swordsmith, he thought.

The captains informed Rolly that the maximum number of bodyguards allowed to accompany someone in town was six because the city prided itself on being safe and well policed. The ceremonial placement of guards was two in front, two flanking and two behind. They were allowed bucklers or shields but no offensive weapons. That was a new city ordinance.

Because it was a status symbol and sign of rank, some of the altaratti class did go out with their six body guards, especially those that feared assassination or assault by cut purses, but rarely were the guards in uniform and in ceremonial formation. Most of the highborn usually went out with only one or two men.

When Rolly and Rachel went out exploring the local bazaar they took with them four blonds, a red head, and one man with dark hair that at six foot six was much larger than the others. The guards stayed mixed and out of rigid formation but were still protective of the handsome couple. Rolly walked with a cane and affected a slight limp, and had ever since disembarking from the boat.

When he first left the docks, the city guard did examined his simple cane to make sure that it didn't hide a sword.

Rachel and Rolly wandered through the market place asking the merchants questions about all of their exotic goods. They found quite a bit that they thought the nobles in the glen would pay for handsomely.

The next day they were visited by the doge's representatives who asked many questions about their resources. How much trade did they hope to do? What were the main commodities? What was their market at home? And at the end of the interview they asked what gift Rolly had planned for the audience with the doge.

His captains and agents had prepared him for this. Start small and work up, so Rolly and his advisors described the gifts up to a point where he thought it would be a nice series of gifts of linens, ivory, some furs and some ornate jars and boxes. The gifts were worth quite a bit of money, and impressive for the ruler of almost any other city, but the doge's representatives looked skeptical, as if they were waiting for more. They also asked additional questions about some of the other cargo that the ships carried. After answering, Rolly asked the men if they thought the doge might like a large chest full of his spice. The men seemed content with that. If the doge liked Rolly, it would be enough.

The audience was set up for the afternoon three days hence.

Normally, audiences for trading houses were newsworthy, but nothing to get too excited about. Rolly's agents hyped it up with a gossip campaign. They stressed that it was a rich baron with a beautiful wife. The nobility never carried out business themselves, even if their overlord allowed it. It was beneath them to conduct trade because the person had to argue and haggle to be a good merchant, and that was not something a man in authority did with social inferiors, he sent others to do that for him behind closed doors.

The rich and powerful of the city were not impressed. Most of them could easily buy out a minor baron from the boondocks. They would probably take note of a wealthy prince or minor king. But Rolly and Rachel were both good looking, and they had good looking body guards with them, so they became a curiosity.