by Eric Vall
“A Duelist’s estate is imbued with natural protections from the Goddess’ blessing, but it is the responsibility of that Duelist to pay homage to Mercedes,” Jenner said as he cleared the splinters out of the hole in the post so I could insert the new rail. “Old Kel basically gave up on living after his favorite wife died, and he let the Goddess’ altar fall to neglect just like the rest of the place.”
“So, Old Kel didn’t worship the Goddess enough, or something, and the protection charms on the estate failed?” I asked as I marked the tapered end of the rail with the awl.
“That is somewhat correct.” Jenner nodded his fuzzy head. “I’m sure you saw the pools of water in the north courtyard with the murals, yes?”
“Yeah, I remember.” I narrowed one eye and glanced down the rail to make sure it was solid and straight.
“Well, all Duelists give ‘tithes,’ or drops of their blood to the sacred pools,” the koala-man said in his Excited About History Voice. “When the blood hits the holy water, it sinks to the bottom as it is transformed into the purifying stones you probably observed at the banquet.”
“Yeahhhh, there was something like that there.” I grimaced when I remembered Zoie dropping a gray rock into my salty water goblet.
“On estates such as this, tithing pools are normally kept in the chapel so all the workers who lived there could collect their ration of purifying water pebbles,” he said as he brought over the handsaw again. “But Old Kel moved them to the garden he had built for the Lady Gerra because she loved the story of Aventoll so much. When she died, Kel cursed Mercedes and was then cursed in return to wither away. It was no surprise Dagmar killed him. It was only a surprise it took so long for someone to finally try.”
“Okay, so these tithe stones are like money, then?” I asked, and I set the rail down for a second as I suddenly remembered something. It was during the festival when I first got here, where Vel-Rala tried to sell me boots in exchange for fourteen tithe stones.
“No, actually, exchanging tithes for goods is highly illegal, even though everyone does it under the table, so to speak.” The koala-man’s ears wiggled twice in a row, and he smirked at me like a sly fox. “Twenty-five seasons ago, when The Asher Council was first formed, they had all tithe pools removed from all chapels in Aventoll except for the Asher Lord’s. Can you think of why?”
“It’s all about control in the end, and it’s always the same,” I answered with a disheartened shrug. “The people who control the basic necessities of life are the ones with the most power. Since water is life, and these blood sacrifice pebbles make the only water on the island drinkable, then that means the Asher Lord owns you if he’s the only one with the pebbles.”
“You are an excellent pupil, Mr. Alex!” he said with a bark of a laugh. “Your Aventollian politics are really coming along!”
“But how can Mec give his blood to everyone on the island?” I asked as I picked up the rail again. “He’s only one man with a fancy title, but to my knowledge he is just a mortal--oh, wait. He has other Ashers working for him who get mega privileges for doing what he says, I bet.”
“Correct again, my learned student,” Jenner said. “Mec has various higher-level Duelists help him with the tithes like Ambassador Sskern, Gella Vane of Gatetown, and even Bala Ren. They all come to the palace in Valley City to give their tithes every sixty days where a gala is hosted in their honor.”
“And, of course, by elevating his favorites, he can also control his status so the other guys won’t want to kill his ass,” I said as a little more was revealed behind the wallpaper of this world’s caste system, and boy did it paint an ugly picture.
“I couldn’t have said a more proper summation if I tried.” The koala-man nodded with a pleased tremor of his furry gray ears.
“But I met Gavlain Mec, and he honestly seemed like he was cool,” I said as I remembered how jolly the ram-lord was when he hosted his Blue Night Gala. “Why would he do a shitty thing like support removing the pools where the drinking stones are kept? Aren’t Ashers supposed to protect their people? What about the Noble Duelist Ways and shit like that he was going on about the first day I got here?”
“Mec might be at the mercy of the Asher Council,” Jenner said with a shrug. “There are politics at play here that a simple man like me can only guess at.”
“It’s still an evil thing to do,” I muttered with a scowl, and I shook my head.
“The Ashers aren’t necessarily good or evil, Alex,” Jenner said, and I looked at him with a questioning frown. “They are tasked to protect us, yes, but they must remain in power to do so. I know you are new to this world, but you have to remember the Ashers haven’t been tasked to fight the scourge for over seventy years. Duelists like Mec have had to focus on keeping their status so someone worse doesn’t come in to fill their places.”
I mulled over what I’d just learned as the saw teeth cut through the wooden rail, and then I frowned when something occurred to me.
“Mec doesn’t know Old Kel moved his tithe pools before the Asher Council could take them, right?” I asked.
“This is true,” Jenner said after we fitted the bottom rail into place.
Only one to go, and then it would be finished.
“So, if I get busted for owning them, then Mec could probably Duel me for dishonoring him, right?” I said more than asked.
“Oh, yes, almost definitely,” the little man confirmed. “Dagmar took great care to conceal the fact they existed when he inherited the pools.”
“Why didn’t he just use the tithe pools for himself?” I asked as I returned to the wheelbarrow for the last rail.
“Only someone from Alem can bless the water of the sacred pools,” Jenner said and mopped his brow on his smudgy handkerchief. “If he could have afforded an Alemic wife, then he could have blessed the pools for his own gain.”
“Does anyone know about Old Kel’s tithe pools other than Dagmar?” I asked as I brought the rail back over.
“Only one: Asher Gordos,” he said.
I froze in my tracks. “Fuck. That guy? I had a bad run in with him.”
“I know, you did,” Jenner deadpanned. “Your little friend Rylan told me all about the altercation that took place between you last night.”
“I almost forgot about Rylan,” I said and felt a little guilty about how single minded I was on getting my beautiful wife to bed last night. “How is he? Is he still here? I didn’t mean to let him fall to the wayside like that, or to dump him on you.”
Jenner gave me a sly smile. “No harm done. I know you were… preoccupied last night with other matters.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck.
“To answer your question, the boy is fine,” Jenner said and patted my elbow. “I sent him back to the palace with a letter to Asher Mec informing him about the situation.”
“Rylan won’t get into trouble, will he?” I asked.
“He will,” Jenner said, and a small stone of worry dropped into the pit of my stomach, but Jenner must have seen this on my face because he patted my elbow again. “But I trust the Lord Asher is a man with good sense. Everyone on Nata Isle knows how awful Asher Gordos and his wife can be.”
“Yeah, they are both pieces of work,” I snorted. “And I don’t think Gordos will put it past himself to blackmail me when he gets a chance.”
“They only care about status and gold,” Jenner said. “Dagmar would often cut Gordos in on the high-stakes chance games he favored, and in return Gordos would cover his taxes somehow. Probably by wringing more from other low-rank estate owners. Gordos would keep quiet about the tithe pools.”
“I have a feeling he won’t be so kind in my case,” I said.
“After last night, I should think not,” he scoffed. “You sure know how to leave a first impression, Mr. Alex.”
“So they tell me,” I snarked, and then I went to grab the last rail so we could finish up this section of the fence.
Jenne
r and I worked on the fence in companionable silence until the last rail finally fit it into place between the posts. The rest of the fence definitely needed help, but for now, at least the pasture was enclosed.
“Will this keep the poracks in?” I asked.
“It should do for now, but we will have to consider a long-term solution in the near future,” Jenner said with a frown and brushed his hands off on his trousers. “There is one last matter I would like to speak with you about, Mr. Alex.”
“What’s up, J?” I asked and leaned against the sturdy post behind me.
“I’m not sure how much you know,” Jenner started with a slight grimace as if he was talking about something that made his stomach cramp. “But the Lady Zoie’s cultural background is a bit obscure…”
“Jenner, you really gotta stop talking to me in riddles,” I said and walked toward him so I could put a hand on his shoulder. “That Queen’s Raid stuff really almost backfired on me. Death by chess is not a noble death, trust me.”
Then Jenner completely surprised me by throwing back his big-eared head and laughing a hearty laugh.
“Oh, Mr. Alex!” he wheezed and removed the monocle from his eye to wipe away a tear. “I have not laughed like that in ages. Well done, by the way. Not many people can handle a social situation like the Asher Lord’s Blue Night Gala and land on your feet as well as you have done. How is it you are already a legend on Nata Isle?”
“Geez,” I said and rubbed the back of my sweaty neck again. “I guess word really gets around?”
“And I suppose I rather stoked the flames on the gossip pyre,” Jenner said and walked back to the wheelbarrow with the toolbox. “For that, I wanted to apologize.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jenner.” I kept pace with him and reached for the handles of the wheelbarrow. “Hop on.”
Jenner set the toolbox into the back and climbed in. Then he stood toward the front with his hands on my shoulders as I pulled the wheelbarrow behind me.
“What were you trying to tell me about Zoie?” I asked as we made our trek up to the barn.
“Yes, I will attempt to be less obtuse,” Jenner said and cleared his throat a little. “Zoie’s value as a Duelist’s wife on Aventoll is low. She sounds and acts upper crust, but her people are known to be skilled warriors, but otherwise… Well… She knows very little about business or management, and I’m afraid our financial situation is rather dire.”
“Jenner, dude.” I looked at him over my shoulder and raised my eyebrows. “I know where you’re going with this, and Zoie and I talked. She was really upset last night thinking she was going to shame my honor or get me killed just because she can’t read and balance a checkbook.”
“I don’t know what a checkbook is, but I am assuming you mean keep a ledger of accounts,” Jenner said.
“Yeah,” I replied and hiked the wheelbarrow over the bumpy dirt path. “She was telling me about being returned to the Traders if I get killed by a guy who doesn’t want her.”
“She is an asset, therefore she must be owned,” Jenner said.
“But what about you and Arvid?” I asked.
“Arvi and I are considered property.” He tweaked his monocle and then removed it so he could give it a buff on the back of my tunic. “We are tied to this estate and the Asher who owns the estate. If you can no longer maintain your property, it will be reassigned, but if you cannot maintain your assets, they will be repossessed.”
“But Zoie is a person,” I said and shook my head in defeat. “So are you guys.”
“That she is, and that we are.” Jenner nodded and replaced his eye piece. “But regardless, it is the way of Aventoll.”
I mulled this over in silence for a few moments. The more I learned about this world’s social structure, the more I understood Zoie’s anxiety.
“Jenner, what are the conditions like with the Traders?” I asked him as something started to dawn on me.
“No one really talks about the Varthan Traders, but enough has been implied by Ms. Zoie that paints a dark picture,” Jenner said in a grave voice. “To my limited knowledge, they are horrible.”
“Well, she’s never going back to them for as long as I fucking breathe, that’s for damn sure,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I’m glad,” Jenner said as he jumped off the wheelbarrow so he could open the tool shed next to the big drafty barn. Then he stopped in the doorway and turned to me. “Thank you for your care of her. Arvid and I only had Old Kel before Dagmar, so Zoie’s presence has been a welcome one. I’ve grown to look on her as a daughter of sorts. I’m too old to have any children of my own, you see.”
“She told me you and Arvid were pretty much the only people who have treated her with kindness, so my thanks as well,” I said and stowed the wheelbarrow inside the small storage space.
“We need to get this estate generating income for her sake,” Jenner added and closed up the tool shed.
“Zoie and I might have a long-term plan that involves getting Shale-Lea to manage the estate,” I said.
“Shale-Lea… as in Bala Ren’s wife?” Jenner mused and stroked his scruffy white chin. “Through a Duel inheritance?”
“Exactly,” I said as I jabbed my finger in his direction. “But I wanted to ask you about the short term. What are ways for people to make money on Nata Isle? We have so much potential we could invest into the estate, but planting crops and breeding livestock takes time and labor we can’t afford.”
“There are a few ways to generate revenue,” Jenner said in his familiar scholarly tone, and I knew I was in for another lecture so I knocked over a wooden box and made myself comfortable by taking a seat.
Jenner began to pace as he entered Wikipedia Mode. “The first way, of course, is by agriculture and sales of goods and wares. Many of the larger estates supply the isle with food. The smaller estates like this one can sell their agriculture, of course, but where they really make money is if they can supply the market with a local delicacy.”
“A delicacy? Like what?” I asked and dragged another bushel of woot fruits sitting on the ground toward me.
“Well, in the times when Lady Gerra was with us, this estate was known for its bumblebird honey,” Jenner said with a nostalgic smile as he rocked up on the balls of his feet. “I’m proud to say, I was the primary honey cultivator for many years, and the profits from the season kept us all well-fed through the winter.”
I was about to take a bite of fruit when I stopped as the gears in my head started formulating.
“Can you do that again, harvest honey?” I asked.
“Well, I suppose I could if I had the resources,” Jenner said with a spark in his eyes I’d never seen before, but the spark suddenly died as his fluffy ears wilted a little. “But bumblebirds are quite expensive these days in the market. Not many of them exist anymore.”
“Okay, we’ll put a pin in that one,” I said and finally chomped into the refreshing fruit. “What’s another way we can earn some gold?”
“Other ways include providing a service such as blacksmithing, tailoring, or jewelry forging,” Jenner listed off, and then he tapped his chin. “And of course, there are more unconventional ways like high stakes chance games, and raiding the Ruins, but those kinds of things are not things I would recommend.”
“What are the Ruins?” I asked as I latched on to the “raiding” part of the Things Not Recommended. To me, it sounded like some sort of D&D campaign to tear up monsters and loot some dungeons.
“Legend claims there are many rewards down in the ancient cliff city,” Jenner said as if he was weaving a scary bedtime story, “but the Ruins are also rumored to harbor nests of monsters.”
“But there is gold down there, right?” I interjected.
“Yes, gold and riches, but also cursed artifacts and booby traps. The risks of returning alive from a place such as that is unheard of these days.”
“Right, that does sound risky,” I said and tossed the spent husk of the woot fruit
to the side. “But jewelry forging might be something. Where I come from, I worked in a shop that repairs jewelry. My boss was teaching me a few things before I ended up here, and I kind of hoped it would turn into an apprenticeship soon.”
“I don’t have much knowledge about the metallic arts, but we might be able to find someone you can continue to apprentice under,” Jenner said, and I could tell the gears in his furry head were turning just as much as mine were. “I’m sure we could convert the old workshop into a metal working area, but then we will need to hire someone with the correct skills, or someone who can be trained.”
“After I Duel that tightwad, Ren, our best bet would probably be tracking down your bumblebirds,” I said as I got back to my feet. “Then we can expand from there onto our long-term plans so we can afford multiple estates.”
“Mr. Alex, might I ask you a question?” Jenner cleared his throat and fidgeted with the cuff of his jacket. “One I hope you won’t be offended by?”
“Fire away, Mr. J,” I said.
“What is your plan when it comes to defeating Asher Ren?” he asked.
“Zoie is going to train me.” I grinned as my wife in question rounded the corner and made her way up the path toward us.
“No better teacher than a Varthan warrior,” Jenner said with a smile.
“Yeah,” I agreed and waved my hand.
Zoie paused to adjust the rolled canvas bag on her shoulder and then waved back.
“I will leave you to your training,” the koala-man said and turned to go back up the hill to the manor.
“Hey, Jenner,” I called out, and he stopped and turned back to me. “Thanks for your advice.”
“Thank you, Mr. Alex,” Jenner said with a slight bow. “This place has been my home for many years, and I have been waiting a long time for a Duelist worthy enough to restore her to her former glory. Do not hesitate to ask me for answers on anything you seek.”
“I won’t,” I said and nodded back to him in respect.