“I’ll give you a guise ring that will change your appearance. You will be free within the city. Someday after all this is over, you can leave, but who knows you may enjoy working for me.”
“At what percentages?”
“fifty-fifty after expenses, which would include the King’s taxes.” We laughed.
“Why?”
“We are both new here, we have no friends, only enemies, I need to make money, you need a job.”
“That simple?”
“I’m a simple man.”
He laughed, “not on your worst day.”
“It would be better than watching the world go by from this library’s window, would it not?”
He looked around, “True. When do we start?”
“I’ll see you in a day or two, I have to make the jewelry.” I left him reading.
The guise ring I already had, I adjusted it so it would show only one guise. The loyalty bracelet took a while to get right. I didn’t want it burning his hand off just because he said, “I hate my job.”
“YOU CAUSED QUITE THE stir in the harbor,” Reggie said. “It seems the King had you build a new harbor for the good of the people.”
“Well, if that’s what they say, it must be true.”
“At any rate father is happy for the good will from the people.”
“It helps to keep the people on our side.”
“What are you up to today?”
“Surveying the castle to see what needs repairing.”
“I’ll be working with father. See you at dinner.”
She kissed me and was gone. I went up through the castle to the library. Nee-Carr was there and alone. I went out onto the hallway and came in through the door. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” he said standing.
I held up the guise ring. “I only does one guise. Hold the thought of how you want to look in your mind as you put it on. That will be the look you get from this ring.” He nodded. I gave him the ring.
He closed his eyes in concentration and put the ring on. The color of his hair and eyes changed. He now had a close-trimmed beard. “Well?”
“Looks good, not too much of a change, but good.” I handed him the loyalty bracelet. He looked at it. “If you act against me, or the Kingdom it will burn into your skin and I will know you have betrayed me.” He nodded, took a deep breath and fastened the bracelet around his left wrist. It sank under his skin out of sight. He felt his wrist, then shrugged.
“I have a request.”
“And that would be?”
“I would like to get my clothes and personal items from my old ship.’’
I thought a moment, “if someone were to look through those things would they know they had belonged to you?”
“Not specifically, they are all common enough items.”
“Ok, are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
I teleported us to his cabin on the ship. He sagged a moment, then was ok.
“Lay everything you want to take on the bunk.” He nodded, when he was through, I cast my spell putting everything in a crystal. I gave it to him. “When you are ready, step on, and break the crystal.” He put the crystal in his pocket.
We walked to the Harbor Master’s office where I introduced my Master Merchant Dov-ess. Then to our warehouse. I made a second-story apartment for him to live in, and a basement with a vault for our money. I gave him a purse of gold for him to use to furnish his apartment and for personal expenses.
I concentrated and teleported a chest of gold into the vault below. I took him down and showed him the vault and the gold. “That should be enough to get you started.”
He opened it and looked. “It will do,” he said smiling.
I took him out to my captured cargo ship. “You may recognize her.” He nodded. “You first task is to set up a business charter. Sell the cargo. Hire a captain and crew.”
“You’ll need to find a special captain and crew?”
“What kind of special?” I explained about Letters of Marque.
“We will also need fifty fighters to go on the ship to take Dunwich ships.” I watched this reaction.
He thought a bit, “they will be a shady bunch.”
“To say the least, one step away from pirates.”
“Not even a whole step. Ok, I can accept that.”
“I, or should I say we, already have a ship out on a cruise to take other ships. I’ll try to be here when they come in.” He nodded. “Can you think of anything else you need right now?”
“Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know,”
“Good, go make us rich.”
I SURVEYED THE CASTLE. The first thing I did was to raise bedrock up under the foundations. There were several weak places, and the bedrock solved those problems. I raised the places that had settled but stopped there. I wanted to see what the King had to say about my building things. I wanted to see if he would become demanding.
A week had passed before the question came up. “What did you do with Nee-Carr?” The King asked during one of own meetings.
“He tried to escape; he didn’t make it.”
He nodded, “have you looked into the castle repairs?”
“I have, and I raised bedrock up under the weak places in the foundations before it got any worse. I did nothing else until we talked. I didn’t want to overstep, I’m sure you have some things you’d like to see done.”
“I have some things I’d like changed, but I’d like to see some of your ideas.”
I raised a masa up from the floor. I made the model look like Bourtange Fort in the Netherlands. It was a pentagon design with arrowheads at each point of the pentagon. I made lower walls on the perimeters and high walls inside. The Castle proper was in the center pentagon. The base of the pentagon was in the harbor. Moats completely encircled the complex.
The King, Queen, and Reggie got up and looked at the model.
“How big is it?” The King asked.
“As big as you want it, but this model looks like this by the harbor.” I shrunk the model down and included the harbor, and the city so they would have an idea of its size.
“That is a city in itself.”
“It could be or scaled down to just the bare minimum.”
“How long would it take you to raise such a structure?” the Queen asked.
“I’m not sure, I’ve done nothing this big. This would help protect our harbor and the land side.”
“And what would you do with this castle?” The King asked.
I shrugged, “turn it over to the army, or the city, or remove it altogether. If you remove it, turn it into an open-air market, are a few thoughts.”
“Interesting ideas, we will think on them.”
I bowed, “Yes, Sire.” I took that as my dismiss and left.
We talked as we ate dinner in our pavilion. “Father liked your ideas but is concerned at how the people will view it, they may see this as him wasting money.”
“I can see that. If he didn’t like that, he surely wouldn’t like my whole plan.”
“What would that be?”
The city and harbor model rose from the table. It was all complete enclosed with-in a wall. The harbor forts became part of the harbor mouth forts.
Reggie looked at it, “I like it. Maybe someday.”
“I’II keep it in mind.” I said smiling.
I TOOK A MIDMORNING stroll through the city heading toward the harbor. I looked at businesses along the way, the people seemed prosperous.
I went to see Dov-ees. Our warehouse had a lot of goods in it.
“Good morning M’lord.”
“Good morning, how are things?”
“Doing well, I found our captain and crew for our ship. She will sail in a few days.” I looked at the pier where she was docked. She had a crew working on her getting her ready to sail.
“Good, on another subject, Are you familiar with ‘money changers’?”
“I am, some
ports and cities have them, some more than others.”
“Have you ever done anything like that?”
He nodded, “to some extent all merchants do, not all gold coins weigh the same.”
“I want to open a money changer office. One that will also issue letters of credit, and make loans against assets, and back some ventures.”
“Branching out, are we?”
“Yes, I need to put my money to work.”
“Where do you want to do this?”
“Any reason we could not do it here?”
“No, just build me another office, fund it, and I’ll do the rest.”
“Show me what you want and where you want it.’’ I added an office to one side of the warehouse with its own entrance. I teleported another chest of gold down with the vaults and we were in business. We noticed some excitement along the wharf and went outside to see what was happening.
Two ships were docking both were worse for wear, “that would be our first armed merchantman returning with spoils it seems.” We walked out on the pier and met them.
“Captain Wilks, do you have wounded that need attending?”
“We do M’lord.” I levitated aboard the ship.
“Take me to them.” He nodded and took me below. “Show me the worst first.” Most of the men had wounds of some kind, but seven were in bad shape and not expected to live. I started with the one gasping for breath at death’s door. He had a sucking chest wound. I healed the wound sealing the lung and teleported the blood from his lung. He started to breathe normally and fell asleep.
I moved down the line, healing all the wounded. Most were cuts and stabs. One was a head wound which I was not sure I could help, but I did what I could and put him in a deep sleep. The crew watched me as I worked. They had never seen a Mage healing. They were not worth the effort, when hurt they either lived or died on their own.
“They should be ok now, they just need some rest and food.”
“Thank you M’lord.” Everyone bowed as I passed them heading back up topside.
“Captain Wilks, this is Master Merchant Dov-ees. You will work with him. He will see to all your needs. He’ll buy your cargo and resupply your ship. Are there wounded on the other ship?”
“Minor only, we kept the worst on our ship. The other ship's cargo is a good haul.”
“Good, I’ll buy your half of the ship as agreed, to be shared out with the crew. Dov-ees will have carpenters here tomorrow to start repairs, on both.” Dov-ees nodded. “Do you need anything else?”
“No M’lord, thank you for healing my men,”
“They’re my men too, Captain. I can buy more things. Life is irreplaceable.”
I left Dov-ees there to work with Captain Wilks. Everyone bowed as I left. I heard one telling another, “I hear his men call him Captain even though he’s a Prince. He takes care of his own.”
“Aye, you can see that.”
I needed to arm our ships better. Either with ballistas and crossbows or cannons. Maybe start with crossbows and work my way up. I’d have to introduce gun powder before cannons. Maybe explosive tip bolts for the ballistas.
I USED MY NOTEBOOK to draw a basic crossbow, well, a refined basic crossbow, and bolts. I listed all the specifications needed. I found out there were three established armorers in the city, and one new one just getting started. I went to the new one.
His shop was in a low-rent end of the tradesmen’s street. There were a few items on display, some old that were probably traded or sold by someone needing money.
“Good day Sir, how may I help you?”
“I need a few things,” I picked up a sword, a knife, 2 staffs and a bow. I lay them on his counter, “what’s your price?” He glanced at what I had.
“Three silvers.” he said,
I nodded, “a fair price.” I paid him. I lay my hand on the items and fixed in my mind what I wanted. Then conjured a crossbow.
He stepped back looking at me then down at the crossbow. He stepped closer studying it. “May I?”
“Please.” I said pointing at it.
He picked it up and examined it. Nodding his head. “May we shoot it?”
“Let’s,” I said smiling. He gathered the three bolts, and we went to the rear of his shop; He had a short range there. Before anything, he fitted the bolt and saw how it all worked together.
“If I’m correct, you use the stirrup on the front for your foot, then pull the string back to lock, then lock the arrow in the guide?”
I nodded, “exactly. But they are called bolts, not arrows.”
He nodded, “bolts.” He put his foot in the stirrup, cocked it and loaded the bolt. I showed him how to shoulder and aim. He aimed and fired. The bolt went through his target and into the wall behind.
“It went through it.”
I nodded, “they are deceivingly powerful.”
“Do you want to sell it?”
I chuckled, “No, I want you to make some for me."
“But you can make them.”
“Yes, but that would put you out of a job wouldn’t it.”
His eyebrows went up. “Yes, it would.”
I took out my drawing and lay it on his work bench. “That one is for your pattern. This is all the information you should need to make them.”
He looked over the drawing. “How many do you want?”
“Ten, to start, once I see the ten, I’II order more.”
“How many more?”
“At least two hundred.”
His mouth fell open. He handed the drawing back to me. “M’lord, I am a small shop only recently in business. You should take this to one of the bigger shops. They will make them faster than I could.”
“You would send me to a competitor, so I could get them faster, even though you would lose money?”
“I could make them, no problem. It’s the time it would take me to do it. I would fail you. I will not do that.”
I nodded. I took out a large purse of gold and sat it on his workbench. “Hire the people you need, if you need to rent a bigger shop do it. You will be making my crossbows for me. My name is Prince Aaron, and we will do more business together.”
He jumped up and bowed, “Yes M’lord. I will start right away making your crossbows.”
“If you need anything, send word to the castle,”
“Yes, M’lord.” I couldn’t help but smile, he was in a daze when I left.
I had not considered the pettiness of medieval military contracts. Three days later I was summoned by the King. When I arrived, there was quite the crowd in the throne room.
“This ought to be fun.”
I approached the throne and bowed. The King, the Queen, and Reggie were there. “Sire.”
“Prince Aaron, Master Armor Smith has brought a complaint before us. He claims you have broken an agreement we have made with him.”
I looked at the Smith, he had a “cat that ate the canary” grin on his face. I didn’t like him already.
“I’m sorry Sire I will explain what happed to Master Smith, there is no need to waste your time on this matter.”
“No, you should explain it to the King now.” Smith said.
I turned toward him. “If you interrupt me again, I will tear your tongue out of your head. But since you insist on having this conversation in public, by all means let’s have it. The crown did not engage an armor to make weapons, I did. Me. With my money. Not the treasury’s money, mine. I chose who I wanted to make my weapon based on skill and integrity. Not based on the gold gift you bribed everyone with to get the contracts, so you could charge the Crown twice the value for inferior products.”
I raised my hand, his sword leapt to meet it. I caught it and looked it over. “Would you say this is some of your best work?” before he answered, I drew my sword and struck them together. Mine, of course, cut his in two, “I’m not very impressed with your work.” I dropped the other half of his sword.
“If you ever come before me again with a brib
e, or to try to bully me into changing a contract, I’ll seize your business, and properties. I’ll have you thrown in the dungeon, and tortured until I tire of your screams, then feed what’s left to the pigs. Is that clear enough for you, Master Smith?”
“Aaron.” Reggie soft voice broke through my anger. I had not realized how mad I had become. A halo of blue fire surrounded me, and my sword. My armor’s spikes were out, the only thing that was not up was my helmet. Without moving my head, I saw everyone had backed as far away from me as possible.
“Aaron?”
I looked at her, “I think he gets the point dear.” The halo around me went dark, the spikes on my armor folded away, and I sheathed my sword.
I bowed to the King, “Forgive me Your Highness, my Queen.” They nodded, I stepped to the side facing the crowd. I kept my stone face on.
“Was there anything else you wished to discuss Master Smith?” the King asked.
The Smith was ghost white and visibly shaken. “No, Your Highness.”
“Present your accounting book to the Royal auditors in two days. We want to insure we have paid you for your work.”
He bowed. “Yes sire,” and backed out. I don’t think that went the way he had planned.
The King stood, “That is all for today.” Everyone bowed as the Royals left the room. Reggie held her hand out for me. I took it and followed.
We sat down to lunch. “Had you every met Master Smith before today?”
“I had not, Sire.”
“You didn’t seem to like him.”
“I don’t like his kind. They buy their way into and out of everything. They are bullies who think they are better than everyone else.”
“So, you have met him.” The King said smiling. “What is this weapon you are having made?” I took a copy of the drawing from my pouch and handed it to him.
“A crossbow.”
Chapter 16
I armed my three ships with ballistas, now they truly were armed merchantmen. I put a large ballista on the main deck, one medium one on the foredeck and two smaller ones on each side midship. They had both been repaired, restocked and crewed. They were all out hunting.
Mage Throne Prophecy Page 15