“Fine, merchant. It has been my pleasure to do business with you, and if the next transaction is this good, your letter of marque will be here this spring. And you will be our primary purchaser here,” Ahnon said with a nod.
Looking around, the owner leaned over. “My wife put four days’ rations in bags for you, but I put more. I’m sorry, but she can’t cook. That’s not why I married her,” he admitted.
Ahnon chuckled, and with the mask on, it sounded creepy to the owner. “Tell your wife I’m in her debt, and I’ve eaten worse; trust me, good merchant,” Ahnon said and motioned to the kids to get up on a wagon. Jedek got on the one in the back and Kenna in the middle wagon that had cows tied to the back and Ahnon driving the double wagon up front. Jedek’s wagon was piled high with hay, and as he looked at it towering over him, he hoped it wouldn’t fall. He looked over the side at the full chicken cages lashed to the side and grinned.
With the eastern sky getting brighter, they followed Ahnon out onto the street as it wound its way out of the city. It was hours after dawn when they pulled through the city gates. Jedek and Kenna were both amazed at just how fast the oxen moved with their steady walk, and they were out of sight of the city before noon.
Ahnon was looking around when Kenna jogged up beside him. “Hey pull me up,” she said, holding out her hand. Reaching down, Ahnon pulled her up and put her on the seat.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not riding by myself for days and nights not talking to anyone,” she said. “Don’t worry; I told the oxen to follow you and tied a rope from them to the back of your last wagon,” she said. “They are smarter than cows but still not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
Ahnon laughed. “Yes, you’re right,” he said and looked over and saw Jedek climb up on the other side, smiling. “Lonely?” he asked.
“No, but the oxen don’t really like to talk. I did the same thing Kenna did to her team,” Jedek said, and Ahnon laughed.
“Ahnon, what is a letter of marque?” Kenna asked.
“When a merchant does good business and pleases a noble, they will give him a letter of marque. It lets others know that the noble likes doing business with that merchant. The more letters of marque a merchant can get, the more nobles and others will use them.”
“I bet when you get one from Lord Reardon, that means something,” she said with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, merchants try hard to get his business,” Ahnon said.
“Who’s Lord Reardon?” Jedek asked.
“The richest man in the world,” Kenna informed him.
“Kenna, when we get home, I’m teaching you money,” Jedek said.
“I know money,” she said with a sassy tone.
Jedek shook his head. “No, you don’t. There are other coins besides gold,” he said, and Kenna gave him a mean look. “Ahnon, how do you know Lord Reardon?” Jedek asked, ignoring the look from Kenna.
“After his wife gave birth to their second child, a group of men kidnapped her and the two kids. They threatened to kill them unless the he paid them an enormous sum,” Ahnon said, leaning over, looking behind him, making sure the oxen behind him were still following. “Reardon was going to pay it, but I stopped him, telling him they were going to kill them anyway. I told him to go ahead with the money but not to let it out of his sight. I tracked them down and killed the kidnappers and rescued his family before he reached the exchange point.”
“Bet he was thankful,” Kenna said.
“Yes, he was. He tried to give me the ransom.”
Kenna looked at him burning with curiosity. “Just how much?” she asked.
“Seven tons of gold.”
“WHAT!” she screeched, and the oxen jumped. Taking his glove off, Ahnon reached up and stuck a finger in his ear, shaking it to make the ringing stop.
“Kenna, please don’t do that,” Ahnon begged, and the oxen grunted in agreement.
“Why didn’t you take it?” she asked.
“I didn’t need it. I already had money; what I needed was someone to show me how to make more. So I asked him to go into several businesses with me and to be a trusted friend,” Ahnon explained then leaned over close to her ear. “Besides, I’ve made more than that with him partnering and showing me how to make money,” he whispered.
Kenna went into shock as Jedek smiled. “That was smart, Ahnon,” Jedek said.
“I thought so,” Ahnon said.
“Do you own any land here in Racor?” Jedek asked.
“Yes, I own an estate outside the capital and several houses around the country,” Ahnon said.
“How many countries do you have houses in?” Jedek asked, looking at the still shocked Kenna.
“All of the five kingdoms: Spree, Azonia, Brant, Calkran, and Ocnus,” Ahnon said.
“That’s every kingdom in the south,” Jedek said.
“I also own houses in the three northern kingdoms,” Ahnon added, and Jedek shook his head.
Jedek looked over at Ahnon. “How did you know Ava was a witch?” he asked.
“Jedek, that’s easy. She doesn’t smell like spell components, and Delmuth is a pretty good warrior but not good enough to keep the creatures at bay there. Only someone with power can do that. She’s not crazy like a demon catcher, so that only left one option.”
“Snot, that’s just smart reasoning,” Jedek said, disappointed.
“Most of life is,” Ahnon said, looking down at Kenna, who was still wide-eyed. Ahnon smiled and patted her leg as they continued on.
They rode straight through, only stopping to water and once to feed the oxen even though the oxen said they were fine. On the morning of the seventh day since they left, they pulled up to Delmuth’s farm. They loaded up on the wagons and horses and left with Ahnon once again driving through.
When they reached the cottage, Delmuth stared at it in wonder as Ahnon and the kids started unloading. Ava walked over to him. “Ava, we should’ve looked around more till we found this instead of the house and barn,” he said waving his arm at the buildings.
Ava put her arm around him. “This was not for us,” she told him, making him give her a double take. “Let’s help unload so we can start our family’s future,” she said, pulling him to the cottage.
Even with Delmuth’s family, it took two days to put up everything. On the third day, Ahnon was sitting outside with Delmuth, watching the kids play. “Ahnon, we don’t need this other bag of money,” he said, handing one of the bags to him.
“Keep it,” Ahnon said as Kenna brought him a glass of tea then went to play.
“You sure?” Delmuth asked, feeling the weight of the bag.
“Yes, I want you to buy weapons and make sure some of the ones you bring back know how to use them.”
Delmuth sat up. “You expecting trouble?” he asked.
“No, but I’m ready for it,” Ahnon answered. “I know you’re a good soldier, but get a few more. But remember you are the boss, no questions asked.”
“This is going to take some getting used to. I was only a corporal,” he said as Ava walked up, joining them.
“You’ll do fine,” Ahnon told him. “The supply list I left with you will be ready in seven days.”
“Yes, when we leave tomorrow, we are just heading to the city,” Delmuth said. “When we leave the mountains, Ava will travel ahead to get the rest ready before we get there.”
“I can’t travel as fast as you, Ahnon, but I will be there a few days before them,” she said, sitting down beside Delmuth.
Seeing Ahnon talking, Kenna and Jedek ran over and sat down beside him. “Jedek, hand me that rock please?” Ahnon asked, pointing at a rock next to him. Jedek picked it up, handing it to Ahnon. It was longer and bigger around than Ahnon’s fist. Ahnon gripped both ends and closed his eyes, steadying his breathing, and the rock started to glow a dull yellow. “Two will always be one,” Ahnon said as the rock split in half and stopped glowing.
Shaking his head, Ahnon opened his
eyes, feeling a little dizzy. “Boy, does that one hit you,” he said, turning to Delmuth, who was close to freaking out. “Your wife is a witch,” he said, then looked at Ava, who was also close to freaking out. “You’re a witch,” Ahnon informed her.
“Ahnon, it takes most witches a full day to make a communication stone,” she said weakly.
Ahnon snorted. “The witch who taught me could do it faster than I just did,” he said.
“Who was your teacher?” Ava asked.
“Esta of the Moors,” Ahnon said, and Ava smiled a wicked little smile.
“That makes sense,” she mumbled. “She was my teacher as well,” Ava said, shocking Ahnon.
“I went back to check on her, and she wasn’t there.”
“Esta left Fantshu right after I left her.”
Ahnon looked at her. “I studied with her in Nazar,” he said, shocked.
“She’s not like most witches; she likes to move around,” Ava told him as he narrowed his eyes in thought.
Shrugging, he handed over half of the rock to Delmuth. “Your wife can tell you how it works.”
“How does it work?” Kenna asked.
Ahnon laughed and held up the rock. “You talk to one, and it comes out of the other one,” he explained.
“You are so teaching us witchcraft,” she said.
“Let’s worry about magic first.”
“Ahnon, you didn’t use components and didn’t have to worry about blowing up or getting melted,” she cried out.
Ahnon nodded. “You’re right; I just had to worry about trapping my mind inside a rock,” he said, and the excitement left her face.
“What?” she said.
“No matter what you do, there are risks, Kenna. Granted, demoncraft has the most, but magic and witchcraft are equally as dangerous. You learn one before the other, or you will die,” he said, and she nodded.
“Listen well to him, Kenna,” Ava warned her. “I’ve seen many witches, male and female, die because they didn’t respect the power of Thanos.” Delmuth put an arm around Ava’s shoulders, hugging her tight.
Ahnon and the kids saw them off the next morning and kept one wagon, a team of oxen, three horses, and a mule with them. When they were out of sight, Ahnon went to the barn and came back with shovels, picks, hammers, and wooden buckets, throwing them in the back of the wagon. Like the kids, he was wearing a regular shirt, pants, boots, gloves, scarf, and a leather, wide-brimmed hat. Putting his spell bags on, he grabbed his bow and staff.
They loaded up on the wagon, and Ahnon headed back across the valley then followed the river north with Minos and Talon roaming ahead of them. Two hours later, Ahnon stopped at an ugly, rocky outcropping. “Okay, you two. Get the picks, hammer, and shovels,” he said, getting out then pointed at the rock. “That’s iron ore. Break it up, and fill the wagon.”
Jedek and Kenna both sighed, grabbed the equipment, and went to work. It was really slow going at first, but the ore started breaking apart once they cleared a hole out. They stopped at lunch and ate, hardly able to lift their hands to their mouths. To make matters worse, Ahnon walked over to the hill and held out his hand, making the outcropping shake, and the area turned to small, fist-sized rocks.
Then for three hours, Kenna and Jedek loaded the wagon until Ahnon told them to stop. Since the wagon was not quite full, he touched his spell pouches then held out his hand, and rocks jumped into the wagon. When it was full, Ahnon jumped up with them and headed home. Jedek was happy to see even the big oxen were feeling the load because his body sure did.
When they reached the cottage, Ahnon pulled over to the blacksmith building. He stopped beside one of five different wooden bins outside of it. Four bins were massive, much bigger than the wagon, and the last one was about the same size as the wagon. “Unload the wagon; I’ll start supper,” he said, walking inside. It was dark when Ahnon came back carrying plates and mugs of water. The two ate as Ahnon grabbed a shovel and threw up a ball of light then started to shovel rocks into one of the massive bins. Kenna sighed, hoping he was going to use magic again.
The two finished eating and joined Ahnon, shoveling the ore out. When they finished, the bin was only halfway full, making the kids want to cry. “Go bathe,” Ahnon told them. Too tired to argue, they headed to the stream. Stepping in still wearing their clothes, they cringed at the heat, but it soon felt good, and Ahnon had to wake them up to come inside.
Ahnon woke them up the next morning with a smile. “Exercises first, then we head out again.”
Jedek rolled out of bed and landed face first on the floor. “That didn’t even hurt,” he mumbled.
“That’s just because you hurt so much everywhere else,” Kenna said, standing up slowly.
After the exercises, they both moved better but were still sore like they had never felt before. Sitting down at the table, Jedek lowered his head to the plate and ate the food. Kenna tried it, but her hair got in the way. Smiling, Ahnon walked over and put his hands on her hair. “Reverto ut exemplar,” Ahnon said, running his hands down her hair, changing it back to it golden brown. He pulled it up and braided it, having a little trouble with the loose curls.
When Ahnon finished, he turned around and noticed Jedek had a relieved smile on his face. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing his stuff.
The kids moved slowly out the door and were shocked to see the oxen already hooked up. “When did you do that?” Kenna asked.
“Before I woke you up,” Ahnon said as they climbed up slowly. Again, they crossed the valley and followed the river north until they stopped at a large bank of sand. Standing, Ahnon pointed at the sand. “Fill the wagon,” he said, jumping down. Grabbing their stuff, the two started and finished just after noon. As they shoveled sand, Ahnon shot two geese and a duck with his bow.
After helping the kids up to the bench seat, Ahnon jumped up and drove them home and pulled up to one of the smaller, empty bins. “Ahnon, don’t say it; we know,” Jedek said, standing. They finished before dark and didn’t need to be told to bathe. They came into the cottage, dripping, with towels wrapped around them. On the table, Ahnon had their plates fixed as he sat and grouped feathers together.
The next morning, they headed southwest and had to go slow because of the slope and reached another ugly bunch of rocks. “That’s burning rock,” Ahnon said, jumping down.
“I didn’t know it came out of the ground,” Jedek admitted, climbing down, not noticing he was moving faster today. The two started on the area, breaking down the rock then started loading. Ahnon was stopping them every two hours to eat and then let them continue. They finished before noon, and Ahnon headed home for them to unload. They returned three times, filling up two of the bins. Next, he took them further west, and they had to use the pickaxes to get the copper ore out of the rock.
They got the wagon half full then headed home when Talon told Ahnon he saw rock apes to the north. After the kids unloaded the wagon, they bathed and found Ahnon hanging a large, black board beside the fireplace. “That’s what Karme taught me to read and write on but smaller,” Kenna said, smiling.
They went out several more times over the days, gathering more rock ores that Ahnon told them they needed, filling up several bins he had made, including the iron bin. Ahnon took them out next carrying axes and drove down to the river. He walked around, marking trees, and the two started swinging axes. It was noon when Ahnon made them sit down, seeing they weren’t making much progress.
Walking over to the trees he marked, Ahnon pointed at the bottom, and a slice appeared, and the tree fell over. Kenna looked at Jedek. “He could at least make it look hard,” she said, taking a bite of food.
“To him, it’s not,” Jedek said. “Just remember; he’s going easy on us compared to what he went through.”
“I know,” she said, watching another five trees fall. “Jedek, I wanted to swing the axe—I really did—but my arms wouldn’t work. I was getting really good with the shovel,” she moaned.
Jedek s
miled. “I know you were, and I am just as tired as you, Kenna, so don’t get down.” They watched branches fly off the trees Ahnon chopped down.
They finished eating and went back to chop down some more trees. “Jedek, no!” Ahnon bellowed, running over to him as Jedek reared his axe back. “If you hit that tree, the axe head will shatter, and you’ll probably break your arms,” Ahnon told him.
Jedek dropped the axe, stepping back and looking at the tree. “Does it bite?” he asked, studying the tree.
“No, it’s iron wood,” Ahnon said. “That’s why I want you to only chop the trees I mark. Also, we don’t want to take too many from one area.”
“Iron wood?” Jedek asked.
Pulling out his dagger, Ahnon tapped the bark with it, and it gave a dull ring. “The tree leeches the iron out of the soil, and it deposits it in the bark. In the spring, the bark will split so the tree can grow, and bark covers up the slits in the summer.” Ahnon held up his staff. “This is iron wood.” He handed it to Jedek. “It’s tough but hard to work with. You actually have to heat the bark to chop the tree down but can’t get it too hot or you ruin the wood inside.” Jedek handed the staff back. “You and Kenna chop off the branches of those on the ground, and be careful,” Ahnon said.
Jedek and Kenna chopped off limbs as Ahnon pointed at trees. “He can’t be using magic; I don’t feel any heat,” Kenna said.
“No, that’s witchcraft,” Jedek said as four more trees fell. Jedek looked around at all the trees, knowing this was going to be tough. For every tree they cleared the limbs off, Ahnon felled eight. They stopped when they saw a log floating by them. Watching it, they saw it float over to the wagon and settle down in the bed. Ahnon loaded the wagon like that, and they left for home.
On the way home, Kenna fell asleep. The next thing she knew, she was in the water and woke up choking. She looked around and found Jedek doing the same. Feeling utterly drained, they washed with their clothes on then climbed out, seeing the wagon still piled high with logs. “He didn’t make us unload,” Kenna said, trying to put one foot in front of the other.
Dawn of Man (Thanos Book 1) Page 34