Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 2d
Berri was so excited about the crow-crossbow that she had to force herself to return to the vendor at no more than a fast walk. The clerk at the station house spoke as much andalee as she spoke Maldorn, thankfully she had the chit she had been given after securing her valuables the day before. She had babbled at the man in both languages before the fellow eventually understood what she was after, she claimed the bow, leaving the satchel and lute, they both put their mark on the little slip of paper.
Berri realized she still had the rumpled receipt in her hand and tucked it away. She noticed a number of people taking note of her return. As she closed to the vendor she saw a few people gathered around the man’s tables, Moon was talking to a couple of them. When she was spotted an expectant hush fell over the group.
“Hey. Sorry if I startled you guys.” She undid the knots that secured the soft leather wrap she had used to protect the bow. The half dozen arrows clattered out, she picked them up, setting them on the vendor’s table before pulling the bow out and presenting it to the armourer. Some of those who had gathered made exclamations when they saw the weapon, they looked to see how the armourer would respond.
He held the weapon in both hands, lips pursed and an eyebrow raised. He ran his hands down the length of the weapon, inspected the workmanship and gave an appreciative whistle. He made a comment Berri did not understand and most of the others shifted closer to get a good look. She noted a well dressed young man asking something of Moon.
The armourer unwound the horsehair string Flint had made for her, he looked to Berri and asked a question. Moon translated, “He asked if it was alright if he strung it.”
Berri smiled and nodded, “Sure is.”
She was surprised when the man did not use the proper technique to string the bow. She was not surprised that he failed to do so. He tried a couple more times. With a chagrined expression he asked Berri something and held out the bow. She took the weapon, made sure the string was secured at one end, placed that end under her foot, put her other leg across the lower part of the bow, took a firm grip on the upward end and leaned into it with a downward pull to fit the loop over the other end.
The armourer muttered something and the others chuckled. Berri passed it back to him. “Thank you.” He said, still a bit embarrassed. He tested the pull and inspected the bow carefully, the others watched expectantly. He looked to her, suggested something and made a broad gesture towards some of his stock. The spectators made some exclamations. Berri looked to Moon.
Moon informed her, “He says, he can afford to outfit you with the crossbow you want, extra bolts, quivers, other accoutrements as well as give you two thousand marks.”
Berri had to think about that, two thousand was two-ten hundreds, that seemed like a lot of marks. Before she could say aye or nay, the well dressed man spoke up. There were more surprised exclamations from some of the others, though at least two of them were clearly not impressed with the fellow.
Moon’s eyes had widened, “Lord Myllad offers twenty thousand marks and will, in addition, purchase the crossbow for you.” She was a little breathless when she spoke.
That was ten times as much. More marks than there were soldiers in a Tannican army. The armourer said something and everyone else watched expectantly.
One of the men who had been unimpressed with Myllad’s intrusion on the exchange said something. Berri thought his tone was scornful, most of the others shifted a bit away from him. The armourer spoke up, seemingly conciliatory. Then all their attention turned to Berri, who asked, “Is there an issue?”
Moon said, “This man pointed out that two thousand marks in hand was better than a promissory note that might not be honoured. Lord Myllad says he can produce at least five thousand marks for you today and claims his family is in no financial difficulties… Oh, and the armourer said he really did not mind if his Lordship purchased the bow.”
“Wow, alright then. Let’s do it. I accept Lord Myllad’s offer.”
The lord sent his man off, who was among those observing the interaction. Berri, with Moon’s help, dealt with the armourer. He had time to show her the weapon and how to maintain and repair it. Berri included in her purchase another complete cocking mechanism, since she was unlikely to find a replacement anywhere else, especially once she was no longer in Maldorn. She also took extra strings for the bow, a looped strap that could be attached to the stock, extra points of two types and a basket with fifty additional bolts.
Lord Myllad’s man returned, the armoured was given a note for the value of the purchase, Berri was given a note for fifteen thousand marks and a wallet with fifty hundred mark notes. The young lord was happy to get the bow. After bidding everyone a good day, Berri, with Moons help, returned to the station house.
Along the way Moon enthused, “That was amazing, Berri! Where did you get that bow?”
“My friend Flint gave it to me, after I broke my old crossbow. He said it would tide me over until I was able to get another one.”
“Wow. What is the plan now?”
“Well… I’m not sure. I might join some of the competitions, since we’re here at the festival. But, I also realized with the marks I have now, I could hire a private coach to take us to West Port.”
“A coach? You could hire a small airship, with a mage and be in West Port in two or three days.”
“How would I do that?”
Moon stopped and looked towards the town, “Well, Alloce is big enough that airships should come and go fairly often, though I don’t see any now.”
“Well, that’s not much good. What about a private coach?”
“Maybe here, or if not Vauger, then there’s likely to be a Roburns either in town or somewhere the other side of town.”
“What would you like to do?”
“Considering it would probably take much of the rest of the day to make other arrangements, I’d say we should enjoy the festival and use the tickets we already have.”
“Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.” They continued on to the station house. Most of the clients were off at the festival with only a couple of the staff around, when they walked into the main office the duty clerk looked a bit worried.
Berri smiled at the man, then suggested to Moon, “Ask him what it would cost to hire a coach to leave this afternoon.”
Moon did so. Berri doubted it was going to happen judging by the man’s expression, but Moon said, “Two-hundred marks if we still intend to go the West Port. Fifty marks if we’re just looking to get out of the Lake Lands, along to the next station.”
Berri thought either option was expensive, her original ticket had only cost Darra a bit over twenty marks. She now had the means to pay the price, to continue onward to West Port without having to wait for the festival to end. She did not need to think long about what Ijah would do in a similar situation. “Alright then. Tell him we’ll take a private coach and that there’s an extra fifty marks for him if we’re under way by high-sun.”
The young man went to make the arrangements. Berri gave fifty marks to Moon and asked her to purchase some food for them. While her travel buddy saw to that, Berri went to the orchard and retrieved their gear. When she returned to the station house she was surprised to see a man she recognized, the fellow who had spoken out against Lord Myllad’s intrusion into her negotiations with the armourer. When the man spotted her, he turned away and quickly walked off. Berri found that suspiciously peculiar.
She set her gear down and watched the man walk off, he looked back over his shoulder twice before he was out of sight. Not too long after that a covered carriage was rolled up. The clerk was helping two younger lads move it.
Berri took a careful look around, she did not see anything else that made her think something was amiss, but having seen that man here, behaving the way he did, had put her on edge. A stableman or maybe the teamster was bringing the team out, the clerk returned to his office. She followed after him, holding out her chit, “I’d like my lute and the satchel. Please.”
He gave her a lopsided smile, fetched her belongings then filed the piece of paper with the days notes. Berri took the time to repack and shift some of her gear around, she put the satchel in her small pack with her weapons and put it in the carriage along with the lute, crossbow and small quiver.
Moon had been gone long enough to have picked up some food, she should have been on her way back. She did not see her travel friend approaching from the festival fields, nor the man who had put her on her guard. She considered going over to find Moon but the clerk came out of the office and called her over.
He had a wooden tablet on which a wordy looking contract was clipped. The clerk said a bunch of words, of which she really only understood the last few, “… need your mark.” He offered the tablet and stylist. Berri took the metal quill and scrawled her mark where he had indicated.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Berri chuckled at his formal tone, no one had ever spoken to her that way before. He returned to the office, a crow cackled from one of the nearby trees then called out loudly. Another crow, further off, responded to the call. She returned her attention to the festival grounds and spotted Moon returning. Relieved, she went back to the carriage. The two horses were nearly hitched, her travelling gear had been placed in the trunk at the back. Glancing towards the sun she was happy to see it was just coming up to midday.
Moon had a rather large sack of food and she was a bit breathless and flushed from the hasty shopping trip. “I wasn’t really sure what you liked, so I bought a bit of this and that, there’s a meat pie… oh, and I picked up a bottle of gin.” She pulled out a bottle of Hollen’s Port Gin and showed it to Berri.
“Yum, my favourite. That’s good stuff.” They smiled at each other.
“I was able to get all this for less than twenty marks, here’s the rest.” She offered a fistful of marks.
Berri waved her off, “Hang on to that, you might need it.”
A breathless young man jogged up, still pulling on his company livery. He nodded, straightened his uniform and went into the main office.
“He’s kind of cute.” Moon remarked offhandedly.
“I guess.”
The man who had been hitching the horses walked up to them, Berri recognized the word for team and thought he said something about an outhouse. He also went to the office and the two younger lads headed back to the stable.
“This is fun.” Moon commented.
Berri gave a non-committal nod. A while later the teamster, footman and clerk all came out. Berri was relieved to see the footman had brought a crossbow along with him. She passed the clerk fifty marks, “Thank you.”
He smiled, came to attention and gave her a small bow, “Thank you, ma’am.” Again, the formal tone made her chuckle. The footman flipped the step down and held the door for them. They climbed in and were soon on the move.
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