mostly furs and grain, but we might be able to come to an agreement,” Monique rattled with a greedy gleam in her eyes.
He let out a small laugh of his own at the enthusiasm in her voice and the way she was suddenly tripping over her own words. A moment before, she had seemed so sure and confident. “I can do a fair amount but the stronger the spell, the quicker the crystals will drain. If I had better quality cores, such as gems, diamonds being the best, I could make much more powerful rings. Also, the better the body of the item, the better it is able to channel the spell, wasting less magic. Metals with few impurities, such as iron, gold and silver work better. Certain woods also work extremely well. In fact, lacewood and marblewood are supposedly the best.”
Monique walked to the back of the small room and pulled a long chest from underneath the bed and began searching through it. After a few moments, she brought over a glistening silver and gold box with two nice garnets set in the lid. Her hands were shaking slightly. “Can you use any of this?” Monique asked, opening the box up to revel a large collection of jewelry.
Thad sent out his magic, testing the gems and metal. They weren’t all great but they were far better than what he had been using. “Yes, I could. If you want, as an extra gift, I could enchant your jewelry box so it won’t open unless you want it to. You can even pick out the keyword.”
“That would be nice, but I don’t want to sell you the jewelry. Instead, I would like to commission you to enchant them. We can discuss what spells I would like on them and what price it would cost to have it done. Will that be agreeable?” she inquired.
They spent long hours that night talking over what all she wanted and, though he would be using her jewelry, he would be making a tidy profit. She even offered to pay him for the enchanting of the jewelry box but he politely refused. Saying it was merely a gift for his new sister, which made her glow.
It took six days before Thad could even see the capital in the distance. He didn’t know what he expected, but what he saw wasn’t it. He could see a tall wall surrounding the city but what surprised him were the many buildings that stood high above the walls. They were still miles away, allowing him to see the capital in its enormity. Hundreds of thousands could easily live within the walls without much trouble. He was nervous as he thought about the city. He kept telling himself that he would figure things out when he got there but now everything was crushing down on him.
Brand, a nice man in his mid-twenties with long raven-black hair and a hawk-like nose, sat down beside Thad at the small campfire he had built. Over the past few days, he had struck up a friendship with Brand who he learned wasn’t really Monique’s slave but an employee of the Rose Trading Company. The marks of ownership were painstakingly painted on with a dye and touched-up every few days to cut down on problems while they were in Farlan.
“Something bothering you, Thad?” Brand said, poking at the fire with a thin stick.
Absentmindedly running his hands through his hair that had grown slightly unruly over the past few weeks, Thad let out a heavy sigh. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do when I finally reach the capital. I have been so fixated on reaching there, I never thought out what I was really going to do when I finally got there.”
Brand gave him a serious look, “We will reach the capital fairly early tomorrow. I would suggest the first thing you do is procure you some clothes. After that, find a place to stay and take it one day at a time. No reason to try and plan your life out before you know what all is available.”
It wasn’t wisdom for the ages, but Brand’s reassuring words did help ease some of the burden from his shoulders. He spent his last night talking late with Brand, trading stories and dreaming of what their futures might hold.
The
He let out a small laugh of his own at the enthusiasm in her voice and the way she was suddenly tripping over her own words. A moment before, she had seemed so sure and confident. “I can do a fair amount but the stronger the spell, the quicker the crystals will drain. If I had better quality cores, such as gems, diamonds being the best, I could make much more powerful rings. Also, the better the body of the item, the better it is able to channel the spell, wasting less magic. Metals with few impurities, such as iron, gold and silver work better. Certain woods also work extremely well. In fact, lacewood and marblewood are supposedly the best.”
Monique walked to the back of the small room and pulled a long chest from underneath the bed and began searching through it. After a few moments, she brought over a glistening silver and gold box with two nice garnets set in the lid. Her hands were shaking slightly. “Can you use any of this?” Monique asked, opening the box up to revel a large collection of jewelry.
Thad sent out his magic, testing the gems and metal. They weren’t all great but they were far better than what he had been using. “Yes, I could. If you want, as an extra gift, I could enchant your jewelry box so it won’t open unless you want it to. You can even pick out the keyword.”
“That would be nice, but I don’t want to sell you the jewelry. Instead, I would like to commission you to enchant them. We can discuss what spells I would like on them and what price it would cost to have it done. Will that be agreeable?” she inquired.
They spent long hours that night talking over what all she wanted and, though he would be using her jewelry, he would be making a tidy profit. She even offered to pay him for the enchanting of the jewelry box but he politely refused. Saying it was merely a gift for his new sister, which made her glow.
It took six days before Thad could even see the capital in the distance. He didn’t know what he expected, but what he saw wasn’t it. He could see a tall wall surrounding the city but what surprised him were the many buildings that stood high above the walls. They were still miles away, allowing him to see the capital in its enormity. Hundreds of thousands could easily live within the walls without much trouble. He was nervous as he thought about the city. He kept telling himself that he would figure things out when he got there but now everything was crushing down on him.
Brand, a nice man in his mid-twenties with long raven-black hair and a hawk-like nose, sat down beside Thad at the small campfire he had built. Over the past few days, he had struck up a friendship with Brand who he learned wasn’t really Monique’s slave but an employee of the Rose Trading Company. The marks of ownership were painstakingly painted on with a dye and touched-up every few days to cut down on problems while they were in Farlan.
“Something bothering you, Thad?” Brand said, poking at the fire with a thin stick.
Absentmindedly running his hands through his hair that had grown slightly unruly over the past few weeks, Thad let out a heavy sigh. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do when I finally reach the capital. I have been so fixated on reaching there, I never thought out what I was really going to do when I finally got there.”
Brand gave him a serious look, “We will reach the capital fairly early tomorrow. I would suggest the first thing you do is procure you some clothes. After that, find a place to stay and take it one day at a time. No reason to try and plan your life out before you know what all is available.”
It wasn’t wisdom for the ages, but Brand’s reassuring words did help ease some of the burden from his shoulders. He spent his last night talking late with Brand, trading stories and dreaming of what their futures might hold.
The
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