few days for the waitress to make an arrangement, hoping to meet with him in the early morning hours.
There should have been barely a soul sitting in the big room of the Tavern when she let the door creak closed behind her. The barmaid was the one who greeted her with surprisingly, no hopes of acquiring a table. She was forced to remain standing by the fire in waits of a seat.
"What can I get fer ye, young lassie?" When the table became free, the barmaid ushered her to the seat.
"I'll take a mug of your morning hot brew and a plate of eggs with fruit if you have it." Treea set a coin on the table before her. "Apples are my favorite."
"Aye, we have a few of them." She swiftly scooped up the coin and pocketed it, returning soon after with the breakfast and a hot brew."
Treea ate slowly, watching the comings and goings of the people at the Tavern. Dale was not to be seen. Could he be peering around the corner watching her, waiting for her to leave?
A crew of merchants she had never met before took over the table next to hers. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation. At first their talk was just ship talk but then it slowly became gossip of a sort. Just the mention of her Pop's name made her tune her ear carefully on to their conversation.
"Aye, did you hear that Captain Pellesi was arrested by the King's men the other day?"
"That will teach that scoundrel not to deliver rat poop to the merchants. To think that he told them it was worth two-hundred silver. They should hang him for such a shipment."
Treea's face grew red. She knew they didn't know what they were talking about. That shipment of the so-called rat poop was cocoa beans. It was a highly prized commodity in other countries.
"I heard they burned the shipment for fear that it would bring the plague down on them."
Burned? Treea couldn't believe her ears. No wonder her pop hadn't received payment for that cargo. She just thought the merchant was dragging out his payment schedule. It was funny that her pop never made an issue out of not receiving payment right away. She wondered if he knew all along that the cocoa had been burned. Even Hurley never mentioned a thing about the fate of the cargo.
"I'm glad they arrested him. I hope it sends a strong message to anyone else who wants to try to con the King into thinking that garbage is a prized commodity."
All the talk got to Treea. She couldn't take it anymore. She just so happened to have a small bag of the so-called rat poop on her. With a quick yank of its strings, she had the pouch off her waist sash and open. Taking a small handful of the so described beans from it and placed them down on the table before the men. "That rat poop, was cocoa beans. Put one in your mouth like this," she demonstrated, "and suck on it. It is a delicacy. They make hot chocolate from it. It is the drink of the Gods in the other lands."
One of the men raised his hand ready to swipe the rat poop off his table. Treea put her hand in the way, stopping him. Dale scoffed up a bean from behind Treea's hand and popped it into his mouth to the horror of the men sitting at the table. She had been so upset by the talk of the cocoa beans she had never seen Dale come into the tavern.
"You should know," Dale said with the bean pocketed in the side of his mouth, "that the beans do have an aphrodisiac effect. You want more sex with your women, then feed them handfuls of these."
One by one, each of the men at the table took a bean and placed it in their mouths. If Dale hadn't been there to show it was edible, then they would never have believed a word Treea had said. Instead, they would have continued to scoff at her, not only because she was a woman, but also because she was the daughter of the imprisoned pirate Captain Pellesi. Each of the men's faces responded to the taste of the beans, surprised to learn that what was thought to be rat poop was not that.
"You know about cocoa beans?" Treea asked, surprised by Dale's sudden
There should have been barely a soul sitting in the big room of the Tavern when she let the door creak closed behind her. The barmaid was the one who greeted her with surprisingly, no hopes of acquiring a table. She was forced to remain standing by the fire in waits of a seat.
"What can I get fer ye, young lassie?" When the table became free, the barmaid ushered her to the seat.
"I'll take a mug of your morning hot brew and a plate of eggs with fruit if you have it." Treea set a coin on the table before her. "Apples are my favorite."
"Aye, we have a few of them." She swiftly scooped up the coin and pocketed it, returning soon after with the breakfast and a hot brew."
Treea ate slowly, watching the comings and goings of the people at the Tavern. Dale was not to be seen. Could he be peering around the corner watching her, waiting for her to leave?
A crew of merchants she had never met before took over the table next to hers. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation. At first their talk was just ship talk but then it slowly became gossip of a sort. Just the mention of her Pop's name made her tune her ear carefully on to their conversation.
"Aye, did you hear that Captain Pellesi was arrested by the King's men the other day?"
"That will teach that scoundrel not to deliver rat poop to the merchants. To think that he told them it was worth two-hundred silver. They should hang him for such a shipment."
Treea's face grew red. She knew they didn't know what they were talking about. That shipment of the so-called rat poop was cocoa beans. It was a highly prized commodity in other countries.
"I heard they burned the shipment for fear that it would bring the plague down on them."
Burned? Treea couldn't believe her ears. No wonder her pop hadn't received payment for that cargo. She just thought the merchant was dragging out his payment schedule. It was funny that her pop never made an issue out of not receiving payment right away. She wondered if he knew all along that the cocoa had been burned. Even Hurley never mentioned a thing about the fate of the cargo.
"I'm glad they arrested him. I hope it sends a strong message to anyone else who wants to try to con the King into thinking that garbage is a prized commodity."
All the talk got to Treea. She couldn't take it anymore. She just so happened to have a small bag of the so-called rat poop on her. With a quick yank of its strings, she had the pouch off her waist sash and open. Taking a small handful of the so described beans from it and placed them down on the table before the men. "That rat poop, was cocoa beans. Put one in your mouth like this," she demonstrated, "and suck on it. It is a delicacy. They make hot chocolate from it. It is the drink of the Gods in the other lands."
One of the men raised his hand ready to swipe the rat poop off his table. Treea put her hand in the way, stopping him. Dale scoffed up a bean from behind Treea's hand and popped it into his mouth to the horror of the men sitting at the table. She had been so upset by the talk of the cocoa beans she had never seen Dale come into the tavern.
"You should know," Dale said with the bean pocketed in the side of his mouth, "that the beans do have an aphrodisiac effect. You want more sex with your women, then feed them handfuls of these."
One by one, each of the men at the table took a bean and placed it in their mouths. If Dale hadn't been there to show it was edible, then they would never have believed a word Treea had said. Instead, they would have continued to scoff at her, not only because she was a woman, but also because she was the daughter of the imprisoned pirate Captain Pellesi. Each of the men's faces responded to the taste of the beans, surprised to learn that what was thought to be rat poop was not that.
"You know about cocoa beans?" Treea asked, surprised by Dale's sudden
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