Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
Chris laughed. “Once again, the man made my life easier. He said Doreen would have to find someone else to represent her, that he will not deal with her.”
“I bet he’s thinking we’re all landlubbers up here and don’t have a clue what those boats are worth. Did you get a chance to talk to Cryslyn this evening?”
Chris nodded. “She and Doreen had a nice long talk today. Cryslyn knows what she wants to get out of this deal. I could be wrong, but I think she’s looking forward to it. I showed her the contract before I left to go to Bushwell, and I know Doreen told her about her conversation with Jared the other night. She’s ready for him.”
“Wish I could be a fly on the wall when she meets with him. I imagine Doreen’s going to come out okay on the deal.”
“Probably more than okay by the time Cryslyn’s done. Not so sure he’ll be okay though, and I must say it couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.”
“Do you know when she’s planning to go to Bushwell?”
“She said she’d like to go early Saturday morning.”
“I want Rigel to go with her.”
Chris grinned. “And let’s send Marcus, too.”
“Intimidation?”
“Yeah, and he’ll give us the unvarnished version.”
Chapter 7
Hendon Port
Alastar leaned back in his chair after they finished going through Friday’s mail. “Have you heard anything from Mikos yet?”
Franco shook his head. “And I sent him a letter last week, right after we talked about it.”
“What about the monthly reports? Have we gotten his February report yet?”
Franco shook his head again. “Not that I know of.”
“Have you gone through Varnel’s office? I know mother had Mikos send the monthly reports to him.”
“I’ve gone through everything in his office, and filed anything I thought we might need in here. I left the old stuff where it was in case we need to refer back to it, but all he handled was the slave business.”
“What’s the latest report you have?”
“December’s. I couldn’t find anything from this year. If Mikos sent any reports in, I have no idea what happened to them.” Franco paused for a moment and then asked, “You don’t think your mother killed him for losing the key, do you?”
Alastar shook his head. “Surely she’d have told me if she had.” Then after a moment he frowned. “At least I think she would have.”
“Shall I send him another letter?”
Alastar paused. “I think we need to go to the mine and see what’s going on. Then, if everything’s all right, he can explain why I haven’t had a report yet.”
“Have you ever been there?”
“No, and I have no idea where it is. But there’s got to be a map around here somewhere with the location marked on it.”
Franco stood up to leave. “I’ll see what I can find.”
Chapter 8
Taking Care of Business
Cryslyn wanted to catch Jared before he left his house Saturday morning, so she, Marcus, and Rigel ate an early breakfast and left as soon as they were done. Jared was walking out of his front door when they stepped out of the energy flow.
Cryslyn walked up to the man and held out her hand. “Good morning, Jared. My name is Cryslyn, and I’m serving as Doreen’s representative in the matter of her father’s boats.”
Jared laughed and barely touched her hand. “I’m not surprised she couldn’t find a man to represent her. She’s a shrew. I know I’m glad to be rid of her.”
Cryslyn raised her eyebrows. “I’m not here at Doreen’s request. I’m here at Myron’s. I handle all the buying and selling for the castle, its residents, and anyone under the protection of the Master Sorcerer.”
Jared gave her a wary look, but didn’t say anything.
“Surely that doesn’t come as a surprise to you,” Cryslyn said. “You spoke with Myron’s assistant yesterday. Marcus is his associate sorcerer, and Rigel’s one of his personal bodyguards. Didn’t you realize Myron was taking a personal interest in this case?”
Jared’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you still interested in buying the boats?”
“Yes,” Jared said, “but only the two that weren’t covered by the contract. Those two are mine free and clear.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Cryslyn said. “After I read over the contract, I showed it to Chairman Tremayne. His office is right down the hall from mine. Anyway, after he read it, he said if the case ever made it to his court, he’d rule that as the daughter had chosen not to marry, the whole contract was null and void and her father retained possession of all four boats. Since her father was deceased, the boats were the property of his heir, which in this case is Doreen.”
“That’s crazy!” Jared said, eyes flashing.
“Not at all,” Cryslyn said. “But fortunately for you, Doreen has agreed to let you keep two of the boats so this can get settled quickly. Now, could we please go see the boats?”
Jared mumbled something under his breath about crazy women messing up his life, and then he led them to the harbor. When they got there, he pointed towards the four boats that had castle guards walking the decks. “Those two there, the three-mast boats, those are mine. They’re the ones her father signed over to me in the contract.”
“How do you get that?” Cryslyn asked. “The contract didn’t specify which boats Doreen’s father was planning to give her as a marriage gift. For all you know, he may have intended to give her the smaller ones.”
“They were not a marriage gift and certainly not a gift to her!” Jared roared. Several men who were walking along the docks turned to see what all the fuss was about, and Rigel took a step forward, just to make sure Jared wouldn’t forget he was there. Jared took a couple of deep breaths and said, “Those two boats were in payment for my offer of marriage, and the offer was made.” He turned to Rigel. “You heard me. I asked her if she still wanted to marry me.” Then he looked back at Cryslyn. “The offer was made so the payment stands. She chose not to accept it.”
“There’s no way her father intended those boats as any form of payment to you,” Cryslyn argued. “If he had, he wouldn’t have specified that all control and rights to the boats were to remain in the hands of his daughter.” Then Cryslyn took a breath and said, “But that’s beside the point since Doreen has agreed to let you keep two of the boats. She said you could keep one of each, in other words, one two-mast boat and one three-mast boat. The other two are to be sold to the person who is willing to pay the highest price.”
Jared glared at Cryslyn and made a ridiculously low offer for the remaining two boats. “And that’s the best deal you’re going to get. They’re old and hardly seaworthy. They’re only going to last a couple more seasons.”
Cryslyn frowned, looked at him for a moment, and then turned and approached a man standing near one of the boats. “Do you work on that boat?” she asked the man. When he nodded, she asked if he thought he could get a couple of crews together to take two of the boats down the coast.
“Sure,” the man said. “When do you want us to leave?”
“I’d like to have them on their way this afternoon if you think you can manage it.”
The man nodded. “We’ll have to put in some provisions though.”
“I’ll take care of that. All you need to do is get the men together.”
Jared had followed Cryslyn. He glared at the man and yelled, “No! You aren’t going anywhere!” Then he turned to Cryslyn and growled, “Those are my men, and if they want to keep their jobs, they’ll stay right here and do as I say!”
Cryslyn put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to pay four crews to handle two boats? Because by the time the sun sets today, two of these boats are going to be on their way to another buyer in Ports Harbor.”
Meanwhile the man Cryslyn had been talking to leaned towards her and asked, “Excuse me, but do you think your buyer might be interested in hiring us to crew those boats?”
Cryslyn smiled. “I think that can be arranged, especially if I make it part of the deal.”
The man nodded and started to leave. He hadn’t gone two steps when Jared shoved him to the ground and grabbed Cryslyn’s arm. As he jerked her around, Rigel knocked his arm off Cryslyn’s, but before Rigel could do anything else, Cryslyn had the blade of her dagger pressed against Jared’s throat.
“If you value your life, you’ll never try anything like that again,” Cryslyn hissed. Then as Jared held up his hands in surrender, Cryslyn stepped back and put her dagger away.
The man she’d talked to slowly got up as he watched to see what would happen next. For a few minutes, nothing did. No one said anything, no one moved.
Finally, Jared cleared his throat and made an offer for the boats that was much more in line with their worth.
Cryslyn didn’t say a word. She just stood there, glaring at him.
After a couple more minutes, Jared doubled his offer.
Cryslyn gave a quick nod. “Fine. We’ll accept your offer.” Then she turned to the man and said, “Thank you for speaking with me. My name’s Cryslyn and I’m from the castle in Milhaven. If you decide you want to make a move, to work for someone else, I’m sure I can help you find something. I have contacts all over Terah. Send me a note in care of Myron, Master Sorcerer. He’ll see that I get it.”
When she turned back to Jared she pointed towards town. “Let’s find the town director so we can write up a contract and have him register it. I need to get back to the castle. I’ve got a lot of other things to take care of today.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Marcus knocked on Kevin’s open door shortly before lunch Saturday. When Kevin motioned him in, Chris followed and shut the door. “I’m not missing this,” Chris said as he sat down.
“I have to admit I enjoyed it,” Marcus said with a grin as he settled in one of the chairs. Then he gave them a blow by blow account of Cryslyn’s trip to Bushwell.
When he told them about Jared grabbing Cryslyn’s arm, Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “Is he still alive?”
Marcus laughed. “Rigel made a move to take him down, but before he could do more than knock his arm away, Cryslyn had a dagger at his throat.” Marcus shook his head. “I know Joan’s good with a dagger. I’ve seen her work with Darrell, but I had no idea Cryslyn could handle one like that. She’s always so...I don’t know, calm and polite. Did you know she could?”
Kevin shook his head. “But I’m not surprised. She has to deal with a lot of rough characters when she’s making deals. Glad to know she can take care of herself though. I feel better about letting her take off with the key.”
“Well, things changed at that point. I think Jared realized he was about to lose the boats, if not his life. In the end, I think Cryslyn ended up getting quite a bit more than she expected.”
“Do you know what Doreen’s planning to do with the money?” Kevin asked.
“From what Cryslyn said, Doreen’s planning to stay here. She wants to build a house, but not just for herself. She wants to have enough room that some of the women who don’t have a place to go can move in with her.”
“Do you think she got enough money out of the boats to do that?” Chris asked.
Marcus laughed. “Several times over.”
Kevin frowned. “She’s going to let the women live there out of the goodness of her heart? That doesn’t sound like the Doreen I met.”
Marcus shook his head. “I think she’s going to run something like an inn for long-term tenants and charge them for their rooms.”
“I don’t know that those women can pay,” Kevin said. “All they had when we rescued them were the clothes they were wearing.”
“Joan’s looking for jobs for them,” Chris said. “Maybe they’ll find jobs around here.”
“You mean at the castle?” Kevin asked.
Chris shook his head. “No, around Milhaven, although Cryslyn’s planning to bring one of the girls on staff to help out in the playground.”
“Do we need help in the playground? Or is she giving the girl a job because she needs a way to support herself?”
Chris shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“No, I guess not,” Kevin answered. “Well, I don’t know how successful Doreen’s plans are going to be, but if she builds a house somewhere, she’ll get out of Jana’s. We’ll deal with the rest later. But in the meantime, do we need to find someplace for Doreen to stay?”
“I don’t know,” Chris said, “but Joan can find out. I’ll mention it to her Monday morning.”
~ ~ ~ ~
During dinner Saturday evening, Theresa looked at Kevin and asked, “You do remember you’re taking us to visit Blair’s parents, don’t you?”
Kevin nodded. “Where are we going?”
“Heatherton’s the closest town according to Blair.”
Kevin thought for a minute. “There wasn’t a raid there, was there?”
Theresa shook her head. “She was captured at Garnett’s Inlet, but she just happened to be there when the slavers hit. Her parents live on a farm near Heatherton.”
“It’ll probably be easier to put the key in her hand and tell her to think of home.”
“Be careful with her, Kevin. She’s shy, and very self-conscious about a birthmark on her cheek. She says that’s why the slavers kept her at the cave to cook. They said she was too ugly to sell and cooking was all she was good for.”
Kevin frowned. “I don’t remember picking up anyone who was disfigured.”
“She’s not,” Theresa said. “You wouldn’t have noticed it. It’s a small crescent under her left eye, but she thinks it makes her look revolting, so she tries to hide it. Apparently where she grew up it was considered a blight. She’s embarrassed by it, and I doubt anything we say at this point will make any difference.”
“Is she here or do we need to go by the chapel?”
“There was no way I was going to get her to come here. She’s waiting for us there.”
Kevin finished his coffee. “Are you ready to go?”
“Anytime you are.”
Kevin stood up and held out his arm to Theresa. As soon as she put her hand on his arm, he turned the key and they left for the chapel.
Blair was in the kitchen when they got there. As soon as Theresa opened the back door, Blair picked up a dish towel and wiped her hands. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked, using her hair to hide the left side of her face.
Theresa nodded. “They need to know you’re all right and that you’re not coming back. You left things a bit unsettled.”