They left the Kessle House private chamber at 6:37 p.m., by the ticking clock in the hallway. The rat girl walked half a pace ahead, and she kept checking that he was still behind her. Anillita took up their tail, still in shock, with Julia beside her.
Alys ran into them on the way down to ground level, her cheeks still puffy and blotched.
“What’s happening?”
Julia rushed in to inform her of what he’d done.
Daniel didn’t make it halfway down the marble stairs before the Cleric was planting herself in front of him. That made the rat girl’s face pinch, but she stepped aside, waiting to see what he’d do.
“Sixty gold, Daniel,” she hissed, glancing down to see the audience milling out. “That’s insane! Come back here…”
Daniel didn’t object, smiling and nudging his head for the other women to follow as she took them back upstairs to an empty room. She closed the door behind them, planted her hands on her hips, and he could see her mind spinning in her eyes.
“Do you know what happens to bread when one man buys eight thousand people? I-I thought you were just going to purchase a hundred,” she stammered, beginning to pace. “This is terrible. This is a catastrophe!”
The rat girl seemed to be thinking, looking between them, evaluating. Daniel liked how observant the teen was. Julia was the one to answer, jogging forward to put a hand on her arm.
“Hey, Alys, what’s so bad about buying a ton of slaves to free them? Isn’t that what we were talking about before?”
That got the rat girl’s tail to go stiff as a board, and even Anillita’s ears flew up.
“But you can’t…” The rat girl mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes and catching all of them off guard. “You just bought me. Where would I go? My mother didn’t want me. My people don’t want me. Now you don’t want me? They’ll kill me. What did I do wrong? What’s wrong with me?”
Daniel breathed out a long sigh as the three women looked at each other at a total loss. He walked forward as the teen’s legs wobbled, and he patted her on the head to draw her gaze up to him, hiccups already coming on.
“I’m not freeing you to the streets. I’m taking you to a place where you’ll be free and taken care of.” He knelt down and looked at her at her level. “That doesn’t mean it will be easy. I’m going to need a lot of help. I think you’ll be able to help me a lot. We have to work to make a home for you. Whether you choose it is up to you. So dry those tears.”
Alys’s voice was smaller now, and struggling with a lot beneath the surface.
“But, Daniel, what you are doing is going to eviscerate the economy. Eight thousand hands aren’t empty. They’re performing tasks. It will force human wages higher. People will rush to the border to get more slaves since you didn’t get a cap. You need to buy food, clothing, supplies, and so much more, in a market that knows you need them.”
Daniel rose and gave her a small twinkle of a smile.
“There is no easy answer. I have considered those consequences. The slavers need them in good condition and alive. They’re also on a clock. Speed is my friend. I’ve made myself a mythical figure. And you forgot something important… I’m no longer alone.”
He shifted his hand to allow the rat girl’s left ear to poke up, looking at him with dawning understanding.
“I have a growing army that can scatter throughout the city and even the surrounding towns. Speed will force the economy to recalibrate outside the slave trade. Because I’m taking them away. Yes, it will cause turbulence. But where are they going to get the labor?”
Alys’s eyes widened.
“The poor.”
Daniel snapped his fingers.
“Unicorn! The faster we move, the more it forces a recalibration. Bread may go up in price. The poor will be making more. And we can send out an army to whisper their worth in their ears. And the best part is it is all legal. Plus, my greatest power is delegation.”
“Unicorn?” Alys parsed. “What is that supposed to mean exactly?”
Anillita spoke up, her elf ears falling as her own mind spun.
“You’re trying to break the slave economy? If you do this, then once you gather all the slaves, their price will become astronomically higher than it is now. You will be suspected of manipulating the market. But there is no limit on slave purchase numbers or law…”
Daniel flashed his teeth and snapped his fingers at her.
“Exactly! I have Butler to help organize everything. I just provided the means.”
Alys gulped, looking at him, almost with fear.
“This is insane… But it could work. It would only cost you roughly 100 gold in total, accounting for inflation and supply premiums. Your name will spread everywhere.”
“Easily within my budget for a one-time purchase. And they’re going to a farmstead. It’s self-sufficient, potentially a net exporter once finished. You may not know all the details, Alys, but I’m not going into this blind.”
Stolen story; please report.
He took his hand off the girl’s head and put his hand on the doorknob.
“I don’t need to just buy fully completed items. These beastfolk and elves are not coming without their own skills. They can also learn. I can diversify at every stage so I don’t run out of options. Yes, there are challenges to overcome. But I have smart people on my side. Right?”
Alys’s shoulders fell in defeat. She ran her fingers through her hair with a low laugh.
“You truly are something special… Thank you for helping me understand.”
“Now that that’s settled. Do you have a name, little missy?”
The teen dried her tears and gave a proper courtesy.
“Nessa, Master.”
I’m going to have to get used to that, aren’t I?
“Glad to have you, Nessa. Let’s get to work.”
Leaving the room, he found the entryway filled with chattering humans. They quieted when he stepped down, and a new face was standing at the foot of the stairs.
A woman in a rather fancy dress with a dramatic silhouette, structured corsetry, and elaborate embellishments like lace, ruffles, and a high neckline. Her dark eyes slid between the women accompanying him.
“Lord Daniel, color me surprised by your offer to contract my house. I am Countess Esteroa T. Kessle, the owner of this house. The paperwork is being drawn up now. Shall we iron out the details verbally on our journey to inspect your merchandise? Latto will take down any extra details you wish to discuss.”
A proper and well-dressed rabbit man stood beside her with a clipboard, pen, and paper.
Wow, they work fast.
“Excellent!”
The crowd parted as he descended with his party. Esteroa fell in beside him with the rabbit as he spoke.
“I would like to rent out your warehouse for the month. In confidence. I will have my own guard outside for security. You will not be in need of it with my business, yes?”
Esteroa gave him an upward smile from underneath her wide-brimmed hat; he was over a head taller.
“I will consider it a part of the commissioner fee. You will need somewhere to house your goods. Yet, I am afraid we hardly have the accommodations for 8,000 slaves. We must contract out other buildings.”
“Not necessary.” Daniel held his hand behind his back as he enjoyed the walk. “Your warehouse will be all that is needed. All you need to do is bring the slaves to the warehouse. I will handle the rest. I will also require a number of wagons to transport a rather enormous amount of goods. Timber, grain, fabric, livestock, and much more.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“How mysterious. Our duty is to accommodate, and so we shall.”
“I will have many of my slaves running throughout the city, fulfilling my requests. It would be good if word were to spread. There is much to accomplish in a month. The Department of Shadows will likely request I go to the capital to further support me in obtaining my lost memories.”
“Understood. Haste is of the essence. And should we be able to barter down the price of the slaves for you to a quarter of the sum you left us?”
Daniel’s teeth flashed.
“Then your commission premium would be quite the haul. My only ask is for speed. If you can get the slaves at half their price. It matters little to me. Whatever is left when every slave is purchased is yours to pocket.”
They walked down the polished, cobblestone street. The woman giggled, and there was something in the way she looked up at him that made him want to step away.
“You may just end the slave trade, My Lord. How fun. You are handing me the means to find a new industry.”
They walked. The rabbit’s pen kept scratching as the countess’s voice grew softer, her head tilted just enough to study his face.
“I’ve never seen a man pay before he asked the cost. And then to make me give up my warehouse for a month without demanding more… You may be one of those hypnotic angels the Temple of Light speaks of, with those blue eyes that reflect the free heavens…”
She had gradually come closer, her skirt brushing against his ankles.
“They could bring a bad woman to her knees. Lady Clara is a lucky woman.”
Daniel didn’t shy away. He knew to do so would be the wrong answer, for Esteroa and for his wife, who was most definitely watching. The four women behind them were already sending visual needles at the countess. Not that she cared. Her eyes were solely on him.
His smile softened like clay at just the image of her biting her pillow and seething at this ‘bad’ woman, attempting to seduce her husband. He slowed beside a fountain to watch the water rise and fall, his voice laced with every stitch of her name written on his heart.
“She would say the opposite, even if it’s not true. Know what I’d say if she were here?”
He glanced down, seeing Esteroa’s curiosity pulling her forward.
“What?”
“You raise the water to my ever-ebbing tide. I think I may have just defied the odds of man. I met an angel, by the sheer dumb luck of chance.”
“Everyone says that about their wife, My Lord. Men have fickle hearts.”
“Then don’t consider me a man,” he laughed. He slid his hand over the water of the fountain and laughed. “I can’t feel the bitterness of winter when you’re wrapped up in my coat, Clara. You’re the pen to my vows…”
He breathed in the crisp fall air and relived the moments he just lay in her lap, staring into her eyes. In them was spring, lilacs, and life.
“How can even monotony with you feel so nice? Me, the angel? Not even close. I’d stay in those wings and wait out a dozen lives. To sit with you quietly just one more time.”
Daniel turned to the wide-eyed woman and showed her the smile his wife’s thought brought.
“She’s the one in the crowd. Thank you for bringing up my wife, Esteroa. As I hoped, love is better slow. A dance we have to rehearse. A flame we have to relight. Love is beautiful. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Her smile drew more melancholy.
“…I must take your word for it. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to see to something.”
He showed his best smile.
“I am sure there is someone just waiting to place an enchantment upon your heart. Perhaps it just takes a moment of clarity to wipe away the tarnish to see the silver underneath.”
“If he has half the charm as you, I would be a lucky woman indeed.”
She took a step to disengage, then paused half a second.
“Be careful. You have just made a lot of enemies. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
With a curtsy, the woman left, eyes low and hands clasped at her front.
I hope she finds what her heart truly craves.
Alys was looking at him with a rather odd puff to her cheeks, while Julia and Nessa were pink-faced and smiling. Anillita looked to be in a whirlwind of confusion. And the rabbit man was still writing away.
“You’re way too smooth for your own good,” Alys whispered. “Let’s go before you cripple a dozen other girls’ ankles.”
All Daniel could do was laugh.
“What can I say? I love my wife.”
His question was: why hadn’t she shown up yet today?