“I don’t, but for old friends,” Gillian murmured, touching his cheek with her elegant long fingers. “I am glad I was able to help you solve this little problem, Gaius.” She put her hand on the door handle. “My felicitations to the lady Vilia. Good evening.” And then opening the door she glided through it, smiling in amusement at the majordomo, who had had little time to vacate the spot where he had crouched, listening. He ran ahead of her now to open the front door, and she playfully waggled her finger at him as she passed through to her awaiting litter.
Gaius Prospero sat for several long minutes reliving his conversation with the Head Mistress. Silently he chided himself for not seeing the problem with Lara himself, but then he had always been a connoisseur of beautiful things. He simply could not help himself. He bought only the best, as his many clients knew, and Lara was the best. Alas, she was too perfect. He called out for his secretary whom he knew was nearby, for Jonah was always nearby.
“My lord?”
“You heard?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“All of it?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Go the Traders Guild and learn where Rolf Fairplay is. If he is out of the City, find out when he will return.”
“Yes, my lord,” Jonah said.
“Do you think she is too beautiful?” Gaius Prospero asked his secretary.
“What is too beautiful, my lord? I thought your instincts were perfect as always. It is not your fault that the minds of others are narrow and unseeing.”
“Do you always say the right thing, Jonah?” the merchant asked.
“I try, my lord, having you as my example,” came the clever reply.
Gaius Prospero laughed. “One of these days I shall have to free you,” he told Jonah, “but only if you agree to remain with me.”
“You will have to free me eventually if I am to realize my goal in life,” Jonah told his master. “And I have the gold to purchase my freedom now.”
“And what is your goal?” Gaius Prospero asked.
“To be Master of the Merchants, my lord,” was the startling answer.
Gaius Prospero laughed heartily, nodding. “Be patient, Jonah,” he counseled his secretary. “You have the right attitude. Now go and find my cousin.” He waved the man away, and hurried from his library to tell his wife of what had transpired.
Vilia was not pleased. “They are fools! Fools!” she cried. “Now I shall not get my new travel cart, and I had already decided upon the one I wanted.”
“You shall have it, my dear,” her husband promised.
“But I wanted it now,” Vilia said, and she began to sob.
“We shall go tomorrow and purchase it, my love,” he said.
“But can we afford it as you have expended so much coin on that worthless girl? I want the one with the soft leather seats, and the crystal lanterns, and flower vases, Gaius. It is very, very expensive. The wheels are hand-painted and gilded. And I wanted new horses to draw it as well. I saw the prettiest pair of black-and-white animals at the horse yards. But then there was also a golden pair with creamy manes. I just can’t make up my mind. They are very expensive, too.” She pouted prettily at him.
“You may have anything your little heart desires, Vilia,” he promised her. After all, Gaius Prospero thought to himself, he couldn’t have anyone thinking that this unfortunate incident with Lara had weakened him financially. Yes! It was absolutely the right thing to go out tomorrow and purchase Vilia her new travel cart, and a pair of lovely horses to draw it. Kissing his wife he told her to go to bed. “I will join you after I have spoken with Jonah, my love. You will want to thank me for my generosity, I am certain.”
“I do not have my new cart and horses yet, Gaius,” she told him. “Have you not taught me never to pay for what I do not possess?”
“We will consider it a down payment, then,” he chuckled, and left her.
He waited for close to two hours for Jonah, and was about to join his wife when the secretary returned with Gaius’ cousin in tow.
While Gaius Prospero was a round-faced man of medium height and comfortable girth whose very appearance exuded prosperity, Rolf Fairplay was tall and rangy with a long narrow face. But his gray eyes were intelligent and alert. Those eyes now looked directly at the Master of the Merchants Guild.
“How may I serve you, cousin?” Rolf asked.
“Jonah, get my cousin some wine, and then join us,” Gaius said.
“No wine,” Rolf replied, “but I appreciate your hospitality, cousin. I must depart in the morning with my caravan, and I need a clear head, you will understand. This is a long trek I have ahead of me. I’ll be going through the Forest and Desert provinces, crossing into a portion of the Outland, and then heading for the coast before I return to the City. I will be gone for almost a full year. You caught me just in time.”
Gaius nodded. His cousin was probably the best trader of them all. He might have even been their leader, but he had turned the opportunity away, preferring to travel with his caravans the length and breadth of the four provinces. “You have heard of the purchase I recently made? Lara, the daughter of Sir John Swiftsword.”
Rolf Fairplay nodded. “She is to be a Pleasure Woman. A most sound investment, cousin. When is the auction?”
“The owners and the Pleasure Mistresses came last night to view her. They were to place their bids between sunrise and sunset today. The auction was to have been held tonight. But no bids were received, and earlier this evening I was visited by the lady Gillian who told me because of the girl’s beauty, and the dissension it was already causing among the house owners, the Pleasure Mistresses, the Pleasure Women and even their patrons, no bids would be offered me. She has, in her position as Head Mistress of the Pleasure Guilds, forbidden the girl’s sale here in the City. She suggested I consign Lara to you for sale in the Coastal Province.”
“What if I can sell her before I reach the coast? ’Tis the last stop on my trek, cousin. It would be better if I could. If word gets out that I am carrying such a valuable piece of merchandise my caravan could be attacked. If I agree to take her I will need at least six more mercenaries, and you must pay for them.”
“Nay, Rolf, you will pay for them, but if you take her I will pay you a quarter of the profit, and not the usual fifteen percent the traders get. I want twenty thousand in gold for her. She is worth more, but unfortunately the market here is closed to me. Think of it, cousin. Five thousand to you for selling her. She cost me ten. I shall have little profit from it as you can see, but as Gillian has pointed out, it is best to cut my losses as quickly as I can.”
“I want an agreement in writing,” Rolf Fairplay said.
“Of course,” Gaius Prospero agreed. “But remember, twenty thousand, cousin, and you get a quarter share. Less, and you will just get fifteen. An additional ten percent should certainly make it worth your while. Are we agreed then?”
“I’ll get you your twenty thousand, Gaius, possibly more if I can,” his cousin promised. “The Shadow Princes like their women fair and young.”
“Jonah,” his master called, “draw up the agreement.”
“Two copies, Jonah,” Rolf Fairplay said smiling at Gaius Prospero. “When can I have the girl? I want to leave at dawn, and everything else is ready.”
“As soon as we sign the agreement you may take her, cousin. She is a virgin, and I need not tell you that her value is not just in her beauty, but in her innocence as well. See that she remains pure and untouched.”
“Of course, cousin,” Rolf answered. “We want your little investment to bring the highest price for us, and she will-I guarantee it.”
The agreement was a standard contract between the Master of the Merchants Guild and a Taubyl Trader, with the exception of the fee. It took an hour for the secretary to draw up the two identical contracts, but finally the parchments were ready to be signed. Carefully he spread them on his master’s desk and handed Gaius Prospero an inked quill. When both contracts had been signed by both men he sanded their signatures, and rolling up the parchments handed one to each man.