Many minutes later, after Castona and an assistant had helped the traders ahead of Kestrel, the proprietor came to see Kestrel. “You’re looking a little wild and wooly,” the shopkeeper said laconically, looking at Kestrel’s dusty traveling clothes.
“Arlen said that I should come to see you,” Kestrel replied. “Are you Castona?”
The shopkeeper seemed to weigh Kestrel, then looked to see how close the other customers were, to judge what they might overhear. “My name’s Castona,” he agreed. “Where did you see Arlen?”
“I’ve been training with him in Firheng the past few months, then he and I were on a trip towards the Water Mountains a couple of weeks ago. That’s where I last saw him,” Kestrel explained.
“And why were you on your way to the mountains?” Castona asked, switching suddenly to an accented pronunciation of the elven language.
Kestrel also looked around, but saw no unusual interest in the language. “I am in training,” he replied in elvish. “We were on a training expedition to test my skills.”
“Your language is good,” Castona switched back to the human tongue. “You could pass as a southerner from Uniontown or Lakeview with no problem, there’s that little accent. And your ears aren’t extraordinarily elvish, but you ought to wear a hat,” he told Kestrel.
“So how is Arlen, and what do you have here?” he indicated the items piled on the counter.
Kestrel decided to switch back to Elvish. “We were traveling with a companion, Artur, to check on reports that a yeti had come down from the mountains and was plaguing the settlers in the area.
“We found the yeti,” he said.
“Yeti?” Castona repeated loudly, in the human tongue. “You saw one?” Many heads turned to look at the two of them, and there was a sudden silence in the shop, as other conversations ceased.
Kestrel waited, and the others slowly returned to their own business. “Sorry,” Castona muttered.
“The yeti was attacking a settler’s homestead, and we happened upon the scene,” Kestrel continued. “It killed Artur, and I killed it.
“Arlen took Artur back so that his spirit could join his ancestors,” he explained. “We gutted the yeti, and these are what I was told to bring to you — a keg of blood,” he tapped the container, “and the head, the hands, the liver, the heart, some glands, and the,” he paused, “stick and balls.
“The settler’s family survived, and I want to sell these to support them,” he finished his story as Castona stared at him with widened eyes.
“Let’s go to a back room,” the merchant suggested in elvish. He motioned for Kestrel to come around the corner of the counter.
Kestrel followed, grabbing his goods as he turned the corner. “If Merilla comes looking for me, would you tell your staff to tell her I’m in here?” he asked Castona.
“Barler,” he called, then turned to Kestrel. “What does she look like?”
“A human,” Kestrel said impulsively. “Her hair is light brown, and she’s wearing a red vest over a white blouse,” he added.
“Barler,” Castona repeated in his louder voice, “if a woman with brown hair and a red vest comes looking for my client, tell her to wait out here,” he instructed, then led Kestrel down a dim hall to a small room with three chairs and a table.
“Let me see what you’ve got,” the merchant said as he closed the door behind them.
“Kestrel put the goods down, then reached into the bag and pulled out the head first. The lank, dark hair hung limply from the skull, while the wizened features of the face were shrunken but intact, darker, but still discernible.
“Growelk take me!” Castona swore, picking up the large item gingerly, turning it around. “It is a yeti head! What else is in there?”
Kestrel proceeded to pull out the items, laying them all out on the table, covering its surface with organs and remains. Castona reached for the keg, and struggled to raise it with both hands, surprised by the weight. “May I taste it?” he asked Kestrel.
The elf shrugged, and Castona used his knife to pry the cork out of the opening. He poked a finger down into the dark hole, and pulled the finger out, then popped it in his mouth.
The merchant squeezed his eyes shut and shivered, then slowly pulled his finger out of his mouth.
“You killed the yeti? You personally?” he asked Kestrel.
“There wasn’t any choice at the point in the battle when it happened; it was kill or be killed. I put a sword in his groin,” Kestrel answered.
Castona sat at the table, and ran both hands through his hair without knowing. “I can give you,” he paused as he calculated, “twenty golds today for all of this.”
Kestrel tried to remember Artur’s lessons about the value of human currencies. Twenty golds would be enough for Merilla to live for many years comfortably, he thought, but he wanted to confirm. “Merilla has to support herself and her two boys for many years; her husband’s dead. Will that be enough for a home and regular food and clothes?”
“That would be plenty enough for a comfortable life for ten years,” Castona answered, “if that was all she’d get. That’s not all I’m offering Kestrel. That’s how much gold I can afford to give your lady friend up front.
“I’ll call an auction, and I’ll take the first twenty golds we receive as repayment for what I gave your girl. Everything we raise after that we’ll split in half — half for her and half for me,” he explained.
“How much more will that be?” Kestrel asked, astonished at the idea.
“If we get the right traders in here, and I’ll make sure we do, I think I’ll get thirty golds, and your friend will get another thirty golds, plus the first twenty,” Castona replied exuberantly. “We’ll both be rich! You can’t believe how long it’s been since a yeti was killed and authenticated, and you’ve got the head and the hands, which is strong authentication! I’ll bet it’s been a dozen years in Estone!
“The old men will go crazy for this stuff,” he patted the keg. “That taste I just took would be worth a year’s wages for some folks.
“You’ll be a hero! The man who killed a yeti! We’ll take you to the Doge’s palace for an interview. That’ll stir up the market, and guarantee even higher prices,” Castona plotted.
“I don’t think I should get that much publicity,” Kestrel protested, “especially if my ears are growing out.”
“It’s like I said before; we’ll put a hat on you; actually we’ll bandage you and tell them you got a scalp injury from the yeti. The Doge’s people won’t mind. He’ll get the prestige and publicity he wants to help him shore up his supporters in the Assembly — we could even give him a little sample of the yeti blood as a token of respect, and he could make a lot of friends; that’s what we’ll do,” Castona reached over and patted Kestrel’s shoulder, just as there was a knock at the door.
“Your woman’s here,” a voice said from outside the door.
“Hold her; we’ll be there in a minute,” Castona shouted. “Do we have a deal?” he asked Kestrel.
Things were happening fast, too fast for Kestrel’s comfort, but Arlen had said to trust this trader.
“It’s a deal,” he agreed. They both thumped their hands on the tabletop to signal the bargain sealed, then started walking towards the front of the store.
“Wait here,” the merchant said by one door in the hallway, which he slipped into. Seconds later he came back out with a leather pouch, which he deposited in Kestrel’s hand. “Here’s your money. Better not to show it out in public, or you may get robbed in the square. If I were you I’d take your lady to the closest bank and put most of it in an account for her immediately.”
Kestrel followed Castona out to the trading room, behind the counter, and he immediately saw Merilla, looking uncomfortable as she stood and tried to hold the two squirming boys, while the men in the place unabashedly examined her.
“You got yourself quite a beauty there, Kestrel!” Castona said loudly. “You two go and have a good time. Come back and see me tomorrow afternoon and we’ll start working on details.”
“How long will all this take?” Kestrel asked, apprehensive about the potential length of his stay in the human city. Despite his humanization with Merilla, he still found the city environment, with its lack of trees, its stone and brick and wooden buildings, and humans crowded together, nearly overwhelming.