"It's beautiful!"
"Now, do you believe me?"
"Of course. I've seen its like in Verd, but do you think there's enough to warrant a caravan?"
"Gods! Arthur, Erkateren is famous for its furniture, famous for most everything that can be made out of wood."
Arthur caressed the smooth, hard surface, adoring the gorgeous sheen and inlaid details. He stooped to examine the other chairs on display.
"Damn! They're almost identical all of them!"
Harbend smiled. "And each a masterpiece."
Arthur looked at the chairs again. They were perfect.
"I don't understand. The skill needed. How can there be so many carpenters here who can do it?"
"We are not in Keen any longer."
Arthur didn't understand and fell silent.
"Many artisans here are magecrafters. Limited in their knowledge, but magecrafters nonetheless," Harbend explained.
"You mean they use magic?"
"They do, but they only know how to work wood. Still, it enables them to remove flaws and change the wood to their needs. I fail to fully understand how, but the best furniture I have ever seen is made here."
Arthur didn't know what to say. Partially he'd been expecting magic, but thus far he'd seen nothing but alternatives to common engineering. Where was the real magic?
"How much do you think they have to sell?" he asked after a while.
"I hope some traders will join the caravan, but there should still be enough to fill eight or ten wagons. Add another twenty wagon's worth of items of somewhat lower quality. More than we can load anyway."
"I can see why you wanted to come here. This is what we should buy for the metal we sell here. You can't imagine what people back on Earth would pay."
"We?"
"Eh, traders from Earth."
"Sounds like an interesting market," Harbend said, a mixture of greed and thoughtfulness marking his voice. "Talking of which, I shall be needed for some interviews."
Arthur smiled and watched Harbend leave.
#
Harbend nodded at the woman facing him. He had difficulties understanding her. The dialect spoken in Erkateren was very different from the one he was used to from Hasselden and Verd. He rephrased his question.
"Are we agreed that you shall pay the fee for each wagon you want to bring?"
She looked at him and smiled. "Yes. I bring six wagons, yes? And pay for six, yes?"
"Good. We leave tomorrow. From the gates."
She nodded and left.
They were using the town hall for the interviews. A new caravan to Braka qualified as an important event just as he had hoped. Now another five traders with a total of thirty-two new wagons had joined the caravan. Word must have gone ahead, and he only needed to send couriers to the four towns in Erkateren they wouldn't visit.
Harbend grinned. Arriving with a well-armed escort had been the magic key. He'd expected more arguments, but in the end the local traders gave in easily enough. They needed another market, and he knew that. Keen, especially a slowly strangled Keen, wasn't enough. Prices were already falling, and furniture, no matter how finely crafted didn't pull ploughs. More importantly, the people here desperately needed iron for the making of those ploughs.
With a bit of luck they might see the train swelled by another seventy wagons when they left Erkateren behind them. Add yet more wagons from Ri Khi joining them. He'd hired couriers for that mission earlier, and now there wasn't much more to do. If he could bring a total of a hundred and twenty wagons to Braka the venture would break even, and after that, with wagons and horses already paid for, each caravan would bring a profit.
#
Harbend stirred. Someone was knocking on the door. He got to his feet and stumbled in the darkness. When he opened the door he felt the scent of perfume.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Shh, let me in." The voice carried the sensation of alcohol.
"Chaijrild? What are you doing here?"
"Don't be a bore, let me in!"
"No, I shall not do that. You should go to your mother's room and sleep."
"Don't you tell me what to do or not. Let me in, or do you think I'm too ugly for you?"
"Gods!" Harbend was momentarily at a loss for words. "You are very pretty and also very drunk. Now go away and get some sleep."
A stinging sensation on his cheek told him his refusal hadn't been well taken. She muttered something and staggered away in the darkness. He closed his door and returned to bed. It had been a long time since anyone tried to seduce him, not that he minded, but she was the daughter of a trading partner.
#
Arthur woke to the sound of angry words. He left his bed and walked to his door. When he opened it and looked into the corridor it was empty save Harbend. A very angry Harbend.
"What's going on?" Arthur asked.
"She came to my room last night and now she has bedded Captain Laiden."
"Who did?"
"Young Termend."
"Oh, and now her mother's in a fury?" Arthur didn't like the consequences. An angry partner could stir up tensions later on, especially as this was the very first partner Harbend had signed on. "Why did you allow her in?"
"I... I did not. Told her to get some sleep elsewhere."
"Thank God! Then I can't see the problem. She's old enough to pick a partner among the rest, don't you think?"
"You fail to understand."
"I understand perfectly. She felt spurned and went for second best. So? The only problem would've been if you'd slept with her."
"But... Maybe you are right," Harbend finally grumbled.
Arthur shook his head and reentered his room to get dressed. There was no point in trying to grab any sleep now. Dawn was breaking. They needed to be on the road as early as possible with all the additions to handle. He pulled on his boots and went in search for breakfast.
#
The wagon train had definitely swelled with the hopeful traders who joined them. By now it looked like a caravan should according to Arthur's childhood imagination. Of course, no camels and very little sand, but still. It took them the better part of the morning to leave Grendevrat behind them and it was time to make use of the men Harbend had hired the day before.
#
They waved to the couriers.
"Make good speed to Ri Nachi. We shall be waiting for you at the Roadhouse. Four eightdays from now, no more," Harbend shouted.
He watched the riders vanishing on the north bound road while the wagon train continued eastwards.
"You think we'll see many of them?" Arthur asked Harbend as they started catching up with the wagons again.
"Not sure. Dyed silks, toys and instruments usually, but with sea trade cut off they shall have little silk to dye." Nagging worries yelled at him for a moment. "Twenty wagons maybe. An addition." Unable to shrug the unease away he brought his horse to speed.
They were one day behind schedule, which wasn't too bad, but he knew bad luck could have them falling back much more and was eager to leave the Roadhouse before winter hit the mountains. An early snowstorm could force them to turn back and then they'd be stuck at the Roadhouse for the entire winter. That was his greatest fear. One winter without moving and he was sure to lose most of the traders who signed on.
The next eightdays saw them passing through two more of the seven towns in Erkateren. The wagon train swelled at each town and Harbend had to prepare the Roadhouse for the huge amount of people and animals they brought. That meant riding in advance and he invited Arthur to accompany him two days after they crossed Erkateren's eastern border.