Dolmian Palace looked like an ancient crumbling fortress that looked as if it had never seen better days.
Built from local red-brown bricks, it stood four stories tall with a large tower behind it rising up twice the height of the main palace. The powdery snow touched the dark grey steeples and turrets with a dusting of white in a valiant attempt to hide the creeping decay. The only touches of visible color came from the blue-green cypress birches surrounding the estate.
Tinsel Pomfrey had ported her within steps of the front gates where a lone sentry guard stood. It was a good thing they didn't need to use the roads to leave this decrepit place because the road leading away from the palace had also sustained serious damage and looked as if it could wash away with the next big storm.
The dolmian guard was barely awake. With the poor condition of the roads leading up to the Duchess' palace, the only people who made the arduous journey were the local merchants who came daily to sell their food and wares to the palace cooks.
Upon seeing two people appear through a portal that opened up mere yards away from him, the sentry quickly stood up at rapt attention. These were no mere merchants.
Portal usage meant wizards so at least one of these people was a wizard. The other person was a woman wearing a gold gown of such opulence that it could only belong to a person of royalty.
As the two people came closer, the guard caught the glint of light bouncing off a crown on the woman's brow.
"Your--Your Majesty!" He sputtered and executed a clumsy bow. He had never seen a member of the Royal family in these parts before other than the Duchess Hilda Cartier. But this was no mere royal person.
This was the Queen!
Tinsel Pomfrey waved his hand at the sentry. "Go announce to the staff that the Queen of the Northern Realm is here to inspect the place. Have the kitchen prepare lunch for the Queen. Make sure they prepare the best set of rooms for her to rest in as well."
"Yes, Your Grace." He bowed to Tinsel Pomfrey, and bowed again to Mira. Then he waited for them to enter through the gates before running off to spread the news to the rest of the household.
Tinsel Pomfrey led her into the palace.
The inside was not much better than the outside. Immediately through the grand entrance was a large hall that looked as if it could have been a grand foyer except that it was now used as a storage area for boxes and trunks of various sizes stacked all the way to the tall ceiling, blocking out most of the light from the dirty stain glass lancet windows.
It was so cold, even inside that Mira's breath continued to be visible even though she was inside. She tried not to breathe too much. There was a musty moldy smell to everything, as if it hadn't been aired out for years.
A long carpet ran from the double doors all the way to the end of the room. It was so old it looked to be some indeterminate color between mottled brown and grey. Perhaps the moldy smell was coming from this carpet.
The entirety of the palace dolmian occupants had congregated to welcome her. There were over a hundred servants in various ages and sizes. They stood on either side of the moldy carpet and bowed until she passed by.
The layout of the place reminded Mira of the Grand Hall, except this room lacked the elegance and opulence of Diamond Palace. It was also a huge pigsty.
Two maids appeared through the double doors at the end of the hallway and bowed until Mira and Tinsel Pomfrey had walked the length of the mottled carpet.
The women led them into an interior room where a warm fireplace was burning and invited them to sit on two large comfortable chairs placed in front of the crackling flames.
This room looked much better than the anterior room. There was usable furniture here that didn't stink and wasn't covered in dust. Since the room was much smaller than the Grand Foyer, it was much easier to keep warm.
"Your Majesty, would you like hot tea or a hot rum toddy?"
"Tea is good, thank you," Mira said and bit her tongue.
Again, she had forgotten and thanked the servants. She turned away from the women, not wanting to see their confused apprehensive reactions towards her thanks.
Tinsel Pomfrey took out a box from his large robe that contained his quills and papers. "Please remain here and rest a bit until lunch is ready. I will be looking over the books and documents with the palace accountants and managers."
Mira nodded and turned back to the fire. It was such a nice warm fire that she wanted to rest just a bit. She slipped off her shoes, tucked her feet up under the large skirt and leaned back.
The exhaustion that had caught her at the Royal Family Inn was now prowling about, demanding retribution. It raised itself up on its haunches and pounced at her, right between the eyes.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty…" someone was calling to her from very far away. Mira opened her eyes. Tinsel Pomfrey was standing next to her chair with a steaming cup in his hand.
"Ummmm." Mira stretched her hands above her head and sat up. "I'm sorry. I must have fallen asleep. I guess I was more tired than I realized."
"You have been working very hard this past week. This is actually the first time you have had even a small break." He handed her the hot tea. "Please take a sip of the hot tea. Dinner is read if you are hungry."
"Dinner? I thought we were having lunch."
"You slept through lunch, Your Majesty."
Mira sighed and closed her eyes. "I am truly sorry. Were you able to eat anything at lunch?"
Tinsel Pomfrey shook his head. "I was quite busy with the accountants and bookkeepers. I was only now able to break away."
She placed the cup back on the table and rose to her feet. "Let us have dinner, and while we eat, please brief me on the accounting situation at Dolmia."
In between bites of roast boar and turnips, Tinsel Pomfrey outlined for her the economic situation at Dolmia.
The city was indeed flat broke.
"How is that possible? They have been charging triple the price for dolmia and they haven't paid the miners anything for at least a year. Now, either the dwarves have not paid them for the dolmia or the money has been embezzled away."
"Neither of those cases are true, Your Majesty." Tinsel Pomfrey folded his napkin and picked up a scroll that had rows and rows of neat Ashryan curlicue writing on it.
"Here are the records for dolmian sales transactions going back three years. Before the tax hike, this palace had a very healthy balance and the treasury was quite full."
He tapped at a spot on the scroll. "Three years ago, something happened and all the wealth was striped away."
Mira did the obligatory lean-over to take a look. Of course, she had no idea what she was looking at but she knew Tinsel Pomfrey would inform her.
"The financial hemorrhage became more and more dire each year that passed, so taxes had to be raised to cover the shortfalls. Last year, even with another hike, there was no way to cover the difference so the dolmians were not paid at all." He pointed to the final squiggles on the scroll.
"Do you have any idea where the money went?"
"I do, Your Majesty. All the money was sent to Citrine."
Mira blinked. "Why Citrine? Did the Duchess have business dealings there?"
"Not that I know of."
"Before Zander left, he told Daran to send scouts to Peridot for some reason. It's not that far from Citrine. I think we need to talk to Daran about this."
"I have already informed Daran Duluth. He said he has some things he needs to share with you so I told him to port here as soon as possible."
Mira frowned. She had told the dolmians that she would pay them back their year's worth of back pay plus any reparations. If there was no money in the treasury, she would not have anything to pay them with.
"Tinsel, is it true what you said, that because I killed the Duchess, her holdings belong to me?"
"That is true Your Majesty."
"Does that mean that I also own whatever Orville Torrence owns?"
Tinsel Pomfrey nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. I was going to wait until tomorrow to go over with you, Orville Torrence's homes and possessions, but if you need to, we can do that tonight as well."
"You have all that information?"
"At the moment he was lying on the ground bleeding to death, I sent a squadron to his castle to secure the place. It is there waiting for you to visit, Your Majesty."
"Does he have a lot of wealth?"
Tinsel Pomfrey paused for a moment. "That depends on what you consider to be a lot. He certainly does not have the kind of wealth that you and your husband own, but his family is an old lineage with much land and holdings scattered across Ashrya."
"Such as?"
He paused for a moment. "Orville Torrence owned an inn and a bar in Amber, a fabric shop in Jade, a tea shop and a cosmetics shop in Citrine, a weapons shop in Diamond, and various land holdings across the empire. None of these would be considered extremely successful, but they do offer a steady yearly income."
Mira chewed on her lip. "Before I knew how badly Dolmian Castle was faring, I had told Oliver Gordon that I would return the year's missing pay to them. Would Orville Torrence have enough to cover what I promised the dolmian miners?"
Tinsel Pomfrey sat back. He gazed at Mira with eyes that were inscrutable. He finally gave a slow and thoughtful response. "If we took the entire year's worth of profit from all the various holdings that Orville Torrence held, it would be enough to pay half of what is owed the dolmians."
"Only half…"
"However, we can also sell off some of the various items in his treasury and that might cover the remainder of the debt owed to the dolmians."
"Would that cause severe hardship for those who are living at Orville Torrence's various residences?"
"It's not so much hardship, but what you will be doing would be stripping them of the investment funds they would need to buy more inventory and grow the various businesses for the following year. It would reinvigorate the dolmian mining business but it would starve the various other businesses that Orville Torrence had invested in."
Mira swallowed her disappointment. This was like robbing Peter to pay Paul. She tapped her lower lip with a careless finger. "If I don't touch the principal but only gather up the profit, is there anywhere I can borrow the half that is missing?"
Tinsel Pomfrey laughed. "Your Majesty. Your husband's fortune is so vast, the amount that is owed to the Dolmian miners is merely a drop in the ocean. Why don't you just take it from there?"
Mira shook her head. Zander's money was his and not hers. She could not just take it from him to do something that she had promised another.
"The dolmia is still being sold every day, right? What if we take all that profit to pay current and past salaries for the dolmian miners?"
"Even if we start doing that today, it would take two years to reach break-even."
Mira scowled. She needed to find something that made quick money. What would people be willing to pay for that she could offer from what she had at her home on Earth?
"Tinsel, how difficult would it be for me to set up an auction so I can sell off some items to raise money?"
Tinsel Pomfrey was rarely ever speechless.
The latest request from this unconventional Queen left him momentarily dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty, there are routine auctions that occur from time to time but they are mostly for the trading of valuable medicines and weapons. What exactly are you thinking about auctioning off?"
"Ummm...well, this and that." She looked up and smiled as an idea began to form in her head. "When will Daran Duluth arrive?"
"I am here, Your Majesty," a voice sounded from behind Mira.
She grinned.
"Daran!"