Denshia sat down at his desk, looking over the reports he'd just gotten. One was from the physician's he had keeping an eye of Amelia and Cinder. They hadn't shown any signs of the plague and those who had it were not showing any signs of ever having had it. It was good news, though Denshia still had issues when thinking of Amelia and how similar she was to his wife. Even some of her unconscious mannerisms were practically identical to Milyah. The things that were missing the most were the age lines around her eyes and along her cheeks.
It almost seemed like a cruel joke.
Another was from one of Amelia's friends who was still looking through the maps. He was requesting if someone could teach him how to read their language. While it wasn't that unreasonable, Denshia couldn't help but worry that it would set a precedent that he'd have to deal with serious trouble about. Since while it wasn't against the law to teach others to read, many of the other nobles looked down on the idea of anyone outside the nobility from being able to read, no matter how necessary it was to even teach the soldiers in the queen's employ. Almost like it was made for just them.
He felt inclined to do that, but wondered if he should have his daughter be the one to teach him. It would reduce the amount of people who could spread the word of it happening and he knew his daughter would be happy to spend time with her new friends. Even though Denshia still wasn't sure how much time to allow her to spend with them, despite how he'd already assigned two of them to be his daughter's bodyguards, one of which had gone to trace a rumor that they suspected was of a friend of theirs. The only thing he could be certain of with them was the fact that they weren't working for his enemies. Otherwise they wouldn't have brought his daughter back here.
Then there were other reports about a few of his villages having been attacked by bandits, attacks that failed because of his soldiers patrolling his march. While they didn't wear the insignia of any one of his enemies, he still suspected that's who had attacked. While it was painful for him to lose any of those who called his lands their home, as well as any of his soldiers who were willing to die for him, he knew it was necessary.
Especially with how he knew if he didn't have patrols roaming across his lands, the effects of the villages being destroyed would be devastating to him and his daughter. Not only would they lose their ability to feed everyone on his march, but eventually he would lose other resources some of the villages provided that helped keep everything going.
That was part of the reason he suspected at least one of his enemies were behind these attacks. The attacks were too well coordinated and even bypassed other villages that would have been easier to take. Those villages would just not have dealt as significant of a blow to the economy in his march.
What his enemies were after, he couldn't be sure. If Milyah were here, he was confident she'd have been able to figure it out. She was always better at seeing those kinds of things, even though she preferred to be out with the patrols.
Thinking about Milyah brought his thoughts back to Amelia and Denshia pushed himself away from his desk. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to concentrate until he was able to deal with her presence. Like she was purposely getting inside his mind and making him unable to focus on what needed to be done.
Turning away from his desk, Denshia stood up and decided to take a walk to try and clear his head. He doubted it would work, but he couldn't think of anything else to try. At least nothing that would be appropriate for him to even consider.
He wondered when he should talk to his daughter about teaching Amelia and her friends to read their language, but he knew right then she'd be with her tutors. Unless it was important, he knew not to disturb them. His daughter had a tendency to have a hard time refocusing when something interrupted her lessons.
He'd made certain to get the tutors when his daughter had somehow found a way to get the key to the door to the side of the castle. It was meant for a way to escape if the castle was about to fall, but that had meant that the keys were always closely guarded and even those guarding them shouldn't know what they were for. Just that they were important.
Which led him to another issue that had been troubling him. Was there someone in his castle that was working for one, or more, of his enemies? If there was, he was confident that it wasn't the tutors. As he'd only brought them in after his daughter had been returned. He hadn't questioned his daughter about how she knew what the key unlocked and how to get to it, but he couldn't be sure how forthcoming she would be, since he suspected she was still scared of getting punished for breaking the rules he'd already established.
Thinking about his daughter brought a smile to his face, helping him push some of the issues that had been weighing him down to the back of his mind. She was so much like her mother when she was that age that Denshia couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. Like she was meant to live the same kind of life like her mother had.
As Denshia turned the corner in the hallway, he nearly collided with Scithia.
"Apologies, my lord," Scithia said, her face showing how startled she was. "I didn't know you'd left your office."
"I just came out for a small break," he answered pleasantly. "There were a few things I'd like you talk with you about."
"What is it? Has someone said anything about me?"
Denshia could never tell if Scithia was joking when she said that or not. He'd never had any reason to question her, nor did she ever show signs of dissatisfaction with her place here. Yet, frequently when he mentioned that he'd like to talk with her about something, she would respond with that with such a straight face he couldn't help but feel like she was serious about it as well.
So, he did what he'd always done in the past. Ignored her question. He didn't have time to indulge that line of questions and didn't want to deal with the chance that she was serious He had too many things piling up fast on his plate already that he didn't need to add any more that didn't help himself out.
"One of the things was about Kystia," he said as Scithia fell into step just behind him. "What do you think of those who brought her back? Can we trust them?"
Scithia was quiet for a few minutes. Denshia didn't say anything as he waited patiently for her to mull it over in her mind. It wasn't something that he'd expect her to be able to give an assessment right away, especially when it came to people they were still getting used to in the first place.
"I think they're trust worthy," Scithia answered. "It true that they arrived in an unconventional way, but if they weren't worthy of trust, they'd likely have tried using Milyah's double to get your trust more easily."
"That has it's own draw backs. Such as how thoroughly is her body similar to Milyah's? I doubt any of my enemies know what scars and other markings her body has that was concealed by the clothing she wore," Denshia said, his mind already wandering past the topic at hand.
"Well, regardless of that, I'm sure they'd have their ways of finding out. Even after she's been dead for so long."
Denshia sighed. He hated that Scithia was right. He couldn't be sure of what his enemies were capable of. Especially when it came to creating problems for him as they worked at chipping away at his strength and those that he sought to protect.
"You're right, though," Denshia admitted, even though it left a sour taste in his mouth. "They might be some of the few I could trust with my daughter completely." Denshia paused for a moment as he considered the dilemma this posed at that moment. "I'll need to speak with the two that are still here soon. Have my daughter present as well."
"As you wish, my lord," Scithia said respectfully.
Denshia wasn't sure what he should do about the other matters right then, but he was confident that the answers would present themselves to him soon enough. He couldn't be sure what they'd be, but he knew that if he made a decision too early or moved to fast in some of this, that he'd create an opening for his enemies to exploit.
He had no illusions that they might hesitate to act on any opening they saw.
_
While it had been a productive day, as far as Beth was concerned, she had mixed feelings with what the customs officer, Hisith, said when she left. Hisith had asked her to stop by when she was in the city again. Especially if she's able to find her friend.
Beth wasn't sure if she needed a friend like Hisith, but she wasn't going to complain. Since they didn't know many people in this world, she couldn't say that it wouldn't hurt to have more contacts. Especially when they were still trying to get their footing in this society.
Between Ralph and Wes, they'd not only gotten enough coins, after giving the guards the cut charged by the city, for another stay in the same inn, if they wanted to, but they had twelve tists and two heshs left over past that. It wasn't much, nor did Ralph or Wes realize just how much they'd gotten until they'd counted it out, but it was at least a start. Especially with their goal of getting a hundred ziks.
Then, according to Hesha, it took about fifteen tists to get one hesh. Then it took seven heshs to get one zik. While she wished it would be an even ten between the value of each coin, it wasn't like they had anyone they could complain to. However, the value between them did seem to fluctuate, which Beth couldn't say if that was a good thing or not. As it made it harder to determine how much they still had to go to have enough to rescue Charlie. Not to mention how difficult it became to figure out how much they owed the guards at the end of the day.
Although, Beth was at least happy that they only wanted one tenth of what they got. Rather than some other number. As even nine percent would have been much more of a headache to figure out, despite the fact that they'd be able to keep more.
Although, Beth had to keep reminding her about the cost the letter Feon ha needed help writing to Embris. Which was a pleasant surprise for Beth. Though, it did make it more of a headache that it cost eight tists: two for the parchment, one for the ink, and five for someone to write it out. Which meant the twelve tists they had were reduced to four. Yet, Beth didn't have it in her heart to complain about that. As she could understand Feon wanting Embris to know that they were alright. She was certain she'd feel much the same if it was her siblings in question.
The room they got wasn't as nice as Beth had hoped for, but considering the state some of the other buildings were in, she felt it was worth the cost. She just hoped that it wasn't going to come back to bite them when this was all over, such as if they found Charlie but hadn't earned enough to save her.
"I really think we should make another go by the mercenary guild," Ralph said as Beth was settling down to go to sleep. "I'm sure we can do even better than I did today."
"Ralph, you know as well as I do that we don't know how far away it is to the capital, right?" Wes asked. "It won't do us much good if we arrive to late to even have a chance to buy Charlie back."
"We don't even know she hasn't been sold yet," Ralph countered. "Besides, it won't help us out any if we can't get enough money to even be taken seriously as a buyer."
"Both of you have a point," Beth said, not caring to take sides. She just wanted to go to sleep right then. "I say we go to the capital as soon as possible and then set up there." Beth paused as she suddenly yawned. "I'm sure they have a mercenary's guild there as well. We can try to get as much as we can before the girl in the rumor is sold, assuming she isn't gone by the time we arrive, that is."
"Beth, we can still get more if Ralph and I separate," Wes informed Beth. "If we only set up in one place, then we limit how much we can make."
"I'm not saying you can't do that. What I'm saying is that we should head out tomorrow and it doesn't matter how much we can get at this mercenary guild because I'm sure there'll be one in the capital. So, we should just head out in the morning."
Beth didn't want to sound so short with her friends, but she really wanted to get to sleep right then. She couldn't say why those two didn't seem to understand that. Though, it also didn't help that Feon and Hesha had already gone to sleep and didn't seem to have any trouble staying asleep. Which really only added to her annoyance.
"I'm not against that, I'm just saying we can get more if Ralph and I split up," Wes answered.
"I'm sure you can do that just as well as in the capital, but weren't you just saying a minute ago that we should be heading to the capital?"
"You know, I could try using my magic to try and create more of these coins," Ralph suggested suddenly.
"Uh, I think I might have heard somewhere that you can't do that," Beth said, not sure if she really had heard that or she was just getting cranky at how her friends seemed to enjoy keeping her awake when she was being as clear as she could without saying outright that she wanted to go to sleep. She didn't think she needed to, but part of her was starting to wonder.
"Come on!" Ralph said, sounding too playful for Beth's mood. "I'm sure whoever said that was just trying to keep people from counterfeiting them. As long as we don't do too much, I'm sure we'll be able to duplicate enough to get whatever we'll need if it comes to that."
"And weren't you just saying that we needed to stay so we can get more from what you did today?" Beth was wondering if they should have hit the road rather than staying at an inn. They'd all agreed that they should stay at an inn so they wouldn't have had to deal with another night camping out. Especially since they weren't sure how long it'd be for Beth to find out what she could about the girl in the rumor, assuming she turned out to be Charlie.
Although, another thought occurred to her that sounded about as pleasant as having hit the road right after they finished for the day. The idea was if she hit Wes, and especially Ralph, it might be just as good. After all, they were either trying to mess with her or just doing what they could to get her goat. Either way, they might not like it, but it had its appeal, even though she doubted she'd be able to really do any real damage.
If it wasn't the fact that they'd probably become more amused at her hitting them than anything else, as well as how this world would probably take a dim view of women hitting men, she might actually seriously consider it.
"So, how far is the capital from here?" Ralph asked, sounding a little more serious than he had been a moment ago.
"Couldn't say," Beth answered honestly. "But from what I hear, the people gathering in the capital for the next slave auction are supposed to be a higher level than from the last auction." As she spoke, Beth was surprised she hadn't made this connection earlier. It would have been a great point to make as to why they should head for the capital right away. "So, if we get there quickly, we might be able to get more from our street performing, regardless of how much you thought you might make here."
"No need to sound so smug about it," Ralph complained. "We could still make a mint in this city."
"And how long do we have before the auction?" Beth countered, starting to lose her patience. This debate had been going on long enough already. "I'm sure you'd like to arrive a day late, right?"
"Do I need to separate you two?" Wes asked dryly. "I think it's clear you're outvoted on staying longer, Ralph. Face it, we'll be heading out in the morning. Maybe we can even try to see if we can play music in the capital to get a discount on an inn there."
"Why didn't you suggest it earlier?" Beth asked, her head starting to throb. She was starting to feel like these topics were almost coming out of the woodwork to irritate her specifically. "We might have been able to same some money that way."