Voltaire looked at his granddaughter, but his granddaughter seemed uninterested in the conversation. “You’ve come to beg for a loan, how sad. How much do you want?”

“I seek seventy gilden.”

“Seventy gilden? That’s a tidy sum. One could abscond from the city with that much gold. I am wary of lending anyone that much, even my own blood.”

“I offer up collateral. I own a portion of an expedition.”

“An expedition?” Voltaire's words hinted at anger. “You offer an unknown expedition as collateral? You take me for a fool!”

Augustus suddenly looked to Quintus, realizing everything was wrong. The conversation had progressed so unusually, nothing was going as expected. This was quickly ending up a disaster. He had expected the member of the Sentellius family he was visiting to have done some form of research before the meeting, to have used his family’s sources to see the worth of his expedition, but now it dawned on him, his visitation was seen as a mere nuisance to Voltaire.

Quintus merely rubbed his brow, returning a frustrated look.

“A family member of yours is in charge of the taxation at the port. Surely you must have been told something?”

“Eh? How was I supposed to know what you came here for? How big of a fool are you?!” He pushed his cane into his granddaughter's shoulder, pushing her whole body to the side. “You let this man beat you?”

Valeria just regained her posture in the chair, not even looking over at Voltaire. An odd lack of response for such a rude gesture. She kept staring at the floor, refusing everyone in the room eye contact.

“Maybe I was wrong to have expected you to have taken initiative. Still, you can call over your man at the port tax office and then ask him. He is your family so you’ll be able to trust him.”

“No. I have a better idea. I just need to see your ledgers.”

“That can be arranged,” said Augustus, but in his mind he was skeptical. Looking at the expedition’s ledgers would hardly suffice. They were just numbers on a piece of parchment, with no official audit, someone could just write false numbers down with impunity. “I did not bring the expedition ledger with me, but if that’s all you need, I can go home and return with them, with haste.”

“Not the expedition ledgers. That can be forged, easily. I want to see the Castellian ledgers. Go home and bring those to me and you will have your loan.”

“The Castellian ledgers? What even makes you think I have that? No. Call over your man from the port office.”

“I’d rather see the ledgers. You have them, don’t you?”

He had ledgers he could show, the ones stolen from Giovannus’ estate by Heratio. But bringing those here presented its own risks. Besides, showing the Castellian ledgers to someone outside of the family would be seen as treasonous. “Even if I did, I would never show them to you. You know that.”

Voltaire pointed with his cane aggressively at the door behind Augustus. “Then you should leave! I apologize for not seeing you to the door! You can show yourself out!”

“Wait, Voltaire,” said Quintus. His voice filled with desperation. “You are being too unreasonable. Why not ask your man at the port tax office? Would you let gildens slip through your hands because of some flash of emotion?”

Voltaire laughed, an eerie and uncomforting laugh. Because of the deformity of his mouth and face, it felt so unnatural to Augustus. “Augustus, let me ask you. What would you do in my place? Do you think I am being so unreasonable?”

“I do think you are being unreasonable… but, I also think it’s fair to be unreasonable when someone comes to you seeking a loan. It was my mistake to assume you would have lifted a finger at all in checking how my expedition fared. But, you must check how far your unreasonableness can go, lest you let your greed forsake opportunity.”

Voltaire smiled his half smile. “Exactly. So? How unreasonable can I be?”

“I will repay you seventy-seven gilden, in two months time. An exorbitant interest rate.”

“–Not good enough!”

“Maybe you were right earlier. I should just leave.” Augustus stood from his chair causing Quintus to get up from his. “I bid you farewell.”

“Go ahead, bluff away,” laughed Voltaire.

Augustus started walking away, waiting for Voltaire to say something to stop him. He had made a generous offer. No businessman would let such an opportunity go when there was so little risk involved. Yet, Voltaire remained silent.

Was he making a mistake again? Assuming too much rationality from that man. Augustus had known of other people afflicted with similar curses, it would leave them easily confused and forgetful. The family had already deemed him incapable. A bluff only works if you assume the other party is acting rationally. Augustus stopped while standing in the doorway, unwilling to step any further away. “How could you turn down such easy coin?”

“It’s easy since I already know what’s going on. You are at war with your brother. And that changes everything.”

“Does it change that much? He cannot deny your ownership of the collateral, should you exercise that right, once I’ve signed the contract. Either way, you will make coin.”

“Heh. I can make coin, indeed, but I could make more than just coin. I could make a powerful enemy. How does an enemy fit onto a ledger? How much gold must I weigh it against?”

No matter the result of Augustus’ battle with his brother, Voltaire would become richer. But, in the event Augustus lost the battle, Voltaire would have earned Giovannus’ ire. To him, that was a real downside to be weighed, even though it was a conditional downside, it might have made the loan a bad investment.

Augustus gave up his bluff and returned to his seat and Quintus diligently followed.

“I heard about what happened in the city while you were holding court. You sent men to steal from Giovannus and kill his servants. It’s a whisper that has spread across the city. You are desperate aren’t you?”

“I have done nothing to my brother. It is true that some of his servants have died recently and I sentenced a man who stole from him to be hanged. But I have nothing to do with what happened.”

“You have the ledgers, right? Go and get them!”

“No! That is a line I will not cross. Even with your coin, if word got out that I showed those ledgers to you, my chances of winning the battle against my brother would be destroyed. What incentive do I have to give that to you then? If the action will gain me nothing. Now, stop acting like you don’t know the worth of the Maysian expedition. It’s clear now that you knew why I came here. You knew and therefore you would have already talked to your man in the port tax office.”

“I still won’t lend you the gold. Not at the terms you set. You have to do better.”

“You asked how much gold you must weigh against earning an enemy like Giovannus. I don’t know the answer. But I know of something other than gold to weigh it against, a friend. If I win the struggle with my brother I will be the head of the Castellian family. I would be willing to swear to you now that I would consider you a friend, I would swear it to the goddesses Aurelia and Ophelia and any other god that would hear me.”

“Why swear it when you can put it in writing instead? We can sign a contract saying that you’ll owe me an amount of gold unless we have certain business dealings. I’m sure we can work out the details.”

“No. I will not sign anything of the sort.”

Voltaire snorted. “You want me to just take your word? You who sent assassins into your own brother’s house. Now you are the one being unreasonable. And doing so from such a weak position too. I was right to call you a fool.”

“A contract like that could easily be used against me. Diminish my authority and diminish my ability to win out in the end against Giovannus. What you want, that is what’s in your best interest, is to remove as many obstacles between me and becoming the new head of my family as you can. Although you think that contract would ensure the increase of your influence, it does the opposite.”

“There must be some middle ground,” said Quintus. “Voltaire, you know me. We have worked together and I have made good on my word in our dealings. We Castellians don’t take our promises lightly.”

“You will take them lightly when it is convenient to take them lightly. It has been profitable for you to keep your word so I read nothing more into it.”

“Likewise,” said Augustus, “it would be profitable for me to keep my word to you. Our door will always be open to you as we will know you have both wisdom and cunning. Why would we not consult you to find avenues of mutual benefit?”

Voltaire was left deep in thought. Augustus questioned if he had really made a compelling argument. It could be hard sometimes to view things from someone else’s perspective, especially when you knew so little about them. All the great houses in Venocia kept their business dealings as private as possible, so it was difficult for Augustus to gauge how much Voltaire would be able to benefit from a friendship with the head of the Castellian family.

Voltaire smacked his cane against the ground, capturing everyone’s attention. “Get the stixis pieces. Augustus, I’ll have you play my granddaughter.”

“A game of stixis? Why?” Asked Augustus, surprised.

“Simply because I wish to be entertained.”