Roderick Kallvek, second assistant merchant to the Great Kallvek, (May his fortunes multiply as fast as his family!), looked at the partially loaded wagon and thought that his father would be pleased. The family was indebted to the Village of Sedgewick and its Mayor for quite a few wagonloads of flour, salt, sugar, spices, and dried vegetables and fruits, but there was room for profit in this deal. Quite a bit of profit, actually. He suspected that the new Mayor of the village knew that. You caught a fish with bait, and what better bait for a merchant than profit? He liked taking the bait, but he’d have to be wary of landing in the frying pan.

And to the Butcher he had promised twenty-four barrels of syrup that he would have to purchase from the Maple Priests. It was tricky dealing with them. He would spread the sales over several buyers. Other things the Butcher wanted as well: three barrels of molasses, fifty pounds of ginger root, and a barrel of peppercorns. His father was going to want an explanation for these orders, he was sure of that.

Luckily, he had one prepared. He just had to show the contents of this wagon. First it contained a dozen sets of the magical knives. They were wickedly sharp and weapons made from beasts were always in style. Not that it was difficult to sell magical blades, but these would sell quickly. He had kept the first set for himself, and was wearing them on his belt. Every merchant needed a good knife, and he liked the little butterfly carvings.

There were also twenty of the Ironwood Wands, with twenty more promised to him. They were very good wands for a beginner, and he could sell hundreds to the colleges in the capitol. If the village could supply them at a steady pace, it would create an income source for both his family and the village.

The three barrels of gourmet bacon he was tempted to take by one of the several colleges he traded with. Because of the mana restoration enchantment they carried, they had value to any mage. Student mages were always low on mana and would purchase low level mana restoration potions by the dozens. But the bacon would sell just as well to taverns and restaurants. Hmm, maybe an eatery next to a college? It would be doubly popular.

Finally there was the small barrel of highly enchanted, and quite explosive, Mage's Delight.

The last item he would leave to his father to sell. The destructively enchanted meat was closer to ammunition for a Fire Mage than it was a foodstuff. By family law, only the Great Kallvek dealt with powerful weapons and destructive magics. The old man handled trade with the arms dealers and the rest of the family made the more mundane trades.

If Kallvek had held any doubts about the potency of what the Butcher had cooked up, seeing his tent launched into the heavens by a burning fireball had settled the matter. Myrna had been calm the rest of the night and then had come to him for a glass of milk. He'd never once seen the kobold get heartburn.

All in all, a good exchange. And since no gold had changed hands, no taxes were incurred. The Kallvek Merchant Family always paid their taxes, but no merchant paid more than he had to, or one day earlier than needed. He contemplated the long journey home and decided that paying the fees to travel by teleporter with one small wagon was worth it in this situation. Days saved in travel with no chance of banditry made the cost of the mana to the keep worthwhile. As soon as his father saw the goods, he would issue trade orders to procure and ship the items to Sedgewick. Roderick smelled the potential for much profit in the little town that controlled the entry to the much bigger city.

He motioned for the little wagon to be un-hitched. They would pull it into the keep by hand and push it up to the teleport pad. One of his sons would accompany him, while his eldest and youngest stayed here to man the store. It would be good experience for them.

They would also have to deal with the temperamental Kobold who cooked their meals - another good experience for them.

He was unsurprised to find the butcher and the mayor talking with the centurion. The village did much business with the keep - the building of the new keep being the most prominent. But a lot of leather, hides, and meat were also flowing out of Sedgewick. It was something to think on. He would write his father a report on these new workers and suggest he see what other small villages were flourishing. Maybe there was more business to be had in out of the way places?

He waved to the three of them, "Hola, my friends. My son and I depart by the fastest of travel, the better to get your promised goods to you quickly. We do not do things slowly in my family." He bowed to the Centurion, "How much will it cost for a teleport to the Capitol of the Duke of the North? My people can supply nearly two thousand of the mana needed, and of course I would like that donation to offset my costs." Teleporting was not cheap, and whatever he could supply trimmed the cost by a bit. He had expected that Myrna would complain greatly about having to use her mana to help with such a task, even though it was in her contract. But his chef was anxious to help, and seemed relieved when she had pushed over a thousand mana into the teleporter.

A legionnaire with the markings of a supply sergeant and another who wore the robes of a mage measured the wagon, estimated weights and gave him an answer that made him cringe. Teleporting goods for merchants was discouraged by charging a high price for the mana used. It took much less to teleport a person than an equal weight of non-living material. The merchant, his son, wagon and goods would take the equivalent of twenty living people. It would have been much more for a normal wagon. This one was lightly made with enchantments to strengthen the material and distribute weight evenly. Two thousand mana would be paid for by the teleport stone at Rowan Keep, and another two thousand at their destination. The 'merchant tax' brought that to eight thousand mana.

Even with the contribution of two thousand mana that still meant paying the Legion for six thousand at the going rate of one gold per one hundred mana. The merchant winced at the price – it was a large cut into his profit. At the same time, being raided by bandits on the road would cut out all the profit, as would paying guards for the trip. Such was the life of a merchant. He pulled out his purse to pay the fee and then felt someone tapping on his shoulder.

He turned to see it was Suzette, the little mayor, "Yes, my dear, how may I be of service."

She smiled and indicated the Butcher behind her, "We don't mind helping to bring the mana cost down. It's the least we can do, and neither of us have heavy work today. Just lots of shopping."

Roderick bowed; help was help. Even if they could bring the cost down by one or two gold, it was less paid out in fees. He liked paying less.

The Centurion nodded and showed them where to place their hands. The merchant was fairly sure he saw the mayor wink at the butcher and whisper, "Race you!" The stone glowed brighter as they put their mana into its storage. Sparks flew on the mayor's side and the Butcher seemed to grimace and bear down. A moment later he sat back down, exhausted. The little woman kept going for another ten seconds before straightening up and looking at the Legion mage, "That should do it." She grabbed the Butcher's arm, heaved him up off the ground, and declared that he owed her a snack. They waved to Roderick and the Legionnaires and went in search of the candy seller before he closed for the night.

The mage in charge of the teleporter looked at Roderick and said, "Good to go. Get your load up there and hold tight to the wagon."

Roderick and his son did so, but then he turned to the mage, "And the fee, what do I owe?" The mage shook his head in exasperation. "Not a damn thing, and I'm lucky she didn't ask for some back from me." More than that the man wouldn't say. Two seconds later he and his son were in Northguard, home of Duke Greywolf, who ruled the northern dutchy.

Quickly moving the wagon out of the large building that housed several massive teleport stones, they found a quiet spot by the buildings wall and he sent his son off to the family holdings to bring back a horse and some help. He was pondering the implications of how much mana his two new trading partners had used. He had suspected the woman of having some spells, but had thought it was limited to her brewing and other simple cantrips. The butcher was obviously the one crafting magical food. It now seemed likely that both might be powerful mages - and yet unconcerned with entrusting him with such a secret. Likewise, it was obvious the Legion knew. Marcus had seemed amused by the whole affair.

Yes, this was important information. He needed to impress upon his father, the Great Kallvek, the need for a speedy return with good quality foodstuffs. And then it was time to see about buying a building in the Village. Maybe a warehouse and a shop? And an eatery for Myrna? He'd been thinking of turning over the traveling part of the business to his son and settling down. Sedgewick was a nice little place, wasn't it? He'd be sure to explain how nice it was to his wife and family while he visited.