Bastia, Capital of the Kingdom of Dain- Early winter 15 years AR

Jon and his fellow expedition members had spent over a week in Bastia after arriving. It was an eventful time. Going to the bathhouse, eating real food, drinking… Jon also had to visit the merchants guild to sign papers with Prince Erik. It finish creating the account the account Ser Erik had set up for him. After the paperwork was signed he received the slip that showed how much he held in his account.

The attendant at the guild handed him a written slip of his current balance. When he read it he almost fainted. He had to catch himself on the counter.

“So how much? We have enough to live on once we get up there?” Erin asked with her eyebrow raised and ignored the scowl from the attendant. Jon didn’t answer he just folded the slip and put it in his pocket. Leading her to give him a curious look.

The receptionist read the mood of the room and added, “Your highness, if you and your Thane wish to discuss finances in private with or without your entourage, we do have private rooms available.”

“I believe that may be necessary,” Ser Erik said with a chuckle at the sight of Jon looking sick. The receptionist invited them to a large conference room at the back of the building. It was a plain room with a large table and enough seating for everyone there.

After refusing refreshments, the receptionist took her leave. After a few moments of silence, Jon took the ledger out of his pocket and placed it on the table, “why is it so much? And where are those places? I’ve never heard of most of them.”

Jon looked down at the paper as nearly everyone in the room gasped. Only Prince Erik and Ser Afgheir didn’t. Well neither did Tira at first because she was still struggling with the concept of economics. She did gasp dramatically after a moment, mimicking most of the group and ending with a grin. Jon gave a half-smile at that.

Deposit: from

Deposit: To

Amount

King Argant of Dain

Thane Jon Halladson

300g

King Tiberius of Ravenna

Thane Jon Halladson

500g

King Caius of Islacaea

Thane Jon Halladson

300g

Consul Flavius of Vando-Tana

Thane Jon Halladson

400g

Empress Avita of Veradi

Thane Jon Halladson

700g

King Erwan of Oranis

Thane Jon Halladson

450g

Archduke Albin of Piodarnis

Thane Jon Halladson

300g

Jarl Harren of Harrenheim

Thane Jon Halladson

250g

King Floki of Casca

Thane Jon Halladson

400

Kingdom of Dow (no name given)

Thane Jon Halladson

300g

City of Veranova

Thane Jon Halladson

200g

Village of Thiese

Thane Jon Halladson

150g

Legion high command

Thane Jon Halladson

286g 15s 3c

Total:

4536g 15s 3c

“A part of our deal was negotiating on your behalf. I have a lot of contacts on the mainland that I reached out to. Diplomats and negotiators that are under the kingdoms employ or are personal friends from my time fighting with the legions. I simply requested they sell the information for the highest possible gain,” Prince Erik explained. Jon knew that it was part of the deal but he hadn’t expected the prince to sell the information to the mainland. His eyes scanned the document again. His finger stopped on the last deposit.

Afgheir seemed to follow Jon’s train of thought as he answered the next two questions without them being asked, “Know why they all paid so much? They needed a good offer to keep negotiations short. They're all going to use the information themselves and sell it to anyone they can to recoup their expenses. We just beat them to it by selling to as many as we could at once. Why bother? Because you’re a noble of Ederath now, it’s better for you and better for the kingdom if that coin goes to developing our kingdom. Gods know we've already spent enough blood on Dain... There's other sales out there, so there’ll probably be more coming in after a time but we’ll leave instructions to forward that amount to Lindum. They’ll charge a fee but it won't be much. As for the legion, they probably asked for officers and legionnaires to toss in what they could to secure the deal. The official budget is a bit tight and that happens more often than it should… still, what dirt eater put in three fucking copper!”

The room went quiet for a moment after that but was quickly broken by Tira as she sat in her human form on the table, “This is good, right?”

Jon was still processing the news but was quickly coming to terms with the fact he had a literal fortune at his disposal. He rubbed her thigh and smiled, “Yeah, this is good.”

“Thinking of that, I’m your heir, right? Because you know, Leo’s going to stab you for that?” Erin asked pointing at Jon’s hand. He removed it and blushed slightly with a corner of his mouth raised. After a moment of thought, he put it back.

Truth be told he was far more comfortable with Tira than he’d ever been around Jaes. He got to know Tira thanks to the time she stayed in her wolven form. He was only slightly attracted to her, albeit in a confusing way. At the same time, it wasn’t enough to make talking weird for him.

Her desire to be around him led to him learning a lot about her in a very short time. He found her fearlessly blunt but shy. Sweet but abrasive. Innocent and kind but ferocious. She was an enigma to him and even more confusing than Jaes. Yet he’d found himself seeking her out or inviting her to share a meal with just the two of them so he could be by her throughout the expedition. They found the werewolves and quickly put them down but she was the highlight of the campaign for him.

They’d become friends and after she managed to push the wild magic back to retake her human form… well she was gorgeous. He found himself extremely attracted to someone he was close with. This time around though, he wasn’t as awkward because of their interactions from when her personality was wilder. He didn’t fear kissing her after having had her lick his face multiple times. Touching her thigh? He helped bathe her in the den. ‘Mating’? Well, that still scared him but it wasn’t something they planned on doing anyways.

In the end, it felt far better than what he’d had with Jaesmin. In comparison, he barely knew Jaesmin and their fledgling relationship seemed forced. That didn’t mean that he didn’t dread telling Jaesmin or that he didn’t worry that Leofrith would take serious offense. He still cared for both of them. It was something he’d have to figure out later.

He also needed to figure out what to do with Tira when that moment came. She still insisted that he was a strong male, with his own territory, and had learned of Ederathan marriage customs. From her point of view, there was nothing wrong with him taking Jaesmin as a second ‘mate’. He wasn’t sure he liked that idea.

A snapping finger in front of his face brought him back to reality, “Ah sorry.”

“Pfft, it's alright lad. Don’t think any sane man would blame you for going blank with that thought,” Afgheir said, “Now any more questions? I can handle this lot, your highness.”

Prince Erik left while Afgheir answered a few more questions. Most were concerning transporting the coin to a closer merchant guild or bank in Ederath. They could have the guild move it for a fee but thankfully the most secure way was already at Jon’s fingertips.

They’d heard of the war brewing in Stilyra but they’d be safe from military raids and nobles seizing their belongings. Neither side would dare to attack a force led by Crown Prince Erik because it would guarantee Ederath and the Elvan would enter the war against them. As for confiscating the coin for the war effort, Jon was a foreign noble and protected from such things. Especially in the presence of the prince. The possibility of traditional bandits wasn’t even brought up, even groups of deserters and escaped slaves wouldn’t be desperate enough to attack them as they marched north.

The final question came and Erin directed it at Jon rather than Afgheir, “can we go shopping now?”

**********

Nola, Border city in the Kingdom of Stilyra- Early winter 15 years AR

Jon woke up to the wagon bumping along. Unlike their old wagon, this one was custom-built, comfortable, and he owned two more just like it. It was the striking image of a burton wagon. In other words a caravan.

The new caravan was comfortable and warm despite the chilly temperatures outside. He slept on a large, thick bedroll with a padded quilt and Tira keeping him warm. Technically she had a bed on a different wagon, which had been designated as the women’s quarters. It was an accident that she’d spent the night.

They’d all crammed into the men’s caravan to discuss the future, drink, and joke the night before. She’d simply fallen asleep on his bed. When it came time for him to go to bed he laid down under the quilt with her but he didn’t even cuddle her. They’d interlocked themselves in their sleep.

Jon lifted his head and could see Andrew still out cold on his bunk. He carefully removed himself from Tira. Her human form was nearly the same height as him and while her figure was less bulky, she was still stronger than him thanks to being a grown lycan. It took several attempts to get up as she kept pulling him back to her in her sleep.

When he finally got free he brushed the hair out of her face and covered her back up before he started getting ready for the day. He put on his boots and furs with the intent to see if Aethred needed a break, he wasn’t sure how long they’d been on the road. Jon yawned as he made his way to the front. It was more comfortable than their old wagon, two padded benches that folded up and a small roof that turned the area into a sort of porch. Before going out, he turned to open the iron hatch of the thick ceramic stove and shoveled in a handful of charcoal on the dying embers. The caravan was chilly now that he wasn’t under the quilt. Jon stopped as he closed the hatch.

He only now noticed that Aethred was sleeping on his bunk that was at floor level under Andrew’s. He walked out the door, expecting to find Erin, Willow, or maybe Finn. Though he found himself looking at a woman in her early 20’s wearing a ratted cloak and thick, brown pants and tunic. Her head was wrapped in cloth and orange hair stuck out of the make-shift scarf that framed her fair face. She looked up at him and quickly bowed her head and pulled the scarf away from her neck, exposing a thin metal collar.

“I apologize Master! I did not mean to conceal my collar, it is only to stave off the cold,” She said while still glancing out in front of them, maintaining the wagon's course.

“Ahhh… who are you?” Jon was confused, he’d never met this woman before.

“I am sorry master, I am Karli. Mister Aethred suggested I drive your carriage as my presence would please you. He stated that you are fond of red-haired women,” Her voice got quieter and quieter as she went on. Only to pick back up again as she flatly said, “It is my duty to serve my master’s every need.”

“Why are you calling me master?” She glanced up at him with a confused look but her features quickly smoothed out to a more neutral expression.

“Because you are my new master. I was purchased on your behalf in Nola, just this morning. Myself and the others,” She explained. Nola was the small city they’d stayed in the night before. It was the first major Stilyran population center along the imperial highway.

He noticed that she’d pointed behind them when she said ‘the others’. Jon looked at his two other wagons in front of him. One was the wagon that held his sister and the other he’d lent to Prince Erik. In front of them were hired wagons carrying the expedition's supplies to ease the burden on the knights and Rangers.

He grabbed the side of the wagon and leaned out to see a dozen wagons behind them filled with people or goods. Alongside the wagons, a large number of people walked. Some were armed and carrying weapons, some dressed like Karli but they all had metal collars around their necks.

“Slaves?” Jon was confused, how did he become a slave owner? He figured it out quickly though. Prince Erik, or more likely a subordinate, probably sold the process to whatever noble ruled over the city. He just didn’t understand why the Prince would buy slaves though.

“Who’s this?” Jon turned to see Tira standing in the doorway.

“Mistress, I am Karli. My presence was suggested to please master,” Karli didn’t need to bow as she had never stopped. Her open hand gesture indicated who her master was, “I was instructed that my face and body would be pleasing to master’s eye due to a similarity to you, my mistress. This was told to me by Mister Aethre-”

She cut herself off when Tira growled and turned back into the caravan. Jon looked in along with Karli. The woman stared wide-eyed as Tira took her wolven form, only glancing back forward to ensure they would stay on the road. Tira lowered herself to the floor in the tight space and put her maw right in front of Aethred’s sleeping face.

BARK!

Aethred shot up and smashed his head into the bottom of Andrew’s bunk. He grabbed his head and groaned in pain. Karli jumped in her seat as well, she was obviously scared.

“Calm down, she’s not going to hurt you… she might hurt him though,” Jon added the last part as he stepped back to let Tira through.

“What, what are you doing? Fucking let me go!”

“Stop the horses,” Karli did as ‘her mistress’ instructed and stood up as Tira dragged a struggling Aethred out of the caravan. She held him upside down and tossed him off Karli’s side. He hit the ground with a thud but there were no loud cries of pain to indicate he was seriously hurt, “Okay, now go… I Tira!”

Laughing could be heard from ahead and Jon immediately recognized Afgheir from the sound. He reached the caravan around the same time as an angry Aethred jogged past. Afgheir continued laughing as Aethred hopped up and pulled himself onto the girl’s moving caravan.

“Told ‘em not to play,” he said and rubbed a tear out of his eye from laughing too hard, “Alright, ‘fore you ask. Yes, you now own 154 slaves, congratulations on becoming a piece of shit slave master! That’s not your fault though. Bastard count didn’t want to part with coin so he offered a contract stating he’d pay in goods of an equivalent value. The prince didn’t see anything wrong with it and assumed it would be horses, that city’s known for their stock. Only the cheeky fuck showed up with this lot and enough food to get them north.”

Jon unfolded the bench on the opposite side of the door from Karli and sat down, “So… I mean…” He looked over at Karli.

“Just free them when we get to Ederath. It’s not technically illegal to own slaves there but most will look down on ya for it. Bastard got us on that but maybe some of them will follow ya north to yer lands. No point in building anything if no one fuckin’ lives there,” Afgheir said, obviously amused at the situation. He inspected the woman sitting next to Jon, “Lass, you got a profession? How’d you end up with that collar?”

Karli dropped the slight smile she had on her face and looked at Jon. It took him a moment before he realized she was waiting for his permission. She started talking after getting a nod of approval, “My family owned a ranch. We worked with sheep and cattle for the most part but I also took care of the horses and tack at the stables on the west side. I was sentenced to a life of servitude for lack of payment on a debt, along with my father.”

“He back there?”

“No, my father was a cavalryman for the count, he requested to be sent to the legion. My father was granted a loan to purchase horses to breed but of the six we bought, only one survived last winter… it was the only one without a pedigree.”

Afgheir whistled in a descending tone, “Bad luck, lass.”

“A pedigree?”

“Lad, it’s like a writ of nobility for horses that tracks their bloodline. Rarer or more impressive of a bloodline, the more valuable the horse,” he said as he climbed aboard the caravan, “Even if you had two horses identical in every way, but one had the parchment and the other didn’t. The one with the pedigree would still be worth twice as fucking much... So what legion did your da go to?”

“He was sent to the harpy legion, Ser,” Karli answered with a bow.

“Oh really! You know I’m a cent…” Afgheir and Karli, after Jon gave her permission to speak freely, began to discuss the one thing they had in common. Afgheir was on leave from the legion that her dad was sent to. She didn’t know much about the legions, so he gladly filled her in. To an outsider, it would appear that Afgheir was flirting with the woman but in reality, the man loved to talk about the legion.

Jon let Afgheir have his bench and went back inside to get something to eat. After Andrew left though he crawled back into bed and was quickly joined by Tira.

“What’s wrong?” she asked after she licked his face and he didn’t even smile. He looked up at her from his back as she propped herself up on her elbow. He knew exactly what was wrong, he legally OWNED people. He was responsible for them and although he intended to free them as soon as they reached Vanheim. He couldn’t help but think of the ones that might follow him to his lands. Compared to the idea of managing that, fighting monsters was easy. When he didn’t answer, she repeated a phrase that she heard from Andrew, “Just promise you tell me, when you ready. I help.”

He thought about how to say it but before he could say anything she pulled the quilt over them both and kissed him. He was surprised at first but quickly got into it. There was no sex involved in any way but as she lightly bit his neck and he squeezed her ass, he completely forgot about anything but her. He didn’t even notice the laughter or Ser Afgheir leaning in to pull the door shut. They didn’t make out long and soon he was laying there looking at her eyes. They were green and gold. Not a mixture of the two colors but even in the dark caravan, he could make out the specs of gold on her lighter-than emerald eyes. She stared at him too until she suddenly lunged forward and licked him from the point of his chin to the tip of his nose.

“Pfft, hahaha,” He chuckled with a genuine smile across his face as he wiped off her spit.

“See, I help,” she smiled back brightly but started to squirm as he lightly tickled her back. That just led to him tickling her more and Tira returning the favor. Soon the two were rolling around in the bed, laughing, wrestling, and tickling away at each other. Jon couldn’t help but think ‘She really is amazing.’

********

Erin groaned as she leaned out from the side of the caravan. Afgheir was biting his lower lip and nodding his head in a way that she read as either an awkward situation or he was trying to hold in laughter. Knowing him it could have been both. The slave girl next to him stared straight ahead while the caravan she was sitting on occasionally rocked for reasons that had nothing to do with the road surface, “Gross... boys get comfortable. You’re not going back.”

“What?” Aethred asked and joined her in leaning out to see. Erin just rolled her eyes when he giggled. He gave Afgheir a thumbs up before he explained to the group, even though no one asked, “Jon’s getting his stick wet.”

Erin briefly considered pushing Aethred off the wagon but she was actually between him and the wall. The only way she could push would be straight back. If she did it though, he’d fall off the front of the caravan. As tempting as it was she didn’t want him getting run over by a wagon wheel.

“Nothing wrong with that, I wouldn’t mind a bit of fun myself,” Willow said from inside the caravan, it was built with a split door and only the top half was open. She quickly added, “No, Aethred, we work together.”

Aethred shut his mouth, unable to even start whatever it was he wanted to say. It didn’t matter though, Willow was over 10 years older than Aethred anyways. Erin doubted that would change his mind but she also doubted Willow was one to rob the cradle.

“How bout something else? Anything else?” Erin asked, desperate to change the subject away from sex. She didn’t want to think about it now that she suspected Jon was doing it. Only someone messed up would want to think about their sibling having sex… Thinking about their twin and sex at the same time, that would be someone beyond fucked in the head.

“Got any ideas about where we’re going?” Roland, the slave that had been assigned to drive the women’s caravan, asked. He was nearing 40 but he was very respectable to the young women. To ensure that, Afgheir questioned him about his circumstances. Erin was pretty sure that the lycan knight also used the short interview as a way to imply a threat as well but she didn’t have any issue with Roland so far.

Erin thought he seemed like a nice guy. He was like old Fred from Everton but didn’t talk as much. Plus he’d had different experiences than the rest of them. Besides him, every person on the caravan had been living together for months. Which gave a much needed addition to the conversation on the road, “We don’t know much about it yet. All anyone has been able to tell us is it’s Ederath’s only western coastline but it’s still without a single settlement. The coast is too rocky to build a harbor.”

“Finn said that he’s been hunting up there and it were good land with plenty of game but there weren’t nothing special about it,” Andrew added. It was true, from everything they’d heard. The land was just that, land. It wasn’t an avenue for trade going through it and it wasn’t as if someone had found a gold or silver vein in the area. Then again, Terra was also a village at the terminus of a dead-end road. If Erin’s old home could grow, then so could her new one. She also planned on trying to put Jon into a vision about the harbor issue. It was mean but they needed to make the best of it.

“Thinking of opening a new tavern?” Willow asked. Erin wouldn’t have based on the man’s past but Willow was usually more direct. His wife had passed and he drank himself into debt.

“No. I’m not going back to that… unless the maste-”

“You’re getting freed as soon as we get to Ederath!” Erin stopped him, there was no way her brother would keep anyone as a slave, “I bet Jon’s worked up right now about the fact he ow- ew.”

“I was going to say something when you said he’s worked up but you beat me to it,” Aethred flashed her a smirk, which she returned by flicking him in the head, “Ow.”

“You did that to yourself, Erin,” Willow was smirking too but Erin didn’t feel like flicking her. She knew Willow was right.

“So Roland, what do you want to do?” Erin asked, moving the subject of conversation along.

“I honestly don’t know, I haven’t bothered thinking about it. It’s been near on ten years since I could make a choice like that on my own,” Roland said after a minute causing both women to give sympathetic looks to the man. Erin herself couldn’t imagine it. She grew up a commoner and technically she still was… kinda, she really didn’t know how it worked in Ederath. The point being even with a commoner’s limited choices, they still had a choice.

“I can teach you to hunt,” Andrew said with excitement, popping his head around the door frame next to Willow.

“Haha, I appreciate it but by the time I learn how I’ll be too old to keep up with younguns like you,” Roland laughed lightly before looking contemplative. After a few seconds, he continued, “I dunno, this here ain't too bad. Driving a wagon like this. Thanks for letting me see inside by the way… hmm, Mast- er, my old master had me doing woodwork. Maybe I could work on building somethin’ like this.”

“Only problem is who would buy it. We could have bought a half dozen wagons for the price of this one and that’s just the wagon, stuff inside was from the market,” Aethred said next to Erin. Was he really dumb enough to gripe about money spent that wasn’t even his? He over at her and their eyes met, “not that I’m complaining, fucking beats that old painted piece of rot we were riding in before.”

“Aethred, you remember who painted that piece of rot?” She glared at him. She worked hard on that with Jaesmin and Cara!

“That were a special order though… Jon paid to have ‘em done quick like,” Erin nearly ignored Andrew’s input but she realized he made a good point. How much would a caravan cost if it wasn’t ordered to be done three at a time done within days, She looked up at the rafters for the small roof that covered the driver’s porch. It wasn’t anything special, “Plus if it’s his land, he can get some good wood for free.”

“If you could get them built cheap enough, I know quite a few who might be interested…” Willow said, leaning out of the half door with a considerable amount of boob showing from her low-cut tunic. The girls kept the inside of the caravan plenty warm, “Adventurers, knights, merchants. They’d buy them.”

“Sorry lass, I know whatcha all said but I’m still going to wait till we get to Ederath before getting my hopes up. Does sound like somethin’ to look into though,” Roland said but he too was inspecting the way the caravan was built.

“Why do we have to wait till Ederath anyways,” Andrew asked still leaning out the half door with Willow.

“Jon’s a noble, he can only free slaves he owns in Ederath. Afgheir said it’s a treaty to prevent a kingdom from enslaving all of their criminals and freeing them in a rival kingdom,” Erin explained but it didn’t seem to alleviate Andrew’s confusion.

“What if they were, just let go. There ain’t nothing stopping them from just taking off the collar.”

“Lad it’s cause of this here,” Roland said and pulled back his cloak. On his shoulder was a brand that looked like a horseshoe and a number tattooed under it, “They can figure out who done owned the slaves through this. You could cut it off but that’d just draw more attention to the slave, gonna have a few that’ll run their mouths when caught.”

“And if the point is to cause problems in another kingdom, that could be enough cause to start a war or other problems,” Willow said while Aethred swung back out of the caravan to look around.

“Hey Erin, pretty sure your brother’s done fuckin’,” he said in a flat tone like he was stating a simple fact. She could only roll her eyes at him, “Wagon’s stopped shaking at least.”

“Could be worse Erin, he seems to get along with her pretty well,” Willow pointed out and was right again. Erin hated to admit it but Jon got along better with Tira but she was closer to Jaes, “Plus there’s worse that he could be doing.”

“Like what?”

“Lass, I don’t know many of the folk back there but I recognize a few types, group of young lasses in one wagon. Nicer clothes, pretty in their own way. They’d bed any man with coin and the master for free,” Roland pointed out something worse her brother could be doing, “Nothing against the lasses of course but least he’s content with one woman.”

“Until we get to Saena,” Aethred said with a grin but quickly jumped off the wagon when Erin turned on him. It was a shame that he’d stuck the landing, “Okay, okay, I’ll drop it. Guess they might not be able to see each other. It’d be pretty bad if the fairy got mad and burned down half the city.”

“The what now?” Roland looked back and forth between them.