Chapter 24

Hakin stopped in front of the door to the study room, looked shortly at Alec before he swiftly opened the door and stepped into the room.

There he immediately sat down on a luxurious armchair, which was standing on the position of the former master seat. He motioned Alec to sit down.

As Alec walked into the room, he almost started to vomit, as he saw the disgustingly expensive furniture and colourful banner in red and blue, hanging from the wall. He was even more disgusted then before, as this was his fathers room and countless old memories had their origin here. After disgust came fury and he abruptly turned around to face the black haired man, who was to Alec’s rage sitting on the place of the master seat in this house.

“WHAT is going on here?! Have you lost your mind?! Who gave you the permission to change MY house into this…this brothel?! Are you sane?!”

Alec shouted and the muscles on his armed bulged. He was never before this angry in his life. What audacity, what courage was this?! In just one year of absence, his trusted subordinate turned this house into a joke, similar looking to an expensive brothel!

Hakin’s expression darkened and the gaze in his eyes became even more annoyed, before he quickly pulled himself together and made an apologizing expression. The darkness his itself deep in his eyes.

“I was forced to take the necessary-“ Hakin answered.

“FORCED? FORCED!? WHO ON EARTH COULD FORCE YOU TO CHANGE MY HOUSE INTO A BROTHEL?!” Alec directly interrupted Hakin with a roar as he couldn’t hold back his rage anymore.

“Like I said I was-“ Hakin tried again and the darkness in his eyes increased.

“WHO WOULD EVEN GET THE IDEA OF FORCING YOU TO CHANGE THE INTERIOR OF MY HOUSE INSTEAD OF YOURS?! DO YOU THINK I’M A LITTLE KID!?” Alec interrupted him again and the veins on his neck and forehead were pulsing visibly.

“I was forced by the circumstances! This house wasn’t able to represent our company, as our customers increased and the people who bought our wares were becoming more influential! There was nothing else I could do.” Hakin said as fast as he could to prevent Alec from interrupting him again.

“If that’s true, then WHY ARE THERE NAKED WOMEN IN THE ROOMS?!” Alec asked and his voice turned into a shout again.

“They are part of the image we have! They are very important!” Hakin said and the darkness in his eyes increased as he squinted his eyes.

“But that is of no importance! The most important thing right now is the decision you make concerning an offer we became some time ago!” Hakin said fast and lifted both of his arms in a supposedly appeasing manner.

Alec didn’t believe one of Hakins words, but the last sentence brought him back to reality. Apparently there was something important to discuss, which would really make the topic of changing his houses interior irrelevant. So Alec calmed down, sat in front of the table on a chair and watched Hakin with a questioning gaze.

“Talk.” Alec said with a resolute and stern voice. And Hakin started speaking.

“A few weeks ago we got a message from one of the bordering kingdoms, precisely speaking, the Kingdom of Ermil. The message was a business proposal with the named kingdom, which would let us increase our income by three to four times. The trip ups in this whole scenario are firstly, the distance to the Ermil Kingdom, which would take us almost three months to reach. Secondly this is the same contract that got your father killed. Third and last is a little strange requirement: For the fulfilment of the contract the owner of the company has to travel there himself. This means, that you will have to travel there with the trading convoy. Even though it is a strange requirement, it is not impossible to do and I already have planned the most optimal route. The only possibly dangerous area on this route is the free mountain area, which is known for the numerous bandit clans and outlaws. That shouldn’t be a problem for you though and I suggest you take most of the higher ranked guards and the discipline elder of our company, Mr. Bark, with you. That would make the journey as save as possible.” Hakin said and his voice got more certain with every word and determination shined in his eyes.

Alec patiently waited for Hakin to finish, while still trying to control the rage from before. This business proposal was really strange. The first strange thing was that his father apparently got the same, or a very similar, kind of deal, which ultimately lead to his death. The second strange thing was that Alec himself had to travel with the trading group, just to complete the deal.

Alec stopped pondering and looked towards Hakin, who was comfortably sitting on the master seat of the house.

“What kind of wares do they need?” he asked and observed the man sitting in front of him sharply. He was waiting if Hakin would make any mistake, that would expose the business proposal as a trap, but he was disappointed.

Hakin quickly rummaged through some papers, which were lying on the table until he found what he looked for. He was looking at an ordinary piece of paper, which was tightly packed with words and numbers. He read the things, the Ermil Kingdom needed loudly and at the end he gave Alec the piece of paper, so that he could confirm that Hakin was saying the truth.

The list of wares the Ermil Kingdom needed was a standard list of things, like any other customer ordered from them, except that the Ermil Kingdom ordered a lot more luxurious wares, which were fairly expensive.

The list looked legit to Alec and he started pondering again.

He didn’t care about the monetary reward for the contract, but this business proposal was basically an invitation card to the whole Ermil Kingdom.

With this he could cross the border without any problems and explore the world further. In this perspective the proposal was a very good chance for Alec to do the things he loved the most, which were travelling, exploring and documenting.

From another kind of view the implementation of this contract was obviously a very dangerous opportunity, as his father had died on a similar contract.

Alec asked himself: ‘Is the gold and the exploration worth the risk?’

The answer was easy. His greed of new things to explore, paired with his thirst of knowledge and curiosity easily beat the possible risk of being ambushed, attacked or even betrayed. He looked at Hakin and a wide grin spread on his face.

“Prepare the convoy. We will depart in two days!” Alec said and the anger he felt towards Hakin was instantly forgotten. He was like a traveller in the desert, who was dying of thirst, when he suddenly sees an oasis. Like a drug addict, who was in dire need of the next shot…