Chapter Thirteen
Ellerie accompanied Marco to Varsin Senshall's spacious mansion in central Tyrsall. She'd never been there before—the previous meetings had been at the company's plain and utilitarian main building.
Varsin himself welcomed them inside. "Your Exalted Highness," he said with a practiced bow, "welcome back. We were pleased to hear of your success."
"That title isn't necessary," she said. Leena had warned her that the investors had learned of her identity. "I left Terevas to pursue my own interests. Exalted or Lady Ellerie if you must, but I'd prefer if you'd just call me by my name."
"I couldn't do that, Lady Ellerie," Varsin said. "The Senshall Trading Company has dealings with your family."
"I'll be sure to tell my mother and sister of the great help you've provided in my endeavors. Perhaps there might be additional opportunities for you in Terevas in the future." Putting in a good word wouldn't take any effort on Ellerie's part, and she doubted her mother cared which human trading houses carried di'Valla goods.
"I would be personally grateful," Varsin said. "Corec Tarwen isn't joining us today?"
"He's making arrangements for the next stage of our journey." In truth, Ellerie wanted to handle the final negotiations herself. Given Corec's history with the company and his status as the son of a baron, the Senshall brothers had tended to treat him as an equal partner in the expedition. Ellerie envied Corec's ability to fraternize with near-strangers, but the expedition was her responsibility for one more day and she wanted to complete the last task on her own.
Varsin nodded. "Well, let's get started then." He led Ellerie and Marco to a formal dining room. "Lady Ellerie, I trust you remember my brother Burton and my concubine, Renny."
Burton bowed and Renny curtseyed. "Lady Ellerie," they both said, taking their cue from Varsin on how to address her. Ellerie returned the greetings, and then everyone sat down to look through the contract Marco had worked up. He'd managed to get scribes to make several copies overnight.
Burton was the first to speak. "Lady Ellerie, Marco spoke to us yesterday about the deal you've suggested. Before we accept, I'd like to ask how much effort this shaping magic takes. You've provided costs for the materials, but what else is involved?"
Ellerie stood and drew her new rapier from its scabbard, holding it out across her palms so everyone could see. The blade was made of fortisteel, and the basket hilt was constructed of silversteel. It wasn't ornate, but it was perfectly balanced and much stronger than her previous weapon. "After I'd learned the spells and figured out the formulae, it took me another two months to master metal-shaping enough to make this. The trick is to use a mould. The shaping depends on constant concentration—if you let the mould handle the bulk of the work, then you can focus your attention on the finer details, like making sure it comes out sharp. This took me five hours to make, three for the hilt and two for the blade."
The investors glanced at each other and gave small nods.
"Thank you," Varsin said. "I believe we'd like to move forward with the arrangement. However, in the region you requested for yourself, we would prefer not to give up Terrillia. The wood elves are some of our largest customers for iron and steel, for both ingots and finished goods."
Ellerie considered that. She'd only included Terrillia in her request because the Terril Forest extended as far as the free lands. She wasn't opposed to altering the agreement. The
dorvasta
might want to purchase shaped metal goods, but metal-shaping by itself wouldn't bring in much profit. The materials cost too much. Stone-shaping was more likely to be profitable, but the
dorvasta
wouldn't be interested in that. They built very few stone structures, mostly just crafting wooden homes and work spaces along the trunks of the
tershaya
trees.
"I'd be willing to take Stone Home in place of Terrillia," she said. She couldn't just give them something for nothing.
Varsin glanced at his brother, who shrugged.
"Northern Aravor is your territory," Burton said. "What do you think?"
"Stone Home has a larger population, but the dwarves have always refused to buy metals from us," Varsin replied. "And Terrillia is much closer to our mining and smelting operations."
"Then we're agreed?" Ellerie asked. She'd only left Stone Home out of her initial request because she didn't want to seem greedy.
"Terrillia for Stone Home, yes," Varsin said. "You also requested the free lands. Which part, specifically?"
"The central region. I'm not including the northern plains or ogre territory." The central free lands included Four Roads and South Corner, some of the largest towns in the area. Ogre territory and the northern plains were sometimes considered to be part of the free lands since they had no centralized governments, but settlements in those areas were too far away and scattered to bother with.
"And the terms?" Burton asked. "No stone-shaping outside our respective regions, and no sales of metal-shaped items outside our borders?"
"Yes," Ellerie said. "If you want to set up shop in Dalewood, I can't stop you." Dalewood fell on Tyrsall's border, right at the eastern edge of the free lands.
Varsin chuckled. "I doubt Dalewood would provide sufficient business, but I take your point. We'll sell within our regions, but we won't worry about who's doing the buying."
"I agree," Ellerie said. "Have you decided to purchase the rights yourselves, or sell them to the company?"
"The three of us will buy the rights," Renny, the concubine, said. "In truth, we don't need the money. Bringing in a new business is more important, especially one that has such potential for growth." The brothers had waited for her to answer, which suggested she'd either guided them toward the decision or had been the tie-breaking vote.
Ellerie nodded. "I've copied the book for you, both the spells and the formulae, and I've translated all of the procedures into trade tongue. I can bring that here tomorrow."
