"Perfidio. You are certain? The Roshen refuses to force them to commit?" Salio slammed his fist on the table. "Do they not respect those contracts?"
Leaning on the table, his overseer hung his head. "Shamefully, no." Touching the letter carried in moments before, reading slowly. "The Season of Shadow voids the contract, or so they claim. And Claudio has a legitimate reason to leave us."
Whirling, Salio started to speak, only to be silenced by upheld hand.
"Bone fire. How, the surgeon knows not. He kept all cats clear of him while the wound was treated. He fears it will be chronic." Looking up, he found Salius face sad and shocked.
"Gods. Claudio rode with me that first crossing." He dropped hard on his chair. "No chance the surgeon is wrong?"
"I saw the glow in this leg myself. Claudio sends his regrets." Jarthuna's head shook, he wished such a thing on no person. Having one's bones burn with real fire while sheathed with flesh made him glad that disease affected only the Numeni.
They read the letter once more, the Warrior's Guild stated clearly they would not force members to honor contracts during the coming eclipse, and advised them to seek help elsewhere.
"Cowards." It was all Jarthuna could think of that moment.
Nodding, Salius stood upright. "This forces my hand on something. I cannot abide the breaking of the contracts. They knew when they signed the term included the eclipse." Stepping lightly, to avoid waking his sister behind the curtains, his brow furrowed. "How many still honor their word?"
"Three, Mercator. You wish names?" Jarthuna continued reading something he never would have believed of the Roshen il Kenzili. As the sands fell down the glass horarium, his master thought it over.
"No. Merely tell them we are releasing them." Shaking his head, the elf walked to the table again.
"Nine to replace, not to mention the additional we hoped to hire."
"The worst part of the journey, the sand crossing, we have the Custos regiment contract to ride with us. But the Mercatrix will be barren of protection that way." Jarthuna found the stool reserved for him in the tent corner. "Perhaps along the Via we can cover that on our trip, finding men willing to brave the desert under the shadow."
The merchant prince paced, agitated. "Yes, but we will need aid along the way ourselves. I cannot trust the turmae sent with us will not have to answer calls."
Both thought over their dilemma for several fingers of sand. Salio stopped after much pacing, running hands across two days worth of scalp stubble. Once more he glanced at the map, marked with the legs he took. "Count on them leaving us, in fact. I have only one choice open. We hire brave free-blades, and leave some cadre for Servilla at Krithnak."
"Betting on making better time than my caravan is foolish, brother." Sweeping aside curtains, Villia entered the area. "If I am not there, keep them until we cross. The south trade road has its perils, but the paved road still is there for most stretches. That will let my caravan make better time." Her finger stabbed the western ends of the map. "I will be in Pelori before the Shadow passes a score of days."
"There are no days or nights when the shadow falls. Only darkness crawling with many fell creatures. You above all should know this." He shared a meaningful stare with his sister. Jarthuna still remained clueless to the way the words carried something else.
"A mage. If we find a mage, one who touches darkness, but never embraced it." The twins spun on him, startled.
Servillia recovered first. "There are few anatomists. The mages of the shadows are gone."
Jarthuna smiled. "No, just in hiding. One who studied that path is here now. My kinfolk warned me of his studies at the colleges amid the grasslands."
Salius smiled softly. "A shadow mage, even one just starting out, would inspire a few to stay." Catching his overseer's eyes, he nodded. "I wish to speak with this young man. You know where he stays."
Nodding, Jarthuna rose from his stool.
Lips pursed, Servillia motioned him to wait. "One worries about allegiances of such."
Salius smiled grimly. "Better the allies of the shadow than the Allegiance of the Blades, sister." His face soured with thought. "Find him, schedule the meeting. I will speak with him, he will travel with me."
Jarthuna left quickly. Salius met his sister's eye, seeking some hope. "I still worry. The south route is vulnerable. Fewer patrols, fewer places to recover at. I am tempted to call in a favor from the scaled one."
Villia waved her left hand, a gesture of contempt and confidence. "No. Let sleeping dragons lie, brother. Ankara-Keweii-Ghani cannot be trusted."
Salius held her eyes, seeing the determination there. His twin despised the great lizards, despite the good allying with those from the Last Mountains towering south of town rendered past ventures.
"Very well, but I will still seek some advantage for your caravan, Villia. We cannot take chances that are beyond the norm."
She snorted her derision. "And cozening up to some unknown mage who plays with the shadows is not such a risk?"
Exhaling loudly, Salius gave up, for the moment. "Very well. But if the Parcae give us an omen about something, we take it." Sitting slowly, fingers traced the Great South Road. "Something tells me our goddesses will touch us with their sinistra mani, not the dexter ones."
He strode from the tents, intent on finding men, elves, or even dwarves with iron spines.
(after this chapter, I'm slowing down the postings, having decided at this point in finding and tossing them into the canned posts, I want to drag out just how much I have until well after I left, just to rub the salt into the wounds of those who called me lazy.)
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