“I know a friend of yours,” Anastasha said, her smile radiating, her eyes keenly upon the triplets, trailing across their round faces. “Queen Silvari, Lady Entalia, as some know her.”
“Yes,” Konarot replied, her tail swaying behind her, closing her eyes as she tried to recall the appearance of the dragon, vaguely recalling the warmth of the beaten dragon.
“The Silver Dragon Queen of Drakkenlen,” Jirot whispered to Jarot, who nodded, though he already knew who the dragon was, since the reason why the pair had ten thousand gold was because the dragon had gifted it to them, much to their father’s chagrin, for there was one who had managed to spoil his children in terms of wealth even greater than himself.
“She has been close with my family for generations, though recently she has spent much time apart,” Anastasha admitted, her eyes looking to another time, hearing the laughter of the elvish form, so beautiful, so musical, so free.
“It is so difficult because dragons live for so long but we do not so it is difficult to form a relationship,” Jirot said, nodding her head understandingly.
“Oh? How do you know such a thing?”
“My daddy told me.”
“Your father is so wise!”
“Hmph.” Jirot turned her head, though her eyes turned to the side to note the Malika from her periphery, and though her brows were furrowed as though in disdain, the girl’s lips formed the widest smirk.
“You speak Aswadic so well,” Anastasha said, her eyes now upon the little girl.
“I learnt it from my mother. I learnt a little bit last year and then during nightval and this dawnval I studied really hard.”
“You learnt the tongue so swiftly!” Anastasha declared, half exclaiming the words, for how many could dare to suggest they could learn the language with such proficiency in such short time? As the half elf’s bragging filled her mind she realised perhaps he may have been underestimating his daughter’s geniusness.
“I like to read.”
“Oh? Then I will gift you many books.”
Jirot’s lips formed a tiny smile, her eyes darting between her siblings who mirrored her expression, and suddenly the girl sat up taller, holding up her thumbs up. “Thank you so much, Malika! Oh my gosh! I always say it, the Malika is so wonderful, yes, so wonderful.”
“Oh? You always say it?” Anastasha asked, her lips forming a wide smile, her eyes beaming down at the girl.
“I say it so it must be true.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“It is so, because I say it,” Jirot confirmed.
The woman smiled wider, stifling her laughter with much effort, though her eyes grew wet. “I see now you are truly the Jirot I have heard of.”
Jirot flushed, suddenly pulling back, the girl side eyeing the woman. “Malika, even you cannot bully me like this?”
“Oh? I cannot?”
“You cannot…”
“Even though you are so cute?”
The girl flushed again, shuffling beside her brother. “Malika, you cannot flirt with me like this…”
Anastasha reached up to hide her open mouth, her brows raising towards the heavens, and with a swiftness only a mother could possess, her fingers pinched the girl’s cheeks. “You are so cheeky!”
“I am my daddy’s daughter!”
The laughter filled the air, even going so far as to float towards the four in the corner, a man and his wife, a woman some may have referred to as their mother, and then the Amira of the mighty Aswadasad.
“Recently, I was in Arisa,” Adam began, considering his words, doing his best not to sound too rude. “The auctions, I noticed, went well. I would like us to speak of potentially sending magical items to be auctioned within the capital.”
“A wise choice,” Miriam replied, for considering the half elf usually sent his magical items to Red Oak, there was a high chance he was only receiving bids reaching perhaps one and one half at best, if that. Meanwhile, one and one half was easily achieved with those whose pockets were so deep, those who found themselves in the land of black and gold.
“Now, to be clear, I also intend to send the weapons through to East Port, due to my connection with the Grand Duchess there, and I would also like to work with the Faro of East Port, since I did cause some trouble, and wish to cause a little more, but I think, with how closely we have already worked, and since we’re friends, I’m sure we can work with one another in a more special capacity.”
The half elf’s chuckling did little to ease the Amira’s heart. “What do you intend to auction?”
“Magical weapons, mostly,” Adam replied, as though it was a smart response. “Some Basic, some Greater, some Basic Enhanced, some Greater Enhanced. I believe it would be best for the weapons to possess a certain theme, for example, one year, storm, one year, fiery, and so on.”
“If you are planning to auction your weaponry across the various cities, would you auction the same weapons, or different weapons, within each?”
“There are a few ways it could go, I think. For example, I’d auction three different themes, then rotate them, that’s one way. Or, I could auction simpler weapons in some places, and the more unique weapons elsewhere. It could be that, depending on the year, we will auction certain weapons, and then every, say, third year, or fifth year or so, the weapons will be grander weapons, or potentially, we ramp up the auctions depending on the local situation.” The half elf closed his eyes, trying to understand his own thoughts. “For example, maybe one of the cities may be under certain financial constraints, and we will send forward simpler weapons, and potentially grant a higher cut to them, or, potentially offering some form of… I don’t know, service medal to a local warrior, and gifting them a blade for their service. Obviously, I won’t say that’s why, but I’ll… give a look to let them know.”
“I am always uncertain of whether you are wise or not.”
“That’s just how it is.” The half elf smirked, taking a sip of his tea. “In terms of how powerful the weapons will be, the President will be able to discuss with the Enchanter.”
Miriam’s eyes quickly darted to Sonarot, who gave no indication this was the first time she was hearing of this. “I see.”
“Also, we may end up auctioning potions too, though I wonder which you would suggest would auction well, and which would not upset any other alchemists?”
“That would be difficult, to see which would not upset one, but I am certain it will be fine, for the auction is such a place.”
“I’m sure there’s auction house or two, but when do you usually have your auctions.”
“There are multiple each month, even for those of the silver and gold classes. They are usually on the eleventh.
“What’s better than first place?” Adam asked. “First place, twice.”
Miriam blinked hard.
“That was good,” Vonda assured, reaching over to hold her husband’s hand.
“Well, I am the second funniest dad I know.”
“Who is the first?”
“Jurot.”
“Ah,” Vonda said, nodding her head.
“Don’t say it like that,” Adam replied, half smiling, half wounded. “Even if it’s true, it still hurts.”
Vonda smiled innocently.
“…”
“In terms of our fee, how much would you feel would be acceptable.” Miriam asked, not entirely annoyed by their flirting, but she wanted to strike while the Ray would temper him.
“I could probably argue for no fee at all,” the half elf replied, already forming the argument within his mind, but he waved his hand. “What would you think would be appropriate?”
“One tenth?”
“One tenth of the sale price?”
“Yes.”
“Sure. How many weapons would you expect?”
This was the most important question, the Amira thought. “You may send as many as you like, and depending on their quality, they shall be revealed appropriately.”
“That seems fair…” Adam replied, surprised to see her lack of greed, but then again, she had figured him out and it was probably the best answer, even if she didn’t believe it. “I can’t promise anything special every single time, but I should be able to guarantee something decent… every fifth year? Every fifth year, something nice is guaranteed, and then every tenth, we could send something even better?”
“I will accept whatever you intend to send to the capital.”
“Obviously, as always, if you want to buy something outside of that, and not pay the inflated auction prices, I am more than open to discuss with you something.”
“I did have a few requests. I prepared quite a few weapons which require enchanting.”
“What kind of enchantments?”
“I require some to possess Basic, some Greater,” Miriam admitted. “I have also prepared a few which I would like to be enchanted with the same enchantments as previous.”
“We can discuss that,” Adam replied, and as he opened his mouth to continue, since there were other matters to attend to, he paused, for the thumping of tiny feet rushed towards him.
“Mummy, mummy…” Jirot called, placing a hand upon the woman’s knee. “The Malika asked us to trouble the Amira.”
“How do you wish to trouble her?”
“I will join the conversation.”
“We were just done?” Vonda teased.
Jirot blinked. “I will continue it.”
“Ah.” Vonda smiled, for the girl was too quick witted, even for her.
Adam wondered why she sent only the twins, but at the thought, more thumping approached and the triplets swarmed the group. Adam held his eldest daughter’s gaze.
“…”
“Have you come to trouble us too?” Adam asked.
“Yes.”
“Ah.”
Miriam noted the look in the half elf’s eyes in that moment. For a moment, she believed it was impossible he could ever kill anyone, but upon recalling how he had beaten the Radiant Blade so mercilessly, she killed that idea within her heart.