There’s nothing quite like finding everything you’re looking for at a single shop
Lady Arbessa
The next week passed uneventfully and Solomon went through his usual routine. The month of Dentus was fast approaching so he sent correspondences to Chorde, his mother, and Bernice to let them know when to expect him. After that he went into town to review the progress on the expansion and restoration of the roads. So far a lot of progress had been made tearing up the old roads, but laying the new one hadn’t yet begun as they were waiting on materials and equipment from Etling. They had also begun construction of a new mayor’s office. The burnt remains of the previous one had been cleared and Solomon was finalizing the plans for the new construction along with Feist. He also spent a lot of time practicing his new spells and reviewing the summoning ritual for Agog.
He left the office that day to meet with the company representatives at the road from Moonfallow to Etling. They were mostly polite and gracious, promising nothing as he shook their hands, until he reached Derry.
“It’s been a pleasure Lord Morrow,” he said as he shook Solomon’s hand emphatically. “I know the others here haven’t been given permission to give you an offer, but our lovely lady has given me permission to give you this based on my findings.
He held out a letter and as he did so drew the glares of all of the others.
Solomon took it and folded it carefully into his coat.
“I will give this my full consideration,” he looked to the others, “Along with anything I receive from the rest of them. I won’t make any decisions in haste.”
That seemed to cause some of the tension to drop. He went to shake hands with Jules before he left and found the man staring at him.
Solomon extended his hands toward him and the man put both of his hands forward to grab it.
“Thank you very much for this opportunity, Lord Morrow. We will be reaching out to you soon. I will impress upon my employers the potential value here.”
“Thank you,” he responded simply, thrown by the man’s stare.
Once he was done with his goodbyes, Solomon went back to the carriage where he unsealed the letter Derry had handed him. It smelled heavily of perfume that brought back thoughts of green eyes and warm hands on the dancefloor.
Lord Morrow,
My offer is the same as it was when we met at the Viscount’s ball. That said, if any of the others give you a better offer or one that matches my own, know that I offer 5% more in your favor than anything they suggest.
Priscilla Irons
Solomon carefully folded the letter and returned it to his coat. Priscilla didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who would make such an offer to just curry favor with him personally. He guessed that the report she’d received regarding the mine had shown it had the value she’d been looking for.
Back at the manor Solomon spent the rest of the day practicing his new spells and reviewing the offer he’d been working on for his eventual demonic pact. He would need them all to be prepared for his plans the following evening. That particular night though, he needed to be focused on the Arcana meeting.
That evening Solomon stayed awake organizing his books and writing notes on what he expected of the staff in his absence. When the statue of the Hermit began to glow in the corner of his vision, he approached it calmly and slipped his walking stick into its hands. There was the usual moment of blackness before he found himself standing again in the ballroom of the Arcana. He was a bit earlier than most of the attendants, as he always was, and made his way to the pillar where he found the Knight of Pentacles doing her usual aloof lean.
“Good evening, Knight,” he said with a nod, leaning on the pillar beside her.
“Good evening Page. What questions are you bringing to me today?”
He nearly asked her how she knew he had questions, but considering it was a pattern he’d established across every other meeting he decided he may as well push forward.
“I am to be travelling soon. I won’t have access to my usual method of attending meetings. Do you know of any other methods of attendance?”
She was silent for a few moments. “You have a relic then. That’s interesting… yes I have a method for attendance. It’s mana intensive, but given how much you waste every time you attend a meeting I don’t think it would be too difficult for you.”
“And how much would this method cost me?”
She paused again, her face inscrutable behind her faceplate. “Just one gold piece.”
Solomon frowned, surprised at the low cost, but grateful. He wasn’t in financial trouble quite yet. The bonuses he’d been paying the additional hired help were no longer necessary as he’d had most of them hired by the city to work on the roads, but he’d already dipped rather heavily into his yearly stipend. If things got too expensive he’d need to pull from the twenty-thousand gold in taxes he still had from his uncle’s old account.
“I rather enjoy having you here. Besides, I’ve heard rumblings that things may become more hectic soon, and it will be good to have an ally close.”
“World act as witness,” he said, feeling the mana that surrounded them shift a bit in their direction as they shook hands.
“What kind of rumblings?”
“The Major Arcana are showing up more frequently, and I see frequent discussions between them and the kings and queens. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re pulled into a few of them soon.”
Solomon nodded. The Knight was observant, she always seemed to know everyone’s comings and goings. He himself tried his best to keep track, but was frequently focused on other pursuits.
With a polite nod to her, he made his way to the room with the ledgers to see if any of his requests had been answered. He stepped inside and peeled it open, finding that his own requests were lit in silver letters.
For the spell that allows one to affect another’s will the Knight of Pentacles had actually signed next to it. He was moderately surprised, but he had purchased the perfect recall spell from her before, perhaps mind magic was her focus. In return she’d requested two hundred gold pieces and three basic spells of her choosing. It was a high price, but given the large amount of uses he could call on for such a power he thought it was fair.
The curse of impotence had been answered by the Three of Cups, who had requested a spell for the creation of an human-like homunculi. That wasn’t exactly what he had offered, but it was something he could respond to. He’d already been working to memorize such a spell that had been in the homunculi grimoire within the repository that he felt would function. The homunculi was only able to follow the most basic commands, but it did look human from what the spell described. As for the method that was offered, they listed it as a ritual that required few components to work and closeness to the target. That was good, as his resources would be limited at the manor and he’d need to be careful choosing what he’d take.
Finally the request for knowledge on ancestral weapons/items had been answered by the Six of Wands who had requested twenty gold in return. That was perhaps the simplest of them to answer.
In the ledger a new column appeared next to each of the answered requests asking if he accepted the terms or not. He wrote a yes next to each of them. He was likely spending more than he needed to, but that was the price of convenience and anonymity.
Once he was done he began walking out of the ledger room, wondering how exactly the requests would be answered. For the curse of impotence he’d requested it would likely be as simple as a written page and letter, but for the spell to subvert another’s will it would take a conversation. After all, how is he to offer the basic spells he knew for the Knight to choose from. Perhaps they’d talk through the World at one another, but that seemed a slow method. For the information on ancestral weapons as well, he wanted to ask specific questions, which was not something that could be done as easily through exchanged letters in that way.
As Solomon worked through these questions in his mind he walked through the door and found himself, not back in the main ballroom of the Arcana, but instead in one of the private rooms off to the side. He raised an eyebrow and looked around, realizing as he did so that his mana formed body was… blank. He was like a white absence surrounded by all of the colours and textures of the room. The whiteness of him would be blinding with the contrast if he was seeing it with actual eyes. As he was taking in his form he saw the far door open and the Knight of Pentacles walk through it. She looked him up and down and lightly laughed in her husky voice.
“Page, is that you?” she asked.