The Caravan Road (35 page)

“I’ll change that,” Alec told her.

“How exactly will you do that?” Salem asked.

“We’ll attend to that when it’s time,” Alec assured her.  “Let’s go find Alfred, then go to the stables and get the horses.”

The three were soon in the stables together, saddling their horses, as Alec rooted through the bags that the mules had carried across the mountains.  “Ah ha,” he said softly when a glint of sparkling gemstones came into view.  He reached down and picked a small selection of emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, then closed the saddlebag and mounted his horse.

The three rode away unnoticed, and rode through a bucolic countryside for half an hour, discussing what they were looking for in Woven.

“First we have to go to the jewelry shops, so that I can sell these gems,” Alec explained.  “Then we’ll want to go look at shops in the area where fashionable women purchase clothes, to find a suitable vacant shop.

“Alfred, you’ll have to help us decide what is suitable among any vacant shops that are available,” he added, as they approached the outskirts of the city.

“My lord,” Salem said, “we’ll be among the townspeople very soon, and I worry that I’ll be recognized.”

Alec reached his hand over to touch the back of her neck.  He released his Healer power in a gentle stream that turned her hair a rich, chestnut color, then smoothed her skins of many lines and signs of aging, then finally added a slight, healthy ruddy complexion to her skin to match the coloration of her hair.  Alfred, riding in the other side of Alec craned his neck and peered around at Salem as her appearance evolved, step by step, his jaw dropping fractionally each time the next change became evident.

“You’ll not be recognized now, unless it’s by someone who suspects you’re in town and is looking specifically for you,” Alec told her as he pulled his hand away from her.

“Have you changed my appearance?” she cried, her hands going to her head, her fingertips gently probing, exploring her face.

“Such amazing talents,” Alfred breathed softly.  “We’re traveling the earth with a living god among us.”

“No,” Alec said sternly.  “I’m no god.  I’ve seen something of God, the little bit of his eternal powers, and they are far above me.  And I’ve fought a man who gained many powers, and did perhaps come to believe he was a god.  I know who I am, and I am only a man with gifts from God.”

“Well, as you say, but you’re an extraordinary being, unlike any legend I’ve ever heard, except for the stories about the empress Caitlen’s consort, and that was you as well!” Alfred nodded his head.

“What do I look like?” Salem cried, on pins and needles to know her altered appearance.

“Wonderful, my lady,” Alfred told her.  “Still you, but different.”

“There’s a pond in that field,” Alec pointed off the road.  “Let’s go let you see.”

When they got to the pond, Salem dismounted and walked swiftly to the edge of the water, then knelt and lowered her face, looking down into the water, the blue sky above framing her reflection below.  “The pond is a bit dark,” Alec told her as she studied herself, “but generally fair.”

She raised her head to look at him, then looked back down.  “Do you like this look?” she asked.

“The appearance isn’t important; it’s the person within that is most important,” Alec answered. “You’re a good woman with any color of hair.”

Salem rose and returned to her horse, and they rode into town without further discussion.  “The jewelers are along that street,” Salem pointed ahead, and they soon turned right and traveled a short distance north, until they reached a section of the city with several shops that displayed signs of gold and silver ornaments.

“Watch the horses for us Alfred,” Alec said as they dismounted, and then he and Salem walked into the shop that she recommended they try to sell to.

“This is the shop we relied on when I lived in the mansion,” she explained.  “They seemed fair and honest, and received a great deal of business from all the noble families.”

Inside the shop a burly young man sat quietly in a corner near the door, while counters stacked with goods were in the rear of the shop.  Alec and Salem walked the length of the store and approached a fastidious man who observed them with keen eyes.  “That man is the owner of the shop, Galdone,” Salem told Alec softly.

“Would you like to handle the negotiations?” Alec asked her, slipping his hand into hers as they walked, and pressing a trio of gems against her palm.

She looked up at him with a quizzical expression, then smiled and nodded her head.  She paused for a moment to look at herself in the mirror that lay on the counter, then raised her head and walked on.

“Monsieur Galdone,” she greeted the proprietor when they reached the counter.  “We have come to visit you, to see if you would be interested in acquiring a few baubles we obtained recently.”  She opened her palm and picked each of the three stones out of it, placing them on a black cloth on the counter, one at a time.

Galdone smiled politely, looking down at the stones closely, then looking up at Salem’s altered face.  “Madame appears very familiar, but I apologize that I cannot place the acquaintance.”

“You would not know me, my friend,” she answered.  “My name is Salem.”

The shopkeeper looked at her closely.  “No I do not know you, but,” he left the sentence unfinished.  “May I examine these?” he asked politely, picking up a small magnifying glass.

“Please do,” Salem granted.  Galdone stood and retrieved a small lantern, which he brought over to the counter and set down, its wick turned up slightly to increase the illumination.  He selected the emerald first, looking at it closely with the glass, held near the lantern.

“May I take this to the window?” he asked again, and when Salem agreed he walked near the small window and held the green gem directly in the sunlight at eye level, holding the glass very near the stone as he rotated it between his fingers.  He returned without comment and picked up the other two gems, and inspected them in the sunlight as well.

“These are very fine stones,” he said as he laid them back on the cloth.  “What is their origin?”

“They come from the mines around Valeriane, in the Avonellene empire,” Alec answered.

“Of course.  They are that fine,” Galdone agreed.  “How have you come in possession on them?”

“There was a change in who sat as Duke of the city,” Alec generalized.  “For my role in helping the new duke, I received a windfall,” he fabricated a satisfactory story.

“Is this recent news?” the jeweler asked.

“It just happened last fall; I imagine we’re the first to cross the mountains with the news.  “There’s a new emperor as well, if you’re interested in the politics of east of the mountains,” Alec added.

Galdone shrugged.  “I am not so interested in the politics, not as long as stones such as these continue to be produced.  I have a client who was asking for something interesting just this week, and I think I could use several of the sapphires to produce a pendant she would appreciate.  I presume you have more of the stones?”

Salem looked at Alec, who reached beneath his vest and pulled out the others of the samples he had brought.  “I grabbed these at random,” Alec said, as he handed them to Salem to give to Galdone.  “We have many more that we could bring back tomorrow.”

Galdone took the two other sapphires over to the sunlight and looked at them as well.  “The quality of this one is just as flawless as the first.  The other is slightly cloudy, but would do well for most of my customers.  I will purchase nine sapphires, provided they all match this stone’s quality, as they no doubt shall.”

“What price do you offer?” Salem asked.

“Seven guilders each,” Galdone replied.

“Yet you will sell them set in gold for nearly twenty guilders each,” she protested.

“I will have the cost of the gold, and the hours of labor involved,” Galdone countered.  “What would you say to nine guilders per stone?”

“Shall we say eleven?” Salem countered.  “You can always receive a high price from your clients; you’re the best jeweler in the city,” she laughed gently.

“For you my lady, since you add such flattery, I will pay eleven guilders for each stone,” Galdone agreed, a slightly strained smile on his face.  “Can you bring the other stones by tomorrow?  I’ll need to arrange with the bank to acquire the coins for payment.”

“Tomorrow will be satisfactory,” Salem agreed.  “What of the other stones, the rubies and emeralds?”

“They are wonderful stones, as good as the sapphires, but I do not need them at the moment.  When you come back tomorrow that may change; who knows?” he answered.  “And besides, with your wonderful coloring, you should keep the emeralds and produce something for yourself; perhaps I can help,” he offered.

Salem smiled demurely at the compliment, as Alec swept the gems back into his hand, then laid the two Galdone had approved of back on the cloth.  “You may keep these until tomorrow,” he said.  “You seem to be a trustworthy man.”

“You honor me,” Galdone replied.  He stood and they did as well, then departed from the shop and rejoined Alfred on the street.

“What’s the result?” Alfred asked.

“He wants to buy several stones, and Salem bargained with him to get ninety-nine guilders!” Alec answered.

“And how much is a guilder worth?” Alfred asked.

Alec shrugged, and turned to Salem.  “What can we buy for a guilder?  Will ninety-nine be enough to buy a shop and supply it?”

“I think so,” the lady replied.  “A new carriage with four horses would cost about twenty guilders,” she answered.  “Shall we go to some of the other shops, and try to sell some of the other stones?”

For the next hour they visited four other shops that Salem considered suitable and reliable, and sold all the stones Alec had brought, as well as the promised delivery of a dozen more, and they had fifty guilders in their purses.  Alec was pleased with their success in the first step of his planned strategy for Woven, and when Salem suggested lunch for the three at an outdoor restaurant, both Alec and Alfred agreed.

They sat at a table along a fashionable boulevard, watching the traffic pass by.  “When we lived in the palace, I could not openly enjoy such facilities as this,” Salem said.  “We’d draw too large a crowd, and disrupt all the activity around us.  But this always looked to be a wonderful experience, and it is!” she gushed.

As she said it she languidly turned her head to watch the people pass by, when her face grew suddenly pale, and she dropped her glass of wine, its crash on the flagstone flooring shattering the glass with a noisy explosion.

“What is it, Salem?” alec asked.

“There’s Trayma,” she uttered, pointing to the man who had usurped her husband’s throne.  He was a tall powerful-looking man, riding a beautiful stallion amidst a guard of a dozen other men.  Trayma was waving at the people they passed as he went.

Alec studied the man carefully, memorizing his appearance.  His plans for restoring Salem’s family to the throne were at stake, and soon to be set in motion.  Seeing Trayma in advance was useful.  As he looked at the usurper, examining his mannerisms, he raised his hand and stretched it towards Salem, who reached for it and grasped it tightly, holding on to Alec as though he were a lifeline. 
I know it offends to see him riding freely in your city, but I promise you that revenge is coming.  We will start tonight
. 
Be at peace, my friend
, Alec told her.

She squeezed his hand even more tightly.  “I know I can rely on you,” she spoke, as Alfred helped a serving girl pick up the pieces of the broken glass on the ground.  They hurried through the rest of their meal, and then left the restaurant.

“Where would be a good neighborhood for Alfred and
Stacha
to establish their hat shop, in a place where many other fashionable clothes are sold?” Alec asked Salem, hoping that their next objective would distract her from the untimely appearance of Trayma.

“Kensing Square,” Salem replied.  “We need to go this way,” she pulled on the reins of her horse and led them across town to a pleasant area where mature trees were budding out leaves in the warm spring air, near a placid green square.  Shops and homes enclosed the green space, as elegant carriages rode about it.  The three of them rode about looking for empty shops, and finally located only two within close proximity of the square; there were many clothing shops, but none that specialized in hats, Albert noted.

Alec sat and stayed with the horses as Albert and Salem went into neighboring shops to ask what the status of the empty buildings was, and when they came out, they had the address of the owner of one shop that the neighbor was sure would be available for sale.  Five minutes later they were standing at a front door of a home talking to the servant of a woman who owned the building, and then they were let inside to wait in the parlor.

An hour later they were inside the building, the doors unlocked by the son of the building owner, who waited patiently in the front space as the three prospective buyers walked from room to room.  Salem and Alec listened as Alfred discussed possible uses for each room on the first two floors, then they all agreed that the five rooms on the third floor provided ample bedrooms for lodging.