Luck be Damned

26

^^ Sir Hadrian ^^

— Alice —

The day of the Tournament, I was brewing yet another batch of the healing elixir I'd designed, the same kind I now regularly sold to the Merchant's Guild that worked with each of the Kingdoms and such around us. Their role was less one of rule or lawmaking and more of Economic Balancing and International Banking; after all, a real economist understood that War was a temporary spike in revenue followed by a crashed market, ultimately losing the country money, and from base greed came the wisdom 'Wars Cost Money, and therefore are to be Avoided.'

My contract with them was the same as my contract with the Councils of the Forest; goods in exchange for money, and transportation in exchange for money, a separation-and/or-breach-of-contract clause, all with an added Caveat, which was that I would grow very rare materials for them in hyper-secure undisclosed locations, if they paid me half in gold and half in other materials, -even trash materials like the invasive weed 'red grass', in great quantities would work,- to essentially grow their crops for them.

This was a way, of course, for the weaker adventurers to get work, because the mightier ones would never stoop so low as to go on a Fetch for some grass. They didn't know my use for these materials, of course, I would never reveal their real worth, or they'd start trying to price-gouge me for them. They seemed to think (and I had not dissuaded this,) that I was using them for Mulch or Fertilizer.

I was in the middle/end stages of planning tunnels from every major city to the 'center' of the forest, (my Guild Hall,) as well as just finished Validating my Guild's legitimacy, in their eyes, after showing my tax records to prove how much money the small deals I had within the forest were making me.

The Merchant's Guild was thus deliberating allowing me into their Upper Echelon, as a legitimate Merchant Queen, considering that's what their Guild was; a conglomerate of many, many other Merchant or Mercenary Guilds that worked together to make sure the economy of every country was supported in some way, to have less issues such as poverty and war, considering Money was why all Wars started.

They didn't actually have any say over such matters, but they advised their members of things that needed to happen to keep the peace, and those things happened. Countries couldn't go to war without the support of their Merchants, after all.

I poured the brew into a cup, setting it in front of my guest, who was sitting between Adrian and Victor with the stiff spine of someone used to dealing with powerful people. I liked him very much. "So, Sir Hadrian, was it?" I asked politely, sitting down across from him and sipping my own cup.

He hummed, gazing down at the cup of Elixir. "Yes, Lady Taurus, my Familial Name is Hadrian. Your purpose in serving me Elixir in a Tea-Cup?" He asked calmly, looking up and meeting my gaze without flinching.

"It is King Victor's preferred Drink." I nodded to the Sorcerer in question.

He glanced at Victor, and nodded. "I see. Then, I am obliged." He picked up the cup with every measure of decorum, carefully and silently sipping some of the mixture, then swallowed, setting the cup down and returning his hands to his lap. "It is an exquisite brew, Lady Taurus; my compliments." He smiled genially, and my heart fluttered a bit.

Cala sipped her tea loudly, and hummed while my eye twitched. "So, you're a Lord or a Knight, Hadrian?"

He noticed my twitching eye at the rudeness, and stayed silent while I reached over, under the table, and gripped her leg sharply. "I am a Lord, by birth, and a Knight by Practice, Lady Gravstein. I attended St. Julian's House of Lords, in Julianus, -the Kingdom directly to the east of this one,- and was granted a Knighthood when I graduated at the top of my class... I specialized in Etiquette and Fencing." He spoke calmly, ignoring her shriek at my sharp nails in her thigh.