The Wolf Among Us (Completed)

Chapter 7 - Trades

"Sit." Jupiter motioned to a table, and he went inside the tent to serve their plates.

Samson plopped down next to her with a groan, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes at him. The entire time they pitched the tent, he was snippy and kept snatching things from her, not caring if he knocked her injured arm. Either he was moody from the drive, or was simply a jerk. She could feel him staring at her, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledgment. Instead, she picked at her nails.

"So..." He drummed the table with his knuckles. "What's the deal with you and my brother?"

"Deal?" she snorted.

"What do you want with him?"

"I don't want anything."

"Really?" He arched a brow. "I find that hard to believe. As much as I'd like to think I'm the better-looking brother, I know damn well that I'm not the one women pine for. Unlike me, Magnus isn't just anybody. He's a leader, and you've seen the way people look at him - the respect they have for him. One day, he'll take my father's place running the community, so for someone like you-"

"Someone like me?" Estera whipped her head around. "And what kind of person am I?"

"Someone who didn't just accidentally stumble onto our territory. That's for sure." He winked, and she wanted to rip his condescending eyelid off. Instead, she remained calm.

"Your brother rescued me and sheltered me, which means I owe him a great debt of gratitude. So, the only thing I want is to show him kindness in return."

Samson clapped. "Wow. Great speech. But I don't believe a word of it."

"What exactly is your problem with me?"

"Nothing. Not a single thing." He stood as his father approached. "I'm heading to the hotel bar. Could use a beer."

"A esta hora?" Jupiter glanced at his watch.

"It's not that late. Peace out, pops."

As they both watched him walk away, blood pulsed in Estera's ears, and she found herself clutching her fists under the table.

Samson was a problem.

∆∆∆

The next day, she awoke to the buzzing of voices all around her. The other sleeping bags in the tent were empty, so she crawled out of hers and slipped on the clean clothes Zemora was letting her borrow, before exiting. Bright sunshine greeted her with blindness, but once her eyes adjusted, she took in the activity of the trading post. Hoards of people strolled up and down the aisle of the tents while stoping to either observe or negotiate with vendors. Next to their sleeping tent was a booth where Jupiter and Samson stood discussing trading prices with buyers. Curious about how one could buy lightning, Estera stepped closer to listen.

"So, how much lightning would you recommend for a small farming community of around twenty homes?"

"To get the most from this deal, I'd recommend at least twenty cylinders," Jupiter explained. "Each one holds around one thousand kilowatts of lightning, which is enough to power a home for a month, but to make it stretch, we recommend only powering the necessities, and using candles and lanterns as much as possible."

"Ok, so how much?"

"What would you like to trade?" Jupiter countered.

"Well, our farming community is new and small, but we're prepared to trade four goats." The man held up his hands and said, "I know, I know, it might not seem like much, but goats provide multiple dairy options, and if you must, they can be consumed for their meat too."