Spies, Trade Wars, & Mint
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 58963
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Governor Gilder was smiling, things were looking up. The papers on his
desk, the wax seals from Dukes and Subdukes from the so-called Great
Kingdom, the pinewood box with a small sample of the mint...
Hespan had been through some hard times as late due to Peppermint price- fixing by the authorities in Gelda, but that was all about to change. The Great Kingdom, Allaria, was not a traditional partner to Hespan, in fact thaey had gone to war with each other numerous times in the past, but these days the two kingdoms had found that they each had something the other desired: Hespan needed an affordable supply of peppermint, Allaria needed a buyer. The Governor smiled, just three days ago he had struck a deal with the Allarian Duchy of Suffex, and once the fullness of his report arrived at his King's demesne, he was sure that all relations with Gelda would be summarily cut off. Just then the Governor’s Security Advisor burst through the door. “Governor! Spies have been captured. Spies from Gelda, and from Califie!” Now, it would have been easy for Gilder to just execute the spies, but he wasn’t stupid. This wasn’t worth going into a full-out war. "Send them to me. I shall interrogate them myself." Before long, two individuals were shuffled into the room. The first was a tall, beautiful woman in a black gown. The second was a short, dull- looking man armored from head-to-toe in the colors and ensignia of... the Duchy of Suffex! "Identify yourselves!" Astra spoke up. "I am--" "Not you, woman!" growled the Governor. "You!" he said pointing a plump finger at Fred. Fred wasn't sure what to say. He had spent his whole life insulated from these kinds of things. His father paid the best swordsmen to train him, sure, but Fred always took more to the counting arts which seemd tied up not only with the Allarian coin but also with the spindle and thread. He would watch for hours as his mother and her maids counted the thread as it twisted, he saw how the women pulled and tightened at just the right moment, and he marveled at how they created the tapestries of the Royal Accounters. He was shaken out of his reverie by a second fat finger pointed his way. "Are you ignoring me?" said the incredulous Governor. Fred couldn't help but think that he wouldn't even be here but for the machinations of men like Duke Zular of Trescent. He was just one of the many political enemies of his father the Duke D'Honaire, the many who wanted him ruined, and what better way than to send the Duke's hapless son into the maws of the Dragon. Yet how could he now speak of his secret shame to a ruler of Hespan, an enemy of his lands? "Are you mad, son?" cried out the Governor. "I can kill you right here and now! I can order your head crushed, your ribs pulled out of your still-living body one by one, I can have your toes rubbed in olive oil and placed in a cage with starving rodents!" "Dammit!" cried our Astra. "I will not die because of the stupidity of this... this...MAN!" She hit Fred in the back of his head with an open palm and then sternly eyed the Governor. "My full name is Princess Ithamarastra, though as the men of these northern dominions are unused to proper names, most call me Astra. I am a Princess of Aqualaria and I am no companion to this... this dolt. I was hex'd and brought here against my will. I have spoken no lie, though this one -" she said with arrogance and anger, pointing at Fred, "this one did lie when he told your servants I was from Califie. Our lands are not at war, Governor, and I expect the code of diplomacy to reign." Governor Gilder had not expected this, any of this. He didn't expect to be told that spies from Gelda and Califie were found on his beaches, he didn't expect that one would proclaim herself an Aqualarian, while the other would still be keeping silent though he wore the armor of Hespan's newest ally in the trades of mint. The Governor looked at Princess Ithamarastra. "Did you cut out his tongue on the way from the beach?" The Princess looked back... then she began to laugh. "By the goddesses how I wish I could have!" Even the Governor began to chuckle, though he eyed the man with worry. "I have no quarrel with you or yours," continued Ithamarastra. "Send word to my people, grant me a ship, and I will be out of your lands and back into mine." "First a meal," answered the Governor - this was traditional and expected, he would follow the code and its rituals until he discerned whether this woman was or was not whom she said she was. As to the man, he still did not know his name or his origin, but he seemed dazed more than obstinate...
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5/29/2006 11:04:52 AM
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