Industry & Intrigue (71 page)

***

Clara
downed the whole bottle of
foul-tasting, white liquid. It took several seconds and she fought
against the revolting taste, swallowing it all. She reached for a
glass of water to wash the taste from her mouth. It was over and
done, there was no going back now. It was for the best, but a small
part of her felt guilt and regret.

It was her
las
t day in
Caer Anvos and the last chance she would have to do it. A week ago,
she had discovered that she was pregnant, her monthly bleeding
failing to appear. She had told no one.

There was only one possible
candidate for the father.
Lawrence, the emperor and man she had loved. She
had cried herself to sleep the night she heard about what happened
at Rampart.

This put her in a
difficult position.
There was no way she would be able to cross to Estara and find a
noble candidate for marriage in time to pretend that the child
belonged to a new husband.

To preserve her nation she was
going to have to kill
the last piece of the man she loved. She had sent
her most trusted bodyguard down to a special section of the market
and asked her to fetch what see needed.

The white tea was a special
blend, brewed by small-time magically talented
folk who ran stalls in markets,
their talents too minor to join the Scepters or study at Warded
Spirals. But what little they did know, they put to good
use.

The tea worked as a
contr
aceptive and also for women who wanted to abort a pregnancy
in its early stages. Clara had drunk the entire dose, ensuring that
she would never bring Lawrence’s child to term. She sat at in front
of her mirrors, staring into them. She was beginning to wonder how
much she would have to sacrifice for the sake of her
kingdom.

There was a knock on the
door.
“Your
Highness?” Her bodyguard.

His voice snapped her out of her
mournful contemplation. “Yes what is it?”

“
The fleets are readying
to leave. We have to go now, Your Highness. The queen’s ship needs
to leave with the protection of the fleet.”

“
Of course,” she replied. “I’ll
be out in a moment.” She gathered up the last of her items and put
them into her bag. She opened the door to let in her guards and
servants who would escort her to the ship. She was going home after
so many years and yet she did not feel happy. It was crazy and she
had to stop herself from laughing at the irony. She finally had
what she wanted, a chance to return to her rightful place in Estara
and she found she no longer wanted it as she once had.

Chapter
71

The Alkos Artifacts
shop was devoid of
customers. With the war in full swing, interest in rare artifacts
had dried up. Though that wasn’t exactly accurate, the regular
treasure-hunters, collectors and eccentrics had
vanished.

But every day Thomas
complained to Tessa
about being pestered by someone from the Ministry of War or the
Hydrus Scepters. The ministry would inquire about useful weapons he
may have acquired, while the scepters were interested in mystical
artifacts or rare ingredients for powerful spells, such as dragons
blood or sapphire lotus powder.

Thomas always had to give them
disappointing answers.
His artifact business was lucrative, fueled by
collectors and museums, but the value of his items was their
historical and cultural significance, not practical
applications.

Tessa
had warned him that the few highly
publicized sales he had made in the past would have a downside.
Thomas had made sure all of the newspapers and his professional
network knew exactly who had acquired and sold the dead remains of
a lava elemental to Warded Spirals; or the Sword of the First
Minakayan Lord to the head of the Steel-Raiders mercenary
company.

She hadn’t predicted that it would come
back to bite him in this particular way. Thanks to those particular
pieces of showy business, the army and the mages thought he could
obtain powerful relics on a regular basis.

Thomas put his hands on his
accounts table, staring at them. “If business stays this bad for
much lon
ger,
I may have to sell off a few pieces of the well-preserved Cartralan
collection.”

Tessa gasped. “No. Thomas you
can’t. They’re your pride and joy.” She bent o
ver his drooped shoulder looked
at his accounts and scoffed. “Men. All you ever see is the raw
numbers.” She took the pencil out of his hands and grabbed a blank
sheet of paper. She quickly jotted down his figures and did a few
calculations. “Aha” she said in triumph and scribbled out the final
numbers. He would be able to keep hold of his prized collection.
All it would take is jumping through a few accounting
hoops.

She smirked at him in her
success and held up the paper to his
face.

“
What did you…”
he started to ask
and studied what she had calculated. His face soon broke into a
smile when he realized what she had done.

Thomas
laughed in joy and looked at her. He
pulled her into a deep kiss.

She purred
and sucked in a deep breath of
air when he let go.

“
Has anyone ever told
yo
u, you’re
a financial genius?”

“
I didn’t get my job because of
my looks you know
,” she replied slyly.

He chuckled.
“Y
ou would
have if I was in charge of hiring cabinet ministers.”

Between the kiss and the
flirting, Tessa could feel her libido rising. She wouldn’t get
a
chance to
continue it further. A carriage stopped outside the
shop.

“
Looks like I finally
have
a
customer,” said Thomas. He went over to his main counter and waited
for whoever it was to enter.

Tessa crossed her arms in frustration. She
was glad he had a customer, but between her brother’s
hospitalization and the war she had been so busy, she hadn’t had
sex in more than a week and it was starting to frustrate her. She
peered out the window to try and see who had interrupted
them.

The window
wa
s foggy
and she rubbed it clear. The cold grip of winter was starting to
make its presence known. Once she had wiped the condensation, she
could see the carriage clearly.

It
was expensive looking and definitely
flare-rock powered. It had silver-hued metal paneling and a symbol
on the side that anyone in Alkos would recognize. It was a golden
cog with a mechanical spike through the middle on an angle. The
logo of Huntington Mechanics.

And lo and behold, the figure
of Alyssa Huntington herse
lf walked through the door. Tessa gritted her
teeth. She had to give the woman credit; she had audacity to show
up here of all places. She was flanked by two guards in blue
jacketed suits, with large and obvious revolvers in their
holsters.

She was wearing a fur-coat, Tessa
couldn’t tell what type. She watched as Alyssa walked up to Thomas.
He had on his best business service face.

“
Mr. Hamilton. I have been told
that you are one of the best in the field of artifact related
archeology
.
Is this correct?” asked Alyssa.

As haughty as ever
she thought. Alyssa
had yet to notice her standing over to the side, next to Thomas’
accounting desk.

“
Yes,
absolutely
,”
replied Thomas. “What exactly are you in the market for Ms.
Huntington?”

“
Advice, Mr. Hamilton. I need
your advice with regards to this.” She
pulled out a brown and cracked scroll
and unrolled it on the counter.

“
Oh my, this is
incredible
,”
exclaimed Thomas. “Where did you get this?” Whatever it was had him
excited. The last time Tessa had seen him react like that, a
treasure hunter had come in with a pile of Kordatian
relics.

“
I’m afraid I can’t
say
,”
replied Alyssa. “Suffice it to say one of my employees came into
possession of it and now says he can lead me here,” she pointed to
the lower middle of the scroll, “where I will find the ruins of a
Cartral city and a significant flare-rock deposit. I need to know
from you, if myself or my employee are being misled, or if there is
a possibility that this is genuine.”

Thomas nodded as he studied
the
map. “I
believe I may have several old Estaran volumes that could be
helpful. Let me fetch them and we can discuss what value you think
my advice is worth.” He left the counter and climbed the small set
of stairs that led to his library on the second floor.

With him gone, Tessa took the
opportunity to approach Alyssa.

The woman finally noticed her.
“Minister Mordain, what a pleasant surprise. I had not expected to
see you here.”

“
Why?” asked Tessa. ‘I
would think someone as capable as you would know all about the
personal lives of ministers.”

Alyssa held up her hand.
“
Please, I
meant no offence minister. I do, of course know about your
relationship with Mr. Hamilton. But I did not expect to see you
here because I assumed that if you were not at the Imperial
Ministry you would be visiting your brother.”

The woman bowed
her head slightly.
“I hope he is doing better. It is a sad day when we industrial
entrepreneurs are attacked by the same people to whom we give
employment and opportunity.” She even had the temerity to stand
there and talk about Luthais like she cared about him.

Tessa scowled and focused her
eyes on Alyssa. “Don’t give me that concerned act. There’s no one
around for you to showboat for. You don’t give a damn about my
brother. All you did was use him
.”

“
Is everything all right?” asked
Thomas as he
returned from the second floor.

Tessa had let her emotions get
the better of her. She hadn
’t realized her voice had become so loud.
Dammit
.
I
need to keep myself in check when dealing with her.

Alyssa
smiled at him. “It’s alright Mr.
Hamilton. Your paramour is understandably upset about her brother.
She has every right to be angry. I would feel the same if someone
had struck against my family.”

Inwardly, Tessa seethed.
She has to be so
damn polite doesn’t she?

Alyssa looked back at
her
.
“Minister, please know that I take no offense at your outburst and
would not hold it against you.”

Tessa breathed in and out
slowly, getting herself calm.
“Of course. I apologize for acting out. I’ve been
under a lot of stress.”

She looked over at
Thomas
, he
had several dusty books under his arms and was giving her the look.
The one that meant he wanted to deal with his client in
private.

“
I’ll excuse myself while you
c
onduct your
business.” She went into one of the back rooms. She had treasury
work she could do in the meantime. After half an hour there was
knock on the door.

Thomas opened it and
poked his head in.
“All finished,” he said.

Tessa
left her work on the table and
followed him out. Alyssa was leaving the shop and had a satisfied
look on her face. “Goodbye Minister Mordain. I hope your brother
makes a fast recovery. If there is anything I can do, let me
know.”

Tessa slowly
walked back over to
the front of the shop, with Thomas following her. “So, did you help
her find what she needed?” she asked.

Thomas sighed, but he had to
know she was going to ask. “Tessa
, I’m not comfortable discussing the
details with you.”

“
That didn’t stop you from
getting information from your
contact in her company. How she planned to steal
armament production techniques from Typhon Trading.”

“
That was
different
,”
he argued. “She’s a client of mine now. My clients expect a certain
amount of discretion, particular corporate clients.”

Tessa
kept her eyes scrutinized on
him.

He shook his head.
“Fine
,” he
admitted in defeat. “She has an old map of central Kangur, it
contains the location of a buried Cartralan city. My books were
able to confirm that the city of Jarpexes may have been located
there. She’s going to hire an expedition to locate the ruins.
That’s all of it, I swear.”

Tessa
laughed. “You are too cute when
you’re trying to defend your clients. I could care less about old
ruins. I have a war to finance and a brother to check
on.”

Thomas smiled
himself. She could
tell he was still annoyed at her, but it wouldn’t last long,
especially with what she had in mind.