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Sun 15th Oct 2023 12:14

54. A small talk

by Lady Leticia Scarlet-Bloesembhel Voetdhel-Montaneus

Once she got home she sat at her desk and wrote in her journal, "Finished talk with KLD. Update complete." She thought back to the conversation that prompted the entry... as her mind wandered she started drawing mushrooms...
 
 
[[Having finished tallying the pay her sailors were missing Scarlet set about to place the rules she originally had intended to install. She didn't put them in place when creating the company, as per her mentor's request. And they were able to recover around 93% of the losses, which honestly was better than the 30% she originally calculated. Leave it to Sniffles to figure out how to squeeze blood from stone. Her cousin would be towed back home with an Aunt and Sniffles while her youngest Aunt stayed behind to be the 'face' of the group.
 
They didn't interact much, due to the amount of work that was on a deadline. As they both worked in the office, Scarlet at her desk (she did offer her Aunt to use it and she'd use the meeting table but due to the stacks of paperwork her Aunt decided the meeting table was fine) and her Aunt seated next to the snack table, the quiet scratching of pens were the only sound in the room. After a bit Scarlet got up to grab a drink. Not turning around Kaðlín asked, "Is it always like this?"
 
"What is? The quiet? Yes."
 
"No. The plans within plans within plans."
 
"Oh that? Yes. Always." Scarlet says as she poured herself a drink.
 
"Do you... enjoy this work?"
 
"No."
 
"Really? I figured you two were birds of a feather."
 
"Neither of this LIKE this work. If given the chance, I'd be happy with a small cottage where I can work on crafts and live a very simple life. She'd be happy in a hole in the ground so long as her books could be brought with her or she has access to an expansive library. Both she and I are a means to an end. We currently have a shared goal, but our endings are different."
 
"What's Sniffle's goal? Her end?"
 
Scarlet turned to her aunt and answered sincerely, "I have no fucking idea. But I do know that whatever her goal is it won't harm me, our territory, most of my maternal family, or put my sibling at risk."
 
"Most of our family?"
 
"You know that Farkas' father is involved with trafficking, extortion, and is directly responsible for the illegal logging that is putting our ties to the Fae Court and Elementals in the mountains at risk?" Her Aunt's face was still. "He and a few others are the reason why our family lost so much territory. Also Uncle and Aunt Linden's children getting kidnapped are because of him...though I don't think he realized that the morons he's hired targeted them."
 
Her face hardened as she looked over at her niece, "WHAT?"
 
Scarlet sighed and said, "Yeah, some of those girls. I don't know if you noticed but a few were our relatives."
 
Sighing she leaned on face in her palm and added, "He's so dead once this comes to light. And that little shit...I was hoping that he'd be a good counter to you."
 
Scarlet sat across from her aunt, "Who Farkas?" She laughed, "No one, especially him, is a comparable candidate to me. My qualifications, experience, and knowledge are through the roof compared to my cousins."
 
"You're hubris will be your downfall?"
 
"Not really, I've got spies looking into them and per the dossier they don't have the skills, financial backing, or ties needed to run the territory. BUT. I. DO."
 
She looked over at her niece and added, "You've got money child but you haven't done anything for the territory. Since you've been away, We've made ties with minor businesses, who may band together to become a new house who are supporting us." She squinted as her niece chuckled and asked, "What's so funny?"
 
"I... well WE, are the ones who are running those 'houses' and businesses. I've spent years working with Mother to deal with our boon debit. Technically the family is in the black though most of your ledgers still show red. I haven't come out and consolidated everything under my name yet."
 
Sputtering she asked, "What?"
 
Scarlet pulled out a year old summary of a more complete dossier. It was Scarlet's job to compile the info. While she didn't have tabs on her cousins she was still certain she was in the lead. She slid over the folder to her aunt who read all the 'house' and 'business' names. As she read Scarlet told her, "Those are all MINE. I OWN all of them. You'll have to trace the money but it all comes back to me."
 
After a few minutes, still only a quarter of the way through the folder her Aunt looked up, "Like a spider. Brana said you were like a spider."
 
"I'll take that as a compliment."
 
"You're not very druid like."
 
"Oh that's where you're wrong. I am very druid like. Sniffles worship's magic and only magic. I'm aware that The Green has taken a shine to me. Also you can't keep yourself apart from something if you want to exert control over it. Our family has kept away from politics and at the moment we've managed to stay afloat but I've studied the documents from the time of the Great Wizard Wars where we failed and through sheer luck managed to regain a fraction of the territory, specifically keeping the area where the crossroads meet. If we were move involved, we wouldn't have lost so much."
 
"How do you manage a business and keep with nature?"
 
"By being very open minded and having many specialists at hand and keeping the broader goal in mind. Progress will progress. The movement forward will happen one way or another. It's best to make sure that when this happens your hand is on the wheel so you can steer if needed. Someone has to take the helm Aunt. I realize it's what Áskatla was trying to do."
 
"What gives you the idea you know what she was trying to accomplish?"
 
"I have her journal and the written plans. We've had to change a lot of it because the technology or magic that was known at the time has progressed... but the spirit of what she was trying to accomplish is being completed."
 
"You're just making this up...." She sounded unconvinced.
 
"Ask Sniffles to take you sideways, but they're still there. All of them... well those that haven't been eaten."
 
Looked over at her a quizzical expression on her face, "What?"
 
"I mean time moves slowly THERE. A day there is 1-1.5 years here. Combined with our magic making our bodies timeless you can live for a silly amount of time... You just have to be okay with being 'hunted' but from what I've there is a silly number of ways to keep yourself safe if you think creatively."
 
"What are you telling me?"
 
"Most of our former heads are still alive and we have made contact with a few of them. I'm assuming that's the upset that she's going to pull."
 
"Why are you telling me this? Why wasn't I informed."
 
"I'm telling you this because Sniffles asked me to. You'll be brought into the fold later and Brana will have a melt down and can't bluff to save her life. You'll need to step up since you're technically the next in line."
 
"How long have you been at this?"
 
"Oh.. probably started after the 5-8th month after my rescue."
 
"What?"
 
"I made a promise that I'd keep my sibling safe and would secure the territory. I'm making good on that promise."
 
"What happens afterwards?"
 
"Dunno. I'd be okay with dying and returning to The Green but she didn't seem to be in a hurry to collect me."
 
"I have so many questions."
 
"I'm afraid I don't have many answers."
 
After Scarlet updated her on what she knew her Aunt sat back, a pensive expression on her face.]]

Continue reading...

  1. 01. Settling in
  2. 02. Fist Fight at a fancy Ball
  3. 03. It's a Lion not a 'Cat'
  4. 04. Patron's tea and dance
  5. 05. The escort job
  6. 06. Update: Today's purchase list
  7. 07. Escort for Bella and the Loot King
  8. 08. Sirens and a chase in town
  9. 09. Got abducted again
  10. 10. Jams and Jellies
  11. 11. New Dog
  12. 12. Guards in the Trees
  13. 13. Temple Visit
  14. 14. New Pup & Outing
  15. 15. Training exercises
  16. 16. Fighting over an idol
  17. 17. Jobs galore
  18. 18. New stationary
  19. 19. A small visit
  20. 20. Slaps and shows
  21. 21. Today's meal
  22. 22. Homesick
  23. 23. Lanterns in the sky
  24. 24. Baby in the park
  25. 25. The Heist
  26. 26. Update: Guild
  27. 27. Mines and Traps
  28. 28. New clothes
  29. 29. I made Journeyer!
  30. 30. Investment shopping
  31. 31. The Pit (fights)
  32. 32. Ghosts of the past
  33. 33. Unexpected ending in a Play
  34. 34. Today's meal
    https://www.worldanvil.com/hero/journal/1aa083c5-ae1f-4624-a724-197a3f8704e3/view
  35. 35. Spies and secrets
  36. 36. Wanted: Three Hand Gang (WED)
  37. 37. Well it's official
  38. 38. Hags and stones
  39. 39. Death and visitations
  40. 40. the shell game
  41. 41. Anger and plots
  42. 42. The jobs so far
  43. 43. (Doodles)
  44. 44. Meetings and Partings
  45. 45. Double checking
  46. 46. An office Scene
    8/01/2023
  47. 47. An(other) office Scene
  48. 48. Paperwork
  49. 49. Behind the curve
  50. 50. Notes and notation
  51. 51. Cake and notes
  52. 52. Paperwork on the high seas
  53. 53. Pics and notes
  54. 54. A small talk
  55. 55. Small notes
  56. 56. The Dressmaker
  57. 57. (food)
  58. 58. Notes
  59. 59. Putting the clues together
  60. 60. Notes
  61. 61. Tea cakes (& slights)
  62. 62. Updates
  63. 63. Board Meetings during battles
  64. 64. Updates
  65. 65. Field command
  66. 66. I am okay
  67. 67. Mountains of paperwork
  68. 68. Needed Vacation
  69. 70. A note
  70. 71. An update
  71. 72. Dissapointment
  72. 73. Notes
  73. 74. Journal entry
  74. 75. Ledgers
  75. 76. Food
  76. 77. An update
  77. 78. A thought
  78. 79. Basking in Dusk's light
  79. 80. A note
  80. 81. A letter home
  81. 82. A dream/a journal entry
  82. 83. An update
  83. 84. Working long hours
  84. 85. A dream, a memory
  85. 86. A meeting
  86. 87. The ride home

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 01:40, Nov 15 2024