Page 151 of The Forsaken Heir
“Delphine! I thought you were still asleep. You scared me.”
She shrugged and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “You two were the ones who surprised me. I was sleeping really well. Then there was all this chatter outside.”
Aurelius smiled and backed away down the hall.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you,” I said, waving at him like a moron.
He winked, then vanished around the corner a moment later.
34
AURELIUS
I’d been right about Titus wanting to talk. Except, instead of more panicked discussions about death and destruction, he’d pulled me into a strategy and finance meeting. It was a welcome change of pace and kept my mind off other, more unpleasant things.
“Lord Septimius,” Titus addressed one of the nobles. “Our military movements would benefit from simply flying our forces to and fro, the issue is the humans. As the Lady Brielle pointed out, we cannot have entire flocks of dragons coursing through the sky. You own several manufacturing facilities that specialize in vehicle construction. How soon could you provide us with transport?”
I sighed inwardly as Septimus’s eyes widened. He obviously hadn’t thought this would be asked of him.
Septimius leaned forward, interlacing his fingers. “Well, my facilities are typically used to manufacture heavy-duty equipment. Bulldozers, backhoes, tractors. Things of that nature. It’s one of the few non-magical revenue streams myfamily has. I’m not sure we could actually transition to building vans or trucks fast enough.”
Titus gave a noncommittal grunt. “This is what I was afraid of. None of the industries we have our hands in can easily be shifted to military function.”
“You’re right,” I said. “We’ve spent the last hundred-and-fifty years leveraging the magic we have toward health and wellness and other pointless things—anti-aging creams, joint-rejuvenating supplements, attraction perfumes and colognes. Even saying it now, it’s hard not to realize how trite and silly it all is.”
“Butextremelyfinancially lucrative,” one of the other nobles noted.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” I admitted. “The issue is, we’ve all taken that money and invested it. How much cash do we have on hand if we needed to buy supplies from human industries?” I asked, glancing at Titus.
Titus winced and swiped over the screen of the tablet in front of him. “Cash reserves are at around two million US dollars. Stock options and real estate hover at nearly a billion, though.”
“That’s a problem,” I said. “We need an influx of cash. We can’t sell off the stock and real estate without setting off alarm bells with the IRS or SEC. Thelastfucking thing I need is to be fighting a war on one side and talking to lawyers on the other. What about that new arthritis cream we’ve developed?”
“Dragon Balm? It’s passed the FDA process.” Titus grimaced. “We did have to greasea few palms to get them to overlook theanomaliesin the ingredients, but as far as humans are concerned, those are harmless and superfluous minerals. Theycan’t evenseemagic, much less look for it. It’s set to be released next month.”
“Did we really name this stuff Dragon Balm?” I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Couldn’t we have found something with a little less conspicuous branding?”
“The nobles liked it, so did the focus groups,” Titus said.
“Whatever. Release it now. We’ve probably got warehouses full of it. Get it sent out this afternoon. Have we got any marketing ready for it? Commercials? Online ads? Stuff like that?”
“Uh, yes,” Titus mumbled, checking his tablet again. “We do. They’re set to begin running this holiday season. We have a big commercial already lined up for the Super Bowl. It’s already been filmed. We got the actor from?—”
“Release all the ads now. Today, if you can swing it. Tomorrow at the latest. Flood the market. Also, drop the price by ten percent.”
“Drop the price?” Titus gaped at me. “But, Your Highness, that’s going to be a major hit to revenue.”
“Doesn’t matter, Titus. I don’t need half a billion dollars over five years. I need a few millionnow. This stuff will be expensive enough as it is. Plus, all the damn ingredients are pointless and dirt cheap to begin with. The main active ingredient in magic. We’ll make plenty of money. I want people buying it, and if it’s cheap enough, we’ll get even more people trying it.
“Instead of having the profits transferred to high yield accounts as usual, I want it all stockpiled in cash. We’re building a war chest here.” I glanced at Septimus again. “With enough money, can you get us the equipment we need? If not through your holdings, then through contacts?”
He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I think I can.”
“Good man,” I said. “What else do we have to discuss?”
“Umm, a few things,” Titus admitted.
