Page 49 of Unrivaled
“Oh.”I sipped the cold tisane Isolde brought in, tasting the rosemary that had steeped overlong.“I’m just tired, Luca.It isn’t about you.”I’m sorry, too.I refused to let it pass my lips.I couldn’t tell if Iwassorry or if I should be.I hated that I was suddenly so aware of Chay lurking over to the side, the way he’d stroked my cheek and looked at me like I was the sun in the sky.My heart feeling like a tenderized slab of meat, I pulled my attention back to Luca.“You think it might work?”
“No.I know it will work.”He picked up one of my scribbled-over drafts and started jotting a list, unaware of how raw I felt.Classic Luca.“This is the order I want you to reach out to people.You need to secure some well-known names as soon as you can.Consider offering them a discount on taxes for trading done within the twelve-day window.”
I didn’t even know all the rates we taxed people whilst they were on our soil.It was another gaping void in my knowledge to make me feel simultaneously inadequate and out of my depth.But I didn’t dare admit that to him.I didn’t want to be the puppy again.
“People will tell you that you’re losing money.Ignore them.I’ve myself waited to sign a few provinces over where the rates are only seven percent—and rarely collected.Consider how you can incentivize people to arrive promptly for the first day, but don’t make them rush.Also, consider selling wares in person and signing an ongoing contract as two different things.Youwantpeople to haul barrels of mead and fine beads, right?So, make it worth their while.There’s a lot of money in spices, but Azashi has the trade locked down tight.Don’t try to swim in those waters—there’s sharks and sirens both.”
I glanced at his list.At the top was whitesmithing.“You think there’s money to be had in jewelry?”It was an extravagance many couldn’t afford.Fashionable clothes could be justified when the old ones wore out, at least.Clothes were required, after all.Necklaces, rings, and bracelets were not.
“I know there is.”He kept on jotting.“While your father’s pillaging the South for silver, and our copper mines feed the mages’ clockwork machines, gold is considered a luxury of the nobility.The thing is, it never spoils and isn’t likely to wear out.Convince people it’s a worthwhile investment.Make metals accessible in small amounts: belt knives and lockets and the like.You don’t need to sell a lot of it to make a lot off it, and if you’re thinking balls…”
“People dress up for balls, I suppose.”I was going to have to.I hated it.“Do you know any whitesmiths?”
“I do.”He held up a finger.“Let me finish first.”
I skimmed down his list.Most of it made sense, though he’d left off a few things I would’ve expected to see.
“Locals will complain,” he promised.“Give them the rest days in the market to show off their wares.Other than that, same as anyone else.Don’t let the travelling traders use your market square unless they’re regular.Specialty market or nothing.”
I shook my head.I hadn’t even started to wonder about that.Before I could start unpacking the next row of his logic, I heard Chay jangling over.I tracked his progress by sound alone, as I’d done so many times.
“How’s Kadan, Luca?”he asked, proving his thoughts hadnothingto do with me in a way that cut me to the quick.
Still, I couldn’t help but glance up, knowing how Chay loved Kadan.But there was nothing I could read from his face.His eyes were on Luca’s hands.
For a moment, Luca paused in the writing, glancing up at Chay.“He’s alive.”
“His foot?”
Luca paused again.“He’s alive,” he repeated.
“Can he walk?”Chay pressed.
I picked up my drink, fighting with the spurt of envy I felt for the man who Chay had always loved.
Would always love.
Instead, I leant into the empathy that I knew would only hurt me.Because, in Chay’s position, I liked to think I’d focus on Isolde and not whoever had recently been through my bed.I followed Chay’s gaze to Luca, waiting for my old friend’s response.
“Sort of.”
“Can he ride?”
“Yes.”
Chay nodded, shifting a little.“They called midnight some time ago, friend.”
I glanced out the window and found the city was plunged into total darkness.“I know.”Luca turned back to his writing.“I just need to finish here.”
“You got somewhere to stay?”Chay asked him.
Luca shot him an irritated look.“Of course.”
“I’ll take you, then, when I’ve finished this.”He held up his cup.
“He can stay,” I protested.“Until we’re ready to call it an evening.”
“It’ll be morning if it’s much longer,” Chay told me.There was a cool edge of reproach to the words I resented.Unease crawled under my skin and I breathed into it.
