Chapter 24 - Quite Shortsighted

“A pleasure,” Gryphon said, tentatively shaking Daniel’s hand before wiping it on a cloth he’d retrieved from a pocket. He was a terrible actor… I mean, even Frederick wouldn’t have been fooled by him.
“Now what can I do for you Mr. De… Numound was it?”
“Numont. And I have been formally knighted by the crown, so my title would be Sir,” Gryphon corrected.
“Formally knighted just because of who his father is,” I muttered and Dartigan suppressed a laugh.
“I thought you didn’t know who the lords were.”
“No, I said I didn’t care who they were. There’s a difference,” I said, only for Willow to shush us.
We weren’t the only ones paying attention. The caravan itself had already managed to draw the majority of the hamlet out to watch by the time we’d gotten there. That said, as I swept the crowd, I thankfully didn’t see Darla or Gwendoline. If they stayed inside, that was all the better since I was operating on the idea that Gryphon only, at most, suspected she was here.
“My apologies, Sir,” Daniel said, aware of the audience that was forming. “I take it you’re one of Mr. Ward’s associates.”
“By title only I assure you,” Gryphon said, reaching into a satchel and procuring a blue-and-gold ledger that looked identical to the one Dartigan carried. “I’m here only partially as a Royal Merchant. See, my family watches over the Southern lands and have since the earliest days when my ancestor Manta De Numont lent his aid and our ancient family’s resources to Graham Dawnmere’s cause. While I may not bear the full weight of my father’s lordship, I can assure you your little town here would see prosperity beyond measure if you grant me founding rights for the local charter of the Royal Merchants.”
“Oh? Not sure why we need a whole charter, no offense. The only export we’re doing here is the Great Oak. Sure, that might expand someday, but honestly, I’ve already been dealing with Dartigan and the man’s given me no reason not to continue just working alongside him,” Daniel explained. Gryphon snorted.
“That’s quite shortsighted for someone in your position. Yes, that’s what you’re exporting for now. But unless you want this place to stay a backwater, I’d assume you’d want more industry to develop. A local charter can provide not just the opportunity for that, but additional income for the settlement it resides in through modified taxes. I’m sure you’ve seen the locked tabs in your Settlement interface, no?”
There were a few murmurs from the crowd and I saw several of the men from the crew crossing their arms.
“Seen it. Even asked Samel in Gold’s Lodge about it. Seeing as he’s got the tab unlocked and they don’t have a local charter, I’m not sure if this backwater needs one either,” Daniel said, his tone somehow controlled.
It was honestly a bit impressive, both the fact that he’d already inquired about the tab and how he hadn’t punched the man straight in his face the moment Gryphon called Danwood a backwater.
“I’m not sure you understand what I’m offering, Mr… Danwood,” Gryphon said, stumbling a bit when he read Daniel’s tooltip. There were a few light chuckles in the crowd that cut through the tension that was forming. “If you’d like to wait years, if not decades for this place to grow large enough for those benefits while you continue to sell your goods for less than they’re truly worth, be my guest. Frankly, if that’s your choice, the fellows living here should move to remove you from power and put someone more sensible in place that isn’t content with holding the place back.”
Just like that, the tension in the crowd returned, someone from the crew yelling, “nobody asked you!”
Gryphon, to his credit, didn’t react to the sudden turn of the crowd. Instead he opened his ledger, paged through it, then tapped a finger against it a few times. The crowd was continuing to get just a bit louder when Daniel lifted his hands up to calm them.
“Now, now. The nobleman has a point. Not that any of you need permission of course, but who here thinks I need to step down? Settlement vote with majority consensus, raise your hand if I should let someone else take charge?” Daniel said, addressing the audience. Gryphon looked up from his ledger, his eyes briefly going wide when he didn’t see a single hand raised.
“I mean, I’d vote him out if I could take charge, but I’m not about to give that jerk any satisfaction,” Willow muttered and I heard Dartigan chuckle off to my side.
I scanned the crowd again, then tried not to let my gut clench when I saw Gwendoline and Darla had joined the outskirts. While I wasn’t quite sure when they’d gotten there, neither looked confused at what was going on and I had to assume they knew.
“Looks like I get to keep my job, Sir,” Daniel said, staring back at the man and somehow managing to make the title sound like a curse. “Now, I entertained your rootrotted attitude because you came in with Mr. Ward and I have some respect for the man. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t even consider doing business with nor tolerating the presence of a man who doesn’t understand the values my neighbors and I stand for. But, it’s not just my decision. Settlement vote! Raise your hand if you’d like to authorize this gentleman to do what he’s requested.”
Daniel stared directly at Gryphon, not even bothering to check if hands were going up. They weren’t of course. While I had been sure I’d seen some interest in the crowd when he’d first been speaking, it was clear the repeated insults hadn’t made any of them willing to hear him out further. What was more surprising was that even the new people to town didn’t raise their hands, though whether that was because they didn’t want to or because they didn’t think they had the right to I wasn’t sure.
Gryphon, however, did look around, the surprise more than evident before he looked at Dartigan.
“Mr. Ward, you should say something to enlighten these—“ his voice cut off as his gaze fell on Gwendoline. “Sister, I heard a rumor you were in town, I’m pleased to see it is so. If you would, I’d like to submit a formal misappropriation of crown land complaint in regard to the management happening here. The raw value of the forest alone necessitates a firmer hand from the crown, don’t you agree?”
“I’m not sure I do, Sir,” Gwendoline said, looking just a bit reluctant to do so.
“What? Sister, even if we ignore that your Sanctum in Shinecliff is under the protection of my family, you’re a member of Prince Frederick’s cortège. If the tale is true and he really is the Hero of Legend, we must do everything we can to bolster the crown for the upcoming battles,” Gryphon argued. Dartigan finally took a few steps forward.
“Gryphon, you need to learn when to accept no. The Sister is trying to be polite, you can’t expect a Sister of Dawn to weigh in on local politics, especially not the Royal Dawnmother,” he said. Gryphon didn’t seem pleased and I tried my best not to take joy in that. I failed… but I did try.
Gwendoline looked uncomfortable.
“Accepting no is the sign of a bad merchant, Mr. Ward,” Gryphon spat, then looked back at Gwendoline. “Sis- er… Royal Dawnmother… Why are you here if not to ensure the crown’s resources are being properly seen too? If you won’t hear me out, perhaps I could speak directly with Prince Frederick. Should you not be with him when the end of all could be upon us?”
“My Lord Prince is currently in the northern countryside and is the reason I’m here. If you wish to seek him out, Sir, I unfortunately cannot currently point you in the right direction,” Gwendoline replied, a clear diplomatic facade in place. “As for my business. Well, if you must know, I came this way in search of the last of our fated companions at my Lord Prince’s request. It was then that my services as a Sister were called upon. I was a Sister long before I became the Royal Dawnmother and with my Lord Prince’s permission, I’ve thankfully been given leave to handle my duties as a Sister of Dawn as I see fit.”
I felt myself become tense, a murmur passing through the crowd. I was sure some people already knew why Gwendoline had traveled this way, but with nearly everyone in town gathered here–aside from my workers and Bram–there was no one who wouldn’t know now. Gryphon was still not backing down and I started to feel my nerves getting shot.
He said it himself. He wouldn’t take no for an answer… That was… problematic.
“Is the search for the last companion not more important than whatever Sisterly duties you might have? Do you have reason to suspect that person is here?” Gryphon pushed.
Gwendoline’s gaze shifted. It was brief. Impossibly so in fact. But I saw it happen because her eyes met mine for all of a second before returning to Gryphon. Unfortunately for me, for as idiotic as the man was… he was still observant enough to have seen. He didn’t look directly at me, but I saw the slight shift as his head briefly turned my way.
“I did initially suspect that to be the case… but it would seem that my search here has come up fruitless. This is just a kind, welcoming community. It could perhaps use a Sanctum, but growth for the sake of growth isn’t the answer everyone is searching for, Sir,” she said and Gryphon’s lips turned up just slightly.
“I see,” he said, straightening up and brushing down the ruffled shirt he wore. “I suppose I’ll just have to bring this forward as I see fit then. Good day, Sister.”
Gryphon turned and marched off up the street. I stared after him for just a moment, the feeling in my stomach making me more nauseous than I’d been in a long time. Dartigan let out a laugh that broke through the tension a bit before the murmurs all started to turn into discussion over what had just happened. I looked over at Daniel, his brow pinched and a prominent frown. While I might have otherwise found comradery with him over the discomfort that Gryphon had brought us, I was positive we had very different reasons for it.
A few villagers swarmed the sister, words of thanks and a few actual requests for her to actually consider opening a Sanctum. While that thought might have bothered me, I couldn’t help but find myself looking back toward where Gryphon had parked the second wagon when they’d arrived.
“He’s not going to let this go, is he?” I asked no one in particular, though I knew Dartigan was still there.
“No, probably not. Kid’s got a chip on his shoulder as long as Dusk’s Chasm about his brother’s successes so far. I wish I could have just left him back in Graham’s Rest, but when a Noble Merchant is added to the ranks, you don’t get a choice if you’re chosen as their mentor or not and ‘leaving them in the capital to play with the other nobles’ doesn’t quite work as a valid mentoring technique.”
“Great… I’m going to go make sure he doesn’t ride off with the rest of my stuff,” I said.
While I might have actually gone to check in on Daniel to make sure he knew the man’s attempts were more than likely dead in the water, I couldn’t get rid of this feeling that Gryphon had dropped all of his pushing just a bit quicker than I expected. He saw the look Gwendoline gave me and whether he believed her partial denial or not didn’t matter.
The simple fact that maybe one of the companions was here was enough for a maggot like him. I took off up the road, not quite running but certainly walking like I had somewhere to be. I was both surprised and relieved when I didn’t hear anyone following after me. When I arrived at the worksite, Bram stuck his head up looking just a bit confused.
“Uh, hey Corbin, that one guy with the frilly clothes just went marching up toward your cabin. Sorry, he kinda asked which one was yours and I thought he was going to drop something off but he didn’t look like he was carrying anything.”
My head snapped over, trying to find the man and coming up empty. Had he… had he gone inside? The worry in my stomach shifted and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Thanks… if you want, you and the guys can call it for the day… There’s some stuff going on in town you might want to go catch up on,” I said, choosing my words carefully. I needed to make sure there was no one around. My mind was racing as I went through the ingredients I had available in my inventory, wondering what I could use to… to…
To what?
I was already marching in a straight line toward my front door when I’d stopped in my tracks. What was I going to do if I found him in there? The invasion of my space was enough that I should eliminate the gnat just to prove a point, but…
I shook the thought away. Baby steps. I needed to see if he was there or if Bram had just seen him walk around the house. Once I knew what he was after… then I’d decide how to handle it.
Instead of lingering or sending myself spiraling trying to plan for a million different possibilities, I resumed my march and quickly made it to my cabin door.
“Ah, I wondered how long it would take you to come here,” Gryphon said, stepping out from the spare room that I didn’t have locked up. I had left a few things in it though, and he was carrying an ornate frame that I’d left on my planning desk. “Never met someone who didn’t lock their front door but did lock their bedroom. Is there something you’re hiding in there?”
My fists clenched and I had to resist every single urge that suddenly rushed to the surface. I gnashed my teeth together, mentally counted to three, then did my best to control myself.
“You’ve got five seconds to get out of my house,” I growled.
“If that’s what you wish. I’ll just go on and let Prince Frederick know where his missing companion has been hiding. I’m sure the man would reward me immensely for the tip,” he said, watching me for a reaction.
“Four seconds.”
“Come now Corbin, you’re a reasonable man.”
“No. I’m not. I’d start moving if I were you.”
Gryphon smiled, then placed the frame down on the table in my main room before he slowly started to walk toward the door, purposefully meandering.
“I’ll be in Gold’s Lodge for a few days while Dartigan finishes his business. I refuse to stay in this dump any longer than necessary. If you come to your senses, you can find me there,” Gryphon offered, stopping and looking back at me. “You clearly have some influence over these plebians, if you help me, then I’ll ensure your secret stays safe.”
“You don’t know what you think you know,” I said through my teeth, trying to will the man to accept it. He clearly didn’t.
“And yet I know more than you want. That’s something,” he smiled again, then turned and opened the door. “Three days, Corbin. If I don’t hear from you by then… Well, then I believe Prince Frederick may need to pay Danwood a visit.”