Broker -CH15-

“Alex?” came a softly whispered voice.

Grumbling, he turned his head in the other direction, shifting deeply into his blankets.

“Alex… we should probably start the day,” came the whispering voice again.

“No,” he complained.

“The sun will be up shortly. You said you were expecting guests today?” Anna said, pressing her lips to the inside of his ear.

“Unnngh. I’m the Count, why do I have to get up before the sun.”

“Because you’re the Count,” Anna immediately replied.

Sighing, he opened his eyes to the gloom of his bedroom and turned his head.

Anna was curled up against his side, naked, and smiling at him.

Last night had been awkward, painful, and altogether a strange experience.

Anna wasn’t one to hold back with what her thoughts and feelings were, and apparently losing her virginity was not something she’d expected to be as painful as it was for her.

At least she seems as chipper as ever. Even if it was a bit of a fiasco.

“Good morning, my husband,” Anna said, her fingers patting his bare chest. “I look forward to trying again tonight. Mummy said the second time is better. Daddy didn’t want to talk about it.”

I imagine not. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to talk to my daughter about her losing her virginity and if it’d be painful or not the second time.

My apologies, Master Ulles. Thank you for dealing with her for so long.

“Yes, we should be receiving a guest today,” he said, ignoring her comment entirely. “Her name is Sylvia Griffon. She’s landed peerage at best. A step away from commoner status. I imagine she’s been doing some dirty dealings in the background to try and increase her stature.”

Anna nodded slowly, her eyes round and wide as if he were telling her a horror story.

“She was caught, and here we are. I’ll be trying her privately.”

“Are you going to turn her into a conquest?”

“I think so. We’ll see. I could use her.”

“Mm,” Anna said, then puffed her cheeks out at him. “I’ll sneak in when you’re away and talk to her. People tell me lots of things. I know I’m not… not smart, but I’m not stupid.”

Her voice had taken on a lower tone as she spoke. The first real deviation he’d ever seen in her.

I wonder about that… and how self aware she is.

“I think you’re just perfect the way you are… wife,” Alex said, poking her between the eyes with his index finger. “And yes, please try to get what you can out of her. I think it’d be helpful. Now, you said we should start the day.

“Any plans?”

Anna gave him a bright smile, her demeanor switching right back to how it always was.

“I’m going to take Holly and meet everyone we can in the keep, and learn our new home. If possible, I want to head into town and buy some things as well.”

“Got it. Well, be sure to take Walter or one of his people with you so he can draw from my own account. I mean, what you’re buying are things we’d be sharing, right? Only spend your dowry on things that are specific to yourself.”

Anna’s face looked as if she couldn’t smile any wider now. Then she chirped and pressed her face into his chest, as if hiding from him.

Unable to help himself, he smiled at her and patted her shoulders.

Looking up from his new wife, he saw a large, multi faceted, crystal in the corner. It was a massive pillar of a thing that stretched from floor to ceiling.

It was tucked into a corner and mostly out of the way.

What the…?

A soul crystal.

Constructed and fashioned by Leah, this pillar is meant to collect excess power and deals generated by Alex Brit.

The maximum capacity of the vessel is twelve units of generated power.

It is visible only to Alex Brit and Anna Brit.

The entire thing was as clear as glass. He wondered how much it’d take to fill it.

That and what would happen if a maid tried to clean that area.

“Anna, do you see that big crystal thing in the corner?”

Lifting her head from his chest, Anna shifted to one side. She took a moment to view the room, and Alex took a moment to view her naked self. Anna finally saw the crystal after she scanned the whole room.

“That thing? Yes, I see it. What is it? It wasn’t there last night.”

“Remember when you said to hold onto contracts until the next month? Your comment gave me an idea and I pitched it to Leah.

“She agreed, and then apparently provided me with that. Its supposed to hold up to twelve months worth of power.”

Anna nodded her head, then molded herself back into Alex’s side.

“Thank you, Leah,” Anna said, pressing her face back into his chest. “For everything.”

***

Alex smiled and bowed his head to Sylvia as she entered the dungeon “lobby” area.

“I’m glad you returned, Sylvia,” Alex said.

It was still early morning. Just after breakfast was served. Holly and Anna had set out immediately, Rudolph becoming their personal guard captain.

“Of course,” Sylvia said with a grimace. Reaching into the bag at her side, she sighed, pulled out a packet of papers, and handed it over to him. “Per our agreement. One of my people foolishly brought this to me practically as I arrived.

“I do hope your mercy is generous for one such as myself.”

Taking the paperwork in hand, Alex looked at the top page.

Then he snorted.

It was all black book, as it were, he guessed. When the top page was a list of payouts, to whom, and why, he could only imagine the entire thing was that way.

And since she acted the way she did, these were probably all illegal payouts.

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement, Sylvia. Come, let’s take this to your room,” Alex said, gesturing to the dungeon door.

“Ah… could we…?” Sylvia paused, looking around at the guards around her.

She wants to make a deal already? Huh.

Stick to the power play.

“I’ll be happy to sit, catch up, and talk about where we go from here. Let’s return to your room for now. Have you eaten?”

Sylvia shook her head, her face pinched and her mouth a frown.

“Douglas, bring breakfast for the lady? Come, come. Let’s be on our way,” Alex said, moving to the door and opening it for her.

Sylvia walked in with her chin up, her face clearing quickly.

Regardless of anything else, she was still of the peerage, and seemed to believe in the idea that her station was unassailable, even if guilty of crime.

They entered her cell, went to her table, and both sat down.

Setting the packet down on the table to one side, Alex laid his hand on it.

“I take it this will be more then enough to… find you guilty beyond a doubt?” Alex asked.

Sylvia sighed, and looked up to the ceiling, as if for guidance.

“And then some. I had the servant flogged to death and their body dumped. For all the good it did me,” she said, shaking her head. “To be perfectly honest, there’s more than enough in there to have me stripped of my lands, wealth, and what little title my family holds.”

“Ah… and if you had to guess, how long would it take for me to sort through this and track it all down?”

Alex didn’t like the idea of doing that. He could play the game and go through with it, but this seemed like a whole lot of ferreting people and secrets out.

“Years… if not longer,” Sylvia admitted. “That’s enough to get you started though, and then it’d just come down to how long it took you to unravel it.

“And due to the oath I swore, I cannot stop any of it. You really pinned me in with that one, Alex. I had no idea it would be as bad as it was.”

Nodding his head, Alex could only agree. He personally never would have sworn it. It would be too hard to not get involved.

“I think this is a much longer conversation then I want to have at this time. Let’s assume for the time being that you’ll be my guest for a… long while,” Alex said.

A solid knock on the door got his attention. Turning to Sylvia, he smiled and held out a hand.

She smiled sadly and shook her head.

“Enter,” she called out, turning toward the door.

A guard with a breakfast tray slipped inside. Carla came in right behind him.

Smiling at his personal guard, he wondered how long she’d slept in her private room.

He’d only tried to wake her marginally, and simply went about his day instead.

“Sir, I have your morning letters. They arrived by courier,” said the guard, setting down the tray in front of Sylvia. Turning to Alex, he held out several sealed letters to him.

“Thank you,” Alex and Sylvia said at the same time.

Carla moved to the corner of the cell, her right hand resting on a short sword at her hip.

“Sylvia, this is Two. Two, this is Sylvia. Two is my personal guardian. Sylvia is our guest for the interminable future,” Alex said by way of introduction. Taking the sealed letters one by one, he flipped through them.

Carla grunted at that, staring at the woman.

Sylvia seemed perturbed when Carla didn’t leave with the guard.

“My lord… is she…?” Sylvia asked, indicating Carla.

“She’s literally my personal guardian. I trust her with my life, and have done so already,” Alex said, setting the letters down in his lap.

The king, a duke I haven’t met, and Holly’s father. Great.

“Now, before I leave you to your meal, it seemed as if you wanted to discuss something,” Alex said, smiling at her.

“I was…” Sylvia paused to look at Carla.

“Ah, discussing anything in front of her won’t be a betrayal. Suffice it to say, Two is sworn to my service,” Alex assured her.

Sylvia nodded at that, her fingernails, now brightly polished and well manicured again, tapped at her tray.

“I realize that this won’t be over anytime soon. I was hopping to get better accommodations. Perhaps even the ability to meet with others, and perhaps enjoy the sun on occasion?”

“That could certainly be worked out. Let’s start with the first piece then. A better room.

“I do have a number of personal rooms set aside in the keep proper for guests. Would that be acceptable?”

Sylvia pursed her lips and then nodded, her eyes moving to his own. “Yes.”

“Great. Now, seeing others. Are you talking about household members, servants, or just friends?”

“All of the above… I worry for my house while I’m here. Until you take it from me, its still mine,” Sylvia said.

“A fair point. And lastly, the sun. I take it you mean, go on walks inside the keep?

“Perhaps a trip down to the city every now and then?”

Sylvia nodded her head again. Her eyes were wary, her mouth flat, her hands clenched in her lap now.

She realizes that those are all rather higher cost items.

How do we go about this…

“Certainly. The room first, since that’s the easiest. I can provide the room, it comes with a tub, a lovely bed, and all the normal things you’d probably find in my own room.

“With that said, the price for such a thing would not be cheap,” Alex said, contemplating the situation. Reaching over he tapped the mass of papers she’d brought him. “I want you to tell me everything in this, or that you know of, that has the potential to harm me, or my county.

“By harm, I mean, to cause financial loss of a measurable quality, death or dismemberment, or threat to my rule. Even if it exposes yourself, or shows your guilt in part to the matter. In return, I offer the room, and exoneration for anything you point out.”

Sylvia rocked back in her seat at that, her mouth opening, then closing.

“In other words… you’d have me become an informant.”

“Not in so many words, but yes. Though I’ll add another piece to my side of the deal if it helps. I’ll never betray you as the provider of the information, in any way shape or form. I’ll devise a way to come across the information naturally, without your involvement.”

Sylvia looked to the rough wooden bench they were sitting on. She scratched at it with a nail. “What would ‘measurable quality’ be? That’s rather vague.”

“More than a thousand gold pieces I think is a fair line to draw.”

Sighing, Sylvia stood up and clapped her hands together.

“Then I agree, and do so swear. Please… please take me to my new room. I don’t want to spend another minute in here.”

“Of course, Sylvia,” Alex said with a smile, and stood up as well. “Of course. I accept your oath, and swear in return. We’ll discuss your desire to go on walks, another day.

“For receiving guests, how about we simply keep to our previous agreement. You have to actively work to better me, my image, and my county, when you can, as you’re able.”

Sylvia gave him a strange smile at that, sighed, then nodded her head.

“I can agree to that, and swear that to my oath.”

“Grand, let’s go see your room.”

***

Closing the door behind him, Alex looked down the hall.

Douglas’ people had taken up guard duties in this wing of the keep after Sylvia was moved up an hour ago.

This was now as secure as the dungeon.

Sylvia had settled in quickly, and after showing her the room, she seemed quite pleased with it.

“Not gonna try to bang her?” Carla asked, standing at his side.

“Eh… not yet. Down the road, yes. I don’t think she’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. I get the impression she’s practically a crime lord in her circle. We’ll pump her for everything she’s worth first.”

“Then you’ll pump her,” Carla said, grinning.

“Suppose so. Why do you delight in that, by the way? You seem to take pleasure out of me using other women in the way I use you,” Alex said, then turned to walk down the hall to his own room.

“Because they’re nobles. Watching them squirm, then get put into your bed, warms my heart. Scum the lot of them.”

Alex quirked a brow at that, glancing over at her.

“I take it my peers aren’t your favorite?”

“I’ve killed a few. They scream and offer all sorts of promises. We let one go once on a promise,” she said, then growled. “Worst thing we ever did. The gods don’t give us commoners the time of day. Oaths don’t exist for us unless a ‘noble’ gets it moving.”

“Indeed. Curious about that. Regardless, don’t fret. It brought you here into my service,” Alex said, reaching over to lay a hand on Carla’s back. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Did you sleep well by the way?”

“Yes, Master. I did. The bed was very comfortable. I’m… sorry… about sleeping in,” she said, her face turning red. Either with anger or shame he couldn’t tell.

“Don’t worry about it. You did extremely well for me in the capital, some allowances can be made,” he said, patting her on the back, but not removing his hand.

Slowly, he drew her closer to his side as they walked.

“Stop it,” she grumbled, but didn’t pull away.

“Stop what?”

“That. Your hand.”

“You stop it. You could move away. You’re not under oath to let me touch you right now.”

“Ass.”

“You want me to touch your ass?”

“No! Gods you’re awful,” Carla said, then swatted his hand away.

Smiling to himself, Alex pulled the letter from the king out of his doublet. Tapping it against his palm he walked into his personal room, the guard holding the door open for him.

Looking around as he entered, he found it empty.

“Go check and see if my wives are in, Two?” Alex asked, moving over to his desk.

“They’re not,” she said, not bothering to look. “I saw Rudolph and company in the center of the keep. I think Mistress Anna is sorting through her loot.”

Rolling his eyes, Alex didn’t care.

Slitting the envelope open, he pulled out the letter and read it over quickly.

Shit.

“Apparently,” Alex said, setting the letter down. “The king has decided as my family no longer holds a ducal title, that as a count, I should not report directly to him. My vassalage has been transfered to Duke Tanulf.”

On a hunch he pulled out the other letter he’d gotten. He already forgot the name on it, but he was betting it was duke Tanulf.

Pulling out both letters, he set Holly’s father to one side, and looked to the other.

Duke Tanulf.

Pushing the letter opener through the top, he opened it, and pulled out the paper inside.

Sighing, he dropped that atop the letter from the king.

“Duke Tanulf is coming to visit in the next day, give or take a few hours. Sooner if he’s coming from the capital.

“To receive my vassalage in person, no less,” Alex lamented. Then he chuckled to himself. “Care to bet he has an unwed daughter about my age?”

Carla wrinkled her nose and then shook her head.

“The games you nobles play are stupid,” she said.

“I couldn’t agree more. But it is what it is. I suppose it could be worse. The duke can’t rescind my Count status, nor can he take it from me. I’ll owe him the same taxes that were due to the king. Not much will change, except who tells me what to do, I suppose.”

Carla shrugged her shoulders at that.

“Well, so be it. Walter will probably be here in thirty minutes or so, I can tell him all about it then.

“In the meantime, I believe I offered to teach you your letters. Would you care to begin now?” Alex asked, looking to Carla.

“Really?”

“Yeah. We have a little time. We can at least start with the basics.”

“Then yeah. Let’s do that.”