Striking a Deal (Henri/Kable)

[Deleted]

The caravan would file in, at some point. He'd had the table set for the maximum seats possible, and would fill the spaces with his own staff if need be. Of course, he'd had them all shower. Leon was resting the infirmary, though they had few enough doctors to do anything for him. As he slept, he healed.

Jean Corday would sit at the head of the table, as always, and Henri at the spot nearest the head on Jean's right side. The spot opposite Henri would be reserved for Kable, their guest of honor. Opposite Jean, down the long long length of the table at its foot, would be Mariliene, the craftswoman Henri had recruited from the competition on the 4th. She would--Henri hoped--entertain the other caravaners. She could talk to them easier, since she was of lower birth. He expected her to do quite a bit of talking, especially to Cera and the armorer, who he'd forgotten to get the name of.

By sundown, the table was set and the candles were lit. Jean looked anxiously about, as if he'd forgotten for a moment where he was. He opened his mouth, white beard seeming to tremble a bit above his food. At first, Henri was worried. But sense came out of the old man's mouth. "Where is this Kable fellow?" He squinted at the door, the entrance to the hall which lay behind Mariliene. The servants stood at the edges of the hall.

Faint string music could be heard above the crackling of lampflame. The court musicians were warming up in the forechamber.

"Any minute now," Henri said. He knew there was some sort of pleasure held by the late party in negotiations--the assumption that the person waiting was the lesser. While his father's uneasiness seemed to exemplify the truth in that statement, Henri felt cal and focused--as if waiting in the wings before the show began.

[Azuloth]

Kable had twelve people on his payroll including himself. They had dressed up as much as possible. The Skaldi stayed outside. It would no do in polite cruinthian company to include skaldi "slaves" at a dinner table with a duke and his house. Kable and his people had never been invited to a place such as this, or a dinner such as this. The five skaldi were left with the caravan to protect it. They weren't upset about the situation. Rarely did they have time alone to do their own thing.

Kable could sense there was an ulterior motive behind the dinner.

Kable sat across from Henri. Kaera Rathenfyre sat next to him, then Doran Martelli, Cera Kingsworth, Aegis Lasland, Baila Gransmine, and lastly Garth Iternat. The seven of them looked like they belonged to a lower noble family. Leather or cloth doublets, cotton dresses for the ladies. Colors that commoners wouldn't be wearing, red, blue, green.

"Thank you for having us." --Kable

[Deleted]

"Ah, Kable." Henri stood and inclined his head respectfully as the caravan filed in. He wouldn't patronize them with a deep, flourishing bow. Mariliene quietly moved across the table as she noticed the other well-dressed caravan members sitting right next to the caravan boss. Smart, Henri thought. She sat opposite a small table decoration from the last man to file in, Garth Iternat. A few of Jean's advisors filled the space between Henri and his head craftswoman, and some of the housekeepers took the other end.

They sat right next to Kable. Which meant he'd have to address them all at once. It didn't exactly change much, as they were all meant to be part of the deal; however, it did change the feel of the thing. They all had more options than Henri and Kable. He'd give them a measure of freedom from their "boss," but it looked damn well like they were right up there with him.

They were dressed well, almost like some of the nobles he'd danced with in recent memory. He was glad the advisors had enough to dress well, too, or he might have embarrassed himself. He was, of course, dressed in one of his better suits. A possible faux pas, however: Mariliene was still dressed in her typical outfit--not a ladylike dress, but riding leathers you might expect to see on a man. His father was, though dressed in more extravagant clothes than anyone else, completely silent and unemotive. His gray hair clung to his head like barnacles on an old ship.

The guests were all in their proper places. At a butler's command, it all rolled into motion. The strings began playing some pleasant prelude in a forechamber two rooms away. It echoed just right trough the vent-holes, filling the hall with a rhythmic melody. Other servants carried salad bowls and placed them in front of each guest as they were seated.

Henri smiled and remained standing. "As you might've guessed, I invited you in to propose a trade deal. But please, save that for after the salad. For now--may I make the pleasure of your acquaintances?" He would do the honor of beginning. "I am Henri Corday, son of the Duke Jean Corday." He gestured to his right, an open palm facing in. "The five men to my right are all advisors to my father, and the one on the end is my incredible new head-craftswoman by the name of Mariliene DuPasca. I invite you all to get to know each other while we dig into food, and before we dig into business." He sat down, and waited either for Jean to start eating his salad or for the guests to make their own introductions. If his father was tense enough, he'd betray etiquette for a cherry tomato.

[Azuloth]

"We'll see about the terms then. These are my people. Kaera Rathenfyre is my merchandise broker. Doran Martelli here is my weapons merchant. Cera Kingsworth is my supplies merchant, Aegis Lasland here is one of my caravan security members, Baila Gransmine is my Armor Merchant, and Garth Iternat is also a caravan security member."

Kable introduced each of his people. That one stood when their name was mentioned, and bowed or curtsied. But not in an overly flourished way. As salad was offered and ready to be had, everyone of course would begin eating when they were told they could. Salad was salad. Most people ate it for their health. Baila seemed to enjoy it though. Either she hadn't eaten in days, or salad was her thing. Kable barely touched his. He ate enough that it appeared like he made an attempt, so as to not appear rude.

"So how are things here in Corday?"

[Deleted]

He inclined his head as each person in turn stood. "Pleased to meet you. All of you." Jean waited respectfully, but started eating immediately after Garth sat down. 

Security members? How interesting. Henri would have to look into that. He hadn't really thought about... security that much.

You think some barbaric person would just do that? Attack people who were minding their own business? His thoughts suddenly turned to a dark place. If such great merchants as Kable's crew were under threat, perhaps they'd need a security budget... Perhaps Corday Duchy needs a security budget.

The sooner Mariliene can start building fortification, the better.

It was a damn good salad. Baila knew what was up. Henri grinned. "Glad you asked. Things are going quite well, on one end--" he shrugged, "And not so well on the other. We've been blessed with good fortune and land, but little in the way of trade. Most traders either stay in the cities along the Fordeth-Helkorth road, or along the Navarre Wall. They're... sedentary." He lifted a fork full of greens to his mouth. "You're different. You're better."

Henri chewed his salad, and waited for Kable to respond. Mariliene had already finished her salad, and was restlessly waiting for the next portion of the meal to arrive. Jean was still on his first few bites. The advisors were eating at a measured pace, trying to match those across the table from them.

The sound of a cello wafted through the air... As did the smell of the glazed pork roast nearing mouthwatering golden-brown perfection in the kitchens.

[Azuloth]

"You're too kind. Plenty of people view my caravan as nothing more than a traveling parasite. I suck out the trade and materials out of an area and move on to somewhere else. It's true in a way. Once I leave a territory the coin that was traded there as part of its economy is gone. If say..."

Kable thought for a moment between bites. The music was there as background noise to his thoughts. Not particularly present at all, just something that filled the white space.

"Innorsford for example. Let's say for example has all of thirty Ritz in the whole town. Possible, no? A town with that low a population. What are they Kaera?"

"About four hundred."

"Yes, so thirty ritz in the whole town. Traded back and forth between the locals. No one really gets ahead of someone else in a town like that because of the sheer dearth of resources. Not enough food, not enough materials, not enough of this or that. I come in, sell a few items, leave a few days later, and then poof. They're down to twenty eight ritz. Some towns just don't like traveling merchants. It's refreshing to hear someone praise our business model."

Kable was done with the salad now. As were half of his people. Baila knew what was up. She had been done a while ago.

[Deleted]

Henri smiled inwardly, though his mouth was actually busy eating salad. He'd gotten the man talking. "But that's just the thing. What if you bought more of their goods than you sold?" He wiped his mouth, his salad more than halfway done. "Why just, imagine what that could do for them... Imagine what it could do for you." As soon as he set his napkin down, the servants sprang to take away the salad bowls. "Those people are industrious. They make things. But they can't sell them, Not within those isolated communities. But you can sell them, elsewhere, to those willing to pay..." He grinned. "For exotic imports." The sarcasm was palpable.

So was the smell of pork in the air. Seconds later, the steaming roast had made its way onto the table in front of Mariliene, who took a small piece and passed it down. "Now, I've written up..." Henri drew out a scroll of paper which had rested beneath his seat, "A contract. You can bank, so I trust you can read. It lays out some nice details." He passed the scroll to Jean, who held it for a moment.

The patron's eyes were weary. They looked at Kable with suspicion. "You know," the old man said. He took phlegmy breaths between each group of syllables. "He took a damn long time... to convince me... that you... were worth my money." He leaned in and squinted. "You better not fuck it up." With that, he handed the scroll to the Caravan boss. His hands were shaking.

"I..." Henri stuttered out a laugh, half-embarrassed. "It didn't take that long. Please, take a look. But a few logistical things didn't make it on the page. Security... the question of who talks to the vendors..." He trailed off.

An advisor slid the enormous platter to Henri. He cut a slice for himself, a smaller one for Jean (who couldn't cut anymore), and a larger one for Voss (whose hands would be busy with the scroll). He pushed it the other way, so it lay in front of Kaera.

[Azuloth]

Kable took the scroll from Jean unfurled it and glossed it over quickly. It wasn't too elaborate. Good, that made it easier to execute, and easier to get out of if the need arose. There were a couple of things that needed to be hammered out clearly, but he would leave that to his expert for that. Kaera Rathenfyre. He passed the scroll to her.

"It looks doable. There are some things that are in there that will hinder some parts of my business. Specifically the bit about the disclosure of contracts and the financier having to agree to all new contracts after disclosure. That will make two parts of my business very difficult."

Kable pulled the plate close to himself and cut himself a piece of whatever it was that was on the platter. It was roast something, it was good. Kable just wasn't sure what it was a roast of. Either way he continued.

"Chiefly, the financing of loans, and the contracting of deliveries. For example. I was recently contacted by an individual to give him a loan. Now I give out loans on the behalf of the Bank of Sorath. Per this agreement I'd have to clear every new loan with you. Which would be a hindrance to my business as I underwrite my loans myself and I have full agency to do so. As for the contracting of deliveries, sometimes people ask my caravan to deliver goods from one place to another, or to deliver our own goods to another place entirely. Technically it could be a contract as they pay for the goods and delivery and the security provided by my Skaldi or my men, and we execute the delivery on their behalf. The deliveries... fall into a sort of grey area in my opinion. The underwriting of loans to individuals is clearly in conflict with your contract."

"I propose amendments to allow both of these facets of our business free reign. Any loans that are defaulted upon become our debt to collect per the agreement with the Bank of Sorath. It is not our capital to begin with, we make a portion of the interest off the loan for brokering the agreement. And the deliveries are a standard practice of ours, and by your own reckoning with what you want us to do with your finances it would behoove us to remove that from the grey area and add an addendum allowing such deals."

"Agreeable?"

The other caravan members were quiet. This was the legal talk, for Kaera and Kable. Nothing they were concerned over chiefly. Other than the prospect of acquiring new goods and having to protect them.

[Deleted]

Henri considered it for a moment.

"Agreed, strike that section." He took his own quill and crossed it out on the document, then handed it to Kable. "Of course, there are several things not in the contract regarding intent. I want Cruinthe to be a better place, and it seems to me that the two best ways to do that are by improving infrastructure and intrastate trade. You, of all traders, have the greatest reach into rural areas. I want you to use this money to protect your caravan, but foremost, I want you to use this money to improve and promote those local industries. Give more than you get, because you don't really need to make a huge profit to live, anymore." Henri straightened in his chair, his speech reaching a rounded crest. "You said the rural peoples hate you and aren't as ready to business--use this money to change their minds, circulate their goods, and unite Cruinthe through trade connections. You are absolutely vital to this."

He paused just a moment. "And your safety is key. I have been considering creating a patrol of horsemen, to eliminate banditry. Was wondering if you'd like any scouts for your caravan." He leaned in. Left were the strings in the other room, and the flickering of the fire.

[Azuloth]

"Bandits? They're not the ones you need to worry about. It's the crown's people and the elkagr you have to worry about. Bandits you can report and hunt down, as you say. The politically powerful though, can't do anything about them stealing from you I'm afraid."

With everything else in order Kable was quite happy with the way it all turned out. Sure, he'd have to do more buying of goods, but at least he didn't have to worry about fronting the money for something he was concerned wouldn't sell.

"What do you say we sign these copies when we're done eating? I don't want us to get anything on this fine paper you have here during our revelries."

"A wise course of action."