Chapter 323: Collective Bargaining
Sweat rolled down Hugo Hanrahan’s back as servants passed plate after plate of local delicacies to the assembled guildmasters and their guests. Sitting on a seat beside him, a leather-bound ledger contained all of his notes for the meeting with the Fellowship of Wayfinders but his notes about negotiations with the other guild masters were far from complete enough to present any detailed facts and figures. Even worse, no one had told him that they would be meeting with Master Isabell and her guild of engineers. When it came to negotiating for her services, he had absolutely nothing prepared!
"Sir Hugo, there’s no need to look so nervous," Isabell said in a kind, almost motherly tone when she noticed him looking in his direction. "It hasn’t been a year yet since the tragic death of your predecessor. I imagine that Sir Kaefin left big shoes for you to fill. My condolences, Lord Owain," she said, turning in the young lord’s direction. "From what I’ve heard, your former steward’s death was quite sudden and unexpected."
"Master Isabell is surprisingly well informed for matters happening so far from Blackwell County," Owain said, once again taken off guard by these merchants. "I loved Kaefin like an older brother that I never had," he said, taking a heavy drink of the crisp white wine in his goblet. "But outside of Lothian March, I’m surprised that anyone knew much about him."
"Lord Owain might be surprised," Master Ruadhan said as he nibbled on a succulent lobster claw. "Ever since news of your engagement to Lady Ashlynn was announced two years ago, there has been increasing interest in Blackwell County about events happening in Lothian March."
"The Frontier is a long way away from our humble coast," the scarecrow thin carter continued. "But even I’ve made a trip out there to visit since the announcement. It’s a shame that I couldn’t be present for your wedding, it must have been very grand. The temple in Lothian City is unrivaled outside of the Holy City."
"Since I’ve been to the Frontier, I know that you may prefer to be a bit more direct than most of my companions are accustomed to," Master Ruadhan said. "If you let old sailors like my good friend Sebastian start spinning a yarn, we wouldn’t get to business until the sun was setting. How about this, since we’re blessed with the company of a Journeyman jewler, why don’t we let him have a look at the treasures you’ve brought while we eat and then we can get down to where the wheel meets the roadway without taking up too much of your lordship’s time?"
"My lord," Hugo said hesitantly, his hands twitching toward his ledger. "I already have a preliminary appraisal for the treasures we brought. I can share it if it would make things faster."
"No, don’t bother," Owain said, gesturing for Sir Rian to open the chest. "Since we have the services of a journeyman jewler, we might as well make use of the man. Cal was it? Take a look. This is only a portion of what we retrieved from Airgead Mountain in a single summer campaign. I imagine you won’t have seen gems of this quality anywhere else," he said with a smile.
In truth, Owain had a reason for wanting Cal’s appraisal. He was hoping that he could use the journeyman to claw back some of the ground he’d lost to these conniving merchants by getting a higher appraisal from one of their local guilds than he’d been able to obtain in Lothian March.