Much like the Kraus and Sons in Arn Gol, the one in Arn Dukatt was in pristine condition. From what he could remember, the inside was laid out in roughly the same manner as the other store as well.

At the very least, they had the same basic structure, with only one item of each type being on display. It was still an intriguing way of running a store to Rhys. He had yet to see it be used elsewhere, which was odd if it worked.

‘Good afternoon, can I help you?’ A young woman in a black and gold uniform was standing nearby, waiting for a response with a friendly smile.

‘I’m looking for the owner. I’ve been sent with a consignment by his brother,’ Rhys said, putting on his most formal airs as he tried to look the part of the professional cloudship captain.

‘Of course, Sir, I’ll be back in just a moment,’ she said, smiling nicely at him before turning gracefully and heading to the rear of the store.

With a few moments to himself, Rhys browsed the items available, lingering over a rather lovely looking silverpoint pen that was for sale. At four sovereigns, it was expensive, very expensive, but not as high as he’d seen in some places. Still, it would be a tenth of the funds that Rhys had for the ship in total. That was the equivalent of sixteen days of wages for the crew.

Sighing, Rhys stepped away. He couldn’t afford such a lavish extravagance, not yet anyway.

‘Excuse me, my assistant said you were here on behalf of my brother?’ A cultured baritone voice spoke from behind him. Turning, Rhys found a bald, well-dressed man with a groomed moustache and a somewhat portly frame looking at him with twinkling dark eyes.

The gold waistcoat the man wore was of fine make and had been tailored to fit, an expense that made the fledgling captain shudder internally.

‘Hello, yes, my name is Rhys Hunt, Captain of the Endeavour. Your brother, Otto, sent me to deliver a consignment of ironwood.’

‘Perfect, I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to find someone to send it my way. A pleasure to meet you, Captain. My name is Hans Kraus, great-grandson of the original Otto Kraus, founder of Kraus and Sons.’

Rhys shook Hans’s hand firmly, realising as he did that the two brothers looked incredibly similar. In fact, if it wasn’t for the gold waistcoat, Rhys would have believed he was looking at Otto, not Hans.

‘The pleasure is all mine, Mr Kraus. Now, I have the consignment in my ship ready to be delivered. How would you like to receive it?’

‘I’ll send some men for it in the morning if that works for you?’ Hans said, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

‘Absolutely, that will work with our schedule,’ Rhys said with a nod.

‘Good, good, now, would you care to join me for a cup of schwartztee? Hans asked, gesturing toward the rear of the building.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is,’ Rhys said, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar word.

‘Ah, of course, I do apologise. My family has some strong traditions, one of which is culturing a specific type of tea, we call it schwartztee, it is stronger than most other teas. Of course, if you’re not a tea drinker, I can find something else?’

‘Oh no, that does sound good. I’m quite the tea drinker myself,’ Rhys said, his frown swiftly morphing to a wide smile that Hans returned with interest.

‘Excellent, it’s so hard to find a proper drinking partner round here. Please, follow me,’ Hans said, leading him through to his office. The layout of the store seemed to be exactly the same as in Otto’s shop, and Rhys was relieved to see that the similarities included the skraa leather chairs.

‘Please, take a seat,’ Hans said, waving him to a chair as he went to sit behind his desk. Rhys began to say something but Hans held up a hand with a small smile. Confused, Rhys kept quiet for a few moments until the door behind him opened to reveal the woman he’d spoken to earlier.

‘Can I get you any refreshments, Sir?’

‘Please, Anya. We’ll take a pot of schwartztee and some sandwiches. Any allergies, Rhys?’

‘No, thank you for asking,’ Rhys said, a little baffled by the whole situation.

‘Good, that will be all then. Thank you, Anya.’

‘Of course, Sir, I will return momentarily,’ Anya said, closing the door behind her as she left.

‘Apologies for stopping you, good Captain, but I knew that Anya would check on us. Now, what were you going to say?’ Hans said, leaning back in his chair with a friendly smile.

‘I was going to ask if you had any further work for us in the area? Or any recommendations for who to speak with if you don’t.’

‘Ah, straight to the heart of the matter, eh?’ Hans said, chuckling a little. ‘I do like that. Have you taken anything else as of yet?’ Hand placed an elbow on the arm of his chair and rested his chin on his fist, eyeing Rhys with interest.

‘Not as of yet. I came to you first of all due to the cargo we have onboard.’ Rhys said, relieved that Hans was engaging so easily with him. He was a little intimidated by the wealth of the Kraus and Sons stores. They were operating at a high level, one that he didn’t yet reach.

‘Hmm, well, I have two jobs you could do for me. The first would be to transport a few pallets of goods to a spire about a week’s travel south. The second would be to head east to a spire forest that is being harvested quite thoroughly. They need some supplies taken to them. I doubt there will be any other jobs going to them, but you would be able to buy raw materials there at a good price.’

‘Those are both interesting. I’d need to speak with my cargomaster, of course, to see what Oliver might have found on his own,’ Rhys said, not wanting to commit to anything right now.

‘I’d be concerned if you didn’t,’ Hans said, pausing as the door opened and Anya reentered, bearing a platter with two plates, two mugs, a steaming pot of tea and some sandwiches. ‘Now, let’s leave business until later. Come back tomorrow morning and let me know if you want to take one of the two jobs. For now, let us relax and enjoy a nice moment with good company, yes?’

‘Yes,’ Rhys said, smiling in thanks as Anya moved a small side table over to him and served him a plate of sandwiches and a mug of tea. Serving Hans next, she placed the remaining food and the pot on Hans’s desk and excused herself back out of the room.

‘Now, how about you tell me how you came about owning the Endeavour?’ Hans said, taking a large bite of his sandwich.

Rhys started his carefully edited explanation, being careful to keep it in line with what he’d said to Otto. He didn’t want to give someone as shrews as the Kraus brothers reason to doubt him.

-**-

Rhys left the store an hour later with a full stomach and a renewed appreciation for how shrewd merchants could be. Hans had just grilled him for every ounce of usable information that Rhys had on the current happenings in Arn Gol mainly, but also in all the other spires Rhys had been to.

At first, Rhys had doubted he’d have much information to give, but Hans seemed to be able to wheedle more out of him than he’d expected. Thankfully, Hans hadn’t questioned him on the Endeavour for long, mainly asking about how Rhys became Captain. Given the strange circumstances, that had been a difficult conversation for Rhys.

After such a harrowing, yet still pleasant, experience, Rhys wanted some time to himself. Deciding to indulge his curiosity about the spire, Rhys rode the platform down to the second layer of Arn Dukatt. Where the first layer was commercial, this layer was residential, packed to the brim with homes and the population of Arn Dukatt.

Another platform stood temptingly nearby, so Rhys joined the queue and ventured further down into the spire. This was so different to any other spire he’d been to. Rhys couldn’t help but be fascinated by how it was all put together.

The third layer was where the industry began. The lifeblood of Arn Dukatt was created here in the form of metals for trade to other spires. Even with the cost of importing ironwood for fuel, it would be easy to make a living from selling metal ingots to other spires.

The forges and furnaces were all built into the side of the spire, likely to manage the smoke they produced. With so much demand for wall space, this layer of the spire was more like a spiral, with areas for platforms to stop at each flat section where goods could be offloaded.

The sheer industry of it all was intriguing, but Rhys didn’t have the time to get too involved. It was time to see what Oliver had managed to find for them.

-**-

Rhys made it back to the Endeavour a short time later, taking the chance to have a cup of tea in his quarters and reflect on what he’d learnt. It was also a good moment to organise some of the notes he’d made on the runes Lucy had taught him.

‘Mr Brown is coming to you. I’m adding an additional chair for him.’ Zaxx’s voice broke into his mind, disrupting Rhys’s thoughts. Glancing back over his shoulder, Rhys watched with horrid fascination as a chair seemed to grow out of the floor of his cabin in the strange liquid way that Zaxx could move things.

A knock at the door forestalled any complaint Rhys could make, and he definitely would be making some.

‘Come!’ Rhys called out, grumbling under his breath as he turned his chair to face the door.

‘Captain, I’m not disturbing you am I?’ Oliver asked, pausing in the doorway as he saw the scattered notes on a nearby table.

‘Oh no, you didn’t disturb me,’ Rhys said, unable to help but put a bit of emphasis on the word “you” and glare briefly at the ceiling.

‘Right, okay. Well, I’ve been around the spire to some key spots I’ve dealt with in the past. Honestly, they’re a bit short on work at the moment. There were only two jobs that I could pick out for us. The first was to aid with a hunting party that wants to hunt a venak that has settled in the area.’ Oliver grimaced and smiled apologetically at Rhys, who was already shaking his head.

‘Not a chance. We’re not going hunting for a venak. I’ve got no desire to become some winged monsters dinner, thank you very much,’ Rhys said firmly. He’d rather just fly back to Arn Gol with nothing than go hunting with nothing stronger than some swivel cannons.

‘My opinion exactly,’ Oliver said, relief evident in his voice. ‘I felt obliged to make you aware of the opportunity, though.’

‘Thank you for your honesty, but let us steer away from hunting jobs, both now and in the future.’

‘Yes, Captain,’ Oliver said, pausing to clear his throat for a moment. ‘So, the second job is a long-haul delivery into the heart of the alliance. It will be a month there, and the same back with the return. The pay will be thirty sovereigns, including an estimated fuel cost of three sovereigns.’

‘Thirty sovereigns,’ Rhys repeated, rising to his feet and pacing across the cabin. At twenty-five bits a day, it would be fifteen sovereigns just to pay wages for that long. Then their fuel costs would be at least double the standard, which brought them to twenty-one total. Add in provisions and supplies, and the profit margin was shrinking rapidly. Still, he needed a good reason that didn’t include the higher fuel costs.

‘Yes, Captain, and the cargo will take up half of our capacity.’

‘No, we’ll pass on this one,’ Rhys said, returning to his seat once more. ‘It’s too early in our days together for such an extended trip.’

‘Are you sure, Captain?’ Oliver said with an element of surprise in his voice. ‘We’re meshing well already, and we could do smaller jobs on the way, with this main one paying for our expenses and giving a decent payment on top.’

‘I’m sure. Maybe next time,’ Rhys said, ignoring the hint of confusion on Oliver’s face. ‘We have a short run to a spire forest east of here, dropping off food and supplies. I intend to do that next and then buy up any raw materials they have at a good price. From there, we’ll head back to Arn Gol unless we find anything worth doing in the meantime. Unless you have any objections?’

‘No, Captain. I can work with that. Is there a permanent settlement at this forest, or is it a temporary harvesting setup?’ Oliver asked, his expression moving into a thoughtful one as he tapped a finger on his nose.

‘Temporary from the sound of it, why?’ Rhys asked, cocking his head to one side as he wondered where Oliver was going with this.

‘Well, a permanent site will have a different stock of supplies. For one, they’ll have much larger stocks of food than a temporary location. Then you need to take into consideration consumables and luxury goods. They might have thirty kilos of flour, but only dried and smoked meat. For that matter, what about spices for their foods?’

Rhys nodded along and mentally took notes as Oliver started to list off the things that would be easily marketable in a temporary settlement. This was exactly the sort of thing that he needed to learn. A lot of it was simple enough to imagine, like the luxury food side, but it was helpful to have Oliver’s experience to know precisely what would be popular and what wouldn’t be.