91. Offers: Tabitha

Sione turned up at the warehouse the next day with a city official wanting to speak to all the Catkin. We collected Tāttā and went out to the quarry where everybody else was. Most of our hired guards were now stationed at the quarry. Wiremu was still trapping the approaches, and we were refitting some of the buildings for more comfortable accommodation. The Catkin were more than happy in their wagons, but the rest of us weren’t.

Once the Catkin were gathered, the city official made a speech about the kingdom and thanked them for their service. I caught a couple of puzzled looks, but nobody said anything. He then offered them full citizen rights in the Kingdom of Kirghiz. This caused a lot of excitement and amazement among the Catkin. Nobody usually wanted them to stay very long as the reputation of Catikin was of them being separated and arrogant thieves that toy with their prey. This generally means they are asked to move on before too long. Now they could settle if they wanted and buy land. It would be harder to shut them out of markets. They could appeal to the government in disputes, and the trade tariffs were lower.

I could see the government gaining an enchanter, which is a rare profession, and an enchanter separate from a powerful trading house is even rarer. However, this was mainly Sione offering rewards to our ‘family’. It will now be tough for us to say no to Abigail's training under Mayakku. My agreement with the Catkin is until we get to Kirghiz City, so we will have to see what happens after that. Meanwhile, Sione has now accepted our deal and provided a down payment.

I had better find out what the criminal world knows. They will undoubtedly know about the corruption in the Watch. Most likely, they are the operators. Finding the instigators is the key. The criminal gangs will also know about the Imperials and are probably taking their money to keep quiet. We have four nights before our next show. They are going to be busy ones for me.

We get back to the warehouse in the early afternoon, and I find Zabavno and Manus, my two co-stars from the Comedic Rhythm, waiting for me. We went into a private room to the side, and Zabavno started, “We have had a sponsorship offer. It is a very good offer from the Duke's heir himself. He is offering a stable income with performance bonuses and contacts in Kirghiz and other cities in the Kingdom. It is an exclusive sponsorship offer.”

I figure this was the first step in attempting to separate the Comedic Rhythm from the Elemental Traders. I wonder if the Duke’s heir was behind it. It is more likely he is the idiot noble with the money and was manipulated to make the offer.

“I assume there is a contract?” I replied.

Zabavno handed over an envelope of documents. “We were strongly encouraged to accept the offer, and there were implied threats of turning it down.”

“This is for all six of us?” I asked.

He nodded, “Although there is provision for changing the personnel if one person refuses. There were a couple of well-known actresses that were named to be suitable replacements for you. It was clear they thought that you might be the main obstacle to accepting the offer.”

I smiled at that. “What do the others think?”

Manus spoke up, “Thummer is unsure, but she knows how much your noise Skills add to her drumming. Canwr and Bwr are quite keen. Canwr, in particular, I think, has visions of becoming a famous singer. Bwr is a good fiddle player, but he will always follow Canwr.”

“What do you think?” I asked them directly.

Manus said, “The offer is very good. Better than I thought we would get. However, both Zabavno and I know that without your Skills, the current show would become a ‘shadow’ of its current glory.”

I gave him a small smile at his attempted pun. “You also seem to be losing your touch if that is the best you can come up with.” He gave me a small smile back.

Zabavno added, “Performing with you is a lot of fun, and that is what I got into entertaining for. The money and the fame are great, but they wouldn’t be so great without the fun. I do worry about what might happen if we turned down the offer.”

I had been skimming the document while we talked. “What about negotiations on some of these clauses?” I asked.

Zabavno said, “We were told the offer was so generous that we just needed to accept it.”

“Well, that is a load of goblin shit. There is not even a buyout clause from your current contract with the Elemental Traders.” I stated. “We will need to arrange a meeting to discuss things like that, and we must insist the Heir be present.” I put on an innocent voice, “after all, we can’t be expected to enter into a permanent and exclusive sponsorship with someone we have never met.” I winked at them and added, “Then we can see how much we can squeeze from these noble idiots.”

Zabavno nodded, “I will arrange the meeting. It will depend on the Heir’s schedule, so I will let you know.”

After they left, I sat for a few minutes thinking. I had warned Wiremu that this would get political, and it had already started. This response had been very fast, indicating a hands-on, high-level player. If it is not the Heir himself, then it is someone who can get to him quickly and manipulate him. A high-level adviser is the best bet. I would prefer the Heir himself as it would indicate an attitude of arrogant invulnerability that could be exploited. However, this was also linked to the corruption in the Watch, and the Heir would not need that. I need to add research on the Heir to my to-do list. The key questions would be how gullible he is and whether he is in a committed relationship. Manipulating your partner would not be unusual in noble circles.

My to-do list is getting longer. It is also getting late, and I have a long night ahead of me that I need to prepare for. Investigating the crime world is not an easy thing to do, and remain anonymous. They are a bunch of sneaky bastards, and information is a valuable commodity. For this, I will take Modrica as a ‘bodyguard’ and dress and mimic a certain weasley information broker that I knew from Jern. Misleading people in their gender assumptions is often the easiest part.

At the second tavern we entered, we hit a knowledgeable bartender. Things were quite bad here. I don’t think the tavern even employed cleaners from the smell and sticky floors. I would be relying on my constitution not to be poisoned. The ale was horrible, and there was no way I was eating anything. When the bartender found out we were new in town, he immediately asked if we knew who hit the ES, which I figured was shortened from Enchanters Supreme.

“I wish. I could use a person like that,” I replied.

He nodded, “Many think the same,” he said in his raspy voice. “Some think a new entrant hit it, and all the gangs are looking to recruit, but nobody has come forward.”

“Who has the best offers,” I asked.

“The word is the Pack Rats, the Dark Blades and the Seadogs are offering the most, and there is a cut to the person with info,” he replied, obviously looking for info.

“There must be more to it, though. You don’t hit something that hard without a big payoff in mind.” I said.

“You ain’t the only one thinking that. Some think it was an Imperial hit, and Navy secrets were taken. That’s why nothing has hit the market. Where do you sell enchanting goods anyway?” he queried.

I shrugged, “I heard there was a Watch raid on a travelling enchanter, so maybe them?”

He spat at the mention of the Watch, “The Seadogs are pretty keen to get what was taken, offering gold for info and platinum for the goods.”

“Do you think they have a pet enchanter?” I asked.

“No sign of it before, but maybe?”

The next two taverns added a lot more wild rumours. I liked the one where I was a ghost under the control of a master warlock. The prevailing thought was that it was the Imperials because no one had come forward to claim the credit, and no goods had hit the black market. There was doubt about that, though, as the imperials usually fire bomb places after they rob them to hide what they stole. I found out where to contact the Rats, Dark Blades and Seadogs, but I think the Seadogs had some idea of what was taken from their offer.