Marcella reclined in the office of her new store, wearing an uncharacteristic frown. She had petitioned hard to be sent to the Guiness Company branch in Quest. Her father didn’t put much stock in the city, as it was hard for outsiders to gain any traction with the fiercely loyal guilds, but it was a good market. Marcella was sure that, in the right hands, it could produce a lot more profit.

Besides, connections with the guilds were worth more than gold. As the youngest house within the ranks of high nobles, the Guiness family lacked a standing army. Their knights were some of the best in the kingdom but their numbers were few and they were spread thin. They were too valuable to use for simple jobs, forcing the Company to hire out the work. Something that came with risks.

Mercenaries thrived on their reputation but a payday big enough for them to retire could make them throw that hard earned reputation aside. It happened with startling frequency. Hunters were just as bad. There was the same risk of betrayal and they were also a lot more reckless. Incredibly so.

The guilds took anyone that wanted to fight. The vast numbers they recruited meant they didn’t have the resources to properly vet applicants or provide the level of training required of knights. When a job was posted with the guilds, any member could take it. The only way to ensure a project was placed into capable hands was if someone in the guild took a personal interest in it.

A connection with the guilds would be critical in the future if they wanted to launch an expedition to the elven continent. The force would need people who were trustworthy, experienced, skilled, and in possession of good sense. None of which applied to most of the common rabble that made a living as hunters.

That was the other reason she had fought so hard to come to the city. The expedition. The markets of Harvest had been tapped by her family. Her father had milked all the profit he could from them and wasn’t satisfied, turning his gaze to the rest of the world.

From what they could gather, the elven province was particularly bountiful. Full of new plants and manabeasts with untapped potential. They also had xanderium, the precious mana ore. A metal that channeled mana like nothing else.

Any weapon crafted and enchanted from it had the potential to be a national treasure. All the deposits in Harvest had only been enough to forge two blades but their visitor from another land had casually implied the elves had much, much more.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t made much progress on that front. Even if Marcella could assemble a force willing to brave the Enchanted Forest that she trusted enough not to ruin diplomatic relations, it meant nothing if they couldn’t reach the elven provinces. Or were executed the moment they stepped onto foreign soil. It was all a big risk and her father didn’t enjoy risks. He preferred certainty whenever he could have it and that certainty came in the form of Kierra Atainna.

They couldn’t ask for a more perfect guide. She was knowledgeable, powerful, and a woman of status. She could guide them through the forest safely and point out all the valuable reagents along the way. She could also introduce them to all the players in her home, saving them the months or years required to form their own connections. Better, she was a blood relative of the reigning queen. Truly, the elf coming to Harvest was like a chest of gold falling from the sky but her family was having a cursed time trying to pry it open.

Their dealings across the ocean had proved one thing. All beings of the world, no matter their differences, were united by desire. Find what someone desired and there was a way to profit from it. The problem was they were unable to fulfill the woman’s desires. Or even define them.

Throughout his life, the Guiness patriarch had wooed those he took an interest in with promises of luxuries. He’d gone from a humble son of a small-time merchant to one of the most powerful men in the kingdom through the power of gold. Marcella had been raised on the philosophy that there was no problem that couldn’t be fixed with enough wealth. Yet, that is exactly what they had encountered. No matter how much wealth they offered her, whether it was in crowns or physical goods, Kierra could not be swayed.

They tried to take inspiration from what little they knew she was interested in. First, her less riskier appreciation for bladed weapons but the craftsmanship of human blacksmiths failed to impress her. Then, her apparent taste for noblewomen.

The marquis wasn’t above using relationships for profit. Seeing the elf had married one noblewoman, the Guiness patriarch had been quick to tempt her with another through subtle insinuations. Marcella found out later that she was the one offered up on a silver platter. Something that would normally make her indignant but her father knew her well enough to know what she could accept. After meeting the elf, she was sorely disappointed, as it was one arranged marriage she was certain she would have enjoyed. Very much.

Kierra’s actions suggested that the unusual union had no room for any other parties but that notion was swiftly disproved when Lourianne Tome revealed she had contracted a succubus. No matter what anyone claimed, it was impossible that someone would be involved with such a creature without sleeping with it. Despite that, Kierra seemed fine with the arrangement. As such, the marquis concluded that there was perhaps room for a mistress. For Lou.

A high-noble giving one of his daughters to a noble of little relevance, let alone a woman of little relevance, was a bit demeaning but there was little the marquis wouldn’t do in the name of profit. He had decide to pin his hopes on Maxine, as they already had a rapport.

A ridiculous notion. Her sister couldn’t seduce a man that hadn’t seen another warm body in a decade. Worse, she was clumsy where seducing the fairer sex required finesse. Months of time with them and she was barely more than an acquaintance. The girl really needed to accept her limitations.

Because of her reckless ambition and her father being thrown off guard by such strange quarry, Marcella had lost a valuable opportunity. She had one conversation before Kierra and her wife skipped out of Quest. A delightful conversation, the baked goods and tea enhanced by Kierra’s ease at trading innuendo, but a short one of little substance. If only she’d had the months squandered by her sister. Marcella couldn’t say for certain that she’d have their cooperation but she’d certainly be more than a friend Lou thought so little of she couldn’t be bothered to greet her.

Marcella preferred to take her time with her targets but that wasn’t a luxury she could afford. Since the Wild Night, events in the city had unfolded rapidly. She could feel forces moving beneath the surface, the tension gradually mounting. All it would take for the whole thing to go up in a smoke was a single spark. A spark she suspected Lou’s return would provide.

Being related to the noblewoman wasn’t a good thing in the current Quest. Their business had already suffered for it, the little tract Maxine had managed to make with the guilds evaporating when the Company refused to denounce Lou and her household. A lesser trader would have capitulated to the hunters’ pressure. Or perhaps packed up their business and fled until the tensions eased.

Marcella was a Guiness. Problems were nothing more than ugly opportunities. Sure, she suffered now but sacrificing a little business meant nothing if the show of loyalty increased Lou’s trust in her. More importantly, the guilds’ grudges would mean nothing if Lou crushed them. Seeing as she’d already won their first confrontation, smart money was on Lou crushing whatever plot the hunters were cooking up. Especially if she had support. Marcella didn’t have many resources but she’d turned them all to keeping track of the hunters movements. Information won wars, including trade wars.

If the guilds self-destructed as she thought they would, she would have her opportunity. Most hunters were opportunists who didn’t care about their organizations’ history or traditions. They wanted training and enough work to feed their families. Loyalty was good but they’d always go to whoever gave them the better deal.

At the moment, confidence in the guilds and their guildsmasters was low. If they suffered another loss at the hands of a noblewoman no one had ever heard of, they’d lose the shoddy reputation they had left. The men and women of Quest would be ready to be reaped.

Every Guiness child searched for ways to stand out from their siblings in hopes of receiving their father’s favor and inheriting his vast wealth. Marcella hoped to do so by wooing Kierra and plundering the treasures of her homeland, through fair trade. However, establishing her own guild didn’t sound too bad either. She thought running a group of reckless thugs sounded quite fun and looked forward to being a guildmaster.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she shouted, putting down a report she’d long stopped paying any attention to.

The door opened and a young man walked in, tightly gripping a hat in one hand. She recognized him as one of clerks who worked day shifts but couldn’t remember her name. Low-level employees of his kind had become faceless and hard to remember.

She certainly made much more of an impression on him. His eyes predictably moved from her face to her chest before dropping to the floor in embarrassment. She smiled, able to make out the tip of the man’s, no boy’s, ears. “Yes?”

“Sorry to bother you, lady.”

“Not at all. I was just thinking about taking a break.” She stretched her arms over her head, letting out a squeak of contentment as her bones popped. The boy’s wide eyes followed the movement, this time only looking away when she raised a brow.

“Ah, thank you. Lady Maxine is here to visit you.”

“Oh?” Maxine hadn’t graced the store since Lou and Kierra picked up their order. Marcella had left her be, indulging her sister’s rare temper tantrum. She was quite interested to see what had brought her back. “Tell her to come up.”

“Right away.”