244. Breeding: Tabitha

“That's a mighty fine horse,” Abdul Basir said as he examined Dusk. “I am more of a camel specialist, but we do stock a small stable of horses. How much to get her in foal? I have a couple of good stallions.”

“I am not going to be staying in the city long enough,” I replied

“Pity,” He turned to me, “What else can I help you with?”

“I am looking to transport some precious stock into the empire. Can you help me to do that?”

Abdul looked at Dusk with an appraising eye, “Possibly. We don’t trade much with the empire as they are horse-mad and blind to the beauty of the camel. They do, on occasion, buy our horses for breeding stock,” He grinned, “but we breed strong horses who can last the distance. We have a covered wagon for protection and to transport foals, but it is not good for them.”

He showed me the wagon. It had a sturdy box frame to transport the animals in. It was also used for shelter at night when there are predators around. There were air vents and storage areas for feed and water. It was quite well designed but would be hot and confining.

“Was this custom-made?” I asked

“Total Transport Solutions in the western district usually have a couple of frames made ready for customising. They have some clever carpenters there.”

“If I wanted to get this stock past the import inspectors without letting them know the true value, do you have any advice?”

Abdul shook his head, “I don’t send much in that direction, and when I do, it is usually through agents. There are two that I use, Ghasson Trading and Jamil’s Transport. The imperials like their taxes, though,” he warned.

Yes, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Neither Ghasson nor Jamil would do anything to upset their trade with the empire. The minimum consequence of being caught devaluing cargo to avoid taxes was a five-year ban from the city. Being caught smuggling was worse.

TTS, as they call themselves, had two wagon frames ready to go. I purchased them both and had one made up into two stalls for horses and another left as one open space. I also had to find something to pull them and settled on two bullocks each. Wagons will slow us down, but I don’t have any other solutions at the moment. It is a partial solution as it will mean we can enter the small towns on the way, but cities are a different story. That meant we needed a third wagon for supplies, as well as the odd trinket I picked up. The wagons would be ready in a week.

“I heard you want to get things into the empire discreetly?” the voice said.

I had watched the small animal kin approach with my Spatial Awareness. We were in a crowded tavern, and the feelers I had put out had led to this meeting. It would be very easy to miss him as he only came as high as my waist. He was used to avoiding oblivious people and must have had very high agility. It is almost like he hopped rather than walked. He was fur-covered, and I sensed a rat-like tail and more powerful legs than you would expect. The desert kangaroo rat was the sudden inspiration I had. I had no idea there were Ratkin like that, but it is a big world.

“Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?”

He hopped up onto a chair, “Mbili’s the name. I’ll have the local brew.”

“I assume you can help with my problem?”

“Depends on what it is, how big and to where.”

“Large animals to past Janub”

“No hope of success, lady. Give it up.”

“Why?”

“Too many patrols. I can misdirect or bribe only about half of those I meet.”

“Doesn’t sound like you are a very successful smuggler.”

“I am still here and in business, lady. Small inanimate parcels or large items that can be broken up, and I would never meet a patrol. Live animals are too noisy. Small animals can be drugged and transported. Large animals… just nope.”

“Fifty per cent success, you say?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, “Those are not odds I will work with. Coin is no help if you are crushing rocks in a labour camp for five years.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I am not interested in spending time in a labour camp either, but with your fifty per cent added to me keeping half the patrols away or distracting them, the odds jump up quite high.”

“I will need to see some proof.”

“I have a room booked upstairs. Let me pay for the drinks.” I took out a coin purse, dropped a couple on the table, and then tossed him the purse, “You better have that back.”

“Shit, that was smooth.”

“You are not the only one with skills. Follow me.”

I led the way upstairs and entered the double bunk room I had hired for the day. Mbili stopped at the threshold and sniffed. “Cat,” he said and looked around.

“Indeed, there is a cat in here. Come in and shut the door.”

He very cautiously entered and closed the door. He was looking carefully around. He was ready to bolt at the first sign of anything. His nose was leading him to the correct side of the room, but my Distract Skill confused him with small sounds from the other side. Fortunately, Nyx and my Engulfing Shadows muffle sound, or I am sure he would have been picking up heartbeats with his Hearing Skills.

He stopped and checked under the beds, even though he didn’t believe the cat was there. He refused to advance any further.

“OK, you have skills. There is a cat here, and I can’t see it. Where is it?”

I tapped my leg in a come here way, and the whole bunk beside Mbili moved, causing him to jump back to the door. Cōmpēṟi stretched himself as he lowered his front paws to the ground and then followed with his back paws. The massive lion didn’t even have to jump down from the top bunk. I am surprised it held his weight.

“Fucking hell, lady! If you can do that, what the hell do you need me for?”

“Several reasons. Firstly, you know the land, the trails and the patrol routes. Secondly, you have some skills to know who might be bribable and what might be effective as a bribe.” His eyes narrowed at that. That was an assumption on my part, but the stories I had heard put his success rate way above average. From his reaction, I was on the mark. “Further, Cōmpēṟi here is not the only animal I want to transport. There is only one of me and at least three wagons.”

“Wagons! You might as well run a goblin horde through the place. It is the only way you might go unnoticed.”

“We did consider a beast swarm, but it is not our preferred option.”

He was looking at me like I was mad. “You are mad! Crazy! Goblin shit for brains! I won’t be part of it.”

Just then, the door behind him opened, making him jump out of the way. Wiremu entered as Wild Bill. He looked at Mbili and then at me, “Not going so well, huh?”

“He didn’t like the beast swarm idea.”

“Sorry,” Wiremu told Mbili, “It wasn’t one of my best ideas, but I am just a simple hunter. They call me Wild Bill, but Bill is fine. I am a hunter, a Monster hunter. It is what I do. I brought more ale.”

Wiremu handed Mbili a mug, and he took a big gulp. He then handed me a mug, put a bowl on the ground, and filled it from a jug for Cōmpēṟi. He then got his mug out. “Cōmpēṟi has developed a liking for ale,” he told Mbili almost apologetically as Cōmpēṟi came forward and started licking from the bowl.

“Is he yours?” Mbili asked

Wiremu shook his head, “No one of our other team members. Here, let me refill your mug.” He looked at me, “Have you told him your idea yet?”

“No, just yours.” Wiremu winced. “I have a fine racehorse, and I thought we could pose as a team transporting racing animals.”

Mbili looked at Tabitha, “Won’t work, lady. Racing animals don’t move from Almaeadin to Janub commonly enough to not stand out. To make that work, you would have to divert to the Free Republic and come in from there. They race horses and dogs. That will add four months just to get to Freeborne.”

I saw Wiremu’s eyes light up and remembered that he was from the Free Republic. He might want a visit back there.

“That is a possibility,” I said.

Mbili continued, “You would be better off posing as animal trainers or capturing animals for a trainer. You have a hunter…” he trailed off in thought, “No, that would need to come from the Free Republic too. Not much call for desert animals in the empire.”

“That could work,” Wiremu said. “I could trap animals on the way to Freebourne and then trap or purchase some from there and head into the empire. It would mix things up more.”

“Right,” said Mbili, holding out his hand, “Two gold for the advice, and then I am off.”

“We still need your skills as a guide and your other skills,” I said.

“I don’t come cheap, lady, and if you hire me, you hire the Famous Five. My siblings and I work as a team, and you are talking a year-round trip here to Freebourne, to Janub and then back here.”

“We are not going to Janub, and we are not coming back.” I pulled out some papers and made a few changes, then handed them to him. “A one-year contract for the Famous Five. Here to Freebourne and then to Yelets.”

“Yelets?”

“After we get to Yelets, the contract ends, and you make your own way back.” I nodded to the paperwork, “Read it over, especially the confidentiality agreements.”

Mbili looked at the first page, “Who are the Black Arts? We need to know who we are working for.”

“I am one half of the Mercenary team called the Black Arts,” I said, “You can call me Black. You can meet the other half in two days if you sign up. We want to be on the road at the beginning of next week.”

“That's quick,” I saw him flick to the page with the coin amount, “but entirely possible.”

“Make sure all five of you are at the meeting. We need to make sure of who we are employing.”

Wiremu passed him a couple of gold coins, “We could work well together,” he said. Mbili nodded in thought as he left.