Chapter 9: Mysteries
Petra didn't anticipate the Ball. Not like Clara, full of bubbling excitement for a night of splendor. Fawning, finger foods, frilly dresses and frillier giggles. If Petra was honest, Clara's excitement was infectious. But Petra's heart was already sick with stress.
They weren't prepared. No confirmed money supply, allegiances, or even a house with a roof. Yes, they'd finally crossed into wealth with Jasson's discovery. Wealth that could destroy the entire economy. They couldn't use it. Even if they could, it would take time to build alliances and fortresses.
Petra wrung her hands, retreating into the ice room attached to the kitchen. Breathing deeply, Petra heard Clara leave to go tell Harriett about the ball. She needed to order her thoughts.
First, Petra would need to liquidate enough to establish a presence. That would take a few days to find a buyer and buy the necessary writs from the bankers.
Then, she'd establish favorable trade deals for alliances in exchange for good deals on the crystals. A 'promise of more to come' before- But that would take a week even with bribing their secretaries. Too close to go to the ball.
Should she focus on establishing alliances with promises first, not worrying about the capital writs necessary for credibility? But that would require almost scamming them. Smooth talking that none of them were capable of.
What should I do?! Petra forced the panic down, It's not- I can't-
No, Petra didn't anticipate the ball at all. It wouldn't be dull, it would be an exam she hadn't studied for. No, worse. It was a cliff that she needed to jump off of, a risk that hardly seemed necessary. Why push it? There would be a harvest ball in November, which would be a bigger event and was months from now.
But did they have months?
Petra shuddered, Clara's drowned corpse in her arms flashing like lightning through her heart. Petra had run out of time once already. Only Jasson's timely arrival with that godsent healing crystal had saved Clara.
I will do what I can do today, Petra thought. It's getting late. I'll go find somewhere to sell crystals tomorrow. Then…
Petra straightened her face and walked out of the ice room and up to where Jasson was relaxing on his mattress, tapping her foot to get his attention. He looked up, grinning, and Petra scowled. Why was he so happy at a time like this?
"Jasson," Petra said, "Give me those crystals from the monsters you killed yesterday."
"Sure," Jasson opened his locker, "Hey, do you know when I could get another six hundred gold?"
In a time like this?! Petra thought. From my cold, dead hands.
"What?!" Petra glared, "How have you spent your money already?!"
"I haven't," Jasson said, "But there's something I need to buy for a thousand gold. It's…well, it is important."
"Don't look at me!" Petra said, "We already divided up the gold from the wyverns and we're going to need the money from those crystals in order to fund the ball attendance. It will be hard enough to liquidate without suspicion when we're practically selling bulk weaponry."
"Okay," Jasson shrugged, "I'll sell a few on my own then. We should split who sells what anyway, until we find a reliable buyer at least."
"No, you won't," Petra said, "You'll lead a trail of thieves right to us. Look, I'll keep your request in mind. But until we can figure out a way to sell off the bulk of our crystals, we need to focus on getting this house together."
Jasson frowned, and Petra was starting to feel that vein in her neck when he said, "Yeah. That makes sense. I'll just save up normally. Thanks. Here's the Earth Crystals from those monsters, by the way. Harriett has the other three."
Jasson pulled the three large crystals from his locker and handed them to Petra. The Guild had shucked the flux from these crystals, and they glinted a pure green in the light streaming through the tarp. Monster crystals were uncannily clear, like tinted glass, and these cast glittering cascades of colored light upon the room.
Each one of these was big enough to replace Petra's primary crystal, but Petra was holding out for a Natural Earth Crystal like she'd had in her old home. One she could really let loose with. These had another job.
"Thanks," Petra put the crystals in her locker, then hesitated and said, "Actually, let me pay you for these. Not a fair price, because I can't afford that right now. But I can-"
Jasson waved his hand and said, "Look, I'm not that desperate. But since we are on equal footing now, I do appreciate the effort. Just buy two, and I'll throw in the third for free. Eh?"
Petra stood for a second, hesitating. How much to pay for them? He was right, they were on even footing now. He didn't owe her anything. But…she really couldn't afford them normally.
"Here," Petra said, counting out the gold, "I'll pay you two hundred gold for all three-"
"Make it a hundred and fifty," Jasson said, "I told you, I'm fine."
Petra felt herself bristle. Why was he being so generous? Was he trying to- of course. Men.
"You better not be expecting any 'favors' from me for this," Petra growled, "And I'll cut your fingers off if you try to steal any favors in return for your 'generosity'."
"Woah!" Jasson held his hands up, "If it means that much to you, I'll take the two hundred. I'm just trying to be nice here."
Petra eyed him. She didn't like that response, and reached into her locker and pulled out a bag of gold.
"Well," Petra said as she counted out the two hundred, "As long as you don't try to get a reward for being 'nice', got it?"
"Petra," Jasson said, holding his hands out to the sides, "I'm not trying to pull anything here. I'm just being the best person I know how to be. So I offered a friendly discount, no more and no less."
Petra searched his eyes and scowled. He was being genuinely benign. At least he didn't look hurt by her accusations.
Petra sighed and said, "Look, I get that. But don't think that I haven't noticed you looking at me. You want more. It's obvious."
Jasson blushed and turned away, like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar, as he said, "I mean…look. Just because I would like another kiss or more doesn't mean that I'm doing everything for that goal. It's just a hope, you know? I would like one but…"
Jasson looked Petra in the eyes, and she did her best to pin her stomach down with a fiercer scowl. He wasn't even that cute! Her last suitor had taken her breath away.
"Well, excuse me-" Petra mustered a response, but Jasson held his hand up and interrupted her train of thought.
Jasson said, "Truly. If you don't want to kiss me, don't. Do not. No matter the pressure you're under. And no, I'm not saying that you have to hate the idea to refuse. I'm saying that, for my own selfish reasons, I don't want to kiss a girl who doesn't want to be kissed. Okay?"
Petra found herself blushing and threw the bag of gold at Jasson, then stomped off, saying, "You better keep to your word. That first time was a fluke, okay? I was too happy about having money. I was out of my mind!"
"Okay," Jasson said from behind her, "But…for the sake of fairness, could you answer me this? Is it off the table entirely?"
Why did he have to ask that? It was the question Petra was trying not to answer. Still, he deserved an answer. Whether it was honest or not remained to be seen.
Petra paused by the door and said, "I don't hate the thought of it, okay? It's not off the table, but I wouldn't go tilting things."
Petra rushed outside, face flushing as she passed Clara with armfuls of wood. Once Petra was out of sight of anyone, she collapsed against the wall. Breathing heavily.
It needed to be said.
Then Petra marched into the Not-ruins of Reflection Manor.
Before Petra was a yawning stairwell filled with foul water, bugs and rot calling it home. Petra put both hands around her air crystal and closed her eyes, envisioning a vibrant bubble around her. Then she stepped in.
The water parted before Petra's air bubble, and Petra pushed down the stairs and deep into the water. She'd already enchanted her eyes with night sight, but could still barely make things out once the afternoon light faded behind her. Walking briskly, Petra navigated the tunnels nearly by memory.
The Not-ruins of Reflection Manor, the summer home dream of both families, lay in silted waste. Grandeur cut at the ankles, before it could stand tall. Ten years of decrepit abandonment wrapping the corpse in smothering sheets of rot and weed.
Let's see, Petra thought, It should be right about…here!
Petra pried off the rotting wooden door and scraped the gunk out of an alcove in the wall. A delicate latticework of glassblown flux waited, prongs and springs ready to cradle a crystal of any size. Petra dug in her Locker and pulled out one of the final Mana Crystals Jasson had found back in Smill. Petra slotted the Mana crystal into the latticework, then latched the structure shut.
Why isn't it working? Petra thought, Do I need to clean them more? They should just need to make contact. I can barely see anythin- oh! Nevermind.
Petra found a flux switch and flipped it, which snapped and sparked with mana before the entire tunnel flickered to light.
"Fantastic!" Petra said, "I was wondering if they installed the light crystals already."
Petra took one of the Earth crystals out of her locker and grinned. This would be a lot easier than she thought. Just three Earth Crystals with the right settings, and she would be able to begin construction tomorrow.
****
Petra stood, tapping her foot as the air in her bubble grew thin. Why was this door here? It wasn't the secret passageways that were on the blueprints. And the rock around it looked…crumbled. A decade of neglect shouldn't have done that to stone. It looked like they'd built a door where a hole had been.
And it was sealed shut with rusting iron hinges and stuck iron bars. The door itself was solid iron as well. Petra wasn't the best with metals, but she could probably get this open. Except…
Petra scraped off some rust and discovered a complex network of flux lining the door, leading to a small latch door in the middle. Petra focused on her Earth Crystal and screeched the tiny door open, protesting rust aerosolizing from the force of her magic.
Petra gasped.
"This is a sealing array," Petra said, eyeing the matrix of Earth and Mana crystals in the middle of the door, "What kind of powerful thing is it supposed to contain? Is this a prison cell? Did we build a dungeon?"
But she was running out of air. Besides, she'd have plenty of time to inspect this later. Petra shut and latched the little door, then marched back the way she'd come. Her job was done, the first level of bonding engaged to what should be the proper level.
It was time. Before they went to a Ball, risking it all to find favor with the Just Duke Peckishire, they needed to be able to defend themselves. It was time to finish the foundations.
Half of them, anyway.
End of Arc 2: Needs