Ch 14: A Trade Deal

When the morning arrived Baldeur came down for breakfast before hiding back in his room. Levanya was worried about her son but decided to give him some space.

This was what he was hoping for.

After leaving a letter on his bed just in case Levanya checked on him, Baldeur made his way secretly to the attic and out the window. This time he didn't use any Sources to hide.

There was a good chance that Pantel had someone watching their home. With his current abilities it was doubtful that he'd be able to fool anyone actively watching.

He didn't think there was much of a risk behind his actions. They already had his father, so he figured it was unlikely that they would try to kidnap him as well, until it became obvious that his mother wasn't going to give in.

After running across a few roofs, Baldeur tied a rope to a chimney and climbed into a back alley.

It took him nearly an hour to arrive at his destination.

The Zeerous Trade Company was one of the oldest and largest merchant houses in the City of Gates. They have also been known to resist the control of the district's Dukes when it came to making profits.

As he entered the fancy decorated building, a few people gave him weird looks because of his age. Baldeur ignored them and walked to the receptionist.

"Good morning ma'am. I have an important letter for Master Volundr al'Ramara." Baldeur handed over a sealed envelope.

"Thank you. I'll send it along." The receptionist said.

"Forgive me but I was instructed to wait for a response and I was told it was time sensitive." Baldeur said.

"Can I ask who this is from?" She asked.

"I was told not to say." He replied.

"Master Volundr is a busy man. I don't know when he'll be able to read this." She said.

"That's fine, I can wait. I just hope Master Volundr won't be angry with the delay." Baldeur said.

The receptionist pursed her lips. This was just some random messenger boy and if it wasn't that important, she'd get in trouble.

"Wait right here." She said.

Baldeur obediently stepped to the side.

The receptionist walked up to Master Volundr's office and handed the envelope to his secretary.

"The messenger said he wasn't allowed to say who it was from and that it was time sensitive." The receptionist said.

"Hmm. I'll take a look at it. Just make sure the kid doesn't cause any trouble." The trade office manager's secretary said.

She was a busty bunny beast kin named Ulmira.

When she opened the envelope she found a diagram with several different colored lines laced together. She recognized it as a Laksulm pattern.

While she didn't know much about patterns she could tell it was intricate and not complete. A few of the lines were gray dashes that didn't indicate what elemental thread they should be.

Since Master Volundr's Source was Laksulm, she might as well show it to him.

As she walked in, her boss was scowling at some reports.

"That bastard in acquisitions keeps trying to buy Golden Hay Tarps for transportation. As if we can just throw gold at simple things." Master Volundr said.

"Should I have the accounting department check into possible bribes?" Ulmira asked.

"I guess we should have evidence before we sack him." Volundr said.

"You just received a mysterious letter. I'm not sure what to make of it." She said.

After taking the diagram from her, Volundr looked it over. At first he was disinterested at the disruption but the more he looked at it, the more his eyes widened.

"Where did this come from?" He breathlessly asked.

"A messenger boy brought it just now. He wouldn't say who it is from but the boy is waiting for a reply." She said.

"Bring him to me." He said.

Ulmira nodded.

When she arrived in the lobby, she found a boy standing quietly to the side. After confirming with the receptionist that he was the messenger, she approached him.

"Master Volundr will see you now." Ulmira led him to the office and let him in.

Volundr had moved to his couches and had a tea set out with a few treats.

He stood up and shook the young boy's hand. The pattern he was delivered was so extraordinary that he wanted to make sure he could get as much information about it as he could. And quickly find out who sent it.

"Thank you for seeing me Master Volundr." Baldeur said.

"Thank you for delivering that letter. I hope that you can tell me more about it." Volundr replied.

The two sat opposite from each other and Volundr immediately felt like he was in an important trade deal.

"Could you tell me who sent this letter?" Volundr asked.

"I sent it." Baldeur replied.

Volundr was taken back. The pattern he saw was unique and contained techniques that he had never heard of. The way different threads were spliced together would change how he used his Source going forward.

"Where did you get it?" Volundr asked.

"I took it from my father's collection. To answer your next few questions. My father is Vivek Aslanbek of the Explorers Union. This is a copy of something he found on one of his expeditions. I gave this to you in order to get a meeting with you." Baldeur said.

"So what do you need from me? Your father is contracted with the Explorers Union. Why wouldn't you go to them?" Volundr said.

"Pantal Nievok currently has my father captive. I'm coming to you because the Explorers Union has abandoned him." Baldeur said.

Volundr wasn't too surprised. His spies in the Explorers Union had already informed him that the once rising star was no longer in Hogarth's good graces because he scaled back his involvement for his family.

He was also aware that Pantel had been pursuing Vivek's wife over the past few years. His own people have had run-ins with Pantel and Volundr has been to see Duke Nievok on more than one occasion about his son's dealings.

"If you want me to intervene in this matter, I'd need something more than an incomplete pattern." Volundr didn't think the boy fully understood how valuable this diagram was.

"What I offer is myself." Before Volundr could respond Baldeur held out his hand.

'Let Darkness Part and Light Pierce the Veil. Fire is an Imitation and All Life is Sustained. Shine Bright By My Will: DAYLIGHT.'

A weak miniature sun appeared above his palm. Volundr recognized the strength of a second circle spell.

Soon Baldeur began to sing and the sun broke apart and turned into glowing threads that stretched around the room.

This was followed by a pale green energy moving through the glowing threads turning them to ice. As Baldeur clenched his fist the ice threads burst into snowflakes.

Volundr controlled his surprise and used a thread of fire to get rid of the falling snow. Even though Baldeur looked completely worn out from the display, Volundr knew that these spells were impressive for someone his age.

"I see. This definitely makes my involvement more likely." Volundr said.

"I can only directly speak for myself but I have three siblings that each have two Sources. My father is in the imperial realm of Qi and my mother is a sixth circle mage who is known for the quality of her scrolls. If you help our family, all of us would be in your debt." Balduer said.

Volundr thought for a minute. Hiding a three Source child wasn't completely out of the question but it didn't fully make sense to him either.

Threads of air pulled a box from one of Volundr's shelves. He pulled out a gray orb and placed it in front of Baldeur.

"If you wouldn't mind placing your hand on this and using your Sources on it." Volundr said.

Baldeur controlled his Sources to only show blue, yellow, and green within the Source testing orb.

Volundr's smile grew as he watched the results.

Baldeur thought he was impressed by the power he was showing. If he knew the truth he would have regretted coming here.

Since Volundr had Laksulm as a Source he was able to understand what was happening inside the orb and knew when someone was trying to manipulate the readings.

He had suspected that the Aslanbeks weren't hiding a three Source child. From what he could tell, Baldeur had at least four Sources.

This was definitely worth his aid.