Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Bokuboy

“Oh, my god.” Hope whispered as she stared out the window of the carriage as we passed through the main part of the capital city. “How... how did people build all of this?”

Helena laughed softly and gripped my hand. “David's made many more impressive structures and defensive fortifications for the army. In fact, I made sure to keep a record of it all, with Gary's help of course, just so I could show it to my father.”

“Really?” Hope turned from the window to look at me. I wasn't sure what the expression was, however.

“You're going to miss the best part.” Helena said and pointed. “There's the bank.”

The coach stopped at a huge stone building that was the bank. It was one of the biggest structures in the city, only slightly smaller than the Mages Guild's main building and the magic academy. The castle where the royal family lived didn't count, since it was technically beside the city and not in it.

“Wowwww.” Hope whispered.

“Professional smiles and attitudes now.” Helena warned us and we both nodded. I tucked my pack under our seat, secured it with number ten potion, then stepped out of the open coach door. I repeated the proper way to help Helena step out and then helped Hope.

The three of us went inside the large building and we didn't immediately grab anyone's attention, even though I carried a fairly large canvas bag. We made it nearly halfway across the expansive space inside before a pair of quickly walking shoes made their way towards us.

“Lady Henrietta! It's a pleasure to see you again.” A thin man said as he came to a stop at a respectful distance. “My servant sent for me as soon as you entered the building.”

“Ah, Carson. Thank you.” Helena said. “I wouldn't normally drop in without an appointment...”

“It's fine, my lady. I always drop everything when an important client appears.”

“Even if it's another important client?” Helena asked, teasingly.

The man's face flushed red slightly. “I... would... ask for a brief pause.... to meet with you.”

Helena laughed. “It's all right. I wouldn't expect preferential treatment at the expense of another.”

The man let out a relieved sigh and nodded. “What can our illustrious institution do for you today?”

“We just came from Ferdinand's and I wanted to show off his latest creation.” Helena said a little loudly and her voice carried to every part of the large open space. A lot of people turned to look at us, as was her intention, and she made me do a turn to show off the new suit. She wanted to make sure that Ferdinand would know that she was true to her word. He would hear about it from several people within the hour.

The man chuckled. “Although that is a noble goal, this isn't a fashion show.”

“Isn't it?” Helena countered and laughed, as did a few people nearby. They all knew that it was an unspoken rule to show off when possible.

The man laughed in return.

“Actually, we are here for official business.” Helena said. “My fiance would like to open an account.”

Quite a few people took notice of her words and several inquiring glances came my way.

“That is wonderful news. Wonderful news.” The man said with a huge smile. “If it wouldn't be inconvenient for you, I could handle that personally.”

“I wouldn't want to take you from your duties.” Helena said. “I'm sure that another...”

“Nonsense.” The man waved her words away. “If he comes with your recommendation, there should be no problems.”

“I appreciate that.” Helena said. “Shall we go to your office to settle things?”

“Of course. If you would follow me?” The man said it like a question and then didn't wait for an answer and walked away.

We followed him to his office and sat down to discuss things. It was surprisingly simple to get an account set up under my own name and it wouldn't be associated to the Henrietta Family until Helena and I were married. The difficult part was when he asked for the amount to be deposited. I put the half filled canvas bag on his desk with a loud thump.

“This.. is this...” The man opened the bag and he took in a sharp breath. “Are you insane? How can you walk around with this much gold in a bag and not be surrounded by guards?”

“The chest was too conspicuous to carry across the country.” I said and he looked surprised.

“That's about a third of what he has.” Helena said as an explanation.

The man sat back in his chair and didn't know what to say.

“You're going to need quite a bit of help counting it all out and to carry it to the vault.” Helena prompted him.

“Y-yes, of course.” The man said. “Please, excuse me for a moment.”

He came back several minutes later with four women. They looked completely professional and were dressed in a similar outfit to the tutor ones Hope had bought earlier. The four of them quickly divided up the contents of the canvas bag between them and then started counting and stacking them.

Hope was completely stunned when they were done and told us the total. Helena and I had known what it was, since we had already counted it to put it in the bag, and the man behind the desk looked very pleased.

“I am very happy to welcome such a prestigious client to our bank.” The man said and reached a hand out to me to shake. “Please, let me know if you need anything. I'll do my best to provide what services I can.” He handed me his card with how to contact him or his secretary, and what I was to tell the shop owners when I bought things. Almost none of the nobles carried actual money on their person, unless they were leaving the capital on business.

The four women that had come in to count the money, gave both Helena and Hope longing looks. I didn't ask what it meant until we were outside and had climbed into the coach.

“Did you like any of them?” Helena asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Were they appealing? Were they pretty? Did you want to see them naked or take them home?” Helena asked with an odd tone to her voice.

“Why would I want to take them home?” I asked back. “Was I supposed to look at them and...”

“No, if you didn't, then that's fine.” Helena said with her normal voice and beamed a happy smile at me. “New clients usually get a choice of servants from the bank workers.”

“Why would I need another one so soon?” I asked, confused.

Hope put her hand on my knee. “David, it's not something you need to worry about. Helena and I will take care of you from now on. You don't need anyone else.”

“Until we move.” Helena said and we looked at her. “Once we're married, we'll be given our own section of the lands to govern over. There's no way that one person can care for an entire household. We'll need a staff of five or more, with one or two cooks and at least three maids.”

“Three?” Hope asked and looked a little worried.

“You can relax, Hope. Someone will need to be put in charge.” Helena said, quite diplomatically.

Hope took a deep breath, then nodded. “I'll prove I'm worthy of the post by then. I'm sure of it.”

Helena nodded back and the three of us remained silent for the ride back to the Henrietta Family's lands. When we arrived, the carriage dropped us off at the front door and Hope and I retrieved our things from under the seats. We had barely stepped off of the coach steps when the front door of the large mansion opened and a younger version of Helena ran out to us.

“Helena! Why didn't you stop in before going to town? I would have gone with you!” The younger version of her exclaimed.

Helena laughed and took her little sister into her arms and I saw that the younger one was half a head shorter. “Selena, I would have had to greet father if I did that, and I couldn't greet father without being properly attired.”

“Properly attired? What do you mean?” Selena asked and her eyes roamed around and finally fell upon me. She caught her breath and stared at me with her eyes wide and unblinking.

“My dear little sister, this is my fiance, David.” Helena said as she let her sister go and turned her to face me. “I would have insulted the whole family if I hadn't dressed him first.”

“My lady.” I said and carefully took Selena's hand and bent over to kiss it. “It's an honor to meet you.”

Selena's face turned bright red and I wasn't sure if she was breathing.

“I've told her all about you, of course.” Helena said to me as she gave her sister a little squeeze to get her to start breathing again. “Except for this latest development where you healed yourself, since I didn't find that out until we were coming back here.” She laughed softly. “I was enjoying the trip so much that I forgot to send a message ahead.”

“Yes, you conveniently forgot to tell us you were coming right back with a mongrel.” A male voice said, derisively. We all turned to see a well dressed man. He had a young face and yet he looked old as well. “If you put a suit on a dog, it's still a dog.”

“Marcus!” Selena spat.

“Actually, it's a well dressed dog.” Hope said.

“I wasn't talking to the help.” Marcus glared at her. “You should remember to not speak unless spoken to.”

Hope opened her mouth to respond and Helena stepped in front of her and shook her head.

“Even though he just spoke to you, that wasn't an invitation to speak.” Helena whispered.

“But...”

“Pick your battles and your battlegrounds. Do not try to fight him verbally on his own terms.” Helena warned. “He will always win if you are unprepared.”

Hope sighed a little and nodded.

“I'm glad my sister was smart enough to interfere on your behalf. I rarely bother conversing with a trollop.”

Both Selena and Helena took in sharp breaths, so I didn't have to ask if what he said was bad. I took three steps, pulled my knife from my bandoleer inside my pack, and levelled it under his chin.

“Say one more bad thing against my personal maid and you'll lose your tongue.” I said to him.

Marcus looked deathly afraid for a second, then he smiled. “You wouldn't dare hurt me in front of my father.” He said and I felt a buildup of magic.

“If you cast a spell against me, I'll kill you.” I warned him and looked over his shoulder. “Grand Mage Henrietta, if you don't make your son behave himself, I will kill him and you won't have an heir anymore.”

Grand Mage Henrietta only hesitated for a moment, then he reached out and put a hand on his son's shoulder. “Stop.”

Marcus looked shocked. “F-father, I... I was just...”

“You will not win a dominance game with him, despite what you have been told.” Grand Mage Henrietta said and nodded to me. “Remove your knife, please.”

I pulled the knife back and stashed it back into the bandoleer.

“I received a message this morning from Lady Sandra Rivers, from the new garrison commander at the new front, and from the castle.” Grand Mage Henrietta said and gave me a stony look. “The princess has been medically discharged from the army after losing her arm.”

Marcus looked confused. “What does that have to do with...”

“That knife removed it.” Grand Mage Henrietta said.

“WHAT?” Marcus yelled and then composed himself. “I'm sorry for yelling. What do you mean, the knife did it?”

“The princess, in her Colonel persona, disrespected and robbed this man. He dealt with her as he saw fit.”

“But... she's the first princess! How could he get away with...”

“Thieves are dealt with harshly in more rural areas.” Grand Mage Henrietta said.

“It wasn't the first time.” I said and the two men looked at me. “I let it go the first two times, because I was a conscript and no one was going to defend me. Once I was free and became a civilian, the third time she stole my things, I could enact a proper punishment without killing her.”

“She almost died.” The Grand Mage Henrietta said.

“No, I sent for the healers as soon as she admitted her crimes.” I corrected and he looked surprised. “I made sure that they were there as soon as her arm was removed. They started healing her immediately.”

“It's true, father.” Helena said and stepped beside me. “I was there and argued with the princess over her harsh treatment of David. She admitted that instead of just releasing him like she was supposed to, she removed everything he had worked hard for and earned during his time in the army, then gave him a dishonorable discharge instead of the medical discharge he should have gotten.”

“He doesn't look medically unfit.” The Grand Mage Henrietta said.

“He healed himself while we came here to get the rest of the kingdom and the army to listen to reason.” Helena said. “I was going to tell you all about it after we formally greeted you.”

The Grand Mage Henrietta gave her a disbelieving look.

“I was!” Helena said, her face slightly red. “I was also going to send a message and I forgot.”

“She was enjoying the trip here too much.” Selena said with a slightly evil smile.

“She was, was she?” Her brother Marcus said, his smile was much more predatory.

“Enough.” Grand Mage Henrietta said and they fell silent. “Selena, take the maid to the guest quarters and get her settled. Marcus, go get your mother. She's at the Longshore Estate.”

“Yes, father.” Selena and Marcus said as one.

Marcus took off at a fast walk to the stables and Selena waved at Hope to get her to follow her.

When they were gone, Grand Mage Henrietta looked at his daughter. “Wait for me in the main parlour. I have some things to handle while we wait for your mother to come back.”

“Yes, father.” Helena said and took my hand. I had to assume I was included in her instructions, because her father didn't say anything as she led me by him and into the house.