Shalador's Lady

has walked roads even darker than the ones Tersa has traveled.” But this was not something he wanted to think about right now, so he said, “Gentlemen. Let’s talk about doing business.”

TERREILLE
    Thank the Darkness neither of us have to drive this Coach, Ranon thought as he and Gray huddled in the comfortable back compartment of the SaDiablo Coach provided by Daemon. They’d had a delicious dinner. At least, he assumed it was delicious. He couldn’t remember a single bite of it. Afterward, Sadi had opened the Gate next to the Hall and instructed one of the drivers who worked for the SaDiablo family to take his guests back to Dena Nehele. So they were heading home directly from the Hall, riding the Opal Winds.
    “Mother Night, Gray,” Ranon said, keeping his voice low even though they couldn’t be heard through the closed door separating their compartment from the driver’s. “Five million gold marks. Do you have any idea how much that is?”
    Gray shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gold mark. I got a ten silver mark once for my birthday, and I thought it was a fortune. Do you really think we could spend that many gold marks?”
    Ranon took a deep breath and felt his body tremble as he breathed out. “Wouldn’t be hard to do. We’ve had so little for so long, it wouldn’t be hard to do. Paying it back is a different thing altogether.”
    “Shops and supplies,” Gray said. “Forage for the animals if the harvest falls short this year.”
    “Food for us if the crops fall short this year,” Ranon said. Although with so many Blood dead in the past two years, having people starve was less likely. Having the crops rot in the fields because there weren’t enough hands to harvest them was a possibility, even if the Blood used Craft and drained their power every day to get the harvest in.
    “We’ll have to find the right kinds of buildings for the shops Daemon wants.”
    “We’ll find them.”
    Ranon closed his eyes. A music shop like the one he’d seen in Halaway. A room where the Tradition Keepers like his grandfather could teach openly what had been forbidden for so many years. And Sadi’s gift . . .
    “ It’s not the same, ” Daemon had said, “ but the music of Scelt has a complex simplicity that I think is similar to Shalador’s music. At least as I remember it. You might enjoy it. ”
    The music crystals and the brass stand. Such a simple thing, really, and not so simple. Like Sadi casually pointing out some folk music from Dharo that could be played on a flute.
    Sharing customs. Sharing hopes.
    Kind of funny, actually. Now that the Shaladorans could honor their own traditions, it didn’t sting to look beyond his own people and consider what other traditions might have to offer.

KAELEER
    A quick scan of the messages that had arrived that afternoon confirmed that nothing required his immediate attention, so Daemon went up to Jaenelle’s sitting room. When she marked her place in her book and set it aside, he took that as an invitation. He picked her up, then sat down in the stuffed chair with her on his lap.
    “Our guests are on their way home?” She ran her fingers through his hair, a soothing caress.
    “They are.” He called in Jared’s journal and held it up for her to see.
    “They didn’t want it?” Disappointment filled her voice and eyes.
    “They want to preserve the original and also be able to share the contents. Cassidy sent a note with the journal asking if the Queen’s gift could be extended to having a couple of copies made so that people could read Jared’s account of his journey with Lia.”
    She studied him. “That doesn’t sound like an extravagant request.”
    “It’s not. It’s also not a practical request.”
    “Ah. And what would my darling Prince consider a practical request?”
    He shrugged. “A thousand copies would be a good start.”
    She laughed. “What are you going to do with a thousand copies?”
    “For one thing, sell them in the merchant’s shop I’m opening in Eyota. They can buy the book there, then go over to the coffee shop I’m also opening and read while enjoying a cup or two of their favorite beverage.”
    She hooted. “How many shops did Gray and Ranon talk you into opening?”
    He laughed with her. “Four. Plus a loan the court can use to help the people start rebuilding their lives and villages.”
    Then his laughter faded. He cuddled Jaenelle, needing that comfort.
    “What’s troubling you?”