Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) Read online

  It took much patience and time, but eventually he weeded it down to the essential tools and what he called the ‘irreplaceable tools’ and they finally finished packing.

  Grae had a letter in his pocket from his master, as well as his pathmaking license; Siobhan had the information necessary to fill out the paperwork to start a guild with, so it was just a matter now of finding the right place to go.

  They were stopped inside the gates, of course, by the city enforcers. Siobhan put on her best smile and looked the enforcer dead in the eyes. “Hello. I’m Siobhan Maley, with me are Grae Masson and Beirly Kierkegaard. We’d like to move into this city and form a guild. Whom do we need to talk to?”

  The enforcer, a rough looking man with warm brown eyes, looked the three over somewhat dubiously. “What kind of guild?”

  “Escort,” she responded promptly, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate Grae. “He’s a Pathmaker.”

  His attitude did a 180 flip and he became much more excited and hospitable. “Is that right? Master Pathmaker, can I see your license?”

  Grae reached into his bag and drew it out, which the guard examined carefully before returning.

  “First Pathmaker we’ve seen in at least a decade,” he told them, a smile breaking out over his face. “We’re glad to see you. From Widstoe, you say? You put your cart right behind here, I’ll guard it for you, and I’ll call for someone to escort you to Darrens. He’s Guildmaster of Blackstone, the controlling guild of this city.”

  Siobhan’s head jerked back in surprise. “We need to report directly to the guildmaster?”

  “With a Pathmaker, you sure do,” the other enforcer pitched in, although he had to raise his voice to carry over the traffic coming in and out of the gate.

  “It’s a serious thing, not having a Pathmaker,” the first enforcer explained as he turned and waved someone over. “Darrens will be hot under the collar to have you. It’s not just the city commerce it’ll impact, but his own trading as well. He’s a fair man, Darrens, and if you’re honest about your needs, he’ll work out a good deal for you.”

  Siobhan took this advice to heart. “I’ll mind that.”

  Another, bulkier man that was running slightly to fat jogged over and gave them a nod of greeting. “Trouble?” he asked his comrade.

  “Opposite,” the enforcer responded. “This is…sorry, your name again?”

  “Siobhan Maley,” she greeted, extending an arm. “From Widstoe.”

  The man accepted the hand with a firm shake, hand rough with callouses. “Gage Halden.”

  “They’re here to form an escorting guild,” he continued the explanation with growing excitement. “This man here is a Pathmaker.”

  Gage’s eyes went wide, flew to Grae, and took him in with a quick sweep of the eyes. “Is that right. Licensed, sir?”

  “I am,” Grae responded, voice a little too quiet. “Do you need to see it?”

  “It’s confirmed. Gage, show them to Darrens?”

  “I will, certainly.” Gage gestured for them to follow, and he set out for the interior of the city. He did keep his pace slow enough to be able to talk to them as he walked, and kept to the right side to avoid being entangled in traffic. “Miss Maley, what made you decide on our fair city?”

  He might have meant that sarcastically, but in truth Siobhan was impressed with what she had seen so far. Goldschmidt was every bit as orderly and clean as Widstoe, which she had not expected, as every caravan boss had told her that Widstoe was one of the more attractive cities they had seen. “In truth, sir, it was a matter of adding up our needs and realizing Goldschmidt was the only city to fit the bill. We wanted a city on a trade route, large enough to protect our small guild, that didn’t already have a Pathmaker in residence.”

  “Ah,” he intoned with an understanding nod. “Goldschmidt’s the only one left in Robarge that fits those criteria. Well, we’re happy to have you. Once you get the paperwork done, tell us enforcers. We’ll pitch in to provide protection until you can gather your own people.”

  The offer was a generous one and it told Siobhan just how desperately they wanted a Pathmaker in residence. “I will, sir. Thank you. I admit it was a concern for us when we moved here.”

  “With only three members? I understand why. But don’t you worry, Darrens will make sure that you have enough protection when you’re going about.” Lowering his voice, he confided, “Just stick to the main streets as much as you can. We’ve been having issues with riff-raff coming in from other cities, or people getting caught here in between caravans, and they cause no end of trouble. Drives our guildmaster to drink, it does, but no matter what he tries, we can’t seem to get rid of them.”

  Grae made a dismayed sound.

  “You’ll be fine,” Gage assured him, “as long as you stick to the main streets or move about in a unit. They won’t attack a pair or trio going about. It’s just the lone man they see as a target.”

  That was a warning and Siobhan had every intention of following his advice to the letter. This was not her city yet, she had limited allies here, and if something did happen it would be up to the three of them to solve the problem. Best to avoid trouble altogether.

  Gage took them directly to the main guild’s compound. Siobhan saw several banners hanging on the walls and off the street lamps, all of them an abstract design of a black stone on a shield. She’d been told that the main guild here was called Blackstone. Their emblem was very straightforward.

  The compound was huge, sprawling in every direction, and had a rather open layout although some of the later additions had been crammed in. It was mostly made of brick and stone, but there were a few wooden buildings, and it was all connected with the same paving stones and very little grass. Gage stayed on the main path, never venturing off of it, so she had a limited perspective on just how far the place extended. Their guide stopped at a desk set up on a wide porch to what had to be the main building. A thin man with a hawkish nose and glasses looked up.

  “Gage. Who are these three?”

  “Siobhan Maley, from Widstoe, and…” Gage stopped and frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t get the rest of your names.”

  “Grae Masson, a Pathmaker, and Beirly Kierkegaard,” Siobhan finished. “We’re here to establish an escorting guild in Goldschmidt.”

  The man’s eyes went wide behind his glasses, mouth spreading in a smile of delight. “Are you now. Forgive me, Master Masson, but I will need to see your license.”

  For the second time that morning, Grae pulled it out and handed it over. After a quick, thorough look, it was handed back, and Grae put it carefully away.

  “We are perfectly delighted to see you,” the man informed them, standing and extending a hand. “I’m Hughes, First Hand to Darrens.”

  Meaning that he was in the top tier of leadership for this guild. Siobhan made sure her handshake was firm and confident. “A pleasure, sir.”

  “Our guildmaster is out in the city right now dealing with a few things, but he’ll undoubtedly want to meet you. In the meantime, I can do all of the paperwork for you to start a guild officially in this city.” Snapping a finger at Gage, Hughes commanded, “Find me two more chairs. Miss Maley, sit here, and start answering questions for me.”

  Siobhan sat as ordered, right next to his elbow, and rattled off answers as he filled in several forms. It was mostly information about them, their business plan, and what services they would offer. She thanked her stars that Beirly had forced them to sit down and draw up a business plan before ever leaving Widstoe, as she would not have been able to answer all of these questions otherwise, and would have seemed a little foolish.

  As she answered, Gage came back with two chairs so that Beirly and Grae could sit as well. Hughes flipped over the fourth page and then looked up. “The name of the guild?”

  “Deepwoods,” Beirly answered as he handed over a drawing. “This will be our logo. For now, at least.”

  Hughes took it, gave it a look, and shrugged. �
�That should be easy to duplicate. I have some that give me hideously complex designs. You have funds to start a guild with, I hope?”

  “Nine hundred and twenty-three kors,” Beirly stated factually. “I know it won’t be enough to buy a guildhall with, but we’re hoping to rent an office space until we can get going.”

  “Actually, it might.” Hughes stopped writing and gave the three a shrewd look. “There’s many a guild that starts up with too much money and not enough planning, only to fail six months in. They’re desperate at that point to sell their Halls quickly for whatever they can, recoup some of the loss. There’s four I know of in that situation right now. I can tell you where they are, if you wish.”

  Siobhan perked up and exchanged a look with the other two. That sounded promising, and they’d do better having a Hall at the start, as it wasn’t just a location for people to find them, but also a place to stay. They needed lodging just as badly. “We’d appreciate that, sir.”

  “Then I’ll give you the names and locations. Gage, if you’ll escort them? Then report to me where they end up.”

  “Yes, Master Hughes.”

  Hughes opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out two rolled scrolls, which he promptly unrolled. Siobhan saw that they were identical, contract of terms for being a guild under Blackstone. “Read this through. If you have no objections, sign both copies. All three of you will need to.”

  Siobhan took one and adjusted it so that Beirly and Grae could read it without trying to do so upside down. She was trusting Beirly to catch anything tricky as he had more experience than she did with this sort of contract, but she read through as carefully as she could. Her eyebrows steadily climbed as she read through it. Blackstone promised protection from dangers inside of the city walls, and protection from any ‘sizeable force’ trying to attack the city as a whole. It gave her a bi-annual allowance for weapons and equipment specifically to keep her enforcers well-armed, although the way it was phrased would allow her to give weapons to anyone in the guild. It also gave her right to draw upon the enforcers of the city upon need. She kept waiting for a catch, for some clause that would say Blackstone took priority as a client, but all it demanded was first consideration for services and a trade discount of thirty percent.

  She shared a speaking look with Beirly and Grae.

  “These are more generous terms than we expected,” Beirly said to Hughes.

  “I have two types of contracts in my drawers,” Hughes informed them with frank cheerfulness. “The ones I give to people that we want to keep, and the other to people who are likely to fail. You’ve got a service we are in desperate need of. We want to keep you.”

  Siobhan couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re refreshingly honest, sir. Well, I have no problem with signing.”

  Grae took up a pen and just signed both, not even voicing a question.

  As Hughes watched them sign, he asked, “When can you start working? I have several caravans coming and going in this next week, and we’d prefer they go with a Pathmaker if possible.”

  “That entirely depends, sir, as to the state of your paths.” On this point, Grae was not shy, and he spoke more confidently than he had all morning. “I understand that it has been a long time since you had a Pathmaker in residence.”

  Hughes grimaced. “That is unfortunately true. We also don’t have many Pathmakers that go through here. Their routes, however they’re configured, seem to either bypass us or end before they get to the city. Most of the travelers we see come here in the usual fashion.”

  Grae sighed. “I took a look at my master’s map before coming. I don’t think you have any paths here that are still operable. I’ll likely need a week or three to build ones before I can actually start working.”

  Siobhan felt a shrewd moment come over her and she spoke before thinking, “Master Hughes, we’ll give you a further discount on the first three caravans if you give us manpower to build those paths with. We need stone gatherers. It’ll hasten the project along.”

  Locking gazes with her, Hughes calculated at high speed before asking, “How many men? How long?”

  She turned to Grae, who answered, “As many men as you can spare, at least six, and it depends on where these caravans are going and how large they are. If it’s going to be one of the more complex patterns, then it will take me anywhere between five to seven days to build just one path.”

  “Winziane is one of the destinations. Turton is another.” Hughes lifted his eyes to the ceiling, thinking, then grumbled and rummaged around in another draw before drawing out a logbook. “Here, take a look. On this page, this column, and down to here.”

  Grae leaned in closer, peering over the log. “Hmm, yes, you’ll need an evergreen pattern for both of these, likely. And with this one, I think we might have to split the caravan in half, there’s no way to transfer that much weight all at once without shaking the path. And this group going to Goodliffe? There’s no way to do that in a straight shot, the Umlaut’s Lakes get in the way. We’ll have to go from Winziane, to Baring, and then to Goodliffe to manage it.”

  “Build all three paths?”

  “The Pathmakers in Winziane already have paths built between Baring and Goodliffe,” Grae corrected. “We can use theirs. I just need to build a path from here to Winziane, assuming that the existing paths here are in as bad shape as I think they are. At the very least, I’m going to have to tear out parts of it and rebuild.”

  “So you’ll need six laborers for at least two weeks to get prepared for all of this.” Hughes tapped a finger on the log book, eyes narrowing. “Fifteen percent discount on the first three trips.”

  “Twenty,” Siobhan automatically countered, “and you do the advertising for us that we’re in business and where we’re located.”

  Beirly bit down on a protest and poked her in the ribs. She didn’t bat an eye.

  Hughes didn’t answer, eyes locked on her, but instead asked, “Who did you say was the guildmaster for Deepwoods?”

  “Siobhan is,” Grae and Beirly said in unison.

  Squawking in protest, she whipped around. “What? When did we decide that?”

  “We took a vote,” Beirly told her seriously.

  “While you weren’t around,” Grae added, eyes twinkling. “The majority carried.”

  “You rats,” she fumed. “If anyone should be guildmaster, it’s you, Beirly. You have more experience than I do in running a business.”

  “No, I think they made a good choice,” Hughes disagreed. “It’s clear to me that you’re a natural at this. Alright, Guildmaster Maley, you have a deal. We’ll take that twenty percent discount and will do all of the advertising for you for the first three months that you are in business. I’ll have six men at your doorstep after breakfast tomorrow to help you with your pathmaking. Do we have a deal?”

  Trapped, knowing that she had the job whether she wanted it or not, Siobhan put on a game smile and shook the man’s hand. “Deal.”

  “Good.” Hughes drew out a clean sheet of paper and jotted down several names and locations, then handed them up to Gage. “Here. Guildmaster, I expect that Darrens will want to speak to you before the day is out, so be prepared for that.”

  In that case, while they were walking, she was definitely going to have Gage tell her where to get some good pastries. Talking business without food handy was anathema to her. “I will, sir, thank you.”

  “Good luck, Deepwoods. I look forward to having you in our city.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Siobhan stood, a copy of her contract with Blackstone in hand, and followed Gage off the porch and toward the compound gates. As they walked, she dropped back enough to hiss at her two childhood friends, “And when, exactly, did you two louts decide that I was to be the guildmaster?”

  “A while ago,” Beirly drawled.

  “It was never an ambition of mine to be a guildmaster,” she observed tartly. “In fact, I thought it was set that you would be guildmaster, Beirly.”

  “It�
�ll be good for you, Shi,” Beirly intoned, not in the least worried about gaining her ire.

  “And Master Hughes is right, you’re a natural at it,” Grae opined, trying to keep his face straight and failing miserably. “You spoke to him so comfortably, like you’d known him for years. Neither Beirly nor I can manage to connect to people like you can.”

  “You also have a talent for getting people to help you,” Beirly tacked on. “If I had been the one dealing with the man, we wouldn’t have a list of cheap guild halls in hand. Or three months of free advertisement from the main guild of this city, for that matter. You have a charm about you that makes people want to help you. That’s essential for a guildmaster to have.”

  All of that sounded fine and dandy, but Siobhan knew the real reason. “In other words, both of you would rather cut off your ears rather than be guildmaster.”

  “Exactly,” they said in unison.

  Gage, ahead of them, started laughing.

  “A fine pair you are,” she groused. “And quit that, Master Gage, it’s not that funny.”

  “Just Gage is fine,” he told her, looking back over his shoulder. “I have a feeling that we’ll be friends before the day is out. Tell you what, new guildmaster, why don’t I treat the three of you to an early lunch? And then we’ll go shopping for your new guildhall.”

  “That’d be a fine thing. And introduce me to a good bakery as we go, as I need something on hand for when Guildmaster Darrens comes.”

  “I will,” Gage assured her. He paused a step so that she was now walking evenly with him, and took the time to point out good places to shop, and even called some people over and made introductions.

  Siobhan felt the city settle into her bones a little more with each step, each new face, as the people did their best to make her new guild feel welcome. Every corner they turned, people were delighted to hear that an escorting guild was making its home there, and a few offered little gifts of welcome, making Siobhan smile and promise a visit later after they were properly settled.