Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

teacher’s face and a grin soon followed, “A meaningful project… A feast more nourishing than any food you could offer. You certainly know how to welcome a man back into the fold.” He picked up the ivory, “For the seal?” Cooper nodded, “I still have to get you an example so you can make the carving match it, but I’ll work on that. You just put together the wording and make the writing look perfect.” Mister Ysel was rubbing his hands together and Cooper reminded him, “Eat. You look like a sliver of your old self.” Mister Ysel patted his trim midsection, “It’s probably better that I lost some weight, but I’ll admit that I don’t feel right without a little excess. I’ll work on that, too.” Cooper left the supplies with him and stepped to join Miss Camilla. She’d been delayed by a series of greetings and short conversations. It seemed that she knew everyone in the House. He waited patiently for her to finish seeing to each person, then gestured that she should follow him. As they left the House he told her, “Keep those necessary supplies in mind, miss. Add them to whatever needs you identify for the next House. It’s over by the Brickmaker’s kilns. None of those people are Guild, though before all is done we might recruit a few, if not several, of them.” Miss Camilla had become silent. Now she asked, “These Houses in Miller’s Flats, they haven’t always been Guild owned, have they?” Cooper shook his head, “We recently bought them so we could assess the work of several masons and carpenters. As it stands now, it was fortunate that we did.” She was quickly sorting through all she’d learned today, “You have been busy, haven’t you?” The corner of his mouth turned up again. There was no point in repeating himself.

They remained silent until they reached the second House. Once inside Camilla spoke again, “I hadn’t heard anything about a quarry prison break but then, in my hiding place in Cleor’s shop, I don’t often stay abreast of the latest developments.” Cooper glanced around before he answered, “We did it during the thunderstorm last night. The rags they were wearing before we put them in dry clothes are probably still wet. My feet are likely wrinkled beyond recognition. I haven’t taken my boots off yet. Truth be told, I’m a little afraid to.” She smirked, “Afraid?” He chuckled, “Yeah.” He glanced around again, “Grief always said that if I were to dangle my feet off the boardwalk, all the fish in the bay would come to the surface. Half would be dead and floating and the other half would be gasping.” Miss Camilla smiled at that, then asked, “Grief?” Cooper shook his head, “I don’t know, miss. Either held in Serpent Tooth Prison, or already dead would be my most likely guesses. He wasn’t at the quarry.” Miss Camilla glanced east, “Serpent Tooth Prison…?” Cooper stopped her and looked her square in the eyes, “We’ll talk more later. Right now, these people need you.”

After she’d finished her assessment, Cooper took Miss Camilla’s shopping list to the first apothecary he’d visited earlier this morning. The shopkeeper greeted him with an ‘almost smile’, “Hello, young sir. So good of you to grace our shop again so soon… I hope.” Cooper smiled and held up his list, “Your competitor has lost his unfair advantage over you. I might suggest that you adjust your prices accordingly once you’ve reclaimed some of your previous clientele.” The old man nodded approvingly as Cooper continued, “I want to fill this list. While I realize that it’s still winter, and almost none of these items will be fresh, I don’t want to see you trying to pawn off two-year-old stock.” Before the man could protest the affront to his credibility as an apothecary, Cooper added, “I’ll know the difference.” The shop owner fell silent and he held his hand out to accept Cooper’s list. Part way through the list the owner confessed, “I don’t have a couple of these items. At least not in the condition you’ve specified here on your list. I hate to admit that Cleor might have them, but I even doubt that he does. There’s another apothecary, western side of the Trade Quarter. He’s likely to have most of what I can’t provide for you today. He keeps a larger inventory since he’s the closest apothecary to the University.”

Cooper thought about what the man had said and asked, “I know we own a percentage of your business.” The man deflated but Cooper continued, “I also understand the difficulties you face, owning a small shop and with a competitor so near. Let me ask openly, are you in a position to fill your shelves this spring?” The old man continued to look at his shoes and took a deep breath. Cooper saved him the anguish, “I ask this because I expect I’ll need to fill another order like this, but likely twice or even three times this size in a couple of months, maybe sooner. If you can be prepared to fill that order within that time, I’d be willing to pay in advance. No strings attached. And no ‘collections’ until we’ve concluded that business. Deal?” The old man looked stunned. He managed to stammer, “I can. I will. Yes, we have a deal!” He set to work feverishly tallying up the amount and paused, “So… this order, plus three more in two months’ time?” Cooper shrugged, “Perhaps sooner. Would forty days be too soon for you to manage?” The shop owner began counting on his fingers and reported, “The soonest I could be absolutely sure to manage would be a month, but that depends on the ship and the winds. Forty days should be enough, as long as the ship comes through.” Cooper glanced at the bill and asked, “How much more for the items you don’t have now? Those that I’ll