Robin Hobb - City of Dragons

“Well, it was ridiculous! The notion that any Trader would conspire with Chalcedeans, let alone back out on an honorable contract! So the Council righteously refused to pay him. Nonetheless, the very next day, he outfitted his ship extensively, drawing on a credit line from the Khuprus family. I don’t need to remind you that the Khuprus family controlled the lion’s share of wizardwood from Trehaug for years. With that trade taken from them, Jani Khuprus has probably been looking for a new investment for her family. She’s no fool. My suspicion is that they have struck a deal of their own with this Leftrin and are making a grab for a fresh find.

“In addition, it has come to my attention that Captain Leftrin sent birds to Bingtown to put in orders for livestock! Breeding animals. Sheep, goats, and chickens. And seed grain and other seeds. Vine stock and two dozen young fruit trees. Put that together with certain hints dropped by crew members, and you have arable land. It’s very possible they’ve made the most substantial discovery since Trehaug was first uncovered.”

Hest was numbed into silence. He knew his father had spies, people who were prone to reading their masters’ messages, people in Trehaug and Cassarick who would send off a bird at the merest rumor of a good bargain. But this was beyond any rumor of wealth that his father had ever gambled on.

“Well. I see by your open mouth that you are finally listening to me! So let me put the rest of it together for you: Alise, as a member of that expedition, has a rightful share to what they’ve discovered. Because the Tarman expedition is claiming ownership of not just knowledge of the route but the discovery itself. The Trehaug and Cassarick Councils are disputing it, saying that as they hired the ship and hunters, whatever was discovered is theirs. The Tarman expedition captain and the keepers who went off with the dragons are disputing that, of course… Look at you, gaping like a fish! You’ve paid no attention to any of this, have you? All you cared about was that your wife was gone and you and your bachelor friends could sprawl and drink and carouse as you pleased in her home!”

That nettled Hest. Bad enough that his father had considered that angle thoroughly and it had not even occurred to him, without the further insult of his father’s mockery of his surprise. “ Her home? It happens to be my home, and surely I am free to do as I wish there and entertain whom and how I please.”

“Certainly you’ve done plenty of that over the years,” his father complained. “I know the sort of entertaining you indulge in. And I suspect that it may be why your wife prefers the company of your secretary over yours.”

Hest commanded his face to stillness. A sip of wine to gain time to recover his aplomb. Do not allow the conversation to go in that direction. Do not confirm, do not deny, do not confront.

“I’m not sure, truthfully, that Sedric was the object of her attention or even that he has anything to do with her absence. True, his failure to return home with or without her is decidedly odd and very unlike Sedric. But she did not ‘run off with him’ as some imply, for I was the one who chose that he would accompany her. He was not at all pleased with the idea of a Rain Wild journey.” Another sip of wine, and then he rose and strolled casually to the window. “We’ve had too much rain this year. I fear the roses will suffer from the sodden ground and the quick cycle of thaws and freezes.”

He waited until he heard his father draw breath to speak and then quickly interrupted him. “You know that I’ve been back in Bingtown less than twelve days from my last trading trip. The first three days were spent disposing of the trade items I’d bought and then in catching up on my sleep and recovering from my travels. I’ve not had much time to do more than that. And I told you of the dreadful accident to my hand; it’s been very painful and I haven’t been able to tend to business as I usually do. So perhaps you should give me the full benefit of what you’ve heard about the so-called Tarman expedition. The messenger birds you sent were helpful, but one can scarcely get full information from a tiny roll of paper.”

His ruse worked, as it almost always did. Cede his father a bit of authority, stroke his vanity with the thought that he was the expert in a situation, and he immediately calmed. Hest returned to his chair and sat in it, leaning forward expectantly, hoping he would be able to sort the facts he needed from his father’s tendency to overexplain. His expectation that his father would first begin by criticizing him was well founded.

“Well, why you let Alise go off to the Rain Wilds alone, I will never understand, but that I suppose is where we must begin.”

Hest dared to interrupt. “I could not prevent her, Father. It was in the terms of our marriage contract—that if and when she wished to do so, I’d permit her to travel to the Rain Wilds to continue her study of the Elderlings and dragons. At the time I thought it was just an eccentricity of hers, a leftover dream from her lonely life as an unwed woman. I thought she’d forget such ambitions once she was married with a household of her own to manage. And for years, she did. But when she insisted last spring that she would go, I could not refuse her. Nor could I cancel my trading trip to the Spice Islands. So I did what I thought best and put her in the care of Sedric Meldar. He’s been my right-hand man for years now and had been a childhood friend of Alise. They’ve always gotten along well. I trusted Sedric to be the sensible one of the pair. I thought she’d make the journey, discover how uncomfortable and provincial Trehaug is, and immediately come back to Bingtown. Truthfully, Father, I expected them to be home long before I returned to Bingtown.”

“If you are finished,” his father said severely when Hest paused for breath, “I’ll continue what I was trying to tell you.”

Hest hated his father’s paternalism, his assumption that he was far shrewder and much wiser than his son would ever be. But in this instance, he had information that Hest had not yet acquired. Keep silent. Nod.

“Alise and Sedric were in Cassarick when the Tarman expedition was forming up. Now, as I read the contracts, for I’ve been able to get copies of them, the Rain Wild Traders’ Councils at both Cassarick and Trehaug hired a dozen or so heavily changed youngsters to accompany the dragons as keepers and tenders. They also hired two hunters and chartered the barge Tarman, the oldest liveship that exists by the way, to accompany the expedition and provide support for them. The Councils paid for the supplies that were loaded onto the ship. Keepers, hunters, and the shipowner were given half their pay as an advance, with the rest to be collectible when they returned to Cassarick after settling the dragons elsewhere.” His father laughed, a brief, dismissive sound. “I’ll wager they never expected to have to pay out much of that second half!”

“How did Alise get involved? That’s what I don’t understand.” Hest spoke earnestly, hoping to nudge his father beyond the obvious.

“I’ll get to that. What is important for us to see here is that the contract does not mention Kelsingra by name, nor is there any specific language about searching for an Elderling city. It says only that the keepers are to find a place that is safe for the dragons to settle. And that if the dragons die before they do so, the Council will regard the contract as fulfilled. Not voided, mind you. Fulfilled.”

“And that is significant because?”

Trader Finbok’s eyes, always heavy lidded, narrowed even more as he looked at his son with disgust. “I should think it would be obvious. If the contract stated only that the purpose of the expedition was to resettle the dragons, then the keepers and the hunters and the ship’s crew have fulfilled their contract. Once the Councils pay them, their mutual obligations are finished. Neither Council has any claim on anything else that may have been found, such as arable land, or a deserted city, or information that the expedition gathered, such as charts of the waterways.