19 A Deal (1/2)

”Let's get to the most important question,” said Li as his eyes shifted from side to side, glancing at each of the three adventurers. ”What can you all do for us?”

Jeanne and Azhar looked at Sylvie, forwarding her as their spokesperson.

”It is my understanding that you wish to restart the herbalist's business,” said Sylvie. It was evident from her collected calm and articulation that she was used to being the talking one. ”Certainly, we would be more than willing to assist you in that endeavor. Especially since you are essentially inheriting Aine's knowledge – her homebrew formulas have seen no peer among the Rivieran pharmacies. When you finish learning her work-”

”I have her notes memorized down to every single word in my head.” Li tapped the side of his head. ”Courtesy of studying for the herbalist's exam. I'd be confident that even if that book burned, I'd still be able to do everything by heart. All I have to do is take the exam next week.”

Sylvie raised a silver brow in wonder. ”Excellent. Very much so.” She glanced back at Azhar and Jeanne. The two were seated behind her, eagerly watching her talk. ”Sometimes, I wish a little book smarts were more in order among the company I keep.”

”Hey now, don't take no book readin' to gut a monster,” said Azhar.

”That's right,” Jeanne pouted.

”I suppose so. On second thought, it's no real measure of good company, either,” said Sylvie with a faint smile. ”Apologies for the interruption, Li. Here is what I can propose. You have an air about you that leaves me without the slightest doubt that you will pass the exam. Your eyes are those of an academic, refined and with purpose, sculpted with drive.”

”Looking hard at his eyes, aren't you?” giggled Jeanne.

”Oh shush, you,” said Sylvie as she shook her head. Her demeanor remained calm this time around, perhaps because the topic at hand was professional by nature. ”Li, since you will receive your license the very same day you take the test, you will have but a week before you are eligible to begin your trade. For that, you require things other than knowledge.”

”Such as?” Li said.

Old Thane chimed in, ”A working stall, for one. There also used to be roofs over the herbal garden, but I have long let them rot away.”

”Precisely,” said Sylvie. ”It just so happens that we do have a builder in this very village that we could refer to you. In addition, I can guarantee you that there is no greater force to selling your wares than a silver-ranked adventurer singing your praises.”

Li nodded. ”In essence, you'll offer some marketing and a way to get a working stall built. What do you want in return?”

”Nothing,” said Jeanne. ”It is our duty to help those in need.”

”No, Jeanne, that's what you want, not them,” said Sylvie as she turned to meet Jeanne with a disapproving look.

”Wouldn't you want to help them as much as you could?” said Jeanne innocently.

”I do, but do they look like beggars to you? Like Li said, Thane is still a working man. He provides for himself. There is no reason for us to patronize them by offering charity.” Sylvie turned to Li again. ”I believe that getting first pick at your wares would be a fair deal, no?”

”Well, what do you think, Old Thane?” said Li.

”Hm.” Old Thane stroked his beard. ”I must say, young ones, it is a mighty strange feeling to have remembered you all as children and now to deal with you as men and women of the adventurer's trade. But it is a feeling that I am proud of. It shows how far you have come. But on this matter of business, I cannot say that it would be a fair trade.”

Sylvie cocked her head. ”Is that so? Do you believe perhaps that we are still offering charity? That the terms I have outlined are intentionally slanted in your favor?”

Old Thane laughed, his hearty voice echoing through the crowded walls of the cottage. ”Not so, little on. I daresay that you have offered us too little.”

Sylvie's eyes widened.

”I know how the land works,” continued Old Thane. ”I have felt it grow under my feet and tended it with my hands for years and years.” He showed his hands to everyone, how the dirt had caked into folds among calluses that had been etched deeply into the skin by decades of labor.

”When one works with life for so long, there develops a sense for growing, for knowing how life flows and how to nurture it. You can call it elderly superstition, aye, but I stand by it. It is that very sense that allows me to forego my sight and still tend to these lands.”

Old Thane proudly tapped Li's arm. ”This young lad here has talent. He has had that sense in him since the first day I took him in, and it has only grown with time. Now when I hear him move through the fields and the gardens, not a single movement wasted as he prunes and plants and weeds, he seems to me not man bending nature to his will, but nature itself.

Any herbs that he grows and mixes into elixirs will be of a quality unsurpassed, as if brewed by the forest goddesses themselves. Aine's memory will smile in his work.”

Li put a hand on Old Thane's shoulder and smiled. ”Thanks, old man.” He looked at Sylvie with a different kind of smile, one more expectant and pressuring. ”Hear that? Looks like the cost of my services have just gone up.”

”Excellent, because we have more to offer,” said Sylvie.