After the meal, Sarel took his winter supplies list and went off on her own, sending Defi and Vesia back to the company in the carriage.

How did she even know he had a list?

On second thought, he did not need to ask. It was Aire. Of course it was Aire.

Though, the way Ascharonians sent gossip around was something to note.

Tennar, somehow, knew what had been deliberated at the foodhall before they set foot into the Bluzand front door. The manager directly sent Vesia to sign promotion paperwork and took Defi to his office for a discussion.

Efficient.

Defi was impressed.

Still, while Sarel was the owner, Tennar was the one who was in charge of the details.

And he wasn't happy.

Defi understood. After all, Bluzand was a merchant organization. They must operate at the lowest cost and effort to produce the highest quality and profit that they could. If the cost was too high or the profit too low, it was more prudent to simply cut away a partnership than keep it.

But then there was the fact that human beings did not operate on simply cost-profit considerations. They had ties and limits, feelings and values. It was a balance that was constantly shifting.

Currently, Defi was high on the quality and profit column as well as the human consideration column.

That is to say, he had leverage. Even if he did not state so outright, Tennar was aware of where Defi stood as well. As long as Defi did not push too far, he would get most of what he wanted.

Probably.

"You understand that you are asking far more leeway than we give our supply partnerships." Tennar tapped his finger on the desk, the soft regularity of the rhythm somehow still agitated. "This level of control is frankly unprecedented."

"And yet you have not outright refused."

The bitterness in Tennar's eyes could not be completely hidden. "You have surely appeared at the most auspicious time."

Defi gave him an innocent smile, slightly sympathetic. "As you know, that is not my doing."

It was Sarel that brought him here, and the timing was hardly anyone's fault. Sarel knew that he had no ties outside the Lowpool, much less with Bluzand's enemies. It was one reason she had been willing to agree to so much in Defi's favor.

That he had come at a time that the company needed a strong presence to push past its vicissitudes was just coincidence.

Truly, for this deal, he was still leaning on Sarel's influence.

He vowed to repay her in the future. He was not someone who forgot debts owed.

"That may be so," Tennar sighed. "but to apply the same conditions to all your products – that is something I must refuse."

"The lotion?"

"Indeed. In the form that the substance was given to us, I can only see it as unfinished. To sell it as is would be difficult unless we sold it to a manufactory as raw material, and that route is a joke compared to what potential profits Bluzand would rake in if we did the manufacturing ourselves. The problem is that manufactory effort on the part of Bluzand may be troublesome."

Defi thought back to the information he had unearthed while searching for product ideas. "Because the apothecary's guild will say you are infringing on their prerogatives."

Tennar nodded sharply. "To create a sellable product with your lotion, a period of research and trial is needed to ensure that the result can be used without side-effects. I have no one who can do so within Bluzand's current ranks, and have been discreetly making enquiries. The conclusions from multiple sources are as one: Bluzand needs a guild apothecary."

"Who will no doubt have obligations to spy for their guild."

"As you say." Tennar's brow furrowed in distaste.

There were many laws forbidding the guilds from exerting too much influence over trade in the empire, but their power was still undeniable because of the trade secrets they held. Defi's studies mentioned that the trade guilds controlled the education of their members.

The techniques, the methods, the materials, the support – even if a guild could not create monopolies, who knew what oaths their members swore to have access to the treasure trove of knowledge and resources that lay within each guild, what lengths each guild would go to protect or add to their 'trade secrets'.

Tennar's tone bore an annoyance that had been compounded for many years.

"It is common for members of guilds to modify contracts so as not to conflict with their oaths. Of course, the particulars of their oaths are not something that they can tell."

In such a manner, any contract involving a member of an official trade guild would have loopholes.

The apothecary's guild was widespread and their products were sought after. This was enough influence that if they decided to turn their eyes on Bluzand, it would be troublesome as Tennar said.

"You are searching for apothecaries who would be willing to sign a secrecy contract??Have you asked Sarel?"

Defi was fairly certain Lemat would work for Bluzand if it was Sarel doing the asking. The expression on the man's face when he said he had killed all Sarel's detractors was still fresh in the eye of Defi's mind. Also, Lemat's apothecary business was closed four days out of the week. He couldn't be so busy.

"The lady has no suggestions."

Aha, of course that route would not be easy. Defi did not know what relationship the two had. Sarel appeared not to like dealing with Lemat but also she cooked for him if he showed up, and he seemed content to stay on the fringes of her life. He was never sure if they loathed each other or decided to be stuck to each other mutually.

Well, Lemat popped up in Defi's location once a week or so. Asking the irritating man about apothecary techniques would go a long way to alleviating the annoyance.

Alchemy was not something Defi knew much of, but he could make the basic concoctions. How different could it be from apothecary techniques?

Besides, the slime extract would be doing most of the work.

"If I were to create a formula that would 'finish' a product using the lotion, what would Bluzand offer me in return?"

Tennar blinked at him. "A hypothetical?"

"Perhaps."

"I cannot give you a profit percentage on that. But you were willing to sell the formula, apart from giving you a favourable deal for the materials...." Tennar eyed him, gaze sharp. "What did you have in mind?"

Defi's lips slanted in a half-smile.

*

Tennar sent Defi out with Vesia, to register with the Tesorium as an independent merchant. Vesia took the initiative to assuage her curiosity about the slime the young man carried around all the time.

He stared at their backs, considering. "My lady, where did you find him?"

"He just floated by my house one day." The lady appeared at his side. "I fed him once and he never left."

"You have no patience for strays."

"I still wonder why you're still here, were that so." Her lips curved. "Perhaps I'm getting sentimental and starting to miss the noise in my old age."

"You look the same as when I first met you, my lady." Tennar bowed her into his office.

The lady snorted amusement, sat down while Tennar made tea.

Tennar glanced back in the direction the two young people disappeared to as he poured hot water. He looked at the pile of paper on his desk, the final result of nearly two hours of intense haggling. "The contract has been signed."

"Which one?"

"The third, with modifications."

The lady nodded.

"My lady, did you tell him it was possible to ask for shares?" Tennar had been surprised when the young lad had made the offer. He placed a teapot on the low table, along with a selection of pienplati, and sat across from the lady who had raised him and the Bluzand company at the same time.

"The boy isn't someone to make a deal without at least looking into the situation." The lady leaned back in her chair. "I'm actually surprised he signed today. I was expecting him to poke around the place more, and sign tomorrow."

Tennar hid a smile behind a bite of smoked ham. The lady often neglected to take her influence into account. Even more so now that she had distanced herself from social concerns. "In any case, he has joined hands with Bluzand so decisively at a critical time. Are you worried?"

The tea had steeped by the time she answered. He poured the tea, the color deep and rich, into their cups.

"You say no one on the barge saw anything?"

"Vodren investigated in secret. The cargo appeared to have been replaced enroute. The cargo was checked by our people when it was loaded. When it was unloaded, no one suspected until the crates were opened at the warehouses. Third-grade carom spice, fifth-grade amberlass herb, all replaced by bales of weeds."

"That is not the work of average river pirates."

"No, my lady."

The lady sighed. "And in all of this, the supplier appears clean. Are they?"

"There is nothing pointing suspicion at them."

"Suspicious in itself."

"I have not called back those sent to look into them."

"Hm. And how was the cargo replaced?"

Tennar looked embarrassed. "We have no idea."

"Not yet." Eyes flashed above the rim of the teacup.

"Yes. The people on the barge were ours." The words he spoke were measured and even but Tennar could not help but swallow reflexively.

"Are they?"

"If they are not, they will know how Bluzand takes care of their own."

"Good."

Tennar turned over a thought in his head for a good minute, letting the tea soothe and order his thoughts. "Are you truly sending Defi back home tomorrow?"

The lady's eyes sharpened as she met his gaze. "He does not need to involve himself in this."

"Do you think him too young? You said it yourself. He knew what he was doing when he asked for shares instead of gold. He placed himself categorically on our side. He is no na?ve child."

"I did not bring him to be bait in a trap, Tennar. Even if it were with his permission."

Tennar nodded.

"Nothing to say?"

"I apologize, my lady. I admit I am relieved."

The curl at the edges of the lady's lips was only pretending to be humor, and made Tennar think of years long past. "Perhaps I even surprise myself every now and then."