Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) (2 page)

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.”