The visitor rose and bowed his way out of the Meeting Chamber. “This plan is risky, Lord Quavry,” Marshal Yenga declared. “Too much rests on that fool. The military angle is acceptable, but everything else is on shaky ground.”
“You have only the military angle to worry about,” stated Lord Quavry. “With my spy in place, that fool becomes expendable. In fact, you should ensure that he dies in the battle, so I do not have to break my word. I would never accept him as the Lord of Fardale.”
“What if he does offer the same deal to Lord Burdine?” the Marshal quizzed.
“I will know if he does,” chuckled Lord Quavry. “I intend to invite Lord Burdine into this operation. There will be no question of border infringement if Lord Burdine files a grievance at the same time as we do.”
“You intend to split the Fardale estate with the Litari?” the Marshal asked shockingly.
“Certainly not,” laughed Lord Quavry. “All the Litari will do is file the grievance. They will not be involved with the fighting or the spoils. What I can offer Lord Burdine is something he wants very much, though. He wants to cut the Ragatha Clan off from the outside world. He has already denied them the right to cross his lands, but they worked out some deal with the Situ to cross Fardale. If Lord Burdine helps me in this matter, I will stop the Ragatha Clan from crossing what would become Sorgan territory. There is little doubt that Lord Burdine will then take steps to claim Woodville for themselves and kick the Ragatha out of the area.”
“I will issue orders to close off Fardale from Lituk Valley immediately,” saluted Marshal Yenga.
Chapter 10
Fisher
Kasa walked into Lord Marak’s study and sat down, piling a stack of papers on the Lord’s desk. Marak looked up at the young woman and smiled as he noticed his assistant had decided to let her short, black hair grow longer.
“Another pile of papers?” Marak quipped. “I sometimes think having an assistant is an invitation to a greater workload.”
“This pile you will enjoy,” beamed Kasa. “Our spy has uncovered a great deal on Bursar Tachora and his company, Khadora Grain Importers. I think you will find it quite interesting.”
“When am I going to meet this spy of yours?” Lord Marak asked.
“He never meets with clients in person,” explained Kasa. “I have never seen him. We have an elaborate routine, which allows us to transfer information. If I deviate from the routine, I may never hear from him again.”
“Still,” insisted Lord Marak, “I am not comfortable dealing with someone who is not known to me. Send him the request for a meeting again. Now, what have you got on Tachora?”
“I have the complete financial records for Khadora Grain Importers,” grinned Kasa. “Every financial transaction they have ever made is listed here. They have been using the company as a place to store their profits. In past years they had to carefully time the receipt of grain so they could sell it to pay for the next shipment. This year that will not be necessary. They have enough reserves to pay for all of the contracts with Fardale without selling any grain to pay us.”
“That only indicates that their scheme was profitable,” sighed Marak. “Why does this knowledge make you smile so?”
“Because I have a plan,” Kasa beamed. “The contracts we hold with Khadora Grain Importers do not require any prepayment of fees to us, with one exception. If they sell the contracts to someone else they are required to pay us in full even if the crop is not harvested yet.”
“I fail to see how that can help us,” commented Marak. “Tachora would not think of selling the contracts to someone else. That money is going to be his retirement fund when Fardale fails, which he is sure will happen this year.”
“Ah, but he would sell the contracts,” smiled Kasa. “If he feels that this year’s crop will never be harvested, the contracts are worthless to him. If, however, he is offered an enormous profit to shed the contracts now, he will jump at the chance.”
“Well,” pondered Marak, “that would get us some money to work with, but we would still need to fulfill the contracts.”
“Not necessarily,” chuckled Kasa. “I am proposing that we buy the contracts ourselves. I have taken the liberty of forming a company to accomplish this very task. It is called the Ksaly Company and it will offer a contract to Khadora Grain Importers which I am sure Tachora will accept.”
“Buy the grain ourselves?” mused Lord Marak. “We do not have the funds to pay for our own harvest. Ksaly Company . . . what is that supposed to mean?”
“Ksaly is an Omungan word meaning one-legged bird,” laughed Kasa. “The literal translation does mean much, but it is used humorously to indicate something which is worthless, like the inability of a one-legged bird to kick its opponent. As for the money, we will never pay Khadora Grain Importers. The contract we will offer will guarantee Tachora full payment on delivery of the first shipment. Ksaly Company will hold Khadora Grain Importers harmless for any shortages on the contracts, a phrase which Tachora will love. Buried in the pages of standard legal terms will be a clause which will deny Khadora Grain Importers any payment whatsoever if they have foreknowledge that the contracts with the grower can not be honored.”
“Wouldn’t Tachora notice the clause?” questioned Marak.
“Tachora’s barrister is unaware of Tachora’s position with Fardale,” gleamed Kasa. “He will not see any thorns to warn Tachora about and I will make sure that Tachora is in a hurry when he goes to sign the contract.”
“How are you going to manage that?” inquired Marak.
“Tachora will have to notify you that he will be away from the estate on an overnight trip,” explained Kasa. “When he does, you will be delighted and tell Tachora to let me accompany him to the city. You will explain that I have business on your behalf in the city and you do not wish me to travel alone. He will want to sneak off to meet with his barrister so that I will not find out what he is doing. There is an arms merchant in the same office as Tachora’s barrister. I will allow enough time for the barrister to describe the contract before I visit the arms merchant. When Tachora sees me, he will hastily sign the agreement and leave before I see him there. The rest will be easy.”
“You are a very dangerous woman,” Marak smiled admiringly. “We will get all of the money back that Tachora and Lashendo stole from Fardale and we will be free of the contracts which could devastate us.”
“Yes,” agreed Kasa, “and we will be free to negotiate real contracts for the grain.”
“See to it immediately,” ordered Marak. “We have a Council meeting now which I must attend. Let me know when to expect Tachora’s request to travel to the city.”
Lord Marak escorted Kasa to the door and then he proceeded to the Meeting Chamber. The room was already full with the members of his Council of Advisors and he hurried to his chair at the head of the table. Sitting down, Lord Marak extracted his notes from a pocket and took a few moments to scan the list of topics he wished to discuss.
Marak scanned the faces of the attendees and stopped when he saw the new Assistant Bursar sitting in the chair reserved for Bursar Tachora. “Assistant Bursar Mogry,” opened Marak, “where is Bursar Tachora?”
“He asked me to sit in for him,” Mogry explained. “He thought it would help me be a better assistant to him.”
“Those may be his thoughts,” stared Marak, “but they are not mine. When someone sits on this Council I expect him to be here, not send a replacement. This Council will wait while you fetch the Bursar and relay my orders for him to attend. Do not tarry.”
The red-faced Assistant Bursar rose awkwardly and scampered out of the Meeting Chamber. Lord Marak used the delay to review his list of topics.
“Forgive me, My Lord,” Tachora apologized as he took his seat at the table. “I thought the exposure would be good for Mogry.”