Kelsey smirked. “This is easy,” she said. “Just sell them the guns. You brought money, right?”

  “I did…” Odran said cautiously. “As far as the King, and his loyal soldiers, are concerned, this is a legitimate mission.”

  “Then it’s easy,” Kelsey repeated. “You give us the gold, we give you the guns, just like trading is supposed to work.”

  “Kelsey,” Suliel said patiently. “We don’t want the King to have any more guns.”

  “Well, duh. Just give him ones that don’t work.”

  “Faulty weapons?” Odran mused. “I don’t think that would work. Rami would want to test them before we left.”

  “Oh, they’d work for a little while,” Kelsey explained. “Guns don’t work by magic, you know. Throwing a bullet that fast puts immense stress on the barrel, and it has to be built to take it. If you build it just a little weaker, it will weaken a bit more every time it fires, until it eventually breaks.”

  “What happens with that immense stress when that happens?” Anton asked suspiciously.

  “Well, it’s not safe. Not as dangerous as being shot by a gun, but more dangerous than not being shot. Somewhere in there.”

  Anton kept looking at her, and Kelsey shrugged helplessly.

  “It’s a failure; there’s no predicting what will happen. Maybe some burns, maybe some bits of metal go flying… You guys are pretty tough, I’m pretty sure no one will die.”

  “They are the enemy, my Lord,” Suliel reminded him. “We’re likely to be facing them on the field before too long.”

  “True,” Anton admitted. “How long would it take you to make them?”

  “I’ve got some test pieces being modified now,” Kelsey assured him. “How many do you want?”

  Anton looked at Odran.

  “I’ve brought gold for a hundred pieces at the price you sold them before,” the man said. “If you acquiesced to the request, I was to place an order for a hundred more, to be paid for at collection.”

  “That include ammunition?” Kelsey asked.

  Odran shook his head. “I have a separate budget for no more than a thousand bullets,” he said. “The King’s alchemists feel they are close to reproducing the mix.”

  Kelsey smiled. “That’s fine. When the guns start going boom, we can blame the untested powder mix. A hundred guns… say two weeks.”

  “That’s faster than I expected, but slower than I’d like,” Anton commented.

  “The lament of every client,” Kelsey quipped. “It’s only that quick because I can have my skellies working 24 hours a day. I could do three hundred in three weeks, but with those numbers, it’s not worth taking the time to set up a new production line. If it was urgent enough to burn magic on, I could do it in a week.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Anton allowed. He wasn’t sure what qualified as that urgent, but he did know that Kelsey was reluctant to spend mana on anything. “I’m just not happy with those soldiers sitting on my dock for two weeks.”

  Odran coughed. “If you’re supplying the weapons, then you really should let them off the boat,” he said. “It was one thing to keep them there while we hashed out terms, but once we’ve come to an agreement…”

  “He’s right,” Suliel said. “Keeping them there would be just as much a provocation as not selling the guns.”

  “I don’t want enemy soldiers in my castle,” Anton said firmly.

  “You would only need to host Commander Rami personally,” Odran explained. “The captain and crew would probably prefer to stay on the boat. You could billet the soldiers in town? Separating them from their commander would probably help keep things secure.”

  “Where in town, though?”

  “I could take them!” Kelsey said brightly. “What? I’ve got a hospitality section!”

  “I don’t think the soldiers are ready for skeleton maids,” Anton said, getting an incredulous look from Odran. “Or the murder.”

  “Hey, I’m at four guests and no murders so far. That’s pretty good for any inn.”

  “There would be enough rooms at the Adventurer’s guild if we emptied it out,” Suliel mused.

  “Where would the adventurers go?” Anton asked. He pointedly ignored Kelsey waving her hand in the air.

  “Actually, opening up the dungeon would reduce the number of them staying in town a lot,” Suliel said. “And if they were flush with cash, they wouldn’t mind hitting up the nicer inn, or even purchasing houses for the long term.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Kelsey gasped dramatically. “You can’t be talking about those increased rewards that we discussed before.”

  “I am,” Suliel told her. “You got a new floor, and you just defended against those four high-tier-three wizards. You can’t tell me you’re not ready to take on a better class of delver.”

  “But I like the quiet life!” Kelsey protested. “I don’t want Tier Fours trampling all around my lower floors!”

  “There aren’t any Tier Fours in town,” Suliel said dismissively. “With the war on, it will be years before any show up, no matter what the rewards. Increasing the rewards for at least the first six floors will get the adventurers queuing up again.”

  “I’d be cutting my own throat, and for what?”

  “More experience. I know you don’t get much from first or second-tier delvers, but every little helps. You have only one more level before your fourth tier.”

  “I’ll admit the wizards helped in that regard,” Kelsey admitted. “It’s starting to feel like it’s in reach.”

  “So reach out and get it!” Suliel commanded.

  “Fiiiinnne,” Kelsey dragged out the word. “I’ll save the day with my sabotaged guns, and I’ll hand out cash to the undeserving. And my maids will continue to lead unfulfilled unlives.”

  Suliel nodded with satisfaction. “Good. I’ll talk to the guild, have them empty out the rooms.”

  “Wait,” Anton said. “There are still a lot of things in town that I don’t want word of getting back to the King.”

  “Ah, like those horseless carts I saw?” Odran said. “They were quite the sight. Rest assured, I will not mention them.”

  “We need to get them off the streets before the soldiers get allowed into town,” Anton said. “And we’ll have to keep them inside at night.”

  “Ah, the lights,” Suliel agreed. “I’ll send Syon up; you can discuss what needs to happen with him.”

  “I should take my leave as well, my lord,” Odran suggested. “I can let the ship know that we’ve almost reached a deal, but there are still a few things to be ironed out.”

  “Sure—I mean, please do so,” Anton said, grasping at his few remaining straws of etiquette. Odran bowed and was replaced by Syon.

  “I think we’ll be fine once we get the carts out of sight, my Lord,” Syon said after Anton had explained the problem. “We’re trading the new glass, so it only makes sense to see it in our windows. The same goes for the paints and the textiles.”

  “And the lights?” Anton asked.

  “We can have them turned off for the duration, but I think they’ll go unnoticed. It’s not that unusual for a newly-prosperous town to light its streets with light-stones. It doesn’t last forever as they get stolen over time, but Kirido did just come into money. I doubt they’ll get a second look.”

  “If you say so,” Anton said doubtfully. “I’ll leave it in your hands.”

  Anton did not like the way the word “suspicious” did double duty, but there were times that he could see why. The looks that Commander Rami sent his way were clearly suspicious, both in the sense that they made him look less trustworthy and also that he clearly didn’t trust Anton.

  Do those two things always go together? Anton wondered. Does being untrusting make you untrusted?

  A question for another time. Right now, it was time to officially welcome the King’s men into Kirido. The very real lack of trust might go both ways, but it would go against etiquette to mention it.

  Court etiquette involved a lot of lying. Anton had brought Suleil with him to do that part. Aris flanked him on his other side, partly for moral support, and partly because Anton had no intention of letting her out of his sight for the next… however long it took. Kelsey was with them as well, out of sight behind them, instructed to keep quiet.

  “We’ve prepared quarters for your men in town,” Suliel explained to the commander. “You can stay with them, of course, but we would invite you to stay in the castle, as our guest.”

  Anton was of two minds about Commander Rami staying in the castle. Separating him from his men was useful, but Anton was less keen about giving the man access to Anton’s living quarters.

  “The commander gratefully accepts your offer of hospitality,” Odran answered for the man, without bothering to consult him. It seemed Anton wasn’t the only one who couldn’t be trusted with the delicate blade of diplomatic negotiations.

  “This invitation is also extended to your captain,” Suliel added.

  “Alas, Captain Lumeh will be occupied with supervising his crew as they do much-needed maintenance on his vessel,” Odran said. “He must regretfully decline.”

  Suliel merely nodded. This had all been arranged in advance, and they were just reciting their lines.

  “Then, if your men would follow Master Nyer, he can lead them to their lodgings.”

  Anton’s little entourage moved to the side to allow Delir Nyer to come to the fore. Anton still wasn’t used to how easily the guildmaster moved now. The combination of Kelsey’s antidote and the high-level healing available in Bures had restored the man’s leg while Anton was busy with other things. Anton hadn’t been involved, but he was glad to see it.

  Once the soldiers were out of the way, Anton gave an insincere bow and fake smile to Odran and Commander Rami. “If you’ll come with us,” he said, the one line he was trusted to make himself. As awkward as the atmosphere was, the walk back felt twice as long as it actually took.

  With his two guests settled and unable to overhear, he turned to Kelsey.

  “Can you go back down to the docks and let Cheia know she can stand down?” he asked.

  “Oh, I can do that,” Aris said. Anton shook his head and looked at Kelsey. His geas could stand for them to be apart that long.

  Kelsey raised an eyebrow, but shrugged.

  “Sure,” she said. “By the way, I’ve got a prototype ready for inspection.”

  She made a rifle appear in her hand and handed it to Anton. He took a look.

  Musket, Weapon, Average Quality, Tier 3, Properties: None

  So strange to see a Tier three weapon with no magical properties, Anton thought. Aloud, he commented on the other oddity.

  “That’s the first time I’ve seen you make something of only Average quality.”

  “Eh, it turns out you can’t have a high-quality item that’s built to fail,” Kelsey said with a shrug. “It’ll downgrade to Poor before it’s in danger of exploding.”

  Anton nodded slowly. Soldiers and diplomats weren’t likely to have inspection Traits. A merchant might pick up that something was wrong, but this was a direct transaction.

  “Let Cheia know that she can put the Decksweeper under a tarpaulin for now, but she’ll need to maintain a guard on the ship for as long as that other ship is in the harbour.”

  “And Tyla can come back when she doesn’t need to maintain the illusion?” Kelsey asked.

  Anton nodded again.

  “Wait, aren’t we going to be leaving soon?” Aris asked. “Why are you having us stick around?”

  Anton blinked at his wife. “The mission is cancelled, Aris,” he said gently. “We can send word back with Odran. I’m not sure how far we can trust him, but we can expect him not to pass our correspondence to the King. Two weeks is a bit longer to wait than I’d like, but she’s waited years to hear this news.”

  “What? But why?”

  Anton stared. “You’re pregnant, Aris,” he said. “There’s no way I’d let you go anywhere without me.”