jackal-among-snakes-16091326
chapter-238

Argrave took a long drink of the mildly warmed tea, having let it cool for some time. Elenore watched him—well, perhaps ‘watched’ was the wrong word, Argrave supposed. Anneliese was present, too. She held the teapot she had been rather obviously fascinated by. Her fascination probably stemmed from the fact that it needed no external heating. It was a self-contained enchanted item that could heat whatever water poured in it, and probably cost an exorbitant sum.

“You’re quite incautious,” Elenore said. “Or am I mistaking you?”

“Incautious?” Argrave put the cup down, enjoying its warmth. “I’m lost.”

“The tea,” she gestured. “Snakes are venomous, you know.”

“Oh,” Argrave nodded, enlightened. He was content to stay silent, let her think him incautious. As something came to mind, he asked curiously, “Do you actually have any poison on hand? Potent poison.”

Her brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Just wanted to try something,” Argrave shrugged. Anneliese glared at him, and he laughed. “Well, never mind. She won’t let me.”

“Do not act as though this is some overbearing interference,” Anneliese chided him, setting the teapot down. “You speak of poison.”

Argrave sighed. “I’m sorry.” He stayed silent for a bit, then poked her in the ribs. “You can’t deny you’re curious, though. What would happen?”

Anneliese swatted his hand away playfully, and then Elenore cleared her throat to break them up. “You wanted to discuss something with me?”

“Right,” Argrave spun the cup about with his hands, unembarrassed. “Want to make money?”

“Usually,” Elenore nodded. “I think everyone can say that, though.”

“I got some other stuff from the place I got your little gift from,” Argrave said. “I need some discrete appraisers to take a look at them. Order of the Rose items, enchanted? Some items from the Archduke’s Palace, too, in the wetlands. Some of them will be incredibly valuable, both personally and financially speaking. I’d like to entrust them with you. Ideally, they’d be turned around in a week. What I don’t keep, I give to you to sell.”

“A week?” Elenore placed her hands on the table, bronze tapping against the wood. “That’s—”

“More than manageable for you. Don’t act as though it’ll be costly,” Argrave interrupted. “You make the bulk of your money from unlicensed spellcasters who can’t get into the Order of the Gray Owl. You’ve got… I don’t know. Probably hundreds here,” Argrave waved his hands. “The majority of what I need is combat-oriented. There’ll be a lot of utility enchantments you can sell at a very high price.”

“Combat-oriented,” Elenore repeated. “Commanding troops into battle, perhaps?”

Argrave smiled. “Later, certainly.”

“I’ll take a look at them,” Elenore nodded.

“Good. I presume Rancor will crack open soon. Beyond that, I was wondering if you had any seeds that grow more mystical plants on reserve for this place. Food for Anneliese’s bird, you see,” Argrave pointed to her with his thumb. “I’ll pay.”

“Certainly. I don’t have details—you’ll need to speak to someone else. I trust them, worry not.” Elenore nodded, then pursed her lips. “Speaking of animals…. what do you think of dogs?”

Argrave frowned. “Is this code? Are you talking about House Quadreign? That’s their heraldry, after all.” Argrave shrugged. “One of their daughters is an exceptional mage, but other than that… not much of note.”

“A dog doesn’t remind you of anything else,” Elenore continued, leaning in a bit more.

Perplexed, Argrave looked to Anneliese—she gave no obvious signals of what Elenore might be driving at, implying the question wasn’t an emotional one.

“I don’t know. A bit messy, overfriendly… they’re fun sometimes. Hard to stay sad when you’ve got a big dog to hug.” Argrave cast a spell, and his Brumesingers dropped out of his coat, moving to stand up on the table. “Look at these guys, though. Food’s easy to get, no mess, quiet, ridiculously adorable…” Argrave ran his hands across their face, scratching between their giant ears. The four of them competed for his hand. “Hardly a contest.”

Elenore kept her hand on the table, observing in silence. “They are cute,” he heard her say, so quiet it was almost inaudible.

Argrave heard it, though. He sent the Brumesingers towards Elenore, causing her to lean back cautiously. After a second, her hand stretched out. One of the foxes practically shoved its head into her hand.

Then, the princess pulled her hand back. “It would be best if you head off before others arrive. I have some things to attend to, and this was promised to be a short meeting,” she said neutrally. “I will send some trustworthy people to handle what we spoke of. If you’d like to minimize contact with other parties, I can arrange that.”

Argrave smiled and tapped the table. Perhaps he should have been expecting this sort of reaction.

“Until our next scheduled exchange of stiff business propositions, then,” he rose while quipping, and the Brumesingers scurried back to hide away in his heavy gray duster. Her question of dogs lingered on his mind. He did not feel he could dismiss it so easily… and yet nothing came to mind. “Be careful. Remember what I warned about,” he said as he left.

Anneliese and Argrave exited out into the greenhouse. As they walked, Argrave asked, “What was the dog thing about? Any ideas?”

“Curiosity. Uncertainty. Beyond that… little else.” Anneliese looked to Argrave. “I cannot say it is something major.”

Argrave nodded. “I can’t, either. That’s what bothers me.”