The Arkhel Conundrum (The Tears of Artamon Book 4) by Ash Sarah

Author:Ash, Sarah [Ash, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tourmalise Press
Published: 2019-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

***

“You met two of Lord Nagarian’s druzhina?” Lord Ranulph’s cheerful expression suddenly faded.

“Arrogant young thugs.” Kartavoi, who had been giving his report on the trip, had saved the least promising part till last. “I thought they were going to rob us at knifepoint. Don’t you agree, Bernay?”

Gerard looked up from the legal documents he had been consulting. “They weren’t very welcoming,” he said. “But, as long as we don’t trespass onto Nagarian land, they can’t stop us. That copper mine belonged to your father, my lord, and according to these deeds you have every right to re-open it.”

“So, in your expert opinion, Ingenieur, we can go ahead? Excellent,” Lord Ranulph said. “And now that we’ve been paid for the first shipment of firedust to Tielen, we have funds in hand to purchase more equipment for the mine.”

“I say we should use some of those funds to pay for bodyguards.” Kartavoi still sounded shaken by the encounter. “I wouldn’t put it past those Nagarian druzhina to try to ambush us. It’s so remote up there that no one would hear our cries for help—or come to our aid until it was too late. I don’t want to put my men’s lives needlessly at risk; opening up that old mine is going to be dangerous enough as it is.”

Lord Ranulph nodded. “Very well, Kartavoi; I’ll get Iarko onto it. Three or four armed men should be more than enough to guard the site.”

Gerard thought it best not to make further comment.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking, Ingenieur.” Lord Ranulph poured himself a glass of aquavit and drank it down in one gulp. “‘What am I doing, stuck on the furthest frontier in this barbaric outpost of the New Rossiyan Empire?’”

Gerard merely raised one eyebrow in reply. Lord Ranulph might give the outward impression that he was a jovial aristocrat dabbling for fun in an industrial endeavor, but he had come to realize that he was much more shrewd than he let people think.

Lord Ranulph laughed. “But when you get that copper mine up and working for me and the money starts rolling in, you’ll forget all your misgivings.” He clapped Gerard amicably on the shoulder. Gerard, gritting a smile, found himself wondering, Can Toran really be this man’s son? He must take after his mother’s side of the family.

Yet as he opened the door to the hut that served as home, he took out his notebook and looked through the latest drawings he had been working on: wings. He had agreed to come as a favour for Master Cardin—and if he made a little profit from the copper mine, he could put that money into developing his flyer himself—without any interference from Guy Maulevrier.

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