Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 25 - A Horse Named Sir Hope.

"10 what, my good man?" I asked as I looked at Marcel. At least with a horse around, we would be able to cover more ground in search of other edible plants that we could harvest as well and to explore the hidden unknowns around a 10-mile radius. With a horse, travelling to Corral Town would only be less than 24 hours.

"10 silvers, young master. Would you think that one of the horses would cost 10 gold? I would be very happy if I'm paid 10 gold for a dragan horse." Marcel replied with a chuckle and slapped his t.h.i.g.hs.

"Young Master, a dragan horse is also called a carthorse that is a perfect workhorse or cart-horse meant for pulling cartloads or even plough the land. It is a flat price for a dragan horse and the price could be as high as 20 silvers. Try to negotiate the price around it abit." whispered Crystal when she heard about the deal.

Although the deal was being held on the dining table, and since there was no meal, so it's a bendable rule after all.

"Alright, I would not like to negotiate with the price one bit, but you would leave one wagon behind with us instead. I also had seen a few bales of hay so we would like to have that included for 10 silvers." I replied and countered the deal and saw Crystal nodded her head approvingly.

"Blimey! Thee really drive a crazy bargain. I like yaaahr strong negotiashun skills which made me almost vomi' blood. Hahaha. But I agree wiv da deal ov C.o.c.k an' Hen silvers fer da dragan, a wagon an' all da bales ov 'ay. I am so surprised at yaaahr diplomacy, young man!" after saying that he called his assistant to unhook one of the horse and unhook the rear wagon plus all the hay into it.

I was about to let Heather pay the silvers when I was stopped by Kayla. "Your coins ain't good enough for the horse, here... Let me settle for it then. For the sake of GraceHaven. Please do not refuse your old lady." and I am unable to refuse as Kayla paid 10s to Marcel immediately.

This coins exchanged hands once again and this is what trade looks like in the Middle Ages. After each transaction was made, goods and coins were immediately settled d before we move on to the next.

The relationship between GraceHaven and Marcel the merchant deepens and it was time for us to break the keg of ale. (it would be preferred to be termed as a keg, unlike a barrel that would be termed as holding liquids up to 25 gallons each.)

The keg top was broken, I was hit with the strong scent of fruits that were made up of apples, plums and raisins. There was a hint of coffee and toffee smell too but the overall scent was more to coffee and fruits. The fermentation process was considered quite medium from between 2 to 3 months, but the longer it was, the richer its aroma and flavour would be.

I could see the 4 men locking their lips when the scent wafted in the air and tickled their nostrils which made their taste buds burst with activity, making them salivate almost to a drool. Except for Marcel of course.

A bamboo ladle was immersed inside while everyone held their bamboo cups with expectations. After I served the cups on the table, I stood on the bench and held my own cup and raised it high in the air. (the 4 children weren't allowed to drink but was promised to have milk when they learn how to milk from the nannies)

Everyone took their cups and held in their two hands and looked at me expectantly with big round eyes as I began my speech. "All thanks to Marcel for without him, we would not be able to savour this fine ale. For the good of all citizens of GraceHaven of now and for the future, I wish you good health and great tidings. May we have peace and tranquillity forever and ever. Cheers everyone... "

When everyone heard the last sentence, they raised their bamboo cups and chorused" Cheers" in unison and brought the bamboo cup to their lips and sip on it.

"By Golly...! This ale is either a first-rate ale or maybe its been a while since I've tasted this. The aroma and the taste match just like it was made truly for heaven and earth...!" Jack roared with a sense of satisfaction. Maybe cause he had gotten a set of Blacksmith workshop equipment for free.

"Daaaaammnn... This taste like wine to me even though it is just an ale. Say, Marcel, do you have an apple, plum and raisin seeds with you so that next time we would be able to make our own kegs of ale? And besides, these fruit trees would take at least set 2 to 3 years to m.a.t.u.r.e right?" asked Ben as he took another sip and smacked his lips as the ale slowly warmed his throat and body.

"How I'd wish we could have another person joining us as a brewery as he would be doing us a great favour. But while waiting for 2 to 3 years before he could produce this, I'm sure we would be able to patronise your business still, right my saviour?" Frank said as he patted the shoulders of Marcel.

"I've got some pouches of seeds with me that I don't see the reason why I shouldn't give it to you. The one who would be responsible for these would be you, right, missus?" Marcel spoke to Kayla and she nodded as the young assistant went to collect the pouches filled with seeds and handed to Kayla.

She took the seeds and poured some on her hands and recognises it as apple, pears, plum and peaches. "Thank you, young Marcel. This missus here gave her heartfelt thanks to you. Hope the earth blesses the plantations and would best bountiful yield in years to come. Thank you again." as Kayla kept the seeds back and kept it with her person.

Before Marcel left, he reminded me that he would send the miners over to negotiate the prices of ore as well as the labour. Then he turned to Kayla and promised to get a few bundles of cloth to make into a tunic. The prices were definitely cheaper than those ready-made ones since bundled cloth costs 3c per yard while wool cloth costs 1s per yard.

Kayla settled for 50 yards each for white, red and black and it coated 450c which is equivalent to 4s 50c. She informed Marcel that he would drop by anytime when he had gotten the bundles of cloth.

"After that, you may drop in every 2 weeks instead so that we could stock up on the kegs of ale. I guess 20 kegs every fortnight would do fine. Same price at 3c per keg, right?" I proposed to Marcel. And he made a salute by clutching his c.h.e.s.t and bowed slightly.

By his gestures, does he actually knew my identity? I thought to myself and immediately pushed it aside and went to look at the newly acquired horse.

"What would you be naming them, big brother? Just look at Sir Blackie, he is sure as excited as us. So would we be able to follow mummy now since we have a wagon to ride on?" Imelda looked at me with her big round eyes and I rubbed her head and replied, "Its name is Sir Hope. Of course, you can follow your mummy when she goes hunting or Granny Kayla if she goes picking for herbs and looks for more fruits for us."

"YAY...!!" The children cheered out in unison and Sir Blackie barked and was prancing around on its two feet while Sir Hope neighed in response and shook its head and mane. I stroke Sir Hope's mane and I touched my forehead on Sir Hope's as both animal and man were appreciative to one another for having such an owner and a great helper for GraceHaven.

A stake was struck on the ground near the riverbank with at least 5 feet of rope to hold it down. Even though the dragan was able to extricate the stake on the ground, but it was just a preventive measure.

3 rounds of ale in a bamboo cup had been drunk and only the dredges were left at the bottom. I looked at Ben and told him that we need this keg to be cleaned and be made into a food trough for the pigs. The rest of the kegs would be done similarly for the farm animals for food and water trough.

When I announced the dragan name as well as the next coming week with a delivery of 20 kegs of ale, Jack shouted, "Long Live Prince Audemars...!" and soon everyone joined in unison.

Well everyone, at least we would know that ale and food really boost one's morale to a greater height after all. I smiled at the settlers, even though it was a handful right now but with the great relationship that we had with Marcel, things would go pretty well in the future.

"Alright my dear citizens, tomorrow after breakfast we would organise for the next few days of schedule so that everyone knows what to do next. Everyone would be pretty busy so we hope to get our priorities first and once we are done we would be able to embark on other matters. Have a great night, everyone."

I bade them goodnight as I Heather hooked her arm with mine and headed back to our home. My head had a slight buzz even though drinking ale was considered a child's beverage. As since I had not drunk for some time, the buzzing effect had me thinking that I had drunk at least 6 to 10 pints of it.

I literally crawled into my shelter after I kicked off my pelt shoes outside the house and before I landed my head on a pillow that was filled with fluff from the reeds, I pulled Heather close to me and kissed her forehead while saying, "You would surely make a fine Queen, my dear Heidi."

I plopped down and when my head the pillow, the little monsters ran after me and made my eyelids heavy and my mind slowly went blank as I slowly plunged into darkness. Soon I was snoring softly and somewhere in the night, I could feel a soft and warm body pressed tightly against me as I sleep like a baby.