From Slave To Ruler

"Excuse me sir Merchant. May I have a word with you?" Heard a Merchant a sweet delicate feminine tone behind him which gave him goosebumps, considerably even more than usual for a different reason. His arm hair raised in a heartbeat due to excitement and as he turned around, he almost fell into shock because of the "butterflies" invading his stomach. Why? He was seeing a young, 5.6 foot tall lady in her late twenties with the most gorgeous golden hair reaching down to her waist which was tied into a tail. Her slim face with freckles above her cheeks complimented her golden hair more than you can believe. Her Brown eyes glowing bright gave her even more beauty and she sure seems to care for her health. She is, as one would describe her in these times "a flawlessly beautiful woman".

But what got this man through this burst of emotion is the fact that he knew her. She was more than just a  stranger to him. But why did she act like she approached a stranger? Well, she wants to convince any passer by that they don't know each other. Simply to not drag anymore attention towards herself than she already is, her goal was to blend in with the rest but was rather hard with all the men staring at her.

"Miss Z... how can i help y..." He replied loudly due to being nervous but was interrupted by the Woman in front of him who whispered "Be quiet you fool! Do you want the entire Kingdom to know who I am?! My name here is Ursa." She whispered in Anger, looking at the man in front of her wish disappointment. But he couldn't help it. He usually doesn't even speak like this, but he worked with "Z" enough to develop a fancy for her. So he unintentionally gets loud when she talks to her, especially when she unexpectedly visits.

"I... I'm sorry. Please enter my Wagon." Afterwards to fight off attention he said in a louder tone "I can transport it to you as long as you have the coins to pay." "Z" smirked when she saw that the merchant finally came back to his senses and used logic to make this situation easier. Afterwards he opened the door for her and gestured for her to enter first, like every gentleman should. To everyone, not just with females. If a man becomes a gentleman only around females, he isn't a gentleman, he is a pervert. Of course this man is just a merchant and he is doing it only to win her attention. But yet again he is known to be genuinely respectful to most.

When she entered, she found the area where they had their previous chat. A simple bench like sitting area, one bench in the front side, one in the backside and a small round table in the middle. So they don't need to be too close to each other while talking. This Wagon being the Merchant's Wagon instead of a cargo area is small indeed, its only 2 meters across. The horses don't need to carry so much, after all the Merchants Wagon isn't used much, the Cargo Wagon is the main deal which is usually after the Merchant's Wagon.

"How can I help you?" Broke the Merchant the silence before even sitting as he closed the door.

Looking at the closing door, she waited for him to sit firmly across her and under a low tone she explained"You have noticed that a lot of families want to go to Salmon River Kingdom, but fail to do so because it is 1,000 Kilometers away." Hearing what she just said, the merchant could smell Coins already. He got interested right away.

"Yes i've heard about that. The word spread rapidly. All of Hawk Kingdom is talking about it as far as I saw." He added, trying to make her ego bigger. Why? Well he suspected that since she started the conversation with that specific topic, she had something to do with it. And his approach worked. 

Hearing him, Z smirked in satisfaction. And felt a bit more relief. The reason why only 10 Guards and or families left so far, is solely the lack of transportation's fault! It is clear to see that 5 the men she hired to spread the word were surely successful. Earning every bit of their 300 Gold Coin pay at the end of the task. With 300 Gold Coins, they will be set for life. They will never have to work again.

"Good. I want to help these people reach a better life. They don't need to stay in this rathole of a Kingdom." She added when she suspected suspicion. She wanted to change the merchant's mind towards another direction instead of him simply being suspicious towards her.

"Wouldn't the authorities try to punish you if they found out that you want to help people make their way to a domain belonging to the "Revolutionary" Alliance."

"Why should they?"

"War is at the door anyway, they might even have you executed. I am no rat, but if any other merchant finds out, they would sell the information without blinking an eye."

"That's why you will do all the work for me. You are a merchant, they can't do anything to you! Doing you harm would scare other merchants away which would harm their profit from imported items. They can not risk that, especially considering how much budget they are throwing towards the military." Having it all thought out, the decision for the merchants to carry out this task, was thought of ever since the meeting she had with the 5. It is the best possible approach.

"Fair point. What do you want me to do?" He asked in curiosity with his black eyebrows raised.

"Look. I'm a very wealthy woman. I have about 2,000 Gold Coins to throw at this project. Are you in?" Of course she had to lie here, telling one person after the other about her employer would get her exposed one day or the other. So she needs to find alternative ways. This sort of information can be sold for big coin. That's why she is willing to pay big Coin. If the pay is big enough, merchants wouldn't sell it for less. Her employer even gave her 10,000 Gold Coins for this project. But she is alone, she can't receive his help for this project, she needs to make it happen all by herself to avoid suspicion and risk her own life.

"I'm going to say what I did the first time you asked for my service. "HELL YES!"" He yelled at the last sentence.

"By the 3 Gods. How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet." She whispered in a very pissed off tone but secretly loved the Merchants reply. Convincing him to work for her raised her self esteem just a little bit more.

"Sorry sorry. What do you need me to do?!" He said while rubbing the back of his head with embarrassment and his teeth shining white. He sure seems to take care of his appearance and odor. Even his black hair is clean and medium sized, oiled all the way to the back of his head.

"For the next 3 months, you will need to find about 50 merchants with Wagons that can fit at least one family, for example while 25 make their way to Salmon River Kingdom, the other 25 are making their way to Hawk Kingdom. That way, people can be transported out of here without having to wait for 2 months. Every month of a specific date, merchants come here to transport people. Are you capable of doing that?" Putting emotion aside, she became strictly professional again.

"I need to let you know that these merchants won't do anything for free. They don't stand with any domain, they stand for Coins." Even if he is capable, Coin speaks. Without coins, his skills are useless at this matter.

"Coins aren't a problem. To travel to Salmon River Kingdom by Wagon,  it costs about 300 Bronze Coins, right?"

"Yes, prices range from 250 to 400. 300 being the average price. It depends on the Merchant and or non merchant transport Wagon owner." He explained using his fingers for a better presentation.

"I will provide the 300 Bronze Coins for all of the 50 Merchants(including you), for you to spread. When they ask more about who is financially supporting this project, you will simply describe me as the "employer" but you are not to specifically tell them who i am. Or else you would be risking my neck, and yours." The King would provide around 100 Gold Coins for any type of s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e information like this. They would throw 300 Bronze Coins for 100 Gold Coins anytime. So only 1 man can be trusted with this, not 50. Even if merchants run to the king and tell him about this merchant giving coins like there is no tomorrow, the King can't do anything. But if this merchant runs to the King and tells anything about Z, her neck gets cut and her 10,000 Coins "confiscated."

"300?! Do you realize how much you will need to pay each month to financially support this project?"

"150 Gold Coins. Again, don't worry about the Coins. Can you get me 50 Merchants or not? They will earn 300 Bronze Coins per transport and they can charge the travellers around 100 Bronze Coins, or 150 at max. This way it will seem less abductive and more "taking over the transport business" and I'd prefer if they don't get abducted or ransomed either. Is everything clear to you?"

"Yes indeed. But what about my p..."

"After 3 months when you successfully transported at least 100 Guards(with or without families). You will earn a pay of 500 Gold Coins!" Paying this merchant such a handsome sum, would cut the chances of him rating her out, next to zero. She is throwing coins to make this plan firmer.

Hearing what Z just spoke off. He smirked and reached out his hand and whispered "Deal!"

Reaching out her hand to shake his, she said in a joking tone "Oh so now you know how to be quiet!"

Hearing her joke around with him, made him feel like butterflies invaded his stomach again, and his heart felt fulfilled.

"I need a few days to get this plan together though. I will ask a few friends I trust. They will gather other friends they trust, and so on and so on." Still not letting go of the handshake, he formed a firmer slightly tighter grip and added "So whoever you are paying to spread the word in town, please wait a few days first. 5 days at max." Afterwards he let go of her hand, leaving her feeling bewildered but also with an internal blush she refused to give into. An internal blush and a heart attack(not literally).

Thousands of thoughts ran through her mind at that moment. "How could he know." "Is he really that smart to catch on this quick." "Was my fake background story believable enough?" "What if he rats me out." "I hope the King wouldn't pay more than 200 for this sort of s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e information." "Is he trying to squeeze information out of me?" "Well at least he sounds trustworthy and wouldn't nearly sell this information for a hundred or two gold coins and loose 500."

"There is also one other thing i need you to bring from Salmon River Kingdom. But i am not sure you can provide such, let's say tool." Her tone changed to thicker when she broke the silence, changing the subject and not agreeing to what he just said to fight off suspicion.

"What is it? I probably can find what you are looking for!" He said with a bit of confidence.

"I need a ship here after 2 months!"