"Young master, why are we going down Ebony Alley?" Henry asked. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword. His brown eyes swept quickly around our surroundings.

Seeing him so alert and serious was quite a contrast to his usual golden retriever aura. It was a reminder that, at the end of the day, his profession was that of a guard. Specifically, a guard that was handpicked to protect my life.

Ebony Alley looked a little different with the setting change, but it was still just as dark and narrow, and the merchants and clients were as dubious as the last time I'd come here. So it was no wonder Henry was on guard.

"I need to see a man about an egg," I replied.

It was a long shot but worth trying if it meant saving Jasper from an incurable illness.

"An egg?" Henry sounded confused. "Does it have anything to do with Kaiden?"

"No. It doesn't," I said. "Don't worry about it, and don't ask anything else. Just stand here and keep watch."

My eyes spotted the grubby merchant that had sold the Daylan servant the egg in a previous round. I launched forward to his shabby orange tent.

"You. You have a phoenix egg, right?" I placed the two phoenix eye gems from my pocket onto the wooden table before us. "I'll give you two phoenix eyes in exchange."

The merchant looked greedily at the golden gemstones before him; his hands began to rub together like a fly. I could practically see his gears turning inside his nearly bald head with its fifteen or so long black strings of hair laying flat atop.

"I have the egg, but I'm afraid the price has to be at least thirty phoenix eyes for it." The words came out slowly. I could tell he wished to pocket the gems but was asking for an exorbitantly high price as before.

"Look. I have two perfectly good phoenix eyes here," I argued. "You could buy a mansion for yourself in the countryside and live in the lap of luxury. You could buy an island and have maids serving your every whim. Two phoenix eyes is quite a fortune. When else can you come across this much?"

The merchant licked his lips. "I know. But the price has to be at least thirty."

"How do I know the egg is even real?" I asked. "I don't. I haven't seen it. I guarantee to pay you this much already."

"One moment! I'll show it to you!" He ran inside the orange tent and brought out a crystal box with an egg enclosed inside.

"You can see it for yourself now," he gasped out. "It's the real deal."

I gazed at the egg sitting on a red silk cushion inside the transparent box. It looked awfully like a regular chicken egg, but looking at it closer, it had almost golden speckles surrounding it.

Of course, he could have painted it to make it appear unique. It didn't mean it was actually real. More importantly, I didn't have the payment he kept demanding.

It made me wonder if my Charisma stat was higher if I could have convinced him by now.

"I'm not convinced. Thirty phoenix eyes for a potentially fraudulent egg is still too much. I'm taking a risk here. I'm willing to pay two gems for that risk, however."

"It has to be thirty," the merchant insisted. "I promised the mage that I got it from that I would sell it no less than thirty."

"Why? You can take this payment. Nothing is stopping you. That mage isn't here." I only had two gems on me. Thirty was far beyond my allotted allowance. I had to make it work with two.

"No. You don't understand. A mage made me promise." The merchant pulled up his left sleeve revealing an intricate tattoo that covered his entire forearm.

"A runic tattoo?" I gasped.

I had learned quite a bit about mages from Fin during our time in The Order. There were a vast number of runic tattoos out there. They were popular among mages because they helped activate complex spells instantaneously. The most difficult and dangerous was a 'promise tattoo.' If it was inscribed incorrectly, the mage or the person making the promise would die. And even if it was done correctly, it could spell death.

"Why would you get one?" I balked.

I gazed with an entirely new set of eyes at this virtually bald man with his stubby features.

No sane person would willingly get a promise tattoo on their body. If the conditions of such a rune tattoo weren't met perfectly, the promiser died an excruciating death as the tattoo spread across their body and burned them until they were nothing but ash. I had seen one person meet such an end. It sent a shiver down my spine just thinking about it.

"He gave me a phoenix egg in exchange." The merchant shrugged. "It seemed like a good deal at the time. Except, I can't sell the damn thing now because it's too expensive for anyone."

I bit my lip.

Tch.

On the one hand, I was starting to get excited that this phoenix egg might be the real deal that could save Jasper. But, on the other hand, I couldn't afford it.

"Wait here. Don't sell it. I'll come back with thirty phoenix eyes," I told the merchant.

I was going to find one way or another to get the payment needed.

Perhaps I can ask Father. Of course, he was unlikely to give it to me, but it was still worth a shot.

"Young man, I can't promise that." The merchant shook his head. "I've had this egg for far too long. If someone happens to come along before you come back that can afford it, I'm going to sell it."

Damn it. I was in a time crunch.

"Henry, come on. Hurry. We need to get back home." I turned on my heel and sped towards my carriage at the end of Ebony Alley.

Hopefully, Father was in a generous mood today.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

Breakfast had ended early. It was always like that the last couple of months with Luca not coming to breakfast.

Micah was at least grateful that his youngest two siblings, Jarvis and Elda, had stopped throwing him dirty looks across the table these last two months. They had blamed him for Luca's absence.

And thankfully, Luca has finally grown up. But, unfortunately, it means I have new dangers to watch out for.

It was a hectic morning. After breakfast, Micah had locked himself in his study, putting events in motion to circumvent the upcoming assassination attempt at the ball. This was on top of his actual workload of signing off documents on behalf of the Frey Merchant Guild. Only now did he have the time to talk to his father.

Micah walked down the red-carpeted marble floor towards his father's office when the door to the office slammed open.

Bang!

Luca had flung the door of Father's office and dashed out. He nodded his head of disheveled hair towards Micah and continued his quick pace down the hall and the stairs.

Where is he going in such a hurry?

Micah furrowed his brows.

And where did he go earlier this morning?

"Father, Luca came to see you? He left in such a rush. What did you discuss?" Micah walked into the spacious office and handed the signed documents over.

His father sat in the center of the bright room. Two large windows with opened green curtains were behind him. Painted white shelves full of books and scrolls covered the remaining walls. Father took the documents from Micah and pulled on a pair of glasses to read them.

"He asked me for twenty-eight phoenix eyes and made a ridiculous business suggestion." Father chuckled and quickly listed through the documents. "I know you say he has the potential for greatness, but sometimes I wonder where your confidence in him becoming the new heir comes from."

"Did you give it to him?" Micah asked.

Father looked up over his glasses at Micah. "Of course not. I spared him three gems, which is plenty generous as is, but I wasn't about to give him twenty-eight!"

"You should have given it to him," Micah said.

"Micah, you spoil him too much. You always have. How will he ever grow up properly like that?" Father finished reading the documents and placed a giant red stamp with the Frey Merchantry seal on them.

"He probably had a good reason for it," Micah said.

"I asked. But Luca wouldn't tell me. He just said it was important to save someone's life. But twenty-eight is just way too much. And if it's one of his usual pranks, I'm not paying that high a price."

Micah tapped the little stone turtle in his pocket that Luca had given him for his last birthday.

Next time I see him, I should mention to Luca that he can come to me for financial help in the future. I'd have given it to him without any questions.

"And what was the ridiculous business suggestion?" Micah asked.

"Ha!" Father laughed and handed a small poster to Micah. "Take a look for yourself. He suggested that we invest in this thing."

Micah picked up the poster only to realize it was a project proposal requesting investment from the Frey Merchant Guild. The handwriting was dismal and full of crossed-out errors and the corrected words written in. The picture drawn at the top to showcase the idea was juvenile. It was as poorly done as Luca's attempt at drawing.

"A mini-portal. It could be a good investment, especially for high-value goods," Micah suggested.

The proposal indicated a portal that small objects could be put through, the size of a fist as the limit.

"Spoiling Luca is one thing, but business is business." Father took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. "The idea is intriguing. But everyone has ideas. It's the execution that matters. How can I invest in someone that puts in such a juvenile form of a request?"

Micah had to agree with his father's assessment. Had this proposal come to his table, it would have been swiftly tossed out.

However, it's Luca that recommended we invest in this. He must know something we don't.

"I'll look into the inventor's credentials. Perhaps there's something worthwhile there," Micah said.

"Do what you will," Father said. "I'll trust your judgment if you think it's worthwhile pursuing."

Micah looked at the top of the document and read the name inscribed there.

Sarka Jarbez. Just why does my brother want to invest in you?

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

Damn it.

I pulled out the five phoenix eyes from my pocket and gazed at the golden gemstones as I thought out my next steps. Father had at least given me three additional gems, but it wasn't the thirty I needed.

I have but a few hours before the Daylan servant comes and buys the egg. I need twenty-five more if I hope to buy the egg.

"Young master, what are you thinking about? Are we going to go somewhere again?" Henry asked. "The coachman is asking."

He stood beside me near the carriage as I processed what to do next.

"Tell him we'll leave soon," I replied. "I'm just thinking how I can turn these five gemstones magically into thirty in the next few hours. I'll know where to go once I figure that out. I think my only option is to go gambling."

"That's unwise," Henry said. "You'd have to win a gamble with impossible odds to turn five into thirty. Only Jasper is good enough a gambler to do that, and he's out sick."

I smiled.

"I might not be a great gambler, but I have the benefit of time," I said.

Or rather, I had the benefit of dying and retrying my odds.