108
“I might have made a mistake,” Vesna Farringham said smoothly. “With you, I mean. I’d like us to start again.”
Milo sipped the warm tea. The taste was slightly minty. It was something Mila had found, and he was quickly getting addicted to it.
They were in his room. She had the little sofa, while he sat on his bed.
He hadn’t wanted to meet Vesna here, but she insisted on somewhere quiet and this was the most convenient. He didn’t want to meet her anywhere else.
The problem he had was trust.
The old Milo might have eagerly trusted her sincere expression and subdued, almost submissive, pose. He might have felt sorry for her.
But the new Milo had something that the old one didn’t.
Information.
Thanks to his little army of Clicks and Clacks, he had a constant stream of information pouring in. One of the Clacks was responsible just for Vesna, and followed her almost everywhere.
Almost being the right word.
Milo had asked it to stop sending video of her in the bath.
She was an attractive woman, but he really didn’t need to see that much of her. It made him feel dirty.
Especially if Tania was there pointing out every little thing about her body.
“Oh, she has a mole on her tit!”
That sort of thing.
It was too much.
Even his enemies needed a little privacy, he thought.
He nodded at her words and tried not to think about the mole on her breast.
Or the one just above her pubic mound.
“Alright,” he said, keeping his voice even. “What is it you want, Vesna? Exactly, I mean.”
Her lips thinned for a moment.
“You make things very difficult, Milo,” she sighed. “I’m not used to being so blunt. There’s a certain tone and cadence to discussions among my peers.”
“Yeah, well. I grew up struggling to find food,” he grumbled. “I don’t really care about playing rich people games. If that’s what you’re looking for, go play with Paddstone.”
She flinched at the name, and he tried not to shoot her a smug smile.
Yes, he wanted to say. I know everything you’re planning with him.
Instead of addressing it, she set it aside like a toy she’d finished with and settled back into the sofa with the look of someone resigned to trying to tell the truth from now on.
“I know you can recharge cores,” she said simply.
“I’m told that’s impossible,” he countered.
“For most people,” Vesna said. “But not all. I told you I want us to start again. I’m taking a great risk in telling you what I’m about to say, Milo.
But I think in the long run, it will benefit us both.
I know I haven’t made a good impression on you, and your only other contact with someone in my position has been with the Paddstones.
But not all our families work that way.”
“You mean, they don’t all try to kidnap people?”
“We might consider it as an option in extreme circumstances,” she said. “But it is most definitely not the preferred method of my family.”
“You’d do it, though.”
“Maybe.” She fidgeted awkwardly. “You’re not making it easy.”
“I know.”
“I know you can recharge cores,” Vesna said. “And the reason I have no doubt of this is quiet simple. My family can do the same. Or, rather, we could do the same.”
Milo stared at her.
“That’s a big confession,” he said. “Does the Court know?”
“No,” she said. “Over generations, we’ve built a process which makes it appear like we’re trading cores from other nations.
Or discovering them in old ruins. My family finances many archeological expeditions.
It helps hide what we’re really doing. Actually, it was in one of those original expeditions that my great-great-grandfather discovered the recharging device by accident. ”
“You have one?”
“We do,” she said. “It was a difficult process to relocate it back to our manor. But it is kept under strict security as you can imagine.”
“Right.”
“Unfortunately, last year it stopped working. And we don’t know why. No one understands dwarven technology.” She kept her gaze on him, studying every slight movement. “Our recharger has failed. And every attempt to open it to fix it has resulted in the death of whoever has tried.”
“Dwarves,” he muttered. “They love their traps.”
“Yes, they do.” She kept her piercing stare on him. “We thought our time as one of the most powerful families was coming to an end. And then you sold your core. A full core. I’m guessing it was the first one you’ve ever charged.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because it was full,” she said wryly. “Only a fool would try selling a full core. Even we ensure we only partially charge them to avoid suspicion. We even sell some which have only a small amount.”
“Well.” He took a deep breath. “Maybe it was luck. Maybe I found a lucky core somewhere.”
“Please,” she snorted. “Milo, I’m being honest with you. The least you could do is show a little respect for my intelligence if not my sincerity.”
“Hmph.” He grunted and hid his scowl behind a sip of tea.
She was right.
But it was still troublesome.
If he admitted to her that her suspicions were right, it could get difficult. Her family might try to blackmail him.
But he now knew their secret, too.
Mutual destruction was what she was proposing.
She leaned forward. “I’m not trying to take what you have,” she said. “But I’m sure you understand you’re not equipped for the attention which will come if you want to scale up what you’re doing. My family is already equipped. We have a system in place. We’re offering to let you use that system.”
“For a price?”
“Of course,” Vesna said. “We’re not stupid. But neither are we vampires. It’d be reasonable, and we can show you why it’s reasonable by showing you the costs.”
“Right.”
“The other thing we’d want to discuss is that you have a reputation for being an extremely good clockmaker. Your previous employer was very enthusiastic about that.”
Milo blinked.
He hadn’t thought about Master Sunderland for a long time.
“You spoke with him?”
“Naturally,” she said. “We wanted to know what sort of person we were dealing with. He said you were honest, hard working, and extremely meticulous. He also said if I were to speak to you, to tell you he misses having you in his workshop and that he hopes you are doing well. He’s a nice man. You should visit him.”
Milo felt a flash of guilt.
Master Sunderland had always looked after him.
And, without the skills he’d been taught as a clocker, he wouldn’t have been able to get the Workshop.
He owed the old man something.
“My family will pay you very well if you are capable of fixing our recharger,” she said slowly. “And would continue to partner with you on selling any cores you want to sell. Like I said, we’re not looking to keep you like a dog, or exploit you. We’re looking to partner with you.”
He felt a tightness in his chest as he considered her words.
“I might not have been clear with you in the beginning,” Vesna said.
“And I’m sorry if you thought I was openly threatening you.
Among those I normally speak to, it’s formality to get worst case scenarios out of the way at the beginning so everyone knows where they stand.
It’s more a tradition, of sorts. I should’ve been more sensitive to your background. ”
“It’s fine,” he said, then took a deep breath. “You realize I don’t trust easy?”
She gave him a long hard look before raising one eyebrow. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
His lip twitched before he could stop it. “I’ll think about what I can offer you,” he said.
“I hope so.” She pursed her lips. “The subject of trust brings me to Paddstone. Padrick, I mean. I’ve had several meetings with him, and he has outlined a plan to attempt to abduct one of your friends.
Like you said, kidnapping is one way to deal with a threat.
I think there’s a belief among his family that you’re hiding your true power.
They think using your friends as leverage is the smart way to do things.
For the record, I don’t work that way. I’d advise you all to be careful. ”
“I appreciate the warning,” he said, sipping his tea again.
She hadn’t yet heard what Mila had done to the men he’d sent.
“I’m also prepared to give you the depleted cores I bought this year,” she said. “For less than I bought them for. As a sign of good faith.”
“That’s good of you,” he said.
Vesna got to her feet, giving her robes another brush down. “I’m not sure if I made a mistake in trusting you, Milo,” she said. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of what I just gave you. But you have the ability to put a knife to my family’s throat with it.”
“I do know that,” he said. “But if you really mean what you said about good faith, I won’t need to use it. I’m not looking for power. Or for huge riches. I’m quite happy where I am these days.”
“Then we’ll talk soon?”
“Sure.”
She gave him a tentative smile. “I’ll leave then. Thank you for listening.”
“Thank you for coming,” he returned, saluting her with his tea cup.
“I’ll leave you and Tania alone,” she said, giving the room a careful sweep. “Wherever she is.”
Milo grinned at her as she left.
As soon as the door closed, Tania’s camouflage deactivated, and his golem gave the door a half-hearted scowl. “Tch. I’d like to smack her in the beezer.”
“Probably not a good idea,” he said.
“You think she’s on the level?”
“Do you?”
“Yeah,” Tania said. “I do.”
“Same.” He pursed his lips. “Now I just need to figure out if I’ll fix their recharger or just hand them recharged cores.”
“It’d be better to fix it or you’ll spend your life in the recharging room, I think.”
“You might be right.” Milo leaned back on the bed, putting the tea cup down on his side table. “I guess you can let Mila know she doesn’t need to kill her now.”
“Poor Mila. She’ll be very disappointed.”
“You can take her with you tomorrow, then.”