All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 266: Family Business

Nearly ten minutes later, Bee found herself in what her aunt called a salon. Sure, it looked a little fancy, like what she would expect, but that was only at first glance. The nice building with gold trim and pretty pastel colors housed an entryway. They went up to the door, and soon, a well-dressed maid led them to a table in a private alcove with a small candle lighting up the dimness.

Before they had a chance to look at any menu or ask about what food was available, the maid left, and Beatrix smiled. "So. You have to tell me about how you got such an impressive manor. I was just floored. It looked far too nice for something you could just snap up without an extra fortune or two on hand. But when I came to look at it, it was nothing at all like the sketches or descriptions I heard. Even the bank was very surprised that you managed to buy this. You didn't commit any fraud or anything, right? Trust me, it's a recipe for disaster. I'm not accusing you, of course. Our relationship has been good with the bank, and they seem to think it was all above-board. So tell me. How did you find such a good deal?"

Bee had half expected this question but in a much different way. "Uh, well, I went to the bank, looked for manors that would serve my, uh, our needs. Then I looked through them and picked one of the cheaper ones. It was in disrepair. I purchased it after I had taken a look and decided it wasn't as bad as the bank had assumed. And then some of the people I had with me, um, helped fix it up and cleaned it for a day or two. And that's what you saw."

"There's no way that so few people fixed up the entire manor. Not with the way they described it. Even if you had a whole team of Craftsmen and Builders behind you, that would have taken weeks at least. It shouldn't have any windows. Everything was broken. Everything." The woman gestured emphatically. "There were massive gouges in the stone floor. The gates were rusted. You couldn't have gotten all that replaced in just a couple of days! And not to mention the cost of labor and materials..."

Bee shrugged, not really sure how to explain it. She didn't quite feel ready to tell her aunt about the whole church that she was leading, or her level, or really anything about her experience in the castle. Maybe later. But she was still getting used to the idea that her aunt and maybe even her father cared about her. Right now, it didn't feel like something she could trust them with. Maybe after they took the city, she'd fill her in with everything, but she'd also miss a chance to preach about Void.

Her aunt leaned forward with a gleam in her eye. Bee could tell that the woman saw an opportunity here, and for good reason. If Bee could pull something like this off, then could she do it again? If so, there was real business to be had.

She held her breath for a split second, debating. Eventually, she spoke. "Well. We did get a little bit of help, and I do have a few surprises, but I'm not sure if they're repeatable."

Bee skated around the truth as well as she could. Would Void be willing to clean up other manors like this? Probably. But would her master go out of his way to clean upthe manors she specifically owned? Yeah, probably as well. So maybe that was less truthful than she originally intended.

Beatrix's eyes twinkled. She was about to ask another question when she leaned back suddenly. The maid appeared at their table with a few tall, fluted glasses of what looked like a pale orange juice. She set down one in front of each of them. Bee cautiously took a sip and spluttered as Beatrix smiled at her over the rim of her glass.

"What is this?" She asked her aunt, scrunching her nose at the surprisingly alcoholic drink.

"Well, it's a new thing from the south. People call it a mimosa."

"This is way stronger than drinking wine." Bee said, rubbing her tongue against her front teeth and trying to get the taste out of her mouth. "Why do you even add the orange juice? It still tastes like how a hard liquor smells."

Beatrix just continued to smile. "Don't worry about it. It's a lady's drink. You'll be fine. You're 14 anyways, right? You don't have to keep drinking the weak stuff."

Moving on as if Bee hadn't nearly choked on the disgusting liquid. "Anyway, I also wanted to ask. How did you get such good glass on those windows? I've never seen anything like it. I can barely even see the pane and there's very little heat conduction through it. I tested! When I touched it last night, it wasn't cold at all. None of the night chill seeped through on my side. You simply must let me know about your supplier!"

Stolen novel; please report.

Bee frowned. She was sure it was something Void had done, but... "Yeah. Um, I'm not sure about that. It was like that when we got there. I can ask around and see what happened? Maybe."

Beatrix smiled knowingly, obviously misinterpreting her niece's hesitation. "Yes, of course, I don't want you to give up all your secrets, but... if we can get something like that. Well, I mean, everyone would want windows like this. They're simply the best."

Bee just nodded. If her aunt thought that she was protecting a supplier, then that was for the best.

"Ok. So." Beatrix adjusted in her seat. "You're telling me that you simply came into the city, bought the manor, fixed it up, and managed something like this? Well, I guess we're in the wrong business. We need to get into real estate!" Beatrix's excitement crescendoed.

Bee just shrugged. "Well, um, I heard that you were coming to set up a branch in the Capitol."

As she passed on the rumors that she had heard from the guards. Beatrix waved her hand, "Ah, that. Sort of. I was more about looking into the possibility of setting up a branch, but it seems like you're already way ahead of me here."

"Has the business been going that well?" Bee asked.

"Yes, yes. Things have been going great. The anticipated conflict has been great for business. We have a huge influx of cash and people buying everything that they can. And we're hoping to reinvest so that we're set up for when hard times come in. More branches will help with that."

"Wouldn't that give you more vulnerabilities?"

"Yes, but a lot of the international trade we're expecting is going to dry up soon. Everyone thinks the King is itching to start some wars, and I have to say I agree. So domestic trade is going to be even more important. So we're trying to set up infrastructure to take up some of the market between lots of cities rather than just our international contracts."

Bee remembered some of the meetings she'd been in over the past day or two.

"Um, I've taken a few meetings in the family stead," she said. "And there is definitely still a lot of interest in getting your contacts internationally. And if you really think that they're going to be unavailable, it might be time to think about selling some access to them rather than just the goods they provide."

Beatrix smiled. "Ah. Very clever. As I should expect from my niece! Well, we're not entirely convinced, but maybe we can try that with a few of them. We can test the waters and see what we can get for them. Now, who have you met with?"

Bee went through a long list of meetings she'd had and notes she'd remembered, and Beatrix listened, humming and hawing. Still, she let Bee speak for a solid ten minutes before she'd covered everything that she thought her aunt would like to know. "Hmm. That is useful. You've done a very good job."

Beatrix sipped her mimosa. "Now, I know this might be a little bit prying, but I have to ask. Why are you here?"

Bee blinked, surprised at the sudden turn of conversation. Beatrix quickly clarified. "I know that you weren't here for family business. You've never particularly enjoyed learning your father's lessons. And I tried to teach you when you were young, but you were always off watching the local pharmacist. So why are you really here? I'm glad to see you and everything, but it makes absolutely no sense.

"I saw the people with you. They don't look like they're from the college, and none of them are magicians, from what I can tell. They're talking about someone named Void. Did you run away from the castle? Were you unhappy there? If you just wanted to be a merchant, you could have told us. We would have gotten you out. I thought you always dreamed about learning magic, though."

"Um. Really?" She asked in disbelief. Bee had to blink away the sudden emotion that welled up inside. Her aunt actually knew she had always been fascinated with magic?

"Um, yeah. Duh." The woman chuckled. "Your father had to pull a lot of strings to get you that position at the castle. It wasn't cheap, you know."

Bee was taken completely aback. She'd always assumed her father hadn't paid those bribes to the college. Had her father been scammed? Did someone take the bribes, promising that she'd be a magician, and simply get away with not following through just because she hadn't told her father? Was that some sort of miscommunication? Why hadn't her father told her what to expect? If that was the case, why not tell her himself Instead of having some family servant ship her off while he was off on a business trip?

Bee's mind raced. She was completely flustered and unable to process what seemed to be a complete change of perspective over the last several years. No, it couldn't have been like that. Someone would have said something.

Bee realized she had been silent for some time. Her aunt's face showed quite a bit of concern. "What's wrong, honey? Did the castle not work out the way we expected?"

"Yeah…" Bee swallowed. "No. No, it did not."