Free A Stolen Crown by Jordan Baker

short.” He gestured to the blood drying on the side of his face.
    "Damn soldiers," Bensa cursed. "You'd think they could at least be civil."
    "It was his majesty, Cerric himself, actually. He's quite the powerful man now."
    Bensa looked at Carlis for a moment, then he stepped over to the door from which he had entered and knocked on it twice. The door opened and the servant from earier appeared. Bensa said a few words to him and then the man retreated back down the passage behind the door.
    “Thank you for bringing me this information, Lord Carlis,” Bensa said. “Now, what else I can do for you?”
    “I wish to transfer my holdings,” Carlis said. “I will be leaving the city for longer than I care to think about, possibly for good.”
    Bensa frowned and let out a great sigh.
    “I’m afraid that won’t be possible."
    “What do you mean?”
    “Just what I said. Your holdings with the Trade Guild at Maramyr have been confiscated by the crown,” Bensa told him, with a blank expression on his face.
    “When?” Carlis felt his face redden with anger.
    The big man looked at the floor, no longer able to hide the fact that he himself was displeased with what he had to tell the former magistrate. The servant reappeared with a bowl of water, a washcloth, two cups and a bottle of liquor. He set the water and cloth on a small table with a mirror that was set against the wall and placed the cups and bottle on the desk. Bensa gestured to the basin, for Carlis to tidy himself up and he poured two cups of the liquor.
    “Two days ago, Cerric sent down a list of nobles who were to be stripped of their titles and properties," Bensa explained as Carlis wet the cloth and dabbed at the blood on his face. "Any gold, valued currency or property titles held in trust by this Guild were to be transferred to the treasury by order of the king.”
    “All of it?” Carlis was astounded.
    If what Bensa was saying were true, then Cerric had planned this even before their meeting, and he had lost a fortune! It was theft, plain and simple. But Carlis knew there was little he could do about it. Cerric was the king, and his word was law. Bensa opened up the book he carried and offered it to Carlis.
    “In this ledger, you will find a reckoning of your accounts,” Bensa said with a glimmer of a smile. This big of news was something he was more pleased to impart to Carlis, a man he had long respected and would have called friend were the rules of the Trade Guild more permissive. “I must say that, given recent events in Maramyr, your investments at Aghlar were timely indeed.”
    Carlis accepted the book and opened it curiously. He did not remember having made any purchases in Aghlar. He quickly flipped through the ledger to the most recent pages. There, on the line above his recent transfer to buy into the Smith’s Guild most recent proposal, was the purchase of a shipyard at Aghlar. His jaw dropped at the sum. Bensa smiled warmly at him and handed him a cup of liquor.
    “I must say that it took some doing to transport that much gold to Aghlar, especially on such short notice, but the Trade Guild employs very capable people in matters such as these. A message arrived just this morning confirming that your gold has arrived at Aghlar and that the transaction was authorized by the Guild there. Should you wish to finalize the purchase of the shipyard, you have thirty days to do so. In the meantime, your gold awaits you at Aghlar. I personally think you have made a very wise investment and, if I were you, I would see to it personally that it is properly managed.” Bensa drank the liquor in his cup, then placed it back on his desk and rubbed his hands together. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a great deal of business to attend to before king Cerric takes the rest of my business away from me.”
    The big man turned to leave.
    “Thank you,” was all Carlis could manage.
    Bensa waved a hand at him as he exited the room. Carlis held the book