236 Shadows (1/2)
As soon as Brym stepped out of Corco's study, he was confronted by one of the old Fastgrade accountants he had been acquainted with back in Arcavia.
*Alyn,* he matched name to face. *Somehow, they're all called Alyn.*
”Young Master Brymstock, welcome to Saniya,” the accountant said with a bow.
”Thank you, Alyn. I'm glad to be finally here, reunited with everyone once more. I hope you've done a good job preparing my room for me.” With a wink, Brym made sure his little jest would be understood as such. He remembered that this Alyn had always been too serious and direct for his own good, so the young merchant had to make sure he would not be misunderstood. Even so, the accountant managed to miss all the clues.
”Of course, young master. The old Fastgrade troupe has done it's best to prepare your new accommodations to the standards you would expect,” Alyn replied in a stern voice and with no attempts at a smile. ”Please follow me, I will show you to your new work space.”
”Lead the way, Alyn.”
With an immovable smile, young master Brym – the future head of Saniya's finance department – followed the stern accountant down the long hallways. He would not get into an argument about his guide's lack of humor, since he had bigger issues to worry about. Behind his back, Brym held the letter of orders he had just received from Corco. Not only did they indicate his future role within Saniya, they also gave him the authority to work freely, without supervision and with considerable resources.
While Corco had wanted to make Brym the head of the finance department right away, Brym wasn't so keen on the role without any contributions of his own. Although his big brother had talked about 'getting the bean counters in line', Brym knew that they would only breed resentment if he became everyone's boss right away, without any achievements. To his luck, Fadelio had sided with him and convinced Corco of a slower course of action.
Thus, the king had compromised. For now, the young merchant would only become boss of his own little division within the finance department. He would not be involved in budgetary work at all. Instead, he would only be responsible for the southern kingdom's still non-existent mint and the almost invisible banking industry of Saniya. Only if his current assignment went well would he be allowed to run the entire place and get access to core institutions like the treasury.
A ray of sunlight caught Brym's eye and interrupted his thoughts. When he looked up from the carpet below his feet, he realized that they had reached the outer parts of Rapra's upper castle floors. Through the open balconies, he was confronted with the morning sun, and a view of the entire city below him.
First was the lower portion of the castle itself, with its constant, hectic activity from servants, guards and accountants. Then came the Mayura River with its many piers and harbor. Ships traveled to and fro between the river banks and out into the ocean. Some were military vessels to guard and the three large river islands where most of Saniya's technology and military was stationed for now. Most however were merchant ships, on their way north to Amautu's kingdom or west to the Verdant Isles and Chutwa, all of them eager to make a fortune.
Farther yet, besides the river, the old city surrounded by the city wall could be found. When he had arrived in Saniya and made his way to the castle, he had already felt the energy and optimism of its people within every street and every plaza. Workers, merchants, priests or travelers, they all rushed along the wide roads while carrying all kinds of items to sell or show off. Even so, they still took the time to greet each other.
With the new king had come new rules, and the commoners were much more free to express themselves in public without fear of repercussions. From time to time, a young student would walk through the crowd, his head buried in some scribbled paper he had brought from the royal academy. In fact, ever since Corco had opened his school, it had grown quickly and integrated children from all over the Chawir marches. By now, almost one in five citizens of Saniya were students.
While Brym had taken to the place right from the start, the warm atmosphere of the people also felt foreign to him, unreal like a painting. As a man who had spent most of his youth on the run, traveling from kingdom to kingdom, the young merchant had never truly called any place his home, and Saniya was no exception. No matter how much he was welcomed by the people at the harbor or inside the castle, no matter how glad he was to see Corco and the others again, he still felt like a stranger, and the tension he would feel in an unknown, possibly hostile environment never quite left him. His anxiousness clenched his fingers, and with it Corco's written orders.
For Brym, they was more than just a piece of paper. Maybe, he hoped, it would allow him to find a home at last. Maybe equipped with a mission, with purpose and responsibilities, he would have something more, something that would bind him to this place and make him one of its own. If all else failed, he would still be distracted by the mountains of work, at least for a little while.
After a lengthy walk and far too much time for his private thoughts, Alyn and Brym had reached their goal. Behind a simple, innocuous door within the lower castle, they uncovered a large, open room equipped with at least a dozen work desks. Officials ran back and forth and carried pieces of paper between them, with even more urgency than the people within the city had displayed when they had carried their goods.
”Young Master Brym, welcome to Saniya's finance department,” Alyn said with a pride in his voice Brym couldn't understand.
”I'm glad to be part of the team again,” he answered as he offered a friendly nod to one of the accountants near the entrance. As Alyn and Brym marched through the rows upon rows of tables, all the old accountants from the former Fastgrade merchant company greeted him with warm enthusiasm. Although the many Saniya youngsters who had since become their apprentices looked confused at first, they still followed their masters' lead and did the same.
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”Young master Brym, this will be your new office space for now.” His words spoken, Alyn slid open the paper door to Brym's private office. Since he wasn't in charge of the whole finance department for now, he wouldn't get the large office at the end of the hall. Even so, he was in charge of an independent sub-division. As a result, he had been given his own little office, removed from the noise of the main hall.
”Thank you, Alyn,” he said with a practiced, natural smile while he took a seat behind his desk.
”I have already prepared all the relevant documents on the kingdom's finances to bring you up to speed, young master. Just call for me once you have oriented yourself, or if you need anything at all.”
With that, the stern accountant closed the door behind him and left Brym to his own devices. Hidden behind the paper door, the young merchant could see shadows rush back and forth, so close to him and yet impossible to grasp.
With a sigh, the finance department's new recruit picked up the first paper from the stack of documents to his right and concentrated on his work. As the stack to his right became shorter, a new stack to his left came into being. All the while, the silhouettes of his fellow coworkers created a constant background noise.
Once he had finished about half the stack, he had managed to get a rough idea of the kingdom's financial dealings, as well as their trade volume and what could only be considered a laughable amount of money lending and banking within Saniya. For the moment, his goal was to turn this loose and weak branch of Saniya's economy into one of the trunks the entire system would be built upon.
While it sounded like a grand goal, Corco had already done quite a bit of the prep work and the two of them had worked out a detailed plan of operations a long time ago. Now that he had an in-depth look into the actual numbers, it was time to start his work proper. Thus, he stood and marched towards the busy hall just outside his office.
”Alyn,” he called out of the opened door and into the de-silhouetted crowd. ”Come into my office.”