The Vampire & Her Witch
Chapter 453: Forbidden Goods

Chapter 453: Forbidden Goods

"What, what do you need me to buy that would cost this much?" Hugo said as he peeked within the pouch, his eyes widening at the amount. At a quick glance, Hugo estimated that it was more than four times the amount of wealth they’d taken to Blackwell County to cover the expenses of their journey. With that much coin, a family could retire and live the rest of their days in modest comfort even in expensive cities to the east, to say nothing about how far the coin would go in the still-developing Frontier.

"Something for Lady Ashlynn that you weren’t able to obtain in Blackwell City?" Hugo offered, trying to think of what could be so extravagant that his lord would need to reach so deeply into his personal funds. He knew that Owain had been frustrated when they ran short during the trip, but wasn’t this an excessive overcorrection?

"I need the venom of a spider demon," Owain said bluntly, lacing his fingers together and giving both men a hard stare. "You understand that no one must learn of this, don’t you? Sir Rian has earned a bit of my trust on the battlefield against the flat tailed demons, but Hugo, with this, I’m trusting you with far more than you’ve earned. You know what that means, don’t you?"

"Don’t worry a bit, m’lord," Rian said, his thick, meaty hand landing solidly enough on Hugo’s back to knock the wind out of the slender man before he could answer. "I’ll watch over him while he does this thing for you. No one will learn of it. You have my word. His, too," he added, slapping Hugo on the back again.

"But, but my lord," Hugo said, gasping for air and taking half a step to the side to put some distance between himself and the portly knight. "Spider demon venom is prohibited by the Church as an unholy evil. Just possessing it is a sin worthy of one hundred lashes in full view of a congregation. Using it..."

"That isn’t your concern, Hugo," Owain said sharply. Seeing his steward sniviling like this only made his temper worse. Sir Kaefin would never have whined or sniveled or mentioned punishments for anything that Owain needed done, but this bastard wasn’t even a quarter of the man Sir Kaefin had been. "You just need to buy it and deliver it to me. Then, you’re to forget you ever touched it. You understand?"

"I understand," Hugo said, giving a formal bow, though his shoulders were slumped as he did. "But my lord," he added hesitantly. "I wouldn’t begin to know where to look for something so..."

"Of course you wouldn’t," Owain interrupted. "You’re far too useless for that. But you don’t need to worry, it isn’t as hard to obtain as you think. Tell me, do you know of a man called the ’Black Merchant’?" Owain asked. Hugo shook his head, but a slow smile appeared on Sir Rian’s unshaven face.

"He’s real then, m’lord?" Rian asked, restraining himself from rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "A man who can sell you anything? Essence of poppy or cigars raided from demon strongholds or..."

"Oh, he’s real enough," Owain said with a laugh. "Whatever you’ve heard about him, though, it doesn’t come close to the truth. Sir Kaefin," he said, his voice catching slightly as his hand clenched into a tight fist. "Sir Kaefin dealt with his intermediary more than once. Horned demon bone powder that can give a man the virility to bed a dozen women in a night, wine from the royal cellars, even treasures from across the sea."

"He seems to have men in every city across the country and maybe even in the old countries as well," Owain said. "But here at home, you’ll need to find a crooked young man named Marcel who frequents ale houses and upscale inns as a silkpant."

"Tell him that I need enough venom to handle three people," Owain said, revising his plans slightly as he thought about the days when Kaefin would have handled all of this for him and the man who would have watched over his favored steward while he did so.

"Well, two people and a child," he corrected himself, recalling that Sir Tommin’s brat couldn’t be more than ten summers old and wouldn’t need half as much venom as it would take to kill his own father. For that matter, Sir Tommin’s woman probably wouldn’t need as much either, but it never hurt to have a little extra on hand as long as the price wasn’t too high.

"And Sir Rian," Owain added, looking at the man who had increasingly proved himself capable of ferreting out surprisingly useful people who hid themselves away from the authority of both their lords and the Church. "See if you can find someone skilled in handling such things. When this is all over, it needs to look like the work of demons."

"I understand, m’lord," Rian said with a dark smile. Whoever had crossed his lord was about to suffer an excruciating and slow death that only miracle workers from the Holy City could save a man from. The portly knight had no idea what had happened to enrage his lord to go to such extremes, but he firmly reminded himself that he never wanted to make the sorts of mistakes that could earn him such a harsh punishment.

"Is there anything else m’lord needs?" Rian offered, placing a hand firmly on Hugo before the young man could think of slipping away or running from the task they’d been given. At this point, it was far too late to grow squeamish about serving Lord Owain, but he wouldn’t put it past the cowardly bastard to slip into a Church confessional at the first opportunity if someone didn’t watch over him.

For a moment, he considered shoving Hugo out so he could have a private word and offer to dispose of Hugo after this was all over. After all, neither he nor Owain particularly liked the coward. But perhaps this was Owain’s way of giving Hugo a chance to redeem himself. If the scrawny bastard could at least manage something this dark and kept his lips sealed over it, then perhaps there was some hope for him yet.

"Make sure that this Marcel doesn’t put his hands on Hugo in an inappropriate way," Owain said, shaking his hand at his easily cowed Steward. "Kaefin said that sometimes, the things I wanted couldn’t be bought with coin and that the Black Merchant was always willing to trade for secrets. I don’t want this Marcel sinking his claws into my Steward and learning things he shouldn’t."

"But if it comes down to it," Owain said after a moment of thought. "I still have the flat tailed demon bitch and her spawn in a cell at the summer villa," he said with a dark smile. "I won’t let go of the pup easily, but perhaps the Black Merchant would be more interested in the bitch than gold in exchange for the venom. I’ll be done with her once the pup is weaned anyway, but if she can serve one more use before she dies..." he said, his voice trailing off darkly.

Neither man needed more explanation than that. Whether Owain would be successful in taming a pet demon remained to be seen, but letting its mother remain alive would only complicate things once Owain set his hand to the task of breaking the demon pup’s will. Better to get rid of the mother soon while she still had some value than allow her to turn into a greater problem later.