Vignette 7 – Money Matters
Crossed Keys Inn, Zaland, morning
"So we're not moving on today?" Ramza asked Lady Agrias, over breakfast, a little surprised.
They'd hired a small private dining room at the large coaching inn that they'd finally reached very late last night.
"No. The Princess needs a day to rest and relax, after her ordeal. Besides, I thought we could all use a break, and it'll give Boco the time to hatch 'his' egg. I know his father's being held prisoner, but Mustadio seems confident that there's no imminent danger and he'll stay with us because we're the best chance he has to speak to the Cardinal." Ramza shrugged as he replied to that.
"Okay... You know..." he mused, "my grandparents run a chocobo stud farm and I used to spend a lot of time out there with them, but it still amazes me how quickly the things breed. Boco being a girl explains a lot, though; females are always far more aggressive." He saw more than one aggressive gaze upon him. "What? I was only speaking of chocobos... obviously." Ladd and Mustadio looked at each other and started to laugh. Ramza cleared his throat uncomfortably, pink tingeing his cheeks.
"Okay... well, anyway... Ladd's been talking about making a shift to Chemist for a while, to upgrade his skills in that area. I want to try learning some time magick, now that I'm feeling confident with black and white, so I thought, while the weather's fine, the two of us might head back to that big clearing we passed twenty minutes out of town and do some practise this morning, if you don't need us for anything, my Lady?" After seeing Agrias nod, he glanced a query at his friend, who, mouth full, still managed to grin and give him a thumbs up.
Agrias continued to watch the boy thoughtfully for a few moments, then sighed and shocked him with praise.
"You're such a good example of what can be done when someone is prepared to train in multiple disciplines, and I know both Alicia and Lavian are keen to try out some new skills, so I'm sure they'd like to join you, but I can't have the princess here with only me for a guard."
"We can go with them, Agrias. I'd be quite interested to see you all train." The princess put in. Agrias wanted to spend some time on her skills - she knew how precarious their situation was that her Sword Techniques were possibly the most powerful weapon they had in their arsenal... Though... who was she kidding? Neither she, nor Mr Multi-Talented Ramza Lugria, nor anyone else could make a difference if the Northern Sky caught up with them in force.
"Mustadio, I don't know if you want to join in our actual training but, just to be on the safe side, you'd better come along with all of us." Ramza said, then glanced apologetically at Lady Agrias - after all, it was her place to make such decisions.
"Oh yeah!" Ladd suddenly said, enthusiastically. "I can try out your pistol, can't I? I've been thinking, you know, Chemists have to be really accurate at a distance with their Potions and the like, so combining it with a weapon that can also shoot accurately from behind the front lines would be great, so that we could also contribute more fully to the fight. Bows are no good, they need two hands and you can't easily carry a full quiver and a full pouch of medicines, and I've never thought highly of crossbows - except for a bit of convenience when you're hunting for supper - but Chemists with guns, I like that idea."
Ramza looked at his friend, for a moment, considering that and decided that he liked that idea too. He wondered if other combat styles could be adapted to guns. Chemists did seem the most obvious but... perhaps Orators? Unlike the unusual shouts and calls his father had taught him, an Orator's verbal incantations needed a high level of magical skill to have a hope of working, and that left them vulnerable and woefully underpowered using the knife that they normally carried, but give them a gun and they could both shoot and talk an opponent to death or surrender from a distance. That might just work. Thief?... No, probably not; it would ruin the stealth aspect.
He would try learning some Orations himself, if they could get some guns, he decided. By the sound of it, he'd need to go to Goug to buy some, though. Unfortunately, their limited finances probably wouldn't stretch as far as guns... he'd have to give this some more thought.
After they had trained, they were re-entering the inn and limited finances raised their head again.
"You go on." Agrias said to the other women. "I'll speak to the innkeeper – hopefully, he knows of a relatively honest banker or money-lender who can give me a reasonable rate on one of those bills of exchange. Assuming he knows one, I'll head out and get us the money we need." She sighed and then noticed Ramza nearby, chewing his lip as he watched her. "Is there a problem, Ramza?" She waved the other five away.
"I don't mean to interfere, my Lady, but are the bills of exchange you mentioned to draw from your own bank or from the Royal Treasury, as a Lionsguard Captain?" His quiet voice was hesitant.
"The Treasury, of course; I'm not made of money. I have one from my own bank, too, but I can draw a lot more from the royal coffers, if necessary, than I can from that. As things are, I currently only have enough cash to pay for the inn, but we'd barely be on half-rations until we reach Lionel, if I don't get some more money." Agrias had been going to speak sharply to the boy about minding his own business, however, she noticed that he seemed genuinely troubled. "What is it, Ramza?"
"Have you thought about being traced?" He asked quietly. "Once a money lender has given you cash in exchange for the bill, it's only good business for him to arrange to redeem the bill as soon as possible. That means it's going to be presented to the Royal Treasury within the next couple of weeks. Once they know we headed to Zaland after Zierchelle..." He didn't need to finish that sentence – if they'd gone south after Zierchelle, they really only could be headed to Lionel. Agrias swore, quietly but virulently.
"Fine, fine - I'll have to use my own money then. Thank the gods I have more than just my pay to live on!" Though it was annoying that the small inheritance she had been left by her godmother was going to be eroded like this.
"You're sure that no-one could trace you through your bank?" Ramza asked.
"Anything's possible, but I doubt it; I'm of age, no-one else has a right to know when or where I draw on my own money."
"Lucky you!" Ramza muttered morosely, thinking of the small fortune that he must be accumulating from the rental income of the properties that his father had left him. He felt forced to leave that money untouched because he was still three years off his majority and every aspect of that patrimony was currently being managed by his eldest brother's Land Agent. He noticed Agrias' raised eyebrow, and realised that she must have heard him, but he pointedly ignored the interrogative expression on her face and, with a small bow, excused himself and moved swiftly away to find the others.
After she returned with a restocked purse, Agrias had hired a small private sitting room for this evening, as well as ensuring that they'd still have the use of the dining room they'd used that morning. Late afternoon saw them all arrive back from the shopping expeditions that they had gone on. The three men had come back first. Ramza had gone out, before breakfast, to take a couple of pieces of damaged armour to the blacksmith and he and the other two had picked them up on the way back from the grocery and apothecary that Lady Agrias had sent them to, to replenish supplies.
Once he had stowed their parcels, Ramza had joined the other two in the sitting room and happily lounged on a settle with a book, while Ladd and Mustadio continued their game of backgammon. Only perhaps ten minutes later the women arrived back. They heard Lady Agrias speaking as she opened the sitting room door.
"You can nag me into buying a dress, but you can't make me wear it." The men looked at each other – none of them had to say 'Lady Agrias in a dress?' to know that the others were thinking the same thing. The door closed behind the four women.
"I could order you." The princess' voice was matter-of-fact as she removed the floppy hat and veil.
"What happened to the, supposedly, egalitarian young woman of this afternoon, your Highness?"
"I've told you time and again, Agrias, to call me Ovelia." The princess' voice was mild, as she ignored the question. Agrias wasn't letting it go.
"Yes! In almost the same breath as you say you'll order me to wear a dress, your... Ovelia. I like dresses, I really do, but you know I haven't worn one since I arrived at Orbonne!" Agrias almost wailed that last.
"High time you did, then." That was in a tone that brooked no opposition. Agrias turned on the three men.
"If I hear as much as a single snigger from you three..." The tone held an almost hysterical threat.
"Why would we, my Lady?" Mustadio, smoothly put in. "Any man with an eye for beauty can see that you will go from lovely to breathtakingly gorgeous with only a tiny amount of adornment."
Agrias' mouth dropped open and she gaped at him wordlessly, as did everyone else. He suddenly grinned cheekily at her. She narrowed her eyes and walked back out of the room, carrying her packages, without uttering a word. With a variety of expressions on their faces, the other women followed, with their own parcels, after the princess had quickly re-donned her disguise.
"You like to live dangerously, don't you?" Ladd said to Mustadio, as the door shut.
"Yes," Ramza added, frowning, "you were watching this morning, weren't you? You did see what she can do with a sword, right?"
"She's a very pretty girl who takes everything far too seriously. Too much responsibility too young, I imagine." Mustadio continued to smile lazily, as he stretched his arms above his head to loosen his shoulders, having been sitting too long hunched over the backgammon board.
"That's what happens when you're a Holy Knight." Ramza said with a shrug. "Which brings me back to what I just asked - you have seen what she can do with a sword?" Ramza actually looked a little concerned for him.
"I'll lay odds that the princess will order her not to carry a sword with the dress tonight, as well." Mustadio said with an anticipatory grin.
"All right, but be warned, you take this any further and I'm not wasting a Phoenix Down on a suicidal man like you when she Cleansing Strikes the arse off you the moment she has a sword again." Ladd said mildly.
"I bet you she doesn't. Every girl likes a bit of flirting. Besides, her bark's much worse than her bite." The machinist said, winking.
Ramza just shook his head at Mustadio, in disbelief, before he spoke to Ladd.
"You really aren't wrong about the suicidal part, are you?"
"I've said I'll wear the dress, but I'm not wearing my hair down, even if you do order it, y... Ovelia. Loose hair is for very young maidens, which I'm not!" A few minutes after leaving the men, the four women were in the bath house, grateful that they were the only ones in there so that they didn't have to worry about the princess going without her disguise. The three Lionsguards kept their swords close at hand, nonetheless, even as they bathed.
"Well you aren't old, which means you just said you're no maiden. So do tell us who the lucky man was." The princess retorted with a mischievous grin.
"I... it... Ovelia really!" Agrias ducked under the water to wash the soap out of her hair and hide her flaming face. Apparently, Agrias thought ruefully, I was wrong, a couple of days ago, to wonder whether Lavian's explanations to her about relations between men and women had been good enough! She surfaced only when her breath ran out.
"All I mean is I'm not about to treat dinner at this inn with the formality of some court function. Besides, I'm older than Lavian and she won't be wearing hers down!" She said as her head emerged from the water. "It's just the seven of us, and if any of you think I'm dressing to impress those three louts, you've another think coming."
"Lavian's a widow, it's an entirely different case." Ovelia said. She glanced across at Alicia, still with the light of mischief in her eyes. "Lout or not, I think Ramza's quite good looking, don't you Alicia?" She achieved what she had intended, as the youngest Lionsguard agreed enthusiastically, then blushed crimson. Agrias rolled her eyes and noticed Ovelia watching her again. "And Mustadio is fairly handsome, too, and he was certainly very lavish with his compliments earlier." Though the Princess' expression was guilelessness, it fooled no-one.
"He's just a boy, as well as a lout." Agrias said decidedly, trying not to let her irritation show.
"He's just turned nineteen - I asked - and at twenty-two you are practically old enough to be his grandmother, aren't you?" Ovelia asked. Agrias gave a heavy sigh.
"You know, Ovelia, you were so much easier to handle when you were just the shy little girl I first guarded." Agrias said.
"I was fifteen!" The princess protested.
"And still, very much, a little girl; you've always led a very sheltered life! I can't decide if this adventure has been good or bad for you!" She added drily. "Being serious, though, trying to play matchmaker, in the middle of a crisis like this, really isn't helpful. They're decent enough boys, but none of them is the be-all-and-end-all, we all have better things to think about." She caught sight of the blushing Lavian.
"Ah... well, that isn't to say that if you and Ladd keep your minds on your work, Lavian, that you can't do what you like when you're off-duty. Besides, we all know that, in theory, being a widow allows you more freedom than the rest of us are supposed to have." Lavian blushed even more at the implications of those blandly stated words. "But all of the rest of this is just silly, so please stop, Princess."
Lying in bed, much later that night, Agrias looked back on the evening with mixed pleasure. Wearing a dress hadn't elicited any laughter, though she would be having more words with Mustadio in the morning about his continual outrageously inappropriate attempts at flirtation with her. All in all, though she'd never admit it aloud, it had been nice to feel more like a woman again, rather than nothing more than a knight, for one evening.
She suddenly realised that something about today had finally put away her last doubts about their companions and that at some point she had decided that she had to trust Ramza and Ladd. She'd been right earlier, "decent enough boys", indeed. That didn't mean that she didn't want to know the details of who and what Ramza was, though. She wouldn't be happy until she had solved that mystery.
Author's Note:
Boco's egg will have an incredibly short incubation but it forced my hand, making me write a "hanging around, mostly just for the sake of it" vignette, which let me play around with a few things, but didn't take us anywhere much. They'll be back on the road in the next one. My chocobos have incredibly short hatching times, and once hatched, they mature remarkably quickly, but it still holds up the story, though it allows me to explore some of the practical sides of things such as money. Assuming Boco keeps on laying eggs, periodically, it will give me a chance to have the group staying in towns for a day here and there, occasionally, instead on continually moving. I'll use it when I feel like I want a little variety to the story's setting – though it probably won't be often.
I know it's terribly stereotypical for the women to have spent part of the day clothes shopping, but Ovelia was kidnapped and it's not like Delita gave her time to fetch a spare outfit! Hence it felt justified, and the dress allowed me to start up a Mustadio trying to flirt with Agrias scenario, which will eventually culminate in the birthday gift of Tynar Rouge.