Chapter Ninety-Two

Business Venture

We got back to the Throne Room – where we were actually joined by my son, Duncan. I squealed when I saw him – and he squealed back happily and waved his hands to me in an attempt to get me to take him from his nanny… he succeeded.

The kids would be arriving any second – Dorian was still here to make sure things went smoothly. He wouldn't tell me ages, genders, races – stating only that they would all be under 5 years old and all orphaned because their parents had been used for blood. All 10 would have been given when the Archon made the call two days ago; and at least 3 were from the Archons' residence.

Honestly, none of those facts went over well with me – but I swallowed my anger… for now.

It was just me, my mates, Cosmo with his pod, and Dorian in the room when the 10 children were brought in.

Each one was to be passed to me first so that I could check them over. I passed Duncan to Alistair before taking the first child.

Girl – elven – 6 months old; she was healthy with brown hair and grey eyes.

Girl – human – 2 years; malnourished but otherwise healthy with red hair and green eyes.

Boy – elven – 1 year old; healthy with brown hair and brown eyes.

The list went on – 3 humans; 7 elven. 5 girls; 5 boys. All mostly healthy if a bit starved for food or affection. The oldest? 4 years and 8 months. The youngest? A month.

Each of my 5 mates present held a child; counting Duncan. I held the youngest – she was an elf with blonde hair and violet eyes. None of these children had names.

If they had names, no one bothered learning them to pass them on. Dorian quietly informed me that slaves rarely had names until they grew old enough to do chores. I almost lost it, when the example that he gave was 'If a boys name is Leto, for example – that means happy or joyful – they would be given over to guards to get them in shape before becoming… body slaves.'

Fenris was stiff – I had told him his former name. Dorian saw my expression as I glanced at Fenris and paled. I said, "Well – winning that event may have saved you from that… until you became Danny-Dumbasses personal… I'm sorry, Amatus."

Fenris shrugged – he was holding the first girl I'd picked up; the 6-month-old elven girl.

Kell was holding the oldest – a human boy aged 4 years and 8 months.

Cullen held the 2-year-old human girl.

Alistair held Duncan.

Sebastian was holding a human girl aged 3 and a half.

That was 6 children in our arms. The other 5 were held by guards or Cosmos' pod.

Cosmo spoke, "C… Can we… adopt more than one?"

"That depends on if the children like you and if you bond with them," I smiled – already knowing that four of the children had made an impact on the 3 Fae.

All four kids were – of course – elven. (Only 'of course' considering the 3 human children were in the arms of my mates). 1 girl and 3 boys.

In the end, I checked the future and confirmed that those 4 children would grow up no different from Cosmos' own biological kids – so I allowed the adoption of all 4.

The first they adopted was an 8-month-old male elf with blonde hair and brown eyes who they named Mason; the second was a 1-year-old male Elf with brown hair and brown eyes who they named Samuel; the third elven boy was 1-year-and-4-months-old with brown hair and violet eyes – they named him John; and the girl was 4-years old with black hair and blue eyes… they named her Nikki.

That left the 1-month-old girl, the 6-month-old girl, 2-year-old girl, 2-year-and-5-month boy, 3-year-and-6-month girl, and the 4-year-and-8-month boy.

I was cooing to the little girl in my arms – I wasn't going to, but… I named her; Jessie. The name just slipped from my mouth while I cooed to her and played. She was squealing and giggling.

Alistair chuckled, "Thinking of adopting one yourself, my love?"

I pouted up at him, "Could we?"

Fenris chuckled. Sebastian coughed, "You really want to?"

"I don't know… she's adorable, isn't she?" I asked.

"But with what you have going on at the moment?" Kell pointed out. I frowned – he was right. I couldn't adopt the little girl when things were so… hectic at home. That would just be irresponsible.

I sighed, "Yeah… you're right…"

Bear – who had entered the room at some point – said, "I'll adopt Jessie. If it's… okay?"

I motioned him forward and goddess, but that little girl took to him faster than she had to me. It was almost sweet enough to give me a cavity. But it would be nice – usually, there was never a 'Mistress' or 'Master' before – those were the titles meant to be given to children from the previous court that didn't take the Throne. When the Queens continued being infertile… people thought those titles – which had been selected when the first court was established – would never be used.

So Bear adopted little Jessie. It was… astounding to see his face transform. He hadn't truly smiled since I'd personally known him; knowing that my arrival meant that his wife was going to die soon… it would be understandable – and then she died sooner than expected and he was the only survivor? He'd been weighed down for years now.

Thinking on it, it was amazing that I hadn't realized just how long it had been.

And just like that – Bear had a new purpose in life. I smiled.

It took a few more hours – but the other 5 kiddos were adopted.

The 6-month-old girl was an elf with brown hair and grey eyes; she was adopted by Astra – my Seamstress – and named Lydia.

The two-year-old human girl with the red hair and green eyes was named Tara and adopted by Duke Ray – the leader of the Air territories.

Duke Cedar – the leader of the Earth Territories – adopted the 2 year and 5-month-old male elf with black hair and brown eyes; he named the boy Dune.

The 3-and-a-half-year-old human girl with red hair and blue eyes was adopted by a Fire Sylph named Striker; he named her Ruby.

And finally, the oldest boy – the human boy aged 4-years and 8-months – who had black hair and green eyes was adopted by Duchess River of the Moon Territories; she named him Blake.

I did inform them that I would make a well-check in a year for each child – simply to make sure the kids were integrating to Danu well. None of the new parents had any issues with that at all; in fact, Striker – the one adopter that I didn't know personally – thought it was a great honor that he would see me again… I would never get used to fame.

After that, I went home – getting in just as Hawke and the others were getting in for mission briefing. Cullen looked like a lightbulb had lit up in his head and asked, "Oh – what delayed you that you didn't come home last night? I still don't entirely know what happened – just that…" a dead child was found.

I sighed, "Slavers came for Fenris – Maleficarum made up half the numbers. Axel and Alano helped me clear them out… we found Willow when only Almadrius was left. There were 62 people trying to kill us in that cave – all the slaves they brought with them were dead by the time we showed up. 33 of those people were blood mages while the other 29 were just hired guards and mercenaries."

"33… I'll get that report to Meredith. There's a reward for Templars who take care of Maleficar in the line of duty. 50 silver a head. The reward might be a promotion this time however… so many Blood Mages with you as a witness means there's no doubts to it even if they managed to forget the 'proofs'."

Proofs – the Templars would take an amount of blood to the circle where they were stationed and present it as proof of death. It would be used to make a phylactery – which would turn dark upon the mages death; and if the mage was already dead… it automatically went dark upon being made. They called the mage blood proof – even if it wasn't proof of Blood Magic.

I nodded, "They deserve the promotions – you should have seen them. Alano is amazing with his daggers and Axel… I've only seen two other men move so fast with a Great-sword and one of them was Qunari."

He nodded and leaned over to kiss my forehead before ambling off to file the report. Duncan gurgled from Alistairs' arms while reaching for me… I scooped up the baby and began playing with him.

Over the following month, I developed new scents, tea blends and pastry recipes. My Connections Jewelry Line – consisting of both Sending Stones and Ley Lines – was my most popular if my most expensive.

I was currently arriving in Val Royeaux to set up the shops. I was dressed to the nines – as usual when dealing with Val Royeaux. The dress that I wore was an off-shoulder ball-gown with a 3-tier skirt; done in black silk, it had a silver lace overlay with rubies twinkling in the swirling patterns. The spot where the bodice and skirt met had a one-inch band of Onyxes in a 'belt' illusion. The matching cloak was light-weight and a dark silver with a black-salt-metal broach-clasp. The shoes were black wedges with ruby-colored straps and silver detailing.

I had Varric, Fenris and Sebastian with me. Cullen couldn't get away for a 'trip' – just his nights – Kell was on a hunting trip at the moment, and Alistair, of course, had a country to run. I did have Rain with me as a guard, however.

We were 'herded' directly to the main Palace. I really had to work to keep my distaste off my face at seeing Florianne and Gaspard in the room. Though I did nod to Briala – and she seemed interested in me.

I dipped into a deep curtsy once I was close enough to the throne where Celene sat.

She spoke first, "Empress Ara – Prince Fenris, Prince Sebastian – it is wonderful to see you again."

Okay – major bonus points here for remembering Fenris' name. I knew she was a friend to elves – mostly – but to go out of her way to remember to address one when she could have gotten away with only addressing me as long as she didn't address Seb? Now that was hospitality in Orlais!

I smiled at her, "Empress Celene – I hope you're well. I see you have the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess here – as well as Briala. I'm honored."

The way I stated that would seem casual to most – but it firmly stated that I was honored to meet Briala. But at the same time, they wouldn't realize just how well I knew the game and assume I was stating that I was honored to meet all 3 – leniency since this wasn't a court – just an informal meeting.

Sebastian knew – he spoke next, "Truly, it is a pleasure to meet the most esteemed Royal Family. You have our thanks for the invitation."

Celene seemed pleased enough – she jumped right into business. We spoke for about 3 hours on the details – my manager Fae would be arriving separately so there was only so much we could go over; thankfully, Luna – a Water-Born Fairy – would be arriving tomorrow morning around dawn.

Celene did question why it had to be Fae that would Manage the shops, so I replied, "It isn't anything personal against your people, Your Radiance; but the Fae… when a Fae makes a pack with their Queen, it is life-binding. There are conditions to be met, but if I ask Luna to swear to me that she will not sell recipes or secrets, then she can't… well; she can but only one before the pact kicks in."

I knew – they would assume that Luna selling my recipes or secrets would cause her to die; but no. As I stated before to my trusted friends and family – the culprits that sold my things would have to turn themselves in for jail or work-release.

Celene frowned, "Why would they have to die for this?"

Oof – tricky… ah, "Truth be told, cutting into the Queens income and disrupting her livelihood is treason in Danu. I've been told treason is a… Capital Offence even in Orlais?"

She seemed to understand, "Ah – do you not collect taxes in Danu?"

"Taxes are unnecessary in a trade-based monetary system. What would the Queens have taken? Manufactured goods? Combs and pastries? We only moved to the gold-based system in 9:30 Dragon and most places and people still use trade among themselves and only deal in gold with outsiders and the Treasury. It's easier for the Fae to work that way. If things need repair, the repairs are commissioned to someone who is paid in their chosen way by the crown – either in goods or gold. Between us, I am paying people in goods more often than not. Soaps, mostly. It's cheaper that way too, but that's what they choose."

"How did Queens make their livelihoods before you?" Grad Duke Gaspard asked.

It occurred to me then – just seeing their faces… they really couldn't imagine a trade-based system… at all.

"… By trade. As you know, every Queen before me has had a minimum of four mates; wither they would earn whatever she needed while she governed, or – like me – she would trade her own items. It was always meant to keep the monarchy humble – after all, the Queen was the Queen by fate and chance – not lineage. And it's still not promised that my own family will always rule Danu – if there are no Daughter Fairies, the we still have to conduct the transference rituals. If there are Fairy Daughters and they abdicate… again, we'd need to do the ritual. Things are ever changing. No one knows this better than the unaging Fae." I hummed.

Rain spoke, "As well, there was no palace before the Empress; no capital city as the Queens often moved around… Ara has brought many changes to Danu. That should go to show just how vastly things can change in such shot order."

I almost reached over and popped Rain – they hadn't needed to know that. But Celene just nodded thoughtfully and we were then shown to the building. I was almost impressed at how well it was decorated in each store-front. It was clearly separated for all four shops – two on each floor – and done in a similar enough style to what I already had in my other 3 set-ups. It just needed the inventory and staff.

I would be hiring staff in 3 days – Celene had someone post notices about a hiring event and how much the pay was… 4 sovereigns a week for 5 days of work; the benefits; and even the employee discount and free item allotment each month. I had a feeling I would be busy all that day – maybe two days if I didn't find suitable candidates.

I'd made sure she added 'all welcome to apply' and had a few notices posted in the Elf-rich neighborhoods. I knew that in Halamshiral, it was actually mostly elven population – the humans just walled themselves away from them in what was essentially a 'reverse alienage'… but the alienage in that case was much, much nicer than the rest of the city. Val Royeaux also had a dense Elf population – they just weren't seen much.

Celene didn't outright say it – but she tried to push several of her people for the hiring event; she would mention names, descriptions and just how 'hard-working' they were. I politely brushed it off with, 'well, I hope they get the job' – basically telling her that if they did, it would be on their own merit – not hers.

By the time Sebastian, Fenris and I were in our room for the night – Celene hadn't thought it would be an issue to put both my male mates and I in one room – I was highly annoyed.

"I'm so sorry, Sebastian…" I muttered with a flush, "I didn't think she would… she assumed that just because you're mated to me and I have all male mates and that some of my mates are rumored to sleep with each other…"

"It's fine, Ara – you have apologized 15 times for something that was not yours to control. It is fine – it is like Tevinter; I shared with you and 3 others then and I wasn't even your mate. I do not mind… as long as you stay between Fenris and I, there will be no issues," He smiled at me.

"But… you don't…" I muttered. He kissed me to shut me up as he chuckled.

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it – it's better this way. I'd feel uneasy if you didn't have enough protection. What if you are attacked in the night? It makes me worry."

Fenris pointedly didn't point out that he'd be with me tonight… rather he simply said, "It does make it easier if you are not going between rooms on nights when you are with us… and it'd be easier to protect a Ley Line with two people in the room. I will revert to sleeping in the chair when you are… out."

I frowned, "Or you can use my bed-roll – the Fae bed rolls are like portable beds."

"… I will accept that," he gave me a nod – he was still so stiff all the time. Hmm… but he was a sweet cinnamon roll when he wanted to be.

I pulled him down for a kiss – what? I was a touchy person, okay?

I was annoyed – every noble that came in to interview was just expecting me to hand them the job and not expect them to work… and none of the noble ladies came in at all anyway; they sent their servants to secure the jobs because 'ladies don't work'. Bullshit!

So – at this point – I'd only hired a few elves.

I only had half the needed roster too – I needed 8 people for each of the 4 stores. I only had 16 people. 6 for the soap shop, 2 for the jeweler, 7 for tea shop and 1 for the dish shop.

I wanted to bash my head against the desk in the managers' office where Luna would oversee operations.

Another noble man was in front of me – I didn't know this one. And at this point, I was too tired to remember his name.

"If hired, what will you do?" I asked.

"I will send my best servant to learn the job and do the work," he replied. Behind his mask, I was sure his grin was charming.

I gave him a deadpan look, "I apologize," I couldn't say I was sorry when I really wasn't, "But I don't think you'd be a good fit for this job. See, I only allow people to work here when they come to the interview themselves and if they do, then the benefits only apply to them if hired. On top of that, I'm hiring for full-time positions – if they have another job past this one, that can be worked around if it's part-time and they aren't working at all hours with no time for themselves. I prefer to have those under my employ well taken care of – hence the benefits."

I wasn't sure why I was explaining all of this to this particular applicant – but my instincts told me to, so I was, "So far, every noble I've interviewed has been… unqualified for the position and the servants sent to interview have been too overworked. I'm not sure what the nobility hopes to gain from working here, anyway. I have an iron-clad NDA – a non-disclosure agreement – signed by each employee; it'd be treason against Danu to sell even a single design, recipe, scent… and since Celene has so generously worked out an extradition treaty, anyone caught selling would b sent to Danu for treason charges. That's a minimum of 5 years working or 10 in a cell – and that's the lowest penalty. Who knows if the council will demand a harsher sentence for those not from Danu? Considering I only handle treason, murder and other harsh judgements with a full council… forgive me – I must be tired; I shouldn't be putting this all on you when you only came here for an interview, right? Again – I apologize, but you're just not the right fit for us."

The man was quiet as he stood and left the room. I looked at Luna, "Follow him."

Luna was 5'4 and had cropped dark blue hair (Water), red eyes (Fire) and dark skin that reminded me of Oak Bark. Her gifts included wind melding like Gale, voice mimicking like Katt, and gift of Song like Xia. 2 waters and an air.

She nodded to me and vanished into the air.

I glanced at Varric – he was sitting in the corner with Seb, Fenris and Rain at a corner table. I had already declared that to be the last interview for the day – I would pick back up tomorrow. Varric asked, "So, what was the promotion that you wanted to run in your established stores, Feathers?"

"I'm not quite sure yet – maybe loyalty cards? We hand out little cards and if a customer has them then they get sale prices. Or we could do stamp cards – we hand out a paper card and they bring it in, it gets a stamp on every purchase in the sweet shop and on the 10th, they get a free pastry and tea? Or we could collaborate with a tailor in each city where the stores are located – they could design clothes to match our jewelry or other way around; popularity would go up and people would want to buy the 'set'. Or we can make mailing lists where we mail vouchers or coupons once a month. Oh! Bag-Sales! A 'whatever-you-can-fit-in-this-bag-is-a-single-price' sale. You get some really creative people when those sales go out. We can do that around Satanalia."

"I like the Bag Sale and the collaborations – but the loyalty and stamp cards might be better left to waiting until people get used to promotions. The Mailing List might not be a good idea either – people don't want their private information in a ledger for a shop." Varric pointed out.

"Yeah – though, with the Loyalty Card, I want to have the metal cards engraved with the birthday and name of the card-holder – just the month and day – and they can get one free item from any of the shops – emphasis on one – each year. This means they can't get something from the Connection Collection since those are a minimum of 2 pieces. The poorer people – non-nobles – would clamor to sign up for the free cards, of course. Nothing says they can't turn around and sell an expensive jewelry piece for living expenses." I shrugged flippantly.

"Maybe leave the jewelry shop out of that one – dishes, soap or sweets." Varric commented.

I frowned, "Why? Do you realize how much that could help the people? Think about it – they may even spend some of that money in my own shops – buying better soap than they usually get, finally trying the more expensive pastries that they look at but decide a new shirt is more worth it, or even getting a set of sturdy dishes when they've been using wood-carved and uncured. The cheap wood-turned ones that I sell would even be better than what those in the alienage use – and I outsource for those."

I made the ceramics when I had time – drake did it when I didn't since he'd grown a fondness for making them – but I couldn't do wood-carving. So, I'd hired a few Earth Fae with the unique gift of Wood-Singing. They would hum specific tunes to get blocks of wood to basically carve or crow into whatever they were imagining. It was more efficient than finding someone that could carve the wood. That wasn't a Sylph Specific gift, but it usually only appeared in the Sylphs. It was rare for a Fairy to get that one. And that gift was why the Earth Territory of Danu had homes 'built' into the overly tall trees – like Elves in a story book living in the trunks of larger than normal trees.

Each territory had similarly unique architecture – Fire had lava as light sources, water was mostly islands and water… air had floating homes and ground homes since Air Sylphs commonly had wings to the point that it wasn't so much a gift. If you were born an air sylph you could potentially have wings and a gift – or just wings. It was an evolutional trait at this point.

Water Sylphs all had gills – but not all had mermaid tails.

Fire Sylphs could almost all swim in Lava or walk through a wall of fire without getting burnt… almost all.

And even Earth Sylphs could almost all walk through a patch of wild animals and not get attacked because they smelled like nature.

Fairies didn't have these passive traits; and I'd only learned about that amazing effect when I became Queen – though with everything happening at that time, I hadn't taken a moment to just absorb the information granted to me.

Sebastian said, "It's not a bad idea – one that both helps the poor and still brings in money. She is right, Varric – the money they get from selling those things in new condition will most likely be used to update their bathing and eating needs."

I beamed at him, "And I plan to be the one paying for them too. I plan to open a pawn shop. People can bring in things they don't want anymore and sell them to the pawn shop which will then resell the used goods. They'll be paid fairly for their items depending on condition and market value. There will also be an option to 'hold' items. The pawn shop will buy items and if asked to 'hold' them, we can hold for about a month in which the item can be bought back for the exact amount given as long as they have the slip that will be issued upon selling."

Fenris looked intrigued, "Why?"

"For the people that need money now because they don't get paid for a few days but their rent is due or something. Pawn shops were everywhere back home." I shrugged, "I once pawned a Violin in 'like new' condition because Alex had just lost his private security job – this was before he got the job as a shop-keeper – and we needed diapers. I got what was needed – and I didn't play the violin much anymore anyway so… I didn't buy it back or even use the hold option. My point is – holding can save a person a lot of trouble."

Varric frowned, "But isn't good from a business point of view."

"Make you a bet – in the first 2 years of having the Pawn Shop open, I turn a profit on it. Advertising that they can get products at a discount? They can sell items to me? In a place like Denerim, I could turn a profit in a year – because we buy for 75% of what we'd sell the item for. Back home they bought for like… 50% but I'm already rich and my stores make enough to pay my employees so… this isn't about making more money anyway."

"You'd pay people selling their items 75% of what you would sell it for? So if something would fetch 100 silvers in your pawn shops, you would buy it for 75 silvers?" Sebastian asked.

"Yup – and that gives me a 25-silver profit on the item. It's like being the middleman in a business deal but less shady." I smirked as Varric exclaimed in indignation.

"Meaning that – as a middle man – you basically take a 25% cut from all trades," Fenris remarked.

"Steeper than most middle-men around here – however, people will still come to me because when selling, they get the money up-front and don't have to wait for a buyer to appear. And people will buy from there too – non-nobles who need something, mostly – because I'll still be selling for a fraction of the cost for 'new' items. So those people selling me the jewelry they received as gifts from the loyalty birthday program wouldn't get the price of brand new – but they'd still get a good chunk and if it's pawned the same day that they got it – they'd have to show the proof of purchase – then it could still be sold at 90% of what it would normally sell for and thus, I don't lose very much in the birthday program anyway. Opening a pawn shop is two-fold; a kind move to the poor and a shrewd move in business. You know some nobles down on their luck will want the 'as new' jewelry at a cheaper price."

Sebastian nodded, "She's right – my father was a very stingy man when it came to our family finances. He had a very tight grip on the vault key. We were rich, but if he could get a deal on something, he would go for it. He was the third son – he wasn't expected to take over as he did. So all the money was used on my first two uncles and my father had to make do – this gave him a cunning edge in money; so when my uncles died and father took the crown, he was able to increase our wealth. Point is, many other nobles are the same way. Brand new premium jewelry at a discount? I believe Lady De Launcet would purchase it at least for her daughters."

Rain looked amused as he finally stepped into the topic, "Shall I have Earth Lord Bear open one in Danu?"

"… yes – and start the Loyalty cards there too. I want them to be Iron or Steel and engraved with just the name and birthday of the participant. People can pay for an upgrade to Silver Cards or pay more for the upgrade to Gold Cards. Yes, Varric – it is a money-grubbing tactic. Most will be fine with the basic ones but do you think Nobles here in Orlais will want anything that is easily accessible to the common folks? 20 sovereigns says that they would all pay fee for the Gold Cards. There is no benefit to having the different cards – except a show of status and wealth – but nobles want something shiny and I like having arrogant idiots pay for their vanity. But having the loyalty cards will allow the holder to get sale prices when there are holiday sales and the birthday gift so everyone and the pet cat will want one. So the vain will want to stand out – they'll buy the silver or gold ones. I'm thinking 5 sovereigns for silver and 15 for gold?"

"For shinier cards that have no added benefit?" Sebastian looked amused knowing that only the nobles would buy them.

"Hey – materials for those cards aren't cheap, beloved." I winked.

He laughed, "And the profits from those cards?"

"Straight to charity – an Orphanage I plan to open in Gwaren and one in… hmm – I think maybe the Free Marches but I don't want to put it in the dumpster fire that is Kirkwall…" I said thoughtfully.

"Starkhaven?" Sebastian suggested, "People would come from a lot of places to adopt or we can give those kids all the chances they'll need to make it as an adult."

"Would there be a place to put it?" I asked.

"Starkhaven is larger than many people seem to think it is. There are quite a few places – but I'm thinking of a specific building near the palace." He smiled at me.

"What is a dumpster?" Rain asked.

"A really big trash can," I gave such a sweet smile that Varric almost forgot to be offended for a minute.

Luna returned, "The man reported directly to the empress – it seems… the woman wanted to know why her people weren't getting hired. She seemed displeased to learn of the NDA. She muttered about regretting the extradition treaty. Especially when you've stated to her at that treaty signing that anyone caught committing treason was also pulling in the ones they were collaborating with."

In other words, if someone broke the NDA and sold then whoever bought was also committing treason against Danu. I smirked and leaned back against the chair, "Huh – and even she would be at risk if she bought the designs. It's called corporate espionage – the illegal and unethical theft of business trade secrets for use by a competitor. That's what Celene is trying. The question is… does she want it for personal use or her own business? I've sold the recipes before, after all. Hmm – well, if she wants a specific recipe she'll just have to ask."

We discussed the promotions and new pies to put my fingers in for a while more before heading back to the palace.