Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“It could be one of her parents coming to check things out.” I raised my eyebrows.
“They could just be visiting, yes,” Niamh said, looking down at the laptop Ulric had given her. “Then they might have a wee nibble of Edgar’s tasty flowers, or wander through this new wood, or scare hikers on the mountain. Who knows what they might get up to? And maybe, just maybe, they’ll both decide to stay on awhile.”
Ulric grinned and held up his hand to show his crossed fingers.
“What am I missing?” Patty asked, looking around. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing, Mom, it’s fine.” Ulric wandered in her direction, ready to grab the next set of boxes. “What’s this group?”
She stared at him for a beat, and it was obvious she was debating whether to press the issue.
“I’ll explain later,” he said. “Let’s just get these requests done.”
After another silent beat, she glanced back at me. “This grouping have only marginally higher status than the cairns whose gifts we just opened. But, and here is the huge difference, they are worth much more.”
Confusion bled through the link from Austin as Patty walked around to stand behind a large trunk that reached up past her knee.
“These are from the production cairns.” She spread her arms, looking down at the packages around the trunk. “They specialize in a few products that they sell for profit. It could be woodwork”—she bent to touch the top of the trunk—“or textiles or dairy. Maybe they mine gold. Maybe they make jewelry. What they don’t do, however, is have the ability to protect what they create. They are weak in battle.”
“And that’s why their status is low?” Nessa asked.
“Yes…” Patty tilted her head from side to side. “Kinda. You see, when a production cairn shows that it is stable and profitable, it will look for an alliance with a larger cairn. That cairn will offer them protection in exchange for a cut of their profits. The production cairn will then inherit the status of the larger cairn.”
“And…so…” Nessa leaned forward over the laptop.
“These cairns mostly do not have an affiliation. You see…” Patty puffed out a breath, looking upward to think. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be to explain all of this.”
“Production cairns will only submit their products if they are actively looking for an affiliation,” Nathanial offered.
“Yes, exactly. Thank you, Nathanial.” She gave him a thumbs-up. “Very well put.”
“Can the bigger cairns ally with more than one production cairn?” Austin asked.
“Yes,” Nathanial responded. “They can take on as many alliances as they can handle. The protectors will usually send a host of guardians to the production cairn for protection. But a cairn only has so many guardians to protect itself and others from raids.”
“What kind of raids?” I asked.
“Cairns take goods from each other,” Nathanial continued. “It’s not like Jane stealing, because there are rules. The more experienced cairns will take something with meaning. A battle item or a relic. The item is almost always kept under maximum protection, so taking it proves that they have a stronger force. It gives them status. A lesser cairn will take anything of value. Lesser still, and it’s anything they can grab.”
“Rules?” Austin asked. “What kind of rules?”
“For it to not count as stealing, which would reduce status, the attacking party must allow the defending cairn time to prepare. That’s one type of raid. The second is to destroy goods.”
“Why?” I blurted.
“They do that to wipe out their competition,” he said. “If they can also destroy the equipment that creates the goods, even better. Gargoyles try to keep their trading within the species, so if you wipe out anyone else who makes your product, you can get a monopoly.”
“Sounds fun,” I said darkly. Because the last thing I wanted was anyone else trying to raid us.
Once Nathanial finished, Patty continued. “So these cairns are either newer, or they aren’t profitable or established enough to have attracted an affiliate cairn. They’re trying their hand with you.”
I leaned back into the couch as Nessa tapped the keys a mile a minute.
“That all makes sense, but…” I hesitated, trying to process everything.
“It’s a lot of information, I know,” Patty said. “I know! I keep forgetting how new you are to all of this.”
“She learns quick,” Niamh said, making her own notes.
“I got it, Jessie, don’t you worry.” Nessa stalled for a moment to give me a thumbs-up. “I’m writing it all down. We’re learning right along with you. We’ll get this, no problem.”
“It’s not that different from the power structure of shifter packs.” Austin rubbed my back.
“When in doubt, open presents.” Patty reached down and grabbed the nearest box. “I do love opening presents. Here we go, Jessie, this is a good one. I can feel it. No whisker trimmers in this one.”
“What sort of protection do the cairns need?” Austin asked as Patty delivered the box and squeezed in beside me.