Crystallis Verdantglass's Arc

Chapter 3 of 18

Crystallis arrived at the Silverbrook Inn fifteen minutes early, the enchanted pane wrapped in cloth under his arm. The glassblower wasn't there yet. That was fine. He'd use the time to read the room, maybe catch the owner before the formal pitch began. But when he stepped through the carved doorway into the front hall, voices were already coming from the dining room. The owner's low rumble. And someone else—confident, rehearsed, selling something. Crystallis moved to the doorway and saw a woman standing beside the dining room's center table. A purple crystal figure sat on the table between her and the owner—a mermaid, catching the morning light in waves of violet and pink. She was mid-pitch. "The treated glass in my catalog can handle temperature shifts without cracking," she said. "And unlike experimental methods, my supplier has been producing it for eight years. Proven. Reliable." The owner nodded, interested. Crystallis stepped into the room and unwrapped his pane. "Good morning," he said. "I'm here for our meeting." The owner blinked. "You're the druid? I thought—" He gestured at the woman. "She said she had an appointment." The woman smiled thinly. "I contacted you last week about superior glass options." Crystallis set his pane on the table beside the crystal mermaid. "Then we're both here to solve the same problem. Why don't we make it a demonstration? You can see both products side by side." The owner looked between them, then at the crystal figure. He picked it up, turned it in his hands, and set it down again. "All right," he said. "Show me what you've got." The woman went first, repeating her pitch about reliability and proven suppliers. Then Crystallis explained the enchantment—how it strengthened under stress, how it filtered light to keep the room warm at any hour. The owner asked him to prove it. Crystallis picked up a fork from the table and struck the pane hard. It rang clear. No crack. The woman's face tightened. The owner leaned forward. "What about cost?" he asked. Crystallis glanced at the doorway. The glassblower still wasn't there. He could quote a price now and lock in the deal, but without the glassblower's workshop to back him up, he'd be scrambling to fill the order alone. Or he could stall and risk losing the owner's interest. He looked at the crystal mermaid again, thought about the contract he'd signed last night, and made his choice. "My partner handles pricing," Crystallis said. "But I can tell you this—we're local, we can start immediately, and the enchantment lasts decades. Not years." The owner nodded slowly. The woman started to argue, but the glassblower finally appeared in the doorway, breathless and apologetic. He took one look at the scene and stepped beside Crystallis. "Sorry I'm late," he said. "What did I miss?" The owner smiled. "A contest. And I think you two just won it."