Crystallis Verdantglass's Arc

Chapter 8 of 18

Crystallis returned to the hall entrance just as the sun dropped behind the competition venue. The ornate sign caught the last light, throwing carved shadows across the threshold. He stepped inside and stopped. A woman stood near the ruby-inlaid platform, her back to him. She turned when his boots scraped stone. It was the woman from Thornwick. The one who'd returned the onyx locket. She watched him close the distance, her expression unreadable. "I heard you secured a lease," she said. "I also heard you're recruiting druids who won't sell." She reached into her coat and pulled out an envelope, cream-colored with a wax seal pressed into the fold. "I brought buyers. Real ones. People who've been waiting three years to see enchanted glass again." Crystallis stared at the envelope. He'd spent the afternoon planning visits to reluctant artisans, betting he could fill three or four stalls by offering free space. She was offering something faster—a network already built, buyers who remembered the Thornwick stall before it collapsed. But taking her list meant owing her something, and he'd learned in Thornwick what happened when partnerships weren't clear from the start. "What do you want for it?" he asked. She held the envelope steady. "A stall. First row. And ten percent of whatever moves through it during the competition." He considered the cost. Ten percent was steep, but the envelope represented weeks of groundwork he didn't have time to replicate. If her buyers showed up opening day, other vendors would see the crowds and want in. The hall would fill itself. He took the envelope and broke the seal. Inside were names, addresses, and notes written in careful script—innkeepers, private collectors, a theatrical supplier. Fifteen buyers, all within a day's travel of Kettle Fen. "First row," he said. "And you bring at least five of these people through the door before the competition ends, or the percentage drops to five." She smiled for the first time since Thornwick. "Deal."