Читать онлайн «The Adventures of Charls, the Veretian Cloth Merchant»

Charls was stepping out into the inn courtyard, a wide space where there was not too much horse dung to bother those in Akielon sandals, when he saw the orange wagons.

He had just finished an excellent repast of cheese, cured meats, olives and flatbreads. It was mid-spring, and he had heard this very morning from a vintner that the weather would hold, growing hotter each day until summer. An auspicious beginning, as he embarked on a trade journey north into the Akielon province of Aegina.

A year ago, he would have been carrying fine linens or white cotton, but the joined court of the Akielon King and the Veretian Prince was creating a burgeoning market for new styles. In Vere, the addition of short capes pinned to the shoulder à la Achelos had meant a rise in demand for silks and heavy velvets. And while in Akielos there was still very little desire for sleeves, there was a new interest in patterned borders, coloured cloaks and techniques of Veretian dyeing.

Well supplied for these daring new fashions, Charls anticipated a very profitable trip, where he would sell to the Kyros of Aegina and arrive in Marlas in time for the Ascension.

Instead, he saw his assistant Guilliame wringing his hands as he did when he could not resolve a problem, and in the centre of the courtyard, five bright orange wagons, strident in the sun, crowding everyone else out.

They were big, flashy conveyances: a rich train riding out with a company of soldiers. Charls could see the soldiers, a full half dozen. Charls’s stomach sank at the prospect of a bright orange rival sharing his trade route. He could see the merchant sitting on the spring seat of the nearest wagon, wearing the latest Veretian brocade with weft patterning, and a wide brimmed hat with a feather that bobbed over his neat hair.