Chapter 50: Merchant Grent

They walked into the lounge, where a man was seated, relaxed in the single-person chair with a cigar in his hand. He had all-white hair, even though his face showed that he was much younger, as though he had made use of certain products to make himself look a lot younger.

He took a large drag from his cigar and held the smoke in his lungs for a bit while his silver-like eyes locked onto Peter.

"Peter, it’s really nice to see you," he said while the smoke left his mouth.

"It’s been a while, Grent," Peter said and walked to a chair. Tez followed behind. He sat down casually on one of the open chairs.

He dropped into the chair like it was his own.

He did not greet the man. He did not nod or say a word. He sat back with one ankle resting on the opposite knee, his hand relaxed on the armrest, his posture straight and easy. It was carefree, but not sloppy.

Amber took the seat beside him. Lia stayed on her feet behind them, her hands folded in front of her.

Grent’s silver eyes moved to Tez and stayed there.

It was not quite anger. It was the look a man gives a stranger who walked into his house and did not bother to acknowledge him. He took another drag from his cigar and let the smoke out slowly through his nose, still watching.

Tez looked back at him calmly.

"It has been quite a while since we spoke, Grent," Peter said, lowering himself into the chair beside Tez.

"Indeed it has." Grent tapped ash into a crystal tray. "Ever since you decided to run that little inn down the street. I never did understand why a man like you would give up everything for a few beds and a kitchen. The money alone..."

"It is not about the money," Peter said. "It is just what I wanted to do."

"Hm."

"But that is not why I came."

Grent’s eyes narrowed a little. He took a long pull and then held the cigar away from his face, waiting.

"There is an issue," Peter said. "It concerns the nobles."

"The nobles are always an issue."

"This one is different." Peter leaned forward. "It seems they have been moving. Quietly, for a while now, but it is getting louder. They are trying to wipe out the other races. They do not want them standing on the same ground as humans."

"Wipe out," Grent repeated.

"Push them out, at the very least. Keep them from having an equal place in the kingdom."

Peter kept talking. He explained it slowly, in pieces. He spoke about how the nobles had divided into two camps, how one side had grown louder over the years, and how the people who spoke out for the other races were being pushed to the edges.

He gave names without giving details. He gave dates without giving causes. Tez noticed that he said nothing about the attack at the inn, nothing about the masked figures, nothing about the two who had walked in with a massive sword.

He was keeping it vague on purpose.

Grent listened. He took a few more pulls from his cigar and said nothing until Peter finished.

"And what makes you feel this way?" Grent asked. "I have not seen any massive motions. The markets are calm. The courts are calm. Nobody has said anything to me."

"They are active now," Peter said. "More than before. The inquisitors came, and they attacked her."

He pointed at Amber.

Grent turned his head. His eyes slid over Amber’s face, her hair, and the pointed tips of her ears, which were fully visible.

"An elf," he said.

"Yes," Peter said.

"A very fine one."

Tez saw it then.

A glint passed through the man’s eyes, a hungry, greedy glimmer, the look of someone who sees something he wants and has already decided to have it. It lingered on Amber a second too long. It was the look of a collector.

Tez remembered the maids. Dog ears, cat tails, fox ears. A house full of beastfolk working in neat rows.

’He collects them, seems he has a fetish .’

He kept his face blank and said nothing. He only watched.

"She was attacked," Peter repeated.

"By inquisitors, that’s serious ." Grent took another drag. "Why would they send inquisitors after an elf?"

Tez noticed something else.

Grent had not reacted. There was no widening of the eyes and no pause. Peter had said earlier that the inquisitors were a special force, hidden from the public, powerful enough that they never moved recklessly. A man who heard that word should have been shaken. Grent had said it flatly, as if it were a word he already knew well.

’He’s not surprised. Why?’

He filed it away. ℯℯ𝘭.

Peter opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. He glanced at Amber and closed it again. It was not his place to tell her story.

Amber sat up straighter.

"I will answer that myself," she said. "I am from the royal family of the elf kingdom. I am one of the princesses."

Grent’s eyes lit up even more.

The change in him was immediate. He set the cigar in the tray and sat forward, his whole manner shifting. His voice softened, and he spoke with a polite warmth that had not been there a moment before.

"Your Highness. Forgive me for not knowing. I have been trying to establish business with the elves for years. It would be an honor if one day we could work together."

Amber smiled.

"If this matter is resolved, I will certainly consider it," she said. "If it is possible, we will do business."

"That is more than I hoped for."

"I only said if."

"Of course, of course." Grent laughed softly and leaned back. He picked up his cigar again. His eyes stayed on her.

Tez watched his fingers. They tapped against the arm of the chair, slow and satisfied.