Chapter 45: River of Peace and Wealth

One week later and Braydon found himself looking over River Harmony. He had crossed it a couple of times now, going between the east and west of Fiveria but had never actually looked at it properly. Now he had to take notice of it, his iron would be shipped down this river regardless of if the treaty was broken. At the moment, his only customer was the king but that would not last forever. He had far more iron than the king could buy and many nobles who wanted to equip their troops. Even if he did not sell directly to the nobles, there were blacksmiths in every city in Fiveria and most of the towns too. To Braydon, this was not just a river named after peace but a symbol of his future wealth. Though he did find it a bit ironic that the river was named Harmony, the country was barely not in a civil war. There was nothing harmonious about it.

"It is indeed a large river." Braydon commented, forgetting that he had brought Gerald along.

"And you expected it to be small?" The response was immediate, Gerald loved his quick quips. He had not gotten the chance lately. Nela had simply bested him when it came to mockery, even if it only amounted to a sweet smile. He was glad that he was finally able to get one in after such a long while.

"We should probably head into town, it would be rude to keep the lords waiting." Rhydian interjected before Braydon could respond. If he let it continue, they would have been there for a while. He had been brought along to maintain a high prestige for Braydon. If, as the guarantor of this treaty, he had brought one knight then he would have been mocked for his pretentions. Even a relatively strong baron could have afforded one knight, but being able to spare two would show that he likely had at least one more back in his territory. And in fact, he did. It might only be the difference of one or two knights but that could be the difference between the strength of a strong baron and a strong viscount.

Knights were not cheap to maintain over long periods of time and they were not as easy to dismiss as mercenaries. Not to mention the boost to the status of a lord who could get multiple knights to follow him, they were always in short supply. Being a knight was a status that could only be passed down or granted by earls and above, and even then each rank could only make so many knights. It had been the established rule by decree of the founder of House Fiver, first king of Fiveria, King Aeleth.

Dulkan was a fairly ordinary town, it was not particularly big but there were quite a number of traders. It sat directly on the riverside, making it a natural choice for merchants moving up and down the river to stop at. There weren't any other towns further upstream so this was a last stop for many merchants. They would try to sell most of their remaining wares here before going back down stream whilst buying up local goods to sell in the southern cities.

"Do many of these traders look like they would be able to afford large amounts of iron?" Gerald asked, the merchants that came this far up River Harmony were often not the richest ones. And the quality of their goods showed it.

"That does not mean that we cannot sign a deal with a trader downstream. I am sure they would be more than happy to come to Dulkan if they could acquire a steady amount of iron." Braydon responded, he knew just how good merchants could be at earning any money there was to be gained. So long as they knew it was available, many merchants would take the chance to trade such a valuable good.

"So where is this bridge that this whole conflict is over?" Gerald asked, he had not seen the bridge that required the two lords to sign a treaty over. They had been squabbling over collecting tolls for trade crossing the bridge. There were a lot of nobles and just as many territories in the north east and that meant a lot of people for merchants to buy and sell from. That meant there was a lot of money to be made from tolls over the bridge, the nearest crossing was on the road from Wathamalin. That was a long way to cover on foot compared to using the bridge here. Hence how valuable the bridge was.

"It is just a small way upstream, we will probably go see it after the treaty is signed." Rhydian said, hoping that they would stop chatting and hurry up. There was all the time in the world to talk after the signing, he could not understand why they would be wasting time now. When they saw his impatience, Braydon and Gerald Quieted down as they quickly made their way to Viscount Ellis's mansion.

Braydon sat at a table in the parlour of Viscount Ellis's mansion. He was in between the two men signing the treaty, sitting at opposite sides of the table. From the deeply unhappy frown on Earl Kline's face he did not like that he had to sign this treaty. He wondered if the man had really planned on going back on it at some point because his frown had only manifested when Braydon showed up.

Earl Kline was a thin man, who always wore a monocle. Braydon had met the Earl once before his father had died, it was during one of his trips to the capital. Even back then he had been wearing his monocle. Of course, he had been more ingratiating back then, Braydon was the son of a powerful earl and Kline had been meeting his father to request assistance. At the moment, there was no trace of that to be found, his eyebrows were pinched so close together that Braydon wondered if they would go back to normal.

Viscount Ellis, however, held a calm smile. He kept a neatly trimmed beard and moustache, making Braydon wonder if facial hair was a fashion for nobles that had passed over his head. Ellis looked extremely relaxed at the signing ceremony, though Braydon was sure that he would look equally comfortable on the battlefield in armour as he did at the negotiation table.

He had been the winner of the conflict that had led to signing the treaty, so it was never going to be on bad terms for him. With Braydon's guarantee, he had even less reason to worry. It would be one thing if they could both do business with Braydon, but it was a whole new game if only one of them were able to, and the expressions on their faces showed they knew it.

"With that the treaty is signed. I, as witness to the signing, guarantee that should these terms be broken without mutual agreement, the offending party will suffer an embargo on any trade from my lands until agreeable terms are once again settled." Braydon hated the needlessly proper and enunciated fashion that had to be used for formal events. He was glad that he had only had to say a couple of sentences and not actually mediate any negotiations.

"Thank you for your presence, Viscount Fiton." Viscount Ellis said to Braydon as they all got up from their seats. The process had been short but it was clear that Earl Kline was not going to stay any longer, so they were going to see him off. Though the earl walked in silence, Braydon spoke in a hushed voice with his fellow viscount.

"It was no great matter. I stand to gain from this anyway." Braydon said, referring to the tariff free use of the river that he had gotten from Ellis for guaranteeing the treaty. His goods would sail on ships under Ellis's protection to begin with, though it would probably be merchants themselves carrying the cost at later dates when he signed deals with them. Duke Ryder and Duke Burn had imposed their will on the use of the river, there would be no tolls for the nobles who have territory bordering or covering parts of River Harmony. It was mainly because they held the richest parts of the river and they would get the most benefits from such an arrangement. It was not a law passed by the royal court but it was more binding than one for as long as both dukes held significant power. It had the effect of all merchants using the river seeking to sail under a local noble's name, for a fee, to not be hit by tolls. Now Braydon was also doing this, but without the fee.