Trust

Arabella absentmindedly ran her hand over the crate filled with precious cargo as she listened to the ship captain drone on. The cargo was in the process of being secured in wagons on their way to the capital as she had organised. The captain's voice faded into the background as she admired the quality of silks and spices from Nyotari all tightly packed away within.

Her eyes flowed to the sea stretching out from afar as she brushed her hair back from the wind. The breakwaters would soon need maintenance to withstand the waves. How much would that cost? She furrowed her brows trying to figure it out.

"...Not to mention our issue regarding those bandits-"

"Bandits?" Arabella looked up at the old man, snapping back to reality. She pulled out her notebook from her pocket and flipped to a clear page. "What was that about bandits?"

The old man scratched at his chin as he spoke, "There's not much that can be done, milady, and it is an issue affecting all those travelling between the earldom and capital." She pulled out a pencil and urged him to continue anyway with a look. The captain coughed and obliged. "They lie in wait on the popular path somewhere near the exit of the earldom, and then they strike. They can't be predicted, but a few of our wagons have been hit."

"Has anyone been hurt?"

"Earl Lockhart has heard of the matter and has offered protection in the form of some more officers at the exit, but it hasn't changed much. Those involved have been reimbursed accordingly."

That seemed... troubling. But meddling with highwaymen was not ideal. Regardless, she had an appointment to attend, after which she could think things through more clearly.

----------------

"I'm willing to help you both," Winter crossed one leg over the other as she faced Alistair and Arabella. Her finger tapped on the table as she spoke straightforwardly. "Information, Under-the-table deals, it's all no problem for me to provide for a price. My services are varied, but I suspect the more... unlawful of them are not of interest." She laughed heartily and rested her cheek against her fist. "But please do remember, they're not completely off the table."

More unlawful? Arabella frowned to herself at the wake-up call that she was conversing with an experienced criminal right now. She would relent from asking what those 'more unlawful' services were, for her own sake.

Winter continued, "You know the drill. Ask me what you need, pay the price upfront at the bar, I'll deliver what I can. Just make sure I'm remembered when whatever your planning comes to fruition."

"I have no intention of abandoning anyone who aids me," Alistair smiled, leaning back in his seat.

A huff of amusement left Winter, "Then we're in business. Welcome to my exclusive club of customers!"

Arabella sighed, glad it was over with. The woman's chipper exclamation was giving her a migraine. Both of them were lying to her about something, and she didn't have the energy to deal with it. Getting up from her seat she frowned at the both of them, "If that's all, I'll be going. I'm a busy girl these days..."

The both of them watched her leave without any argument. As the door came to a close and footsteps faded away, Alistair's face fell into a frown of his own, facing Winter.

"...I want to make an enquiry."

The brunette smirked, leaning forward, "That was quick."

Alistair crossed his arms and looked down in thought. Time was wasting as things were, he needed to move quickly if he wanted his idea to hold some ground, "I want you to find out about Queen Frances' condition."

Winter blinked in surprise. Then she raised an inquisitive brow, "That is... a difficult request. Getting close to anyone residing in the palace is one thing, getting close to the Queen herself is something else entirely."

Alistair nodded, "I know. There's no need to spy on the Queen directly though. There is sure to be someone outside of the palace whose heard talk about what she's like in her chambers."

Winter paused for a moment. Her lips stretched into a curious smile, "Is something going on with Queen Frances? How do you-" She stopped herself and shook her head sighing exasperatedly. "Almost forgot. You won't spill, I'll just have to find out for myself right?"

"You're catching on," Alistair grinned in response, causing the woman to scoff. He reached for his pockets. "As for payment I-"

"The fee only applies to Arabella Lockhart. I don't trust her enough," Winter shrugged with a smile. "For you, it's on the house."

Alistair's violet eyes widened but he quickly recovered from his surprise through a grateful smile, "Katherine, thank you." She had already done a lot for him by providing lodging and care. He felt a little guilty asking her for anything at all when she had already done so much. Gesturing to himself, he sent a cautious glance her way. "...Would it be too much to ask you for.... one more favour?"

----------------

"You're a liar."

Alistair jolted in surprise, mid-step, as he exited the pub. His eyes darted to his left, to find Arabella glaring at him from a spot against the wall. He quickly recovered, innocently tilting his head to the side, "...Did you wait outside this entire time for me?"

Unamused, Arabella continued, "You probably did much more than just burying your mother in Nyotari. You found the time to cut a deal with Winter and look into whatever was going on in my family too. You're probably close to her, right? You're a liar."

Alistair straightened his back, sighing. He'd been caught. Rustling a hand through his white hair, he tried to salvage the situation, "I didn't lie, necessarily. I just didn't say anything."

Narrowing her blue eyes further, Arabella hissed, "That's called lying by omission." She stepped forward, pointing an accusatory finger his way. "You're too secretive. And I don't like being lied to."

Alistair stared straight at her, unfazed by the pointing. His face contorted into somewhat of a guilty grimace. It was evident some heavy thoughts were churning in his mind as he hesitated to speak, "...It's all for good reason."

Arabella sent him an incredulous look. Was that all he had to say? She huffed and relented, turning her back to him, "...Fine. I've said my piece, you know where I stand. Until I'm 'worthy' of seeing the full picture, only contact me when it's necessary." If he wanted to keep her at arm's length, so be it. She'd help him with that. "Goodbye."

She walked away, leaving him in the dust.

------------------

A lengthy two weeks passed after that incident, and Arabella regrettably had not heard from Alistair. She stood by what she had said, she would not tolerate being lied to or being locked out of the loop but... She frowned, leaning back in her seat, and staring up at the ceiling of the study. She had hoped that he would just give in afterwards at her 'threat'. Alistair was either very stubborn or truly had no intention of cooperating fully.

But, dwelling on the matter had started to cause her distress and so she found better things to do. It had been her most productive week yet: She had collected tax, organised maintenance of roads and the docks, paid off all of the staff, and much more. It was almost getting hard to find something to keep herself busy, therefore, she decided to dedicate her free time to pursuing an idea that had been brewing in her head.

Arabella had set some boundaries she would not cross, one of those was spending her family's or the Earldom's funds on her personal grudge. Especially not on Winter's services. And so, a week prior, she had sent a letter calling for a man by the name of Mattheo Reese- The owner of a small railway company in the East of Aurumia and the man that she would make successful to ensure her own success.

Returning to the past had returned her to the centre of Aurumia's sudden railway boom. With everyone rushing to invest their money into the company they believed would prevail in the new industry, it was a true free for all. Mattheo was not one of those who had succeeded, but he was a brilliant engineer who had his light stifled by overwhelming outside influence.

If she was being entirely honest, the railway absolutely terrified Arabella and remained one of her unspoken fears. The idea of subjecting herself to a barrelling, high-speed, metal husk ride wasn't fun. It made her queasy back then and it still did, so she had stuck to travelling by carriage like many others had. And her fears were not quelled by the constant news of rail accidents happening all over the country, caused by the recklessness of the various companies. However, Mattheo's company 'Eastern Coast Rail', had amassed brief support for its safety and innovation, surviving as one of the few that had not experienced a single disaster. His company was the single rail line she could stomach travelling on.

Despite all of that, the company had fizzled out and stopped operations before she even turned 16. Of course, Arabella did not know the man personally, but she had her theories. Mattheo was a commoner and running a railway line was costly, making investors a necessity. But, with the pressure of other emerging railway lines, all rushing their processes at the expense of safety in order to dominate the market, his process would be unappealing to his wealthy aristocratic investors. She was speculating, but with the way things turned out, he probably refused to bend to their influence and lost money.

A firm knock on the door brought her back to the present moment.

"Your guest has arrived, Lady Arabella."

Aubrey's voice called out from the other side. Arabella took a deep breath, before sitting up straight in her seat and forcing an amiable smile onto her face. She quickly cleared her throat and spoke in a chipper tone, "Please, bring him in!"

The door gently opened by Aubrey's hand and in stepped a tall and slightly confused-looking man. He removed his tophat a few more paces into the room, revealing a head of combed-back and greying black hair, as he bowed politely, "Lady Lockhart. It is an honour."

"The honour is mine, Mr Reese, please take a seat."

The door shut behind him and he raised his head, an unmissable quirk of confusion in his brows as he stared at the beaming young girl whose small frame was overtaken by the large furniture surrounding her. A heavy pressure hid behind his eyes as he dropped into the chair opposing Arabella. Mattheo broke their silence with careful speech, "Excuse me if I offend, my lady... but, I thought that I would be meeting with... Earl Lockhart?"

"I'm not offended, it was a simple misunderstanding," Arabella beamed at the man. Of course, she signed off her letters with a simple 'Lockhart' and counted on assumptions to get him to make the trip. Of course, now that he had made the trip for their meeting, it was on to the next order of business. "I'd like to get straight to what we discussed in our letters if that's fine by you?"

Mattheo seemed to clench his jaw in contemplation. Arabella wouldn't have been surprised if he'd heard rumours about her, considering he resided not far from the earldom. That paired with the fact that she was a 14-year-old girl right now was sure to be contributing to his hesitance. She honestly wouldn't blame him for walking away. She widened her smile in a silent plea for him to cooperate.

Finally, Mattheo rose from his slight slouch and cleared his throat, "Uh... Yes. Let's get to business." Arabella clenched her fist in victory under the table. Mattheo smiled uncertainly but remained professional. "Your interest in my locomotives is very flattering, my lady. I have put years of work into developing my railway line and I am humbled by your praise. But I.... simply cannot begin to comprehend where all of this is coming from." Mattheo pulled from a briefcase some of her letters and pointed to her writing with an almost bewildered look. "Are-Are you sure you intend to spend this much on my little company?"

Just looking at the amount she had written down almost made Arabella recoil, just as she had done when she had initially written it- It was a year and a little more's worth of her allowance. But she steeled herself and her smile never faltered, "Y...Yes. If you agree to accept it!" She took the letter from the table and pointed at the large sum herself. "I wouldn't be so cruel as to bait you. The terms are simple, I, as an investor, receive a share of the profits in exchange. Along with another requirement."

Mattheo visibly swallowed and his dark eyes widened in disbelief as he traced over the letter again as if to confirm it was real. He then flicked his eyes back to Arabella and questioned, "Another requirement?"

Arabella nodded, "I want to fund a line connecting the Lockhart earldom to the capital. No other investors involved, just me." She tapped her chin absentmindedly as she spoke. "The land is yours to do your magic with. I trust your process."

She gave a silent prayer that Layton would someday forgive her for using up land without permission.

Mattheo stared at the girl in thought, "...That could be done, but it would take at the very least 2 years, my lady."

"I'm willing to wait," Arabella replied.

"Are you certain about that, my lady?" Mattheo spoke seriously and his dark brows furrowed. "Forgive me again if I offend, but I take my work very seriously. I fear that... you may view my company as some... plaything." Thinking back on his words, the older man backtracked slightly, shaking his head apologetically. "I apologise! What I meant was that I fear that there may be a catch here of sorts. It's almost too good to be true and I've learned from experience that investors of your echelon can be... fickle."

So her theory was at least somewhat true? Arabella hummed in acknowledgement of his worries. Her smile faded as she adopted a serious expression to remove any pretences that she was taking him lightly. Perhaps it was the wrong choice to greet him with all smiles. But, she was not someone who could be described as 'fickle' and she needed to cement that, "I understand your concerns, but I assure you I respect your work. In all honestly...I'd rather walk for hours than board a train. I, myself, am not even your target demographic. ." She reached into the drawers to pull out the newspapers she had collected for the meeting and laid each one out before Mattheo. The headlines were clear as day and his expression grew troubled but familiar as he looked: 'Dreadful accident on the Western Rail', 'Fatal engine failure in Salvatore duchy', ' Derailing in the North'. Arabella frowned. "All of these people are and were. Not the nobility and wealthy land owners that can afford personal transport, but the common people."

The man's brows knitted in bewilderment as he met Arabella's pointed gaze, "...Excuse me, but I fail to see your point."

"I'm getting there," Arabella folded away the morbid papers and faced him head-on with a determined expression. "What I'm trying to say, is that you're one of a handful of commoners trying to survive in the Railway market dominated by the wealthy. On top of that, I would say you're more talented than any of the engineers they've hired. But that means very little with all of this competition going on, and so these accidents are bound to happen when amassing profits is the priority over a job well done. " She smiled as she noticed Mattheo eagerly listening to her speech. "It's simple, and there's no play involved. I support your company enough to compete fairly in the market while encouraging the expansion of safer, reliable railways. Then, I earn back the money I invested into doing so. I wouldn't do such a thing if I believed you would fail or didn't trust your abilities."

Mattheo blinked owlishly as the room grew silent. Arabella waited, slightly anxious as the man slowly processed her words. Until, finally, he spoke with wide eyes, "...Are you sure you're only 14, lady Lockhart?"

Arabella visibly jolted at the comment, until she noticed the friendly smile growing on the man's lips. She slumped slightly at the realisation it was just a compliment and she hadn't been called out. An airy laugh left her lips, "...Ha, I've been studying hard, recently."

Mattheo grinned, "I can tell. I admit I wasn't expecting to leave this manor convinced, today. But, we seem to have a similar vision." He rose from his seat and held out a large hand. "I look forward to your patronage."

Taking his hand into a solid handshake, Arabella smiled wide, "I'll be in contact, Mr Reese."

As she watched the man exit the door with a bow, Arabella sighed in relief. Backing Mattheo was a risk, but one that she was willing to take. It obviously would have been easier to invest in one of the companies that she knew for certain would succeed, but her conscience prevailed over logic in this matter. Sure, her fear of trains was a little childish, but at least she had the option of avoiding them. The world was bigger than herself, and she was a noble who would probably never work in her life. Expanding the railway line would undoubtedly widen job opportunities to a wider scope than within the confines of the earldom, it would connect a lot of people. It was a worthy investment for everyone involved.

Despite her best efforts, the large investment amount flashed back into her mind and she audibly groaned, slamming her forehead on the oak table followed by a pained wince. She'd have to reel back from her shopping habits from here on out... If Mattheo even dared to shut down the company again, she would forcibly drag him back to work like a bat out of hell. She refused to fail.