113. The Noble Ladies 3

Novum and Theren headed into the small shop and Novum was shaking his head at the fact that he had wasted a lot of money on the stuff that he had ordered earlier. It was designed for a mage and not a spell sword. But he would deal with that later. For now he needed to find out who behind the list. He was pretty sure he knew who it was but he would not do anything until he was sure.

The old lady was still sitting at the counter, like she was waiting on him. "Sorry about that stupid archer. He lives here and has never worked here before so we did not realize that he had taken a job here."

Novum handed her the list. "Did you know about this?"

"Just got a copy from one of my guys that works outside the region. They are being sent to all the assassin's guilds as well as to every thieves guild that is close to being big enough to handle the job."

"So, we can expect a lot more people to be showing up soon then."

"I put the word out to every guild leader that I know and warned them off the job. Informed them that it was not worth the gold that they were offering. Got a few replies from some old friends who immediately agreed but a few young ones are asking for reasons."

"Well, inform them that if one of their guild comes for me and mine I will hunt down and lock up or kill each and every member of their guild, with the emphasis on the kill. That should be enough to decrease the numbers enough that it will be a lot more manageable in the near future."

"Might make it a lot harder in the long run, young man."

"It might at that Theren. But the thing is, if it stalls them to see where I get the ego from and I kill the Earl and his family in the mean time then there is no one to pay them and the paper goes away."

Granny nodded her head. "I see, it is half bluff in that you are stalling for time but also the truth since we all know that if they try that you will follow up with what you said. They might not know it and wait to see what happens to one of the smaller guilds that think a lot of themselves and takes a shot at someone on the list."

Theren nodded his head as he realized that they were looking at the same solution but from a different angle. He would have invited one of the smaller guilds to take the shot and made an example of them and the rest would have gotten the message. But this way they have to force a guild to come and try it and none of them want to be the first in case it is not just an empty threat. "I was thinking of making an example and you are thinking of them choosing a sacrifice for you to make an example of. This way you are not the bad guy to the guilds since you warned them and not only did they not listen but they sacrificed one of their own."

"Young man you are to smooth for your own good. I will spread the word but I would be on my toes until one of the big ones tries to make a move on you. And since you have this one as a hidden trump you should be okay."

Theren laughed. "Of you think I am his trump you should meet his wife."

"You are married?" The old woman had an extensive information collecting network and she had not heard of a wife.

"We are getting married on the first. I am here to invite you." He could have sworn that he told her about his before the even where he ran out but he would not say that to her since she was a little scary. "We are getting married on the lake."

"I am not sure that I will make it but I will send a few of my people with a gift if I can't be there."

"Just the people would be enough. Have a great rest of your day." The two of them walked out and Novum headed to talk to a few more people about the wedding.

The three ladies walked down the street and every thug that might have had the slightest inclination to mess with them before ran like a scalded dog. The street might as well have been a ghost town as even most of the law abiding citizens got out of their way. Once they got out a little further where the locals could see who they were they quickly stopped their antics and went about their business. The locals all knew the ladies of the Lyons family and how much good they did for the city.

When they walked into the small shop an older woman was sitting at the table drawing a few things. She perked up when she heard the door open and close and smiled from ear to ear when she looked up and saw the ladies. "Lady Lyons, it is good to have you back in my shop. But I did not expect you to be back so soon. How can I help you today?"

"Today I need to see about a wedding dress for my new friend here. She is the fiancé of Baron Novum."

"Someone finally landed him, good for him. Sweet man but a little rough around the edges." She finally got a good look at Shannon. "And I am pretty sure the reason that he surrendered so quickly. You are absolutely stunning."

"Thank you very much." Color rose in Shannon's cheeks no matter how many times she heard it.

"With you shape almost anything I have would be a perfect fit on you but I have a few things in my book that I would like you to look at and then you can chose and one you wear it, I will not make another one like it."

"You do not have to go to all the trouble for me. One of your regular dresses will be fine. They are all gorgeous."

"Gorgeous or not they are not quite right for a noble wedding. Even someone as down to earth as Baron Novum knows that a big part of this wedding is a show for the other nobles so that they do not try to walk all over him. If he looks weak or shows signs of weakness or not having the proper funds they will come for him."

Lady Lyons put a hand on her shoulder. "She is right Shannon. That is part of the reason that I thought it would be best if Aureus and I came with you. Not that you could not pick out a dress but it might not be quite right for the nobles in the area. And as stupid as it is, it is still the way things are, for now."

"Then I will head the advice of the people that know better than me."

"Smart girl. Now step up there in front of the mirrors and lets get started."

Shannon did what she was told but still asked the question that was on her mind. "If I am looking through a book why the mirrors?"

"The book can only show you so much but how about this." The old woman set her book on the stand beside the mirrors and Shannon felt the tingle of magic as suddenly her body was dressed in a completely different dress. "Something that I have spent most of my lifetime and a lot of gold coins to develop."

"This is amazing but I am not sure of the color of this one with my skin."

The lady smiled at her. "This quick thinking and adaptable one is going to do just fine in noble circles. Then how about this one?"

They spent quite a bit of time but the four of them could not agree on anything and kept jumping between a few of the dresses. Novum finally managed to track them down and the lady immediately turned off the feature so that he could not see any of the dresses. She was very superstitious.

"Hello beautiful. You look frustrated. Tell me what it is and I might give a different perspective."

"We can't agree on a dress. The problem that we are running into is that none of the ones that we all really like are fancy enough for a noble wedding and the ones that are right for this level of wedding do not look good on me."

"Well then how about you take one of the ones that you all like and change it to a higher quality material and add some gems and other jewelry to push it to the level that it needs to be for a 'noble' wedding. I am sure that a simple dress made out of different material and lots of gems would be enough to the noble ladies to talk about it in the right light and show the wealth that we have in our area. It is just a thought." He stood up and kissed her on the forehead. "I am headed back to the Earl's house to make sure that he is tracking everything with the letter. Love you."

Novum walked out the door and all four ladies looked at each other. The old seamstress smiled. "A different perspective. Good idea. And he is not wrong." She brought up one of the plainer dresses. "I will adjust the material on this one and design some jewelry to go with it."

Shannon smiled from ear to ear. "That sounds perfect."