The purchase of land
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After shaking her hand the old-man dances his way back to Peltarch.
"Hoo-eee! No more three-legged snaggle-toothed tramps for me! I'm gonna rent me one who's got all straight teeth and all her limbs too! Weeeee!"
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I shook his hand firmly, being mindful to stay away from the buisness end of the crossbow.
"My name is Mystic River, and I'll see you in a week."
As I walked away I couldn't help but wonder if I shouldn't have gotten him to sign something. His memory might not last a week… or his health either
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"Hee hee! Hoo hoo! Oh, don't worry about me! I'm spry as a spider! See?"
He hops and barely manages to click his heels together, lands clumsily, then does a pirouette.
"Gimme yer name and I'll see ya in a week!"
He holds out a bony hand to shake in agreement.
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I cant help it, but his limping little dance of enthusiasm gets me and I am smiling too. Although he looks too fragile
"Oh please do be careful so you dont fall into a mud hole and hurt yourself!"
Hmm.. Oh well the poor old geezer may as well die happy at least. Isnt that how we all want to go, I thought.
"Now, lets meet within a week in the city hall to sign the contract and I will also make the payment. Dont exhaust yourself, can you make it alright back to your house?
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_You see the gears turning in his head. He takes a closer look at your exquisite clothes and well kept hair. His eyes dart around as he squints at the muddy weeds puzzling out why such a high-class woman would come out here just to play a jest.
You can see it on his face when he realizes you're being serious. His eyes bulge._
"I'M RICH!"
He spins in circles dancing a jig.
-
Before I knew it, I had already blurted it out
"5000 coins?"
My eagerness almost giving me away, I quickly added to smooth things over:
"The place got potential, however, we need to drain the land, I did have the master from the Union visiting here, he had some concerns about making a proper base which the lodge will be built upon."
"If you would accept my offer I will have the proper documents drawn up for you and me to sign with a city official as witness. How does that sound?"
Anticipating his response I could see three things happen, he would accept the offer relieved getting rid of the mud hole, or… he would finally shoot me with the cross bow I helped him load ..or he would drop dead in a heart attack. I cleared my throat waiting...
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He appears to be getting angry again…
"I told ya! It ain't worth shite! Now tell me how much ya got!"
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I wasn’t sure if he was going to drop to the ground in some sort of fit. The last thing I needed to do was give him a heart attack and have to deal with some relative who thinks they just came into a big inheritance. Unless of course his price was too high. I stroked his arm soothingly and gave him a reassuring smile.
“I don’t carry that much gold on me, but let me ask you… How much do you think it’s worth?”
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The old man has the look of utter confusion as the crossbow is handed to him.
"Y-… I'll-... Show me the gold!"
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He's still trying to load the crossbow, and I do so hate waiting around for people to kill me…
"If you're going to murder me, can you be a little quicker about it? I still have to talk to a carpenter today."
I broke from cover and closed the distance with a brisk walk, stopping next to him, my hand reassuringly brushing across the back of his as he fumbled with the bolt. "Please, allow me." I gently lifted the bow from his hands and finished cocking it, then slipped a bolt into it before handing it back. "Here, all ready to go."
I flashed him a smile and my best innocent look.
"It's been my dream since I was a little girl to own my own house… I kind of like this "cesspool of swamp" as you call it. Would you consider parting with it to fulfill a little girl's wish?"
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He continues trying to muscle the bolt into place.
"Like fark! Who would want ta buy this worthless cesspool of swamp land!"
-
The crossbow bolt missed me by a wide margin, but the old instincts were tough to resist. I dove for cover behind a tree as the old man started cranking the windlass on the crossbow. Six spells leapt into my head. Five would turn the old coot into a smoldering piece of scorched shoe leather, and the last one would help him reset the crossbow faster.
"Better options Mystic… better options…"
_I could flash him some leg, but I doubt the old geezer could even remember what it was like to be interested in something like that. His manhood probably shriveled up and fell off eons ago.
I could rush him before he reloaded, but with my luck he most likely had a stone age knife tucked away in his back pocket that he’s been using to geld sheep. Hmmm, something better…
I hoped he could still hear at his age. He certainly couldn’t see well. Worth a try._
“HOLD YOUR FIRE!! I’ve come from City Hall to talk about purchasing your land! We have no quarrel…”
I peeked around the tree, even as I cringed at my bad choice of words. I hoped it didn’t give him any more ideas
“Can we discuss this over a bottle of wine maybe? Like civilized people?”
