Where Did It Go?

Writers: AL, Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 13th June 2008

Characters: Benaroy, Zathris, Cyrek, Kelton
Description: AHH's tithe is still missing a week later
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 9, day 8 of Turn 4

Zathris

Cyrek watched the candle burning in the corner as he, Zathris, and Kelton waited for Lord Benaroy. It had been a week since the tithe was stolen from right beneath their noses, and there hadn't been any progress. None that he knew of, at any rate, and Zathris hadn't reported any successes to him. Unless Kelton had a clue that he lacked, he was beginning to wonder if they'd find it at all.

The mood shadowed any cheerfulness that Zathris might have had. He had come up empty handed and he felt useless in the shadow of recent events. Nothing made sense, nothing at all. He waited, silent as the rest of them, his fingers of his right hand drumming on his left. The Lord Holder finally strode through the door, followed by drudges carrying plates of klah and meatrolls. "Ah, you are all here. Good. Grab some refreshments and let's get started." "Thank you." Cyrek loaded a plate with meatrolls and nodded to a drudge to fill a glass for him. "I hadn't had a chance to eat yet today."

Kelton chose two meatrolls from the pile for himself, but he only watched while the others ate. As soon as the doors had closed behind the last drudge he set his meatroll down. "As you all probably know, there's been no sign of the missing tithe. I've scoured the area on foot, on runnerback, and had reports from the dragons in the air, but we lost the trail soon after it hit the main road. If I had to hazard a guess, the goods have been split and taken somewhere in the next territory where our guards are unfamiliar with the lay of the land, or spirited on through to either the Weyr or another Holding. The newly fallen snow has made our search... difficult, to say the least. I'm sorry, Lord Benaroy." The more time that passed, the less likely it was that the tithe would be recovered.

The Lord Holder frowned. This was certainly not the news he had been hoping for. "Could it have been transported by barge? Did your guards question the residents further down the river?"

"Yes, but none of the farms downstream reported seeing a barge. There was one in the area, the Gibbous, but it was returning from upstream and had passed the area that the barge was scuttled the day before the theft. It was about thirty miles downstream when the tithe was attacked, and it came to dock empty and on time according to schedule."

"So it just _vanished_?" How was that possible? No sign from air, land or water. Benaroy could feel a headache coming on. He looked over at his son-in-law. "I think we will have to have a rather unpleasant conversation with the Weyrleaders."

It didn't make sense, no sense at all. How could a tithe simply just vanish? The thought of dragonriders being involved flitted through Zathris' mind but he immediately dismissed it. The idea was preposterous. Wasn't it? "I'm afraid I've not found anything myself." Of course, Kelton had done most of the searching with his crew, but Zathris had been poking at places as well - and come up empty handed.

"We can make up a portion of the missing tithe from Amber Hills' surplus, but it'll take a while to gather," Cyrek said slowly. He paused, then sighed. "I can offer some of Amethyst Cliff's redfruit harvest in the autumn to help make up for the loss. I'd hoped to keep most of the surplus left from Amethyst Cliff's tithe to Amber Hills to hire a Mastercrafter to look at the Hold, but if Amber Hills needs it, Amethyst Cliff will gladly offer their goods. It's the least we can do." It would mean that Amethyst Cliff would take another whole turn to rebuild, but they owed it to the people of Amber Hills Hold to help in any way they possibly could.

Benaroy nodded, understanding well that Cyrek still considered their Holds to be separate entities. Perhaps in time he would finally accept that his people and his place belonged here with them, but he would not point it out now. "That would be appreciated, Cyrek. Perhaps you can ask Shadux what more Amber Hills can spare. He'd know as well if not better than Zathris here, and I'd rather not bog him down with searching through records right now. I need him on this."

"It will take a few days to consolidate properly so that you'll have accurate figures to give to the Weyrleaders. With Zathris reassigned and Shadux incapacitated, I'm rather short-staffed," Cyrek said apologetically. "I've got Mariss working with Shadux and they're managing Zathris' work as best they can, but it's a stop-gap solution at best."

Shadux incapacitated? How had Benaroy not heard about this? "Yes, well," he said bringing his thoughts back to the task at hand, "we can certainly spare a few days. It would give us a good excuse to keep looking for leads during that time. Hopefully something will turn up."

Zathris had clasped his hands together and held them against his chin, his mouth hidden behind them. His thoughts had wandered during the brief exchange and something suddenly occurred to him. He turned his gaze to his Lord, lowering his hands. "Lord Benaroy, I do have something to add." The thought that the thefts and the disappearance of the hide occurring so close together had suddenly struck him as odd. "There were some thefts here in the hold the after the tithe was stolen."

"How do you think those are related?" Kelton sounded slightly skeptical.
They were saddlery and refined goods, not the raw items and preserves that were being sent to the Weyr.

"I would say any lead at this point would be worth following," Benaroy said, putting an end to any disagreement. Besides, they didn't have much left to send the Weyr. Every little bit was needed.

"Yes, m'Lord," Kelton said. Let Zathris waste his time on an unrelated theft... it kept the Understeward out of _their_ way.

It was a longshot, but maybe there was something to it. Zathris felt better after Benaroy thought it wasn't such an unreasonable connection either. "I'll look into it as well, then."

"Right, then," the Lord Holder said as he put both hands on the table and pushed himself to his feet. "Let us get back to work then, shall we?"

Last updated on the June 15th 2008

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Where Did It Go?