Book 1 Chapter 18: Implementation and Poison

Vero set his quill down and massaged his forehead, a sigh escaping his lips. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of Ylva’s pen scratching on paper and looked over at her. Her diligence to her tasks was admirable at least. He sighed again and pushed the manuscript aside that he had begun to work on.

Three days ago they had started translating and it was tedious. Not to mention, the time they could spend on it was late in the night. Daytime duties had to be fulfilled and with the snow on the ground, just keeping the library warm enough that the ink wouldn’t freeze was a chore. Thinking about the ink, he quietly grabbed the vial of ink and put it closer to the fire.

He noted the dying embers and opened the front bay a bit before pulling some logs over. The increase in air flow reignited the coals and quickly caught the new logs. Satisfied, he closed the bay and watched the flames a bit longer, monitoring the temperature of the warmth coming from the fireplace as it warmed his nose.

He heard the scratching stop and looked back to see Ylva scratching her head. She shook it off and came over by him, bringing the ink over as well. He noted that her hands seemed stiff and sighed. The candles had already been put out and the light of the fire in the fireplace was all that illuminated their faces.

“Your hands, Mi Lady,” he mumbled, bringing it to her attention.

“I know Vero, I know,” she sighed.

“If you don’t take care of yourself, then our ruse will be discovered and potentially stopped premature,” he reminded. She sighed, more in frustration than defeat.

“I know,” she said softly. Thankfully she had skipped the bark and gone straight to the soft tones of acknowledgment. She had come far since she had begun training under him. Then again, her roughness in training him in combat had begun to rub off. He was no longer the soft and ‘timid’ pup that she had belittled him of during training, and she hardly used the term anymore.

He looked back at the archives and huffed a sigh. So much to do in such little time. At least they had secured the business of the paper companies. Now to solve for the printing. It would take to long to implement their plan. Or rather, the instructions from Amarok. It amazed Vero how the old being knew what would come about in a timely manner. But could he have spelled out how to solve the printing problem?

If they could just carve out words and everyone could see it once. He huffed. That’s the method merchants had come up with. Besides, carving would take more time.

A shiver ran up his spine and his eyes fell on the ink in his hands. He paused. One time the ink had spilled. And his foot had left multiple marks across the floor. Of course he had quickly cleaned the mess. But what if they could do the same with letters? He looked up and remembered Bartemaus was a carver. Perhaps he could help with this?

Vero would need to look into this later. For now, they needed something written for them to test this idea with.

After warming the ink, Vero grabbed a new paper and drew in the best handwriting he could, what he wanted Bartemaus to carve. Ylva finished her work shortly after and the two left the archives. Vero sneaked his paper out and found Bartemaus.

“Vero lad, how goes things with the Lady?” he asked.

“Fine, but I need your help,” Vero said as he checked around. Bartemaus caught onto his cautiousness.

“How can I serve?” the old Yowlume asked.

“I have something I need you to carve into some wood,” Vero said as he slipped the paper into the man’s hands. Bartemaus seemed shocked to be handed a paper. But when he read what was written on it, he grew silent.

“Of course. I shall begin at once,” the old Yowlume said before tucking the paper into his clothes. Vero noted the hesitation the man had at handling the paper this way.

Vero watched the old Yowlume leave before continuing his instructions to other servants. When all was said and done, Vero tucked into bed for whatever sleep he could get.

A few days later the fruits of his instruction showed.

Vero stared at the carved wood slabs. One had the words carved out and the other had the words carved around. He traced his hands over the wood and instantly realized how the ink would behave on this. It would soak in. He looked at Bartemaus and thanked the old man. He took the slabs with him to the library. Perhaps he could come up with a solution with Ylva.

He unlocked the archives and let himself in. Ylva wasn’t around yet. She had started her training while the ink was thawed and the archives warmed. Frozen bindings were not very cooperative. Vero saw the blazing fire and the ink situated around the perimeter along with a few stacks of books. He sighed and began moving things around so it would thaw more evenly and stoked the fire. Their wood would run out tomorrow, so he would need some servants to retrieve some for them.

The howling winds outside claimed his attention as he saw the snow begin to fly outside. Vero sighed. They would need to burn through more candles today. The snows always made things much darker. At least it meant that the church and their nosy priests wouldn’t be coming today.

He walked out and located an aide and informed them of what resources needed to be moved where. They set off to get things moving and he returned to move the ink around again. Days like this seemed to pass slowly. Food was scarcer, though there was always enough, but it meant less lavish meals. It also meant that there were less snacks and all this mental work aroused Vero’s appetite. He grumbled as he tended the fire and heard Ylva enter. He looked back and welcomed her before finishing tending the fire.

“Is the ink ready?” she asked.

“Almost,” Vero answered. “And I have a problem I need your help with,” he said and she cocked her head.

“That’s unusual. Well… what is it?” she asked as she sat next to him. Vero shivered. She had come in from the cold hall and he could feel the cold air that clung to her. She consciously shifted a bit further away form him and he looked at her with thanks.

“I’ve got an idea to make this project of ours even more cheap, but… I’ve run into a bit of a bind.” He brought her attention to the wood carvings and she looked at him quizzically.

“What’s this?” she asked as he handed one to her.

“Remember that time I stepped in ink and my foot was all over the floor?” he asked.

“Ah, you mean to duplicate that but with words. That could help, but we are talking every page would need to be carved.”

“Yes, but if we can find a way to keep the wood from degrading, we could do many pages with a single application,” Vero mused.

“Hmm, we might need to collect some amber.”

“Amber?” Vero repeated.

“Yes, it’s used by my Master to seal his wooden records,” Ylva said simply.

“Could it keep the bevels and carvings raised?” Vero asked.

“It’s possible…” Ylva said with a thoughtful stare into the fire. Vero sighed. More waiting. In the mean time they would practice and translate.

“But these won’t work,” Ylva said after a while.

“Why- wait, what won’t work?” he asked.

“When you place this down on the paper, it’s going to be read backwards,” she said, placing the wood with the carvings down. Vero leaned back and groaned. He would thank Bartemaus later for having these made. “And the one with the words carved in would use more ink…” she mused. Vero sighed. Since her mind was on it, perhaps he could ask her to figure out the details since it seemed to come easily to her.

Vero worked on translating, while Ylva puzzled over the challenge. He had to wonder if she was feeling the need for a bit of novelty and that’s why she was so attentive to the idea of these wooden carvings.

Over the next few weeks she had Bartemaus make a few test carvings while they waited for the amber. She also experimented with how to apply the ink and eventually created a tool for the uniformity of the application. Even with her tests, the wood soaked quite a bit of ink and Vero hoped the amber would be what they needed to remedy this.

On the day that the amber arrived, Ylva had come down with a fever and could hardly move from bed. It shocked the other servants when she wasn’t doing her routine and some had fretted that it was because she hadn’t been blessed by the priests yet. Vero scoffed at the idea. He certainly didn’t have a high opinion of the church anymore.

Vero received the box of amber and carried it to her room. When he approached he found the priests standing outside her door. He growled. Leave it to them to come when she couldn’t retreat. He looked around hastily and saw another servant heading towards him down another hall. He silently signaled with his tail and ears that they should call the guards and quickly.

Then he heard shouts and cries of terror. He rushed forwards and pushed into her room. He ducked as he felt the familiar zing of a dagger passing by his head. He looked at the Ulrika and saw that she looked annoyed and mad. He didn’t blame her, but now he would have to figure out how to calm her and dismiss the priests before it got brutal.

“Mi Lady!” Vero shouted and felt some of the priests pay attention to him. He quickly moved to her side, pushing past their attempts to stop him. He had her lay back down in the bed then felt her forehead. She was still feverish and that little excursion had worn her out. He felt one of the priests grab him.

“Who’s this little runt of a slave.”

“Get out of here brat,” the priest who grabbed him said as he pulled back. Vero let himself be pulled back for a brief moment as he dropped the box of amber. As it clattered to the ground he twisted the Yowlume’s hand and put his foot behind the opponent’s foot and yanked so he fell to the ground. As he held the hand firmly and continued to twist it he glared at the others before they could gather themselves.

“You fools. You dare to coerce the Ulrika with your numbers!” he shouted. His ears were erect and he kept his alpha like state intact as he growled. “And you call yourself pious priests. You’re no different than the human pigs who would enslave their own people.”

“Shut up you whelp!” another priest shouted at him. Vero barred his teeth as he silently grabbed one of his own hidden daggers. He managed to free one hand and threw it near the Yowlume. It struck his robes, but Vero couldn’t catch the smell of blood. He did however hear the surprised yelp. And he glared at the others.

“Get out of here, before the guards come and you face greater scrutiny,” he said calm but firm. Another priest laughed.

“So the kid would threaten us.” He heard and Vero reached into his robes and pulled at another dagger. The yowlume below him started to wake from his stupor and Vero twisted the arm to keep him in check as he kept one foot on his back. His cries of pain silenced some of the others laughter.

Vero thought on how Ylva would handle this situation and he let a devious grin on his face. These priests while numerous were not trained as he had been. He retrieved his dagger and moved to step on the tail of the priest. He yelped but with his hand twisted there and Vero not giving him leverage to retreat, his cries became louder.

“Quiet, before I clean this tail off you,” Vero shouted just loud enough for the yowlume to hear. The priest looked back and Vero let him catch sight of the blade of his dagger. This quieted him though he still struggled.

As he looked around, he wondered why the other priests hadn’t piled onto him. What were they waiting for? Vero’s ears picked up the sounds of running, armored feet. The guards were coming, and by the sounds of it, there were a lot. He smirked and yanked the arm one final time before throwing the Yowlume across the room. He kept near Ylva as the priests started to hear the sounds of the guards. Vero slunk into the dark of the shadows as the priests began to panic. If they had wanted to do something without being found out, why were they so panicked? He kept his wits about as he observed. The ones with the white ropes were the ones panicking. The ones with the darker and darker ropes were not. He didn’t see a black rope, but there were enough brown and gray ropes that he wondered why they were here.

Those positions in the church were high enough that there were already few that reached that place. Perhaps Ylva had paid attention to what they had said before he had gotten there. The guards chased off the panicking priests but the dark rope ones stood their ground. As the captain of the guards saw Vero in the shadows, Vero flicked his tail saying to arrest them temporarily. The captain nodded and had his men grab them under protest. Some cried saying this isn’t how the Ulrikas should treat guests. Vero growled in his throat. They were hardly guests.

He watched till they had been rounded up and removed from the nearby area before breathing a sigh of relief. He sheathed his dagger and retrieved the thrown ones.

In total there were over ten daggers and he only threw the one that was still with the priest and one more. How long had they been pestering her? He checked to make sure there were no damages to the daggers and he set aside the ones that would need sharpening. The rest he brought back to Ylva. Now that he could observe her more closely, she seemed more than a little worn out.

“Mi Lady, can you hear me?” Vero asked. Her ear twitched in response. She could hear him. “Did anything else happen with the priests?” he asked. She raised her hand as her eyes lazily opened. He noticed a cut, very thin, across her wrist. He reached out and held her wrist and sniffed at the cut. Poison. A crude one, but still would cause her to seem to get worse. He growled. He noticed a servant at the door and motioned with his tail to fetch the apothecary. The servant bowed and quickly left.

Vero sighed as he gently set her hand down. He watched her carefully as his mind raced. If he hadn’t figured this out soon enough, would she have died? It was a sobering thought.

But why would the priests poison her. Normally she would be too healthy… but with this sickness she was in a weakened state. And if they could find a time to approach her… but it didn’t make sense. Why kill her instead of making her a pawn. Perhaps if they poisoned her and then treated the poison, they could claim to have been sent by their god to save her? It seemed a bit far fetched. Wouldn’t she be able to tell others that she had been poisoned by them? Then again, it would be her word against theirs. The Yowlume relied heavily on the church. Even master Filtiarn had to work around their teachings.

As Vero pieced it the idea together he noticed Ylva’s breathing falter. He inwardly panicked. Did the fool priests apply too much that she would die? Was that their plan instead? He hoped the apothecary would get here soon.

He watched and waited till he heard the apothecaries footfalls in the hall. He quickly jumped up and ran over to the door.

The Yowlume ran over and paused as he saw Vero.

“In here,” Vero motioned and the apothecary’s face went white.

“The Ulrika?” he rushed forwards.

“Yes. Now hurry,” Vero said as he brought the yowlume over. He showed him to the wound and watched him do the work of his skill and caliber. Vero sighed as he identified the poison and quickly administered a relief. Ylva’s breathing eased and she seemed better already, but perhaps Vero was imagining it. The apothecary told Vero the correct dosage to give her every day and then noticed the box of amber on the ground.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Something from Lurelum,” Vero said dismissively.

“Amber?” the apothecary asked. Vero stiffened. How had he known? Rumor? Here-say? “Wonderful. We can use it to heal her up,” he said as he reached for the box. Vero didn’t know if he should let the yowlume take it, or not. But his hesitation was all the man needed to open it and take out a piece of the blue colored material. Vero was about to protest but the man set it on Ylva’s chest and then grabbed another and placed it on her neck, finally he placed one on her forehead. He then rolled his shoulders and grabbed one final piece and held it above the others. Vero noticed the healing light so faintly emit towards the others. Then the three on her began to glow. Slowly, one by one they turned white then transitioned to a golden and then the light faded.

“What was that?” Vero asked. It didn’t seem like the time when the priests used healing spells, this seemed different.

“Poison extraction, though we picked up more than one,” he said thoughtfully. Vero was instantly on alert. Had they poisoned her multiple times? Or had it been a blend of poisons.

“How can you tell?” Vero asked.

“Amber ,when channeled with a bit of healing magic, will change colors from blue to white to clear to yellow to gold and so on as it absorbs the poison.” Vero looked at the deep golden color of the amber. How many poisons would that be? “It seems she had seven poisons in her system. It’s a wonder she survived. Without the amber…. I’m not sure if I could have fully treated her.” Vero looked at Ylva and thanked Veles that she had the type of training that she did. A healthy body would survive longer against these things. But it also made sense why the church came when she was sick. Their objective must have been to kill her, or at least treat her and show their magnanimity to the public.

They were not in a position to take them on yet, and without Filtiarn here, their position was already precarious. But it was perhaps a good thing that Filtiarn wasn’t here, since he would have reacted instead of acting in this situation. Perhaps they could turn the tables around. It would depend on the prisoners and if they could get the books and information out to the public.

“We will need to keep her drinking lots of fluids. To flush out the trace amounts if any are left in her. It will also help her recover from her illness,” the apothecary said thoughtfully.

“Don’t tell anyone what has transpired here,” Vero said firmly. He looked to the doorway and nodded at the servant who flicked his tail that he would remain silent on the matter.

“Of course,” the apothecary said softly. He excused himself and Vero signaled the other servant to got fetch the captain of the guard. He bowed, his ears flicking that he understood and he left.

Vero remained near her, looking at the amber. It was a miracle that the stuff had arrived when it did. He cleaned up the four pieces and placed them in the box before closing it and setting it near her bed. Ylva rested now, though she looked exhausted. He sighed and felt nearly defeated.

If he hadn’t noticed, or if he had stopped at the library before coming here, would she even be alive?

He let the tears fall silently. And sighed deeply. His emotions borne, he raised his head and thought more clearly on the matter. Would it be possible to extract out which poisons were in the golden amber? How could they turn this around?

While he mused on answers, Vero heard the captain of the guard enter.

“Welcome captain. You did a great service,” Vero said as he rose and pulled at the curtains around Ylva’s bed. He looked at her one more time and closed her off from the outside world.

“Of course,” the Yowlume said with a bow. He remained in that position. Vero walked up to him and signaled with his tail for the man to follow him outside the room. After they were out, Vero closed the door behind them.

“Place some guards around her room while she rests and recovers,” Vero said authoritatively.

“As you command,” the captain said firmly.

“Report. What is the condition of our prisoners? And what of the priests who escaped?” Vero asked sternly.

“Currently, all but one white rope fled and made it to the temple. The gray and dark ropes are currently protesting and threatening us. One mentioned that the Ulrika will die if we sacrilege against the church like this.” The captain reported dutifully.

“She will be just fine,” Vero said.

“Thank goodness,” the captain muttered. Vero knew the apprehension the captain must have felt. His men and him were close friends of Ylva as she spared with them frequently. But even they believed in the power and authority of the church. Having someone else say that she would be fine released the concern that must have built in the man’s stomach and heart.

“What else?” Vero asked.

“It has been uncovered that the guards at the entrance were bullied into letting the priests in through the eastern gate,” the captain responded. The man worked fast. Ylva would be proud.

“You’ve done well captain, Ylva would be proud. Either dismiss those men, or place in a less precarious position. Failure is not an option,” Vero said as he began to walk away.

“Yes m’lord,” the captain said. And Vero paused. He wasn’t a lord, but the reverence being given to him was as if he was one. It reminded him of the stories of Amarok and his journey. He continued on and retrieved some water for Ylva.

As he carried the water back to her room he saw the captain and one of his men standing outside. It relieved him to see how fast the captain worked. He quietly approached and entered. Nothing was different inside, it was just like he had left it.

He walked over and approached Ylva. He found her still resting inside her bed and he set the jug down. He sat next to her and reached for her hand.

“Just hold on My Lady,” Vero whispered. He grabbed a small cup and poured the water in. He coaxed her to drink and made sure she swallowed.

Days later, she had recovered enough to open her eyes, but not move about. Their project had been postponed as he and a few servants nursed her to health with the direction of the Apothecary.

A week later, she was able to walk with some assistance, and she visited the training grounds. Just sitting there was work, but she seemed pleased.

Vero monitored the work of the palace, the reports, and the condition of Ylva. The church was starting to breath down their necks to release their people, but Vero hadn’t gotten the sort of info he needed from them. Their devotion bordered on idiocy, but it was impressive and made their attempts to gather info impossible.

He sighed. If he held them any longer, then he would have to give information that he was investigating them on basis of poison and he didn’t need the headache that would bring up. At least not until they were in a better position. For now they had some businesses who would tackle the concept he and Ylva had come up with which freed some of his time. This last week felt like he was always running. Thankfully he had that training with Ylva, else he might really be dropping dead.

He heard the footfalls of the captain and he turned to regard him.

“How goes the interrogation?” he asked calmly.

“No different than yesterday I’m afraid,” the captain sighed. Vero nodded in acknowledgment.

“If they answer any question, whether true or false, then let them go,” Vero said firmly. He was aware that they had remained silent, though the white rope one seemed the most promising, probably because he wasn’t trained against this as much. But he also would have the least information. Vero sighed. He really couldn’t afford more time in their prisons, unless he wanted the fury of the church on them.

“Yes milord,” the captain affirmed before heading back to the castle. Vero noted the two guards near them and the perimeter guards just out of sight.

“My Lady, it is time,” Vero said softly. He saw her ear twitch in recognition of what he said, but she remained seated.

“Next week,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“I will be healed by next week. So tell me. What do I need to do to achieve this,” she said resolutely. Vero looked away then sighed.

“I will fetch the apothecary for more instruction, but you will need to drink plenty of water and stay warm by the fire. These eversions while nice, are out in the elements…”

“Very well,” Ylva said as she attempted to rise. Vero was at her side and helped her hobble back to her room. As they entered, she shook her head and Vero released his grip on her. She stood up straight for a moment and then a caring look filled her eyes. She rubbed his head as if he was a child.

“You’ve done well Vero,” she said and closed the door before returning to her quarters.

Vero noted the guards hadn’t strayed far from them and he signaled to the two to guard her door as usual. This time however, he didn’t enter. He fetched the apothecary.

Vero was keenly aware that while he had served her dutifully, she had quietly told him to get back to work on their projects. He was both aware and amazed at how much she didn’t say and yet he understood. As he walked to the library he heard some feet scuffling behind him. More priests? He kept walking as if he head nothing and headed to the library. As he got near he paused before grabbing the key from its hiding spot. He unlocked the door and went inside locking it behind him. He would need to hide the key in a new location later. He walked around and began looking over the books. Someone had kept a fire going so it wasn’t too cold. But the ink was still too cold to use. He brought over a single vial and began to warm it.

He really wasn’t in the mood to be doing this, but a bit of work to keep it moving forward is what was needed.

After a while he began translating. There were some words he skipped since he couldn’t understand them yet, but he kept on with it. Eventually he looked up at the windows and sighed. The fading light told him that he had been working longer than he had thought. He cleaned up the books and moved the manuscripts and translations to the lock box. Most of the time they had left some out, but today, he felt this was needed. He moved the candelabra and activated the switch that revealed a hidden door. He unlocked it in order and then walked inside. After depositing the works he sealed the door behind him and made sure to brush up the other candelabra just to confuse anyone if they managed to get in.

He looked to the window once again and then snuffed out the last candles before feeding the dying fire.

As he left he kept the key and pretended to deposit it in the hidden spot. He then walked back to his room unhurriedly. He grabbed his dirty laundry and left the room and headed to the wash room. Inside, he silently moved to the next hidden stash and deposited the key before doing his work. Thankfully there was always laundry to be done, so he could retrieve the key later.

After cleaning, he hung the laundry to dry and removed the clothes that had dried. He deposited them with another servant who would return the clothes before heading to Ylva’s chamber.

He made sure to refill her water supplies and checked her overall condition. He was relieved that the Apothecary came and would be taking over her care, as tomorrow he would have several thing to check on.

The week ticked by with checking on the businesses and how the wood work was going. So far, they had diluted the amber so they could apply thin coats to preserve the shape of the wood. Vero hoped this would be enough to begin the printing. The merchants assured him that this new way would conserve much time in the long run, but they would coordinate with some of the close associates to see if they could find an even better way. They called it the dawn of a new age and Vero agreed. It would be a new age, one that wasn’t controlled by a fake religion bent on total control and manipulations.

Ylva steadily improved and by the end of the week, as she had said, she was fit enough to begin walking on her own, but not her full routine. That would be taken care of next week.

Vero showed her around the library at her orders and showed how much work had been done. Vero was a bit surprised she jumped right into work, but then again, this was Ylva.

They finished translating and then Ylva showed him how to compile the stories in a way that the common people would enjoy reading and learning about. Vero was amazed and she explained that information manipulation was something she had learned from The Master. The flow of battles could be controlled through good information, both the flow to the enemy and the flow to your side. As for books, the Master had showed her how to get regular field workers to be for your side. Loyalty paid dividends in a war after all.

After working on compiling for a week, they had a manuscript ready to begin publishing with the new technique. Vero gave them the first pages so they could show the technique in practice to see if they needed any more refining.

In the meantime, they continued to work on the next books till they received word from Filtiarn. It was all out war there with the northerners. They had defected from the Nations of Valfhudel and had support from other human nations. There were also ships from across the seas that had appeared in support, making it hard to pin them down.

Vero sighed. Ships were not Yowlume specialty, but with the nations bordering the sea, they would need to dive into that soon enough. Vero shared with Ylva an idea that if Filtiarn got them back under the order, then they could have some of the shipmaster builders come to the capital and be given resources to design new ships and use them for more than just warfare. Ylva wrote the idea to Filtiarn and they began preparing for that eventuality. She also wrote to The Master, though Vero didn’t know the contents.

Afterwords, she worked with an even greater fervor on the manuscript. Because she was in the library most of the time, the priests didn’t get another opportunity to approach her. Vero also began doing his other work in there since it was less distracting, and he delegated more of his chores to other servants. He began shifting around how that all worked as well and Bartemaus helped keep things running in his absence.

On a snowy, blustery day a group appeared at the entrance, asking to speak with Ylva. Vero hesitated but when he heard they were from The Master, Ylva came out to greet them.

She brought them to the barracks and introduced the captain of the guard to them and gave them instructions. They challenged her to a duel, but she refused. She claimed she wasn’t in shape due to some pressing work, but they argued that she was far more skilled than them, so it would be her handicap this time. She eventually relented.

Vero didn’t have a good feeling about this, but when he looked at Ylva, she had a fire in her eyes that he knew he couldn’t dissuade against.

As they took to the field, the fresh snow crunched under their feet. Vero shivered until one of the guards brought him a scarf that he wrapped around his ears atop his head.

Ylva didn’t bother taking her ready stance as the yowlume before her hunched into a pose Vero had only seen Filtiarn take. Ylva gave the signal to start and the other yowlume feinted at her. She sidestepped and brought her clawed hand near him. With a few seconds she grabbed the shaft of his pole arm and brought the claws closer to the exposed neck. The Yowlume twisted the pole arm down and in turn brought the claws away so the movement swiped in front of him but didn’t strike. She quickly struck out her leg and brought the opponent down with her. One. Two. Three strikes were made against him and he dodged or managed to move the pole arm in the way.

Vero watched with fascination as Ylva maneuvered her opponent to the ground where a pole arm didn’t have as much leverage. The Yowlume dropped the weapon and quickly drew his short sword and dagger. Ylva quickly had a throwing dagger in her hand and she threw it to put her opponent off balance as he tried to approach. Then she ran in and grabbed the blade of his short sword with her clawed hand.

Somehow in that moment, she had procured another hidden dagger and put it to her opponent’s neck. He froze and then said he yielded. Ylva sighed and Vero jumped from his post and fetched her thrown dagger. It took a bit of digging in the snow to locate it, but he returned it to her all the same.

“My apologies, but I must consider my health and not do another practice match right now. Perhaps another day,” Ylva said to the other Yowlume. She turned and left before he could reply. Vero was a bit alarmed that she would bring that up. He quickly pursued her and took the scarf and tugged on Ylva’s sleeve. She looked down and he pointed to her ears as he held out the scarf. She smiled and knelt down to allow him to wrap her ears. They continued into the castle where they dived back into work. Vero asked the servant in charge of their food to bring something warm and a bit more nutritious if possible. When the meal came back, it was as he had ordered. Vero sniffed at it and checked the silver bowl for signs of tarnishing. Then he tested a bit of food and didn’t detect any poison before handing it to Ylva. She thanked him before eating.

The next week they received the printed manuscript. Vero found it to be legible, readable and the merchants already had more carvers ready to begin the rest of the work so it could be done quickly. Vero was satisfied and he handed the rest to them.

He realized though that the binding would be a lot of work, if only there was a way to not have it take so much time.

He brought the problem to Ylva and she suggested they keep it simple like the printing. They could put a stiffer parchment around the book instead of the leather and then cover that with a bit of varnish if needed. The book could be sewn together with the pages glued together at the spine. She sketched out the concept before him and he asked how she had solved it so quickly.

She pointed out that she had a few weeks of rest and reprimanded him for not thinking that she would still be working on the project while resting. Having been reprimanded, Vero summoned the merchants and showed and explained Ylva’s idea to them. They were impressed and began adjusting the costs to reflect the new concept.

Their first finished book was ready by spring, far faster than any other book had been done and more could be completed within a few weeks.

Vero and Ylva stared at the book and felt it was sufficient. When asked about a price, Ylva said to sell it initially for half of what is cost. She would compensate for the rest. The merchants protested but she said that her goal was not to make this profitable at first, but to get more of these in the hands of the Yowlume and surrounding nations. She then explained that she expected them to figure out how to increase production through innovation like they had been doing to bring the cost of production down. For now, she would ensure a profit for the next six months. After that, they could bring the cost up a bit, but would need to show the results of their innovation.

The merchants eventually acquiesced to her plan as they could use the profit to invest in better production and bring her goal to fruition. Ylva promised them that they had more books in the wing for them to work on and that sealed the deal. They would be the sole company to publish the books while she provided funds for greater innovation.

As they left the negotiations Vero wondered if that had been a wise move. When he asked, Ylva had an interesting perspective on the matter.

“I do not have the need for funds that are not benefiting the people and I will not work with lazy merchants who just want to line their pockets. If they can show the work, I will continue to work with them, else I will change who I partner with,” she said firmly.

Vero only hoped this would work out in their favor.