Chapter 15: The Competitor
Three days after the water was given away, the Frost Claw people came again. This time not twenty. Fifty. Fifty empty carts stretching from the north end of the gorge to the south. No end in sight.
Hagen stood at the front. His face had color now. His lips no longer cracked. He walked to Violet and set a bag of salt on the ground. "Second shipment. We pay with salt."
Violet glanced at the salt. White. Fine. Better than any salt she had ever seen. "I said the first shipment was free. After that, you trade. But not this much."
Hagen shook his head. "Your water saved forty children. This salt is nothing." He paused. "And it's not just us who want your water. The Frost Wolf Clan is here too."
Violet followed his gaze. At the back of the caravan stood several figures in gray hide coats. Wolf head markings on their chests. The one in front was a woman. Thirties. Short hair. Sharp eyes. She walked over and looked at Violet.
"You're the Gray Rock Tribe's mapmaker?"
"Yes."
"I'm Eve of the Frost Wolf Clan. We need water. We have no salt. No pelts. No herbs. We only have—" She paused. "Our lives. Do you want them?"
Violet looked at her. "I don't want lives. I want you to help me move water."
"Move it where?"
"To everyone who lacks water. Frost Claw Tribe. Shadow Clan. Ironwood Tribe. Whoever lacks water, move it to them."
Eve's eyes narrowed. "You want us to deliver for you?"
"Not for me. For yourselves. The water is yours. I'm just holding it for you. You help me move it to every corner of the North. Let everyone know. Gray Rock Tribe has water. No charge."
Eve stared at her. "You're insane. If you do this, Astrid will—"
"What will Astrid do?" A voice came from the back of the crowd.
Everyone turned. A horse walked up from the southern gorge. A woman sat on it. Golden hair in a braid. White dress. Silver Spring markings on her chest.
Seraphina.
Violet's fingers stopped. This was the first time Seraphina had come to Gray Rock Tribe's camp. She sat on her horse, looking down at the fifty carts. At the bag of salt. At Eve. At Hagen. Then her eyes landed on Violet.
"Cecilia. You've done more than I imagined."
Violet stood. "What are you doing here?"
Seraphina jumped off her horse and walked up to her. There was a glint in her honey-colored eyes. Not hostility. Calculation. "I'm here to do business."
"What business?"
"Your water. You're giving it away free. You can afford to give it. But your wells can't go deep enough. Three wells. Three hundred barrels a day. Frost Claw Tribe, one hundred and thirty people. Thirty barrels a day. Frost Wolf Clan, two hundred people. Forty barrels a day. Shadow Clan, one hundred fifty people. Thirty barrels a day. Ironwood Tribe, three hundred people. Sixty barrels a day."
She looked at Violet.
"Three hundred barrels. Just enough. But if Astrid comes to take it, what do you have to defend it?"
Violet stared at her. "How do you know these numbers?"
Seraphina smiled. "I have my own ways."
Silence. Hagen looked at Seraphina, then at Violet. Eve's hand rested on her blade hilt.
Seraphina took a step forward. "I have a system—no, I have a way. To make your wells produce six hundred barrels a day."
Violet's fingers tightened. "What way?"
"I tell you, you let me in."
"In?"
"Your water business. I want thirty percent."
Hagen's mouth fell open. Eve's hand moved off her blade. Everyone looked at Violet.
Violet looked at Seraphina. "Thirty percent?"
"Thirty percent. You give me thirty percent of the water. I help you deepen your wells by double. Your three wells become six wells worth of water. You can give to everyone. You can hold against Astrid."
"And if I refuse?"
Seraphina's smile didn't change. "You refuse, I go to Astrid. Her water costs coin. But her wells can also be deepened."
The camp went quiet.
Everyone looked at Violet. Worry in Hagen's eyes. Expectation in Eve's. Gray Bone's hand tightened on his shovel.
Violet looked at Seraphina. "You want thirty percent. Fine. But you have to do something for me."
"What?"
"Help me move water. Not to Frost Claw Tribe. Not to Frost Wolf Clan. Not to Shadow Clan. To Silver Spring."
Seraphina's smile froze for an instant. "To Silver Spring?"
"To the people of Silver Spring. Astrid's men. The ones who fight for her. Tell them. The water is free. Put down your blades. The water is yours."
Seraphina stared at her. A long time. "You want to turn her own people."
"I want her people to know. Follow her, water costs. Follow me, water is free."
"You're insane. Astrid will kill you."
"She can't kill me. Because her own men won't kill the woman who brings them water."
Seraphina was silent for a long moment. Then she smiled. Not the calculated smile. A smile Violet hadn't seen before. A little admiration. A little resignation. A little "you're more ruthless than me."
"Thirty percent. Deal."
She held out her hand. Violet took it. Her hand was warm. Warmer than Seraphina's.
Hagen stared at the two women shaking hands. His mouth couldn't close. "You—"
"We're partners now." Seraphina turned to him. "Your salt. I want ten percent. As shipping fee."
Hagen's mouth opened and shut. "Ten percent?"
"Ten percent. The salt you give Cecilia, I'll help you sell it in Silver Spring. Silver Spring people have coin. They can afford salt."
"Silver Spring doesn't lack water. Why would they buy salt?"
"Because Silver Spring's days of not lacking water are numbered."
Hagen stared at Seraphina. "How do you know?"
"I have my ways." Seraphina looked at him. "Are you selling or not?"
Hagen glanced at Violet. Violet nodded.
"Sell."
Seraphina smiled. She turned and walked to her horse. Jumped on. Looked down at Violet.
"Three days. My people come to deepen your wells. Your water, thirty percent mine. My salt, ten percent yours."
"Keep the salt. I want you to do something else for me."
"What?"
"At the Trade Market. Help me sell water."
Seraphina's smile stopped. "You want me to sell water for you?"
"You're better at selling than me. Your mouth is worth more than my maps."
Seraphina stared at her. A long time. Then she smiled. "Ten percent. Of the water sales. I take ten percent."
"Deal."
Seraphina rode off. Hoofbeats fading.
Hagen stood beside her, watching Seraphina's back. "Who is she?"
"My competitor." Violet said. "And now my partner."
"Can she be trusted?"
"No. But what she wants and what I want are the same thing."
"What's that?"
"Victory."
---
Night. By the fire.
Leon sat across from Violet, watching her. "You trust her?"
"No."
"Then why work with her?"
"Because she has things I don't."
"Like what?"
"Her mouth. Her ways. Her—" Violet paused. "Her system."
Leon's slit pupils tightened. "System?"
"A powerful thing. I don't have it. But I know how to use it."
Leon stared at her. "You're afraid of her."
"I'm not afraid of her. But I know if I don't work with her, she'll go to Astrid. Astrid plus her, I can't win."
"So you work with your enemy."
"In business, there are no permanent enemies. Only permanent interests."
Hoofbeats sounded in the gorge. Not Silver Spring riders. Seraphina's people. They had come to deepen the wells.
Violet stood and looked into the southern dark.
Astrid. You have a granary. I have four wells. I have a mind that calculates. I have a mouth that sells. I have—a competitor.
She pulled her coat tighter.
Seraphina. You wait. Thirty percent water. Ten percent coin. You help me win, I share. You want to beat me—
The corner of her mouth lifted.
You can't.
---
End of Chapter Fifteen
The competitor became a partner. Seraphina wants thirty percent of the water. Violet sends her to Silver Spring to give water away. Free. When Astrid's men get used to water that costs nothing, will they still raise their blades? The Trade Market hasn't even begun. Her walls are already cracking.