The Alchemist's Practice Chapter 7

With the funeral done, Edric was unsure of what to do with himself. He still had affairs to settle, his parent's farmland, now his farmland, being the biggest one, but he couldn't help feeling anxious. He couldn't tell what the uneasy feeling was about, though.

He lay in bed, staring at the wooden ceiling of Nuumad's Blessing, as the morning sun rose and filled the room with light. The showers from the evening prior were over, and it promised to be a good day.

Having enough of trying to decipher his own thoughts, Edric, too, rose. He dressed and went down to the inn's great room to break his fast. It was busy, hosting a few residents and a few from a merchant wagon passing through there this morning.

Wynn took orders from each table, memorizing what each person wanted as though it were nothing special, and walking back to the kitchen when she saw him. She smiled and slowed down, but there was a sheen of sweat and a stern look of concentration across her forehead.

"A good morning to you, Wynn," he said, to which she returned. "I'll just have some water this morning." He was trying to be nice to her, given how busy it was.

She looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

Edric nodded. "I'll have something later in the day."

Wynn smiled again, this time a bit more earnestly he felt, but he might just be imagining it.

Edric took a seat near the back of the inn, beside one of the windows facing the village square. He could see people already bustling about their daily activities. A few women were talking, gossiping probably, as they headed to the creek to wash clothes. A few of the men spoke, probably also gossiping in their own way, with the guardsman, Allard, whom he met before.

Wynn came back almost immediately with a pitcher of water and a glass for Edric before rushing back into the kitchen to continue preparing the other's meals.

Edric drank the water slowly as he watched the town from a distance. The anxiety of the morning was forgotten, and he took comfort in the thought that he no longer had to receive any more white roses nor return them.

After drinking another glass of water, Edric decided it was time to visit Kennard at Mayel's bank. He left the pitcher and empty glass on the table and exited Nuumad's Blessing.

Though he called it a bank in his mind, Mayel was a small town and thus didn't warrant what Sybold or Tishani would consider an actual bank. Kennard and his father, and his father before that, were wealthy men and notaries of the law.

When Sybold opened its first bank not fifty years ago, the Yorks of Mayel were the obvious choice for middlemen. They had the means when a local wanted money held securely or a merchant needed to withdraw after theft on the road.

The bank was simply the Yorks old family home with a few modifications for added security. Their new home was made even more enormous, or at least enormous according to a small town, and located not far from their business.

Edric entered the bank to see Kennard assisting one of the villagers with something. Kennard looked over the rim of his glasses at Edric and waved but still gave his first patron all his attention.

Edric waved back, but Kennard's attention was already back on the other person. Edric looked around the bank as he noticed more that had changed since he was last in Mayel. He often visited with his father when he was younger and even had his personal bank seal commissioned here before moving to Sybold.

The entrance was similar to a great hall of any wealthy family home from a remote countryside. The wide-open hall was inviting and well lit with sconces at every door and a chandelier hanging from above on the second floor.

To the sides were rooms, their doors open, one holding what appeared to be an office, and the other slightly larger room for meetings that could seat an entire family if needed.

On the left side, next to the counter where Kennard stood, a set of stairs led to the second floor. Edric didn't know what those rooms were used for after it was turned into a bank.

Where the room differed quite a bit, not just from being a home, but even since he was last there, was the bank counter and the saferoom. The bank counter was made of thick red timber that Edric couldn't recognize by sight. Behind it, the saferoom was entirely renovated with the same wood, and the door leading inside was wrought iron bars with a heavy lock.

On top of all the physical security, Edric noticed the workings of some magery about as well. He wasn't an expert at spellcasting, so he didn't know what the runes above the saferoom door meant, but he could make an educated guess what they were for.

Edric understood the need for extra security when it came to the York family gold, as well as the other assets of the villagers, but it was what necessitated the change that set Edric on edge.

After Edric's brief, self-guided tour, Kennard was finished with the other villager. The older man bowed his head to Edric as he shuffled his way outside the bank.

"I had a feeling you would be by soon," Kennard said as Edric approached.

Kennard reached underneath the counter and brought up a few papers as well as an envelope with his family seal on it. He slid the documents over to Edric for him to read over.

"And a good morning to you, Edric."

Edric returned the greeting as he read through the papers. They were a list of assets owned by his father and mother. The home and all their contents had burned, so that list was of no use any longer, but he noticed things that made him reminisce about his childhood. Family furnishings, portraits, toys and other trinkets with no real value outside of the stories they told and the sentiment afforded them.

Going further down the list, Edric saw that his father was the largest landowner on all of Mayel. It was not just the farmland, which Edric knew to be the largest, but he also owned acres and acres of forest. The forest his father owned, that he now owned, extended outward from Mayel far enough that it would be of little use to own what lay beyond. It was enough land that Edric lost his wits when he ran the numbers. It was enough land that, if sold, could make him as rich as some of the wealthiest merchants among Sybold.

"Would you like to see a map of what your father owned?" Kennard asked, his discerning nature understanding what Edric's slacked jaw look meant.

Edric nodded, and Kennard walked out from behind the counter to a large map of Mayel that hung on the wall. The through road ran top to bottom on the map and showed just the forest's edge on all sides. Kennard placed a hand a good four to five feet outside the edge of the map, walked to the other side, and completed the gesture at about the same length at the other end.

And, as if that weren't enough, Kennard said, "It's the same to the north and south as well. Your father… no… you own all the undeveloped land around Mayel now."

Edric couldn't wrap his head around why his father sat on so much land. It was easy to see that it was built up over time, over generations, but why did all the generations do nothing with it? He had always thought their family being called the Guardians of the Forest was a title an ancestor had gotten, not anything literal.

Kennard remained his usual blank self as he walked back behind the counter. "One thing your father requested was that you not sell the forest land," he said. "Though I don't know his reasons, this letter may shed some light on it for you."

Kennard handed Edric the sealed letter. Edric looked at it for a moment, inspecting his family's oak tree seal, before he broke it open to read.

Edric, or Sel, if either of you is reading this, then it means we've passed.

He knew the writing to be his mother's, but the words his father's. His mother's handwriting was always neat and flowing and comforting in a strange way. Any letters he received in Sybold were written by her, mostly in her words, her kind, proud words. He could tell that this blunt work was his father talking to him through her.

I leave all our possessions to you, the land and the assets and our savings at the York's. Edric, I know you never wanted to be a farmer, so give Sel the farm and the house if he'll take it, and you take the savings for your life in Sybold.

Sel, you're the Guardian now, so take care of the forest however you can. If I didn't have enough time to train you for that duty, call upon your uncle, and he'll tell you what to do. Don't sell the forest land. Your uncle will tell you why.

There was a small space after the last paragraph before another began.

Edric, Sel, this is your mother now. Though your father doesn't always show it, we love you both very much and wished that we could have seen you both bloom into the men you were meant to be. I know right now must be difficult for you both, but you have the strength of a Foster and the pride of an Owen running through you. Anything you set out to do, you'll accomplish.

Love now and in our new season,

Allaine & Dina

Edric reread the letter, trying to let the words sink in, particularly his mother's words.

Before he could, Kennard asked, "So, did the letter clear anything up?" His face remained stone, but his voice perked at the question betraying his own curiosity.

Edric shook his head dumbly. "No… No, it didn't," he said after a moment. "Where do I sign to take ownership?"

Kennard walked Edric through the forms in from of him. The first was the list of assets, which Edric finished reading as Kennard was explaining. The last bit was regarding the assets in York's, which was a substantial holding of gold and a few other family items. At the bottom, Edric signed and used his family's oak tree seal, then Kennard signed as a witness and made his own seal of the York family in the image of a quill.

The other papers were deeds to the burned home, the farmland, and the forest land, which wasn't as one whole but several parts that each needed their own signature. By the end of all the reading and signing, Edric's hand was cramped, and he felt faint from not having eaten anything yet.

"There was another matter I wanted to discuss, Kennard." Kennard set the papers aside and listened to his friend. "Could you draft a lease agreement for my parent's farmland? I don't want to sell it, but I also don't see myself being much of a caretaker."

Kennard stood, adjusted his glasses, and folded his arms in thought. After a moment's contemplation, he said, "I could draft you something, and we can work out the details later, but I'm not sure the farmers here would understand or like it."

Edric gave Kennard a sheepish smile. "I thought they might not, but I wanted to try this first. If I can't lease it, I'll sell it before I head back to Sybold."

Kennard nodded and placed his hands on the counter. "I'll have something for you first thing tomorrow."

"I'll be back tomorrow then," Edric replied. "Drinks tonight at Nuumad's?"

Kennard grinned and said, "I'll let Garrick know."

Edric exited the York bank, forgetting about his father's words just as he had forgotten the anxious feeling from when he first awoke.