Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) Read Online Free

either bypass us or end before they get to the city. Most
of the travelers we see come here in the usual fashion.”
    Grae sighed. “I took a look at my master’s map before
coming. I don’t think you have any paths here that are still operable. I’ll
likely need a week or three to build ones before I can actually start working.”
    Siobhan felt a shrewd moment come over her and she spoke
before thinking, “Master Hughes, we’ll give you a further discount on the first
three caravans if you give us manpower to build those paths with. We need stone
gatherers. It’ll hasten the project along.”
    Locking gazes with her, Hughes calculated at high speed
before asking, “How many men? How long?”
    She turned to Grae, who answered, “As many men as you can
spare, at least six, and it depends on where these caravans are going and how
large they are. If it’s going to be one of the more complex patterns, then it
will take me anywhere between five to seven days to build just one path.”
    “Winziane is one of the destinations. Turton is another.”
Hughes lifted his eyes to the ceiling, thinking, then grumbled and rummaged
around in another draw before drawing out a logbook. “Here, take a look. On
this page, this column, and down to here.”
    Grae leaned in closer, peering over the log. “Hmm, yes,
you’ll need an evergreen pattern for both of these, likely. And with this one,
I think we might have to split the caravan in half, there’s no way to transfer
that much weight all at once without shaking the path. And this group going to
Goodliffe? There’s no way to do that in a straight shot, the Umlaut’s Lakes get
in the way. We’ll have to go from Winziane, to Baring, and then to Goodliffe to
manage it.”
    “Build all three paths?”
    “The Pathmakers in Winziane already have paths built between
Baring and Goodliffe,” Grae corrected. “We can use theirs. I just need to build
a path from here to Winziane, assuming that the existing paths here are in as bad
shape as I think they are. At the very least, I’m going to have to tear out
parts of it and rebuild.”
    “So you’ll need six laborers for at least two weeks to get
prepared for all of this.” Hughes tapped a finger on the log book, eyes
narrowing. “Fifteen percent discount on the first three trips.”
    “Twenty,” Siobhan automatically countered, “and you do the
advertising for us that we’re in business and where we’re located.”
    Beirly bit down on a protest and poked her in the ribs. She
didn’t bat an eye.
    Hughes didn’t answer, eyes locked on her, but instead asked,
“Who did you say was the guildmaster for Deepwoods?”
    “Siobhan is,” Grae and Beirly said in unison.
    Squawking in protest, she whipped around. “What? When did we
decide that?”
    “We took a vote,” Beirly told her seriously.
    “While you weren’t around,” Grae added, eyes twinkling. “The
majority carried.”
    “You rats,” she fumed. “If anyone should be guildmaster,
it’s you, Beirly. You have more experience than I do in running a business.”
    “No, I think they made a good choice,” Hughes disagreed.
“It’s clear to me that you’re a natural at this. Alright, Guildmaster Maley,
you have a deal. We’ll take that twenty percent discount and will do all of the
advertising for you for the first three months that you are in business. I’ll
have six men at your doorstep after breakfast tomorrow to help you with your
pathmaking. Do we have a deal?”
    Trapped, knowing that she had the job whether she wanted it
or not, Siobhan put on a game smile and shook the man’s hand. “Deal.”
    “Good.” Hughes drew out a clean sheet of paper and jotted down
several names and locations, then handed them up to Gage. “Here. Guildmaster, I
expect that Darrens will want to speak to you before the day is out, so be
prepared for that.”
    In that case, while they were walking, she was definitely
going to have Gage tell her where to get some good pastries.