WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE Read Online Free

isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, it is.”
    “Why would I want
to move to Valentria anyway?”
    “A better shop for
one.”
    The blacksmith
narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “What do you mean a better shop?”
    Raven giggled,
“Thought that would get your attention.   You see, I recently purchased a large shop intending to go into business
for myself.   However, and here’s where a
blacksmith comes in, the front is a store while the back is a rather large
smithy with all the latest tools and instruments.   I need someone to take advantage of it.”
    It was difficult
to resist the lure of her own shop but discretion reared its head.   “So I would be renting the space from you,
right?”   Sarah couldn’t see the benefit
of trading one rented shop for another.
    “Absolutely not, I
got a loan to pay for this place.   If we
were to work together, we’d pay the loan back and for the materials out of the
profits.   Then split the rest right down
the middle.   A fifty-fifty partnership.”
    Her own shop!   Sarah could hardly believe this was being
offered to her by someone she met just a few hours ago.   Still, it was probably too good to be
true.   “How do I know this isn’t a
scam?”   Doubt, fueled by years of real
life, crept into her voice.
    Raven nodded again
and pulled out five hundred gullions, handing the bills to Sarah.
                “Here’s what I’ll do.”   Sarah’s mind was abuzz with a million
questions as she blankly took the stack of bills, “Think about it tonight.   Tomorrow I’ll come by and you tell me if you
want to go look at the shop.   If you do,
we’ll head to Valentria and take a gander.   I’ll buy you a return ticket home if you decide you don’t like it.   Consider the money payment for the work you’d
miss because of the trip.”
    Fondling the money
in a daze, Sarah barely heard herself asking, “What if I’m just not here
tomorrow?   What if I deposit this and
hide for a few days?”
    Raven cocked her
head to the right and scrunched her eye-brows together.   “How can I ask you to trust me if I don’t
trust you?   You’re sort of weird you
know.”
    Focusing on the
business at hand, and not the small fortune in her pocket, Sarah rubbed her
chin thoughtfully, “I think I have your plan figured out.   You’re going to, ‘inscribe’ I believe you
called it, the weapons and armor I make then sell them, right?”
      “Exactly my plan.”
    Sarah wasn’t done
yet.   “There are a few things I would
like to know more about.”
    With a flash of
pearly teeth, Raven said she was an open book.
    “First off, could
you not simply buy the weapons you want to inscribe?   That is probably a lot easier than having a
partner.”   Sarah sat up straighter on her
stool and crossed her arms.
    “Probably would be
a tad easier to do it that way, I suppose.” Raven agreed while she sat up and
crossed her arms, mocking Sarah in a friendly way.   “I could have already opened the store if I’d
gone that route.   Thing is, I don’t like
having to rely on strangers to help my money supply.   Plus I’d like to be able to do special orders
and give customers an idea of when they would be ready.”
    “Second question,
and the most important, how are we going to do this without the Protectorate
shutting us down?”
    Raven snorted
loudly.   “Valentria is not, and will not
be, under the boot heel of the Protectorate.   Our duchy is free to do as it wishes.”
    Sarah mulled this
last bit of information over for a minute before standing up.   Then she nodded to her guest.   “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
    The two shook
hands and Raven promised, “I’ll come by tomorrow to speak with you again.”
    After seeing Raven
out, Sarah locked the door with a bemused smile.   Her own shop, she thought as she started
getting ready for bed.   Standing alone in
the darkness, the girl studied her situation.   This ramshackle building was all she could