Masters of Deception by JC Kang EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Author: JC Kang
- Language: English
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Dueling Fates
Cassius Larusso consulted an astrological chart, knowing damn well he could answer the merchant’s
question without it. Still, the longer he made a show of diagramming constellation positions, the
larger the crowd would grow around his megalith circle, and the further his fame would spread.
The merchant, standing on the other side of the central altar, first
adjusted his orange hat, then his sleeveless purple longcoat about his rotund
belly. “Well?”
Cassius held up a hand. “The future is a volatile thing. You paid
for the best. The best cannot be rushed.”
Around the circle, the crowds clapped and laughed, the bright
colors of their longcoats, frilly dresses, and stockings threatening to give
Cassius a headache. The merchant pursed his lips, making his pig face look
more like a duck’s.
Satisfied, Cassius peered west through a dwarf-made scope, past
the flickering Dragonstone at the pyramid’s summit, to the Iridescent Moon.
Never moving from its reliable spot in the heavens, it now waned toward
new—indicating an auspicious birth hour for expectant mothers, but more
importantly that it was close to lunchtime. Of course, his rumbling stomach
proved more reliable than the dance of stars in this regard. It was time to
end the charade.
He turned some of the gears on his star disk. Placing it over the
map on the stone altar, he spun it.
Eyes expectant, the merchant tapped his toe. “I need to get a
consignment of glassware to Cathay before my rivals.”
It was too easy to make money off these money-grubbers. Cassius
raised a hand. The spectators went silent. He steepled his fingers under his
chin, and then beckoned the merchant closer so that the jostling crowds
could not hear. “Then you must contract Expedient Shipping. Their ship,
Ocean’s Breath, departs for Korynth in three days.”
“Expedient Shipping?” The merchant slapped a hand over his
deposit. The rings on his fingers clinked on the coins. “They lost a barge to
the Pirate Queen last month.”
“Ocean’s Breath will make it safely to Korynth…” …if only
because Expedient Shipping had paid Cassius to find an auspicious day for
travel. Of course, Cassius had later made arrangements with the Pirate
Queen to leave the Ocean’s Breath alone.
The merchant’s hand pulled back from the deposit. “And then?”
“The Ocean’s Breath will arrive in time to unload and transfer
your precious cargo to the Tarkothi Royal Ship Indomitable.” Something
Cassius knew from bribing a clerk at the Tarkothi trade office. “It will take
your goods to Ayudra, where you should contract Victorious Trading’s Wild
Orchid.”
Muttering curses under his breath, the merchant furiously
scribbled notes in some coded language. He sighed. “All these damn
shipping companies, siphoning a bit off our bottom line.”
Cassius shrugged. “That’s the price of doing business. Just be
happy you live in prosperous times, when there is a market for your
glassware, and that trade agreements between Cathay and Tarkoth keep
shipping lanes open. As per our contract, your cargo is guaranteed to arrive
safely.”
The merchant snapped his fingers at his two guards.
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