CHAPTER 255: GOOD GUESS

Though the source of his information was known only to him, Julio was spot on with his estimation of the time that the convoy from Cygnia City would arrive.

However, nobody had warned the new Castellan about what would be coming with the convoy.

What arrived at the estate wasn’t just a standard travelling merchant convoy, they had brought an entire circus troupe with them, on their way into Axbridge for the festival season.

The carnies looked just as surprised to see Dominic as he was to see them, and there was more than one familiar face among the crowd. In fact, most of the carnival staff appeared to be people that he had met in the past, thieves, murderers and fugitives.

All working together with trapeze artists, contortionists and a group of visibly drunk Techno Wizards who had invented most of the steam-driven carnival rides.

"Welcome to the Duchy of Wistover." Dominic laughed as the carnival’s representative stared at him in shock.

"Dominic Wavemates? I thought that you were dead." The aging Techno Wizard gasped.

"Rumours of my death tend to be highly optimistic. Tell me, friend, what brought you to Cygnia City? I don’t recall there being a festival this month." Dominic replied.

"We were in Atford, on the south end of the continent, and the only ride we could get by sea was to Cygnia City. We were going to hitch a ride to Amer or Mitfield, but none of the ships are headed that way.

Something about Amer putting a new tax on imports.

We need to get to Witheton in Axbridge within a month, and this is the only way that we were going to make it." He explained.

The Merchant Guild caravan leader nodded. "After here, we’re turning Northwest for Lympsbury, then it’s good roads all the way to Kinewen, and the river highway to Witheton."

That would put them in position in time. Not by much, if they stopped at a bunch of small towns for a day or two. But everything was mounted to steam tractors, so they could reasonably make a few hundred kilometres a day if they didn’t stop.

A few of the locals came out to meet with the caravan, including the two local Techno Wizards, who were growing more excited by the step as they saw who had arrived.

"Gerry! What is with the circus? And aren’t those the lovely ladies of the Redcham Royal Rest Lounge?" The older of the two Techno Wizards asked.

One of the young women winked at him, then blew him a kiss, and Dominic had to struggle not to laugh.

The Royal Rest was a brothel, and the closest thing that they had to royalty among their patrons or staff was a group of drag queens who performed for ladies night. Why their girls were with a travelling carnival was probably better not to ask.

Especially one that had fled to the far end of the continent, a trip that would have taken at least a full year at the usual rate of a Carnival. Possibly two years, if they didn’t go directly there.

Dominic felt a hand on his back as Alexis stepped out beside him in casual armour, ready to head out hunting or to escort the Baron’s people camped in the yard to their new homes.

"Do you know these people?" She asked curiously.

"Some of them. Gerry is a Techno Wizard from Axbridge, we did some business in the past. Some of the men here are also familiar faces. I didn’t expect them to be operating a carnival, but it looks like they’ve come up with some fun events." Dominic explained.

The Merchant Guild member began to discretely sign to Dominic, explaining the situation.

{The carnival formed to help a Princess of Sazion escape an arranged marriage into Dagos. But they weren’t the most reputable sorts, and Axbridge exiled the carnival members for a year and a day for attempting to seduce a Prince who was already married.}

Dominic smirked, then nodded in understanding.

A minor misunderstanding, he was certain. More likely, the Prince’s wife found out about a dalliance and appealed to one of the senior bureaucrats to issue an edict as punishment to her cheating husband.

"These are new arrivals, headed to set up in a nearby Barony, but there are a few hundred others who would appreciate some entertainment. I will pay if you are willing to set up for the day." Dominic suggested.

The Carnival leader smiled. "Well, the caravan has goods to trade with the Wistover Village anyhow, so I don’t see the harm in it. We can be set up in an hour, as long as the travel boss doesn’t disagree."

The Merchant Guild’s driver shook his head. "Not if we’re going to stop for two days in Lympsbury. They’ve got a thousand times larger market, and neither of us can afford to cut that stop short."

The carnival members gave a resigned sigh, and the Merchant relented. "Not a whole setup. But if you want to open the stage to do a trapeze show before we move along, I’m sure you can make a little in donations."

That was good enough for them.

The trapeze stage was designed to fold out from the trailer in under a minute, and only needed the safety pins checked, and the curtains hung to begin a show.

There was a magitech net under the swings that would keep them relatively safe if they made a mistake, and the whole setup was perfectly practiced after over a year of constant shows.

They also had a popcorn machine, which wasn’t a common item in Cygnia. Mostly because they didn’t grow much corn.

The sight brought everyone who wasn’t actively working in for the show, and Dominic chuckled as all the shops in town put up closed signs to come watch the carnival.

Most of the farmers were in as well, with only a few left in the fields, and a few that must be at home cooking or completing other tasks. The Alator kids were especially excited about getting to watch the show as a ’day out with grandpa’.

Dominic could see that they were lingering toward the back of the group and called them forward.

"They’re not putting on a full paid show, just taking donations for the trapeze show and selling popcorn. They’ve got to rush along to Lympsbury this afternoon." He explained.

The old General smiled. That would make the kids happy. He didn’t have spare coin to take them to a show, so he had been planning to watch from a distance, not the paid seats that were usually erected.

However, that lack of funds would change very soon. His son was in to barter a sale with the Merchant Guild, and they had managed to pull an extra thousand kilos of oats and potatoes from the fields after their pantry was full.

They had even gone as far as to raid one of the burnt farm houses to recover the canning jars from their pantry.

Dominic had said the burnt down farmsteads were the lowest priority, so it shouldn’t cause any issues to salvage what his family could from houses unlikely to be rebuilt when the farms now were much larger than the old sharecropper fields were before steam tractors existed.