Dawn Fire smiled agreeably, “Calling him is certainly a good idea. Before you do, though, I am sending you direct copies of all of the criminal documents. I am sure that he will want to see them.”
As Countess Arianne happily looked over the documents as they came to her Magic Net mirror. “Oh my, Duke Deepinit appears to have tried to jump onto the ferry boat after it left the dock, doesn't he? I KNOW that King Leiuee will want to do something about this.
“Duke Deepinit was at the Court in Gaiparee where Notes of Payment were outlawed except as transfers of wealth between banking institutions and those required to be payed in gold in thirty days or less.
“This is ALL flat out illegal and better, the Duke knew it when he did it. I love how clearly you have spelled out the criminal charges and directly connected them to Prance's banking law, Royal Edict, treaty violation, and, as the Notes were not paid at all with the Required Bankruptcy not filed, breaching the Royal Exchequer.
“I will give this whole package to King Leiuee at once.”
“Thank you, Countess. We shall be repairing to the Shire Bank to take care of the local end of this mess.”
Emerging from the office, he announced, “Please come with me. We are going to the Shire Bank. They will be restoring your titles and making up the unlawful payments that have been extorted from you.”
At the Shire Bank, they were met by a haughty clerk who demanded, “And why should I allow you to see Msgr Squire? This is but a rabble of debtors facing foreclosure.”
Dawn Fire quietly proffered a paper. “This is a Royal Warrant signed and sealed by King Leiuee. If Msgr Squire does not comply with repairing these frauds, he shall be placed under Royal Arrest, the bank put into receivership and these frauds dealt with by the Royal Exchequer's receiver.”
“This must be a forgery! Gandarmarie!”
To his surprise, four of the Gandarmarie stepped briskly into the bank foyer! To his worse surprise, they spoke directly to Dawn Fire, “Knife Holder, how may we serve you?”
“First, Please verify that this is indeed a genuine Royal Warrant. Then, if this clerk will not open Msgr Squire's office that we may serve the warrant, please, as the local representatives of the Royal Law, open that door and serve the warrant to Msgr Squire.”
The Gandarmes politely informed the clerk, “The Royal Warrant is indeed genuine. It was delivered to our station Magic Net mirror directly from the horn of King Leiuee in Gaiparee. Will you cooperate with its service or must we charge you as an accessory to the crimes involved?”
The clerk swallowed hard and simply turned to open the door to the office. A harsh voice snarled, “Porman! I told you that I was not to be interrupted! I am working on the Havaplace foreclosure and eviction!”
“I am sorry, Msgr Shire but these people have a Royal Warrant requiring your signature now.”
“Pish! Put it at the bottom of my inbasket. I will sign it when I get to it!”
At that, all four Gandarmes shoved past Porman and slapped the Royal Warrant onto Shire's desk! “Sir! You are served with this Warrant from King Leiuee in person! You MUST read it and sign it! If you do not, we are required to sign the affidavit of service and take you directly to the gaol to await King Leiuee's pleasure.
“If you carry out the required actions in regard to the Warrant, you can avoid the criminal charge of accomplice to Duke Deepinit's treason and other charges that he faces.”
Shire curled a lip and laid his ears back into his shaggy, off red mane! “When the Duke hears about this travesty, he will be . . .”
Dawn Fire cut him off cheerfully, “He is fully aware of all the charges that he faces and the evidence against him!” He stamped a hoof for emphasis as he finished, “He was taken into Royal Custody at the direct order of King Leiuee at 9:45 AM this morning! His present lodging has bars on the door and the single window!”
Shire began to frantically read the Warrant! He looked up even more ashen faced than his usual mostly white, tinged with green fur. He did tap the verification codes into his desk's Magic Net mirror. Horrified at what he heard, he slashed his signature in the required space!
Instead of the Gandarmes, Dawn Fire signed the Witness to Service section. There was still no name. It read, “Princess Luna, by her authorized Agent.”
To Msgr Shire's unpleasant surprise, the Gandarmes nodded, “Just as King Leiuee told us to expect.” They took their copy and left two, one for Dawn Fire and one for Shire.
The banker made one more try to wriggle off the hook by suggesting, “Um, this mess could take weeks to sort out.”
“No. All the titles are here, in this bank. You need only remove them from the files and sign them back as PAID IN FULL. You then, from those same files need to find and pay the full amount of the Notes of Payment. As you hold and administer them for Duke Deepinit, you are solely liable for them. Collection of your expenses from the Duke is YOUR responsibility.
“One other thing. Each victim of this fraud will receive an additional sum equal to all of their payments and costs, even if those were drawn against the original Note.”
Smiling in a forced way, at Shire, Dawn Fire reached across his desk and picked up a file. He neatly extracted two papers from it. He laid them on the banker's desk and tapped at spaces. “Sign here to return Mister Hishine's shop and home to him. Sign the Note of Payment in the presentation box. Mister Hishine has his documentation of expenses here. Simply add them up and double them.
“You see how quick and easy it is? Except for your signature releasing each title, your clerks can do it all, even to giving out the hard currency from your vaults. They do know how to get receipts for the payments.
“This will all be done by closing tonight or your bank will be. Closed, I mean.”
With a genuine smile, Fleur and Dawn Fire escorted Mister Hishine out to the teller's lobby to get his money. As they walked out, Dawn Fire offered, “Come, Mister Hishine. Let us go and set your shop back into order. I then have some business for you.”
Hishine breathed a sigh of relief as his keys rattled in the lock of his shop. Entering, he winced. His show cases had all been broken and his strongbox had been forced.
Slump shouldered, tears in his eyes at the wanton destruction, he turned to Dawn Fire, “Knife Holder, I am sorry. I did have such a stone as you wished to buy. As you can see, even with the indemnity that I got, I may be out of business.”
He opened a door to a back room. Though there had been some vandalism, he rummaged about and straightened things up. As he placed the last things onto racks in an orderly fashion, he noted, “My equipment is all here. If I could get more of the raw stock, I can cut and polish more stones.”
Dawn Fire gave a bit of an evil grin, his ears pointed like horns! “First, do you have any sort of inventory for what was taken? Second, this property was under the care and FULL FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY of Msgr Shire. He has to make good the loss and damages!”
Hishine nodded slowly, “I see. Yes, I can get the inventory. I kept it at my lodgings to insure that a disaster or robbery at the shop could be documented for the Gandarmarie. “
“Wise of you, Hishine. Get a cabinet worker to assess repair or replacement of your show cases. Take the whole bill to the Shire bank.
“In the meantime, where can I obtain more of this amber for you to work?”
Hishine lowered his head a little in embarrassment. “It is not too far from here. There in the Weirdwood, I can show you the exact place, is a grove of Gumble Trees. They not only drop the Gumble sap on whatever they feel is a threat, they can project it for a substantial distance.
“Whatever it hits, it encases in a lump of dull yellow gumble. With proper treatment, cutting and polishing, it becomes the amber stones of my trade.”
Dawn Fire's wings were quivering with amusement. “I take it that gathering the fallen gumble lumps is not so simple as it might seem!”
“Indeed. A number of ponies have died in that grove, trying to steal the gumble. They get encased in it and then the grove absorbs them, gumble and all. Sometimes, some of their equipment is left behind.”
Dawn Fire winced at the thought. “How do you collect it then?”
Hishine chuckled, shaking his head sadly, “I don't. Not any more. I used to take a jointed rod with a rake end and a basket end to scoop up fallen gumble drops. During my last two ventures, I nearly got taken myself.”
“I see. If you knew what you were doing and the dangers, how did that happen?”
Hishine sat and found a bit of paper and a pencil. He sketched as he explained, “The Gumble Grove is growing. It sends vines out from its branches into nearby trees. The vines drop creepers that take root to become narrow trunks that grow into new trees. The vines look like this,” he pointed to his drawing, “and they can drop gumble on the unwary. They are devilishly hard to see, too.”
“One last question, then. How many of the drops catch bugs like the ones that I got from you before?”
Hishine leaned close and whispered conspiratorially, “I am giving away a deep secret with this. Almost none have them. I can see to the placing of the bug in the finished stone. I have a nice middle sized dragon fly that can be set up, should you wish it. The vandals missed my collection of dried bugs.”
Dawn Fire nearly doubled up laughing! “Give me the collecting stick and I will see what may be done toward restocking your store!”
Following Hishine's directions, Dawn Fire ventured into the almost innocent looking Weirdwood. He was well aware that it was no more innocent and no safer than the Everfree Forest of Equestria. Some even said that there was some sort of hidden ways that connected the two and even other places about the world, all of ill repute, like these two.
The directions guided him without mishap to where he could see the Gumble Grove. Well there was one small problem. A quite large one for its kind, actually. A horsefly! The biting kind! It was whirring as it buzzed about his head, trying to find a place to alight, long enough to deliver a painful bite!
He swatted at it repeatedly! It dodged his flailing hoof with contemptuous ease! He almost connected with it by swinging the folded collecting stick! It dived, aiming for a sensitive ear!
Dawn Fire raised his lunch bag as an impromptu shield!
In the heat of battle with the bug, his hoof hit a gnarled root of the nearest Gumble Tree of the Grove! As he almost regained his balance, his enemy forced him to duck again! Already off balance, he toppled to the hard turf, lunch bag shield between him and the horsefly!
The poor sap was saved from the horsefly by a falling glob of yellow Gumble which hit and encased the vicious bug. Dawn Fire scrambled frantically away from the deadly tree as more blobs of Magical Gumble fell!
One glob did hit his tail and partly encased it in solid Gumble Amber. He cautiously retrieved the collecting stick and, from safely out of the tree's danger zone, began collecting as many of the fallen drops and globs of the gumble resin as he could. He was pleased to realize that he had obtained several kilograms of the raw amber resin.
He made his way back to the shop of Hishine. “This is a wonderful lot, Knife Bearer! With this, I can easily prepare the dragon fly stone that you want!”
“I hoped that you could! This large lump has a really pesky horsefly in it!
“On a related note, can you get this out of my flank fur and tail?”
Hishine snorted, “By a number of means, all fun and amusing to watch. Embarrassing to experience, however.” Going serious, he replied, “Yes. It is not even difficult. We just need a little cooking oil. You will want a bath afterwards, though.”
Dawn Fire luxuriated in the bathing tub of the Three Little Pigs inn. Fleur laid on coffee and a pile of pastries set on a side table in easy reach of the bather.
“Good Sir, we are all so grateful for the miracle that you have worked! We were in despair, most of the village's businesses were due to be closed. The bank's agents made it clear that my friends would be working for slave wages in the businesses that they had owned. None could understand how they had become so far into debit.”
As Dawn Fire sat in the tub and sucked down coffee and nibbled another croissant, he replied, “That is because they were not in debit. That conversion trick from Note of Payment to debit was simple fraud. I have heard from my connections that Msgr Shire has pled that he was forced to do it by the Duke. He was clever enough to have papers that make it appear to be true. They MIGHT even be genuine.”
Fleur giggled, “We of the town think not. We are actively seeking another bank. An honest one, if we can find it!”
Dinner was accompanied by almost every pony in Sudanweird crowded into the big tap room! Dawn Fire had to plead, “I can't eat all of this! I will be too heavy to fly for a week!”
In the morning, Fleur had his bowl of oat and barley gruel, with strawberries awaiting him. And a plate of waffles with chocolate sauce and whipped cream! And her endless and excellent coffee!
As he was leaving, she asked, “Sir, will you ever return to Sudanweird? Know that if you do, your welcome here is assured.”
He bowed to her as he replied, “I do not know, Good Fleur. I would like to return with no Royal errand or wrongs to right. Your hospitality has been beyond compare. Are you sure that you will take no money for my stay? I do have it.”
“Good Sir, I doubt that your gold is good anywhere in this village. We are that grateful for the good that you have done us.”
He strolled up the way to Hishine's shop. The door was open and he could hear the sound of tools working wood. Entering, he saw that Hishine had been busy last night. One of his show cases was fully repaired and the cabinet worker was fixing another. Wood shavings and sawdust littered the floor.
The repaired case had a dozen lovely golden glowing amber stones laid out to be seen behind the crystal clear glass.
A smiling Mister Hishine greeted him, “Knife Bearer! I have your special order ready, right here!” He pushed forward a larger case and a somewhat smaller one.
Opening the larger case, Dawn Fire beheld a lovely perfectly cut amber stone, glowing with a pool of golden light. Trapped in it, perfectly centered, was a modest sized dragon fly, wings spread and body showing iridescent green! Dawn Fire's breath was taken away by the excellence of of it!
“What is this other one? I only ordered this and it is perfect. What do I owe you for it?”
Seriously, Mister Hishine replied, “You have paid me already. You restored my shop and home. You brought me a supply of amber to get my shop started.” He smiled jubilantly as he added, “And you got that crooked Duke jailed!”
He pushed the smaller box forward. “This is yours with my thanks. Please take it.”
Dawn Fire opened the case. There, trapped for all time, preserved exactly as it had been was a big horsefly, forever on the attack! The stone was finished with as much care as the other.
Nodding, Dawn Fire accepted the tribute! He snickered, “You won't have my money, fine. I do have something else that you did like last time that I was here!”
Opening his travel carrying box, he poured out onto the counter the whole small chest of Rom Ka'chek pastries! There were apricot, peach and some berry ones!
Eyes wide and mouth drooling, Mister Hishine nodded, “I can take these! Thank you!”
Dawn Fire swept the boxes with their stones of amber into the travel case, bowed to Mister Hishine, who was already nibbling at an apricot Ka'chek, and took his leave.