The Price of Amber

by De Writer

Chapter 6

The Ambassador chuckled and replied, “Consider this leaked! Um, do you want me to claim it as shared by your gracious selves, found through espionage, or learned of accidentally in conversation?

Princess Luna considered thoughtfully, “A combination, perhaps. A careless word overheard in a dining area, leading to your actually seeing the document through careful espionage. Of course, you could not actually remove it because so important a paper would be missed.”

The Ambassador nodded slowly, “That could work. My King shall know of it this afternoon.”

Later in the day, Princess Celestia was approached by Count Lesserone. “Your Highness, perhaps you have heard already but there is a low born common pegasus who has been loitering about the palace? He has been eating in our reserved noble dining rooms. What shall we do about this disgrace?”

Mildly interested, Celestia inquired, “How can he gain access? Those dining areas are reserved.”

“He purports to have a pass from your sister Princess, as if a commoner could have so important a document.”

“Easily checked, Lesserone.” Celestia took out a Magic Net mirror and tapped a code expertly.

“Hi, Luna! Got a question for you. Have you given a pass to a pegasus lately? I have a complaint from Count Lesserone about it.” She listened for a moment, the privacy spell keeping any other from overhearing the Royal conversation. “Thanks, Sis. I will let him know. I don't really think he's going to like it though.”

Putting away the mirror and turning back to the Count, she nodded, “Dawn Fire does have Luna's pass. He is her agent in some matters of State Secrecy that you are not cleared to know. She has her particular reasons for keeping him in these parts of the palace at this time. Neither you nor any other may interfere with him or his doings.

“Princess Luna considers him important enough that she ordered Earl Wrathmore confined to his apartments for attempting to interfere with him.”

“I see, your Highness. Do not answer me this. The question is merely rhetorical, but what could a mere commoner know or do that is so vital?”

Celestia grinned, “I will answer that in the same spirit. This has nothing to do with Dawn Fire as such. It is an example drawn from ancient history. Do you remember learning of the Nightmare Wars over two thousand years past? The last Nightmare War was ended just barely in sight of this place.”

She got up and invited the Count to accompany her to a big north facing window. Pointing with a hoof, she asked, “Do you see that line of trees, just about at the horizon? It has a small hill at the east end.”

“I do see it, your Highness. Are they not the trees surrounding Crescent Lake?”

“They are indeed. Crescent Lake is thirty kilometers across. That small hill is what is left of Mount Everstone. The lake was blasted as a large crater and the mountain melted, flowing down into it. That resulted in the Crescent shaped lake, when it cooled enough that water filled it in.

“What is important here is that the monster rune that caused that huge blast was created by a common goat who was a simple farmer. His family was murdered before his eyes by Unicorn forces during the Nightmare War. He joined the True Nightmare in the war and learned the secrets of Rune Magic.

“What could Baratted, a common goat, know? You see the result.

“What could Dawn Fire, a common pegasus know? I have no idea but I suspect that my Royal Sister knows very well. I am sure that when I need to know it, she will tell me. I do trust her and so should you.”

Dawn Fire noticed a great change in the attitude of the other diners shortly afterwards.

In the halls of the Great Palace of Gaiparee, King Leiuee was walking quietly in the company of a select few of his High Nobles. He paused where the windows gave on a most pleasant view of perfectly manicured gardens.

“Good my Lords, I wonder how you are doing at gathering the gold needed to pay off those Notes of Payment? There is an issue which has come to my attention with regard to them. You see, Countess Arianne has bought all of those Notes and not only paid their face value, she has added interest for the payments being overdue and penalties for each time that a note was presented and refused for payment.”

Seeking to change the topic, Graspar, Duke Forgon, gazed out at the garden and inquired, “How rich is this Countess of Corbiestep? Two and a half million golden Farthings she has paid for these Notes? Where comes her money to buy them?”

King Leiuee smiled grimly as he answered, “She imported ore crushers, refineries and a water driven minting mill to stamp new coin. Her mining experts looked into a number of abandoned mines up in the headwaters of the Courser river. They found the lodes that had been lost and the mining is all being done by hired local miners.

“That has two purposes. It puts money into the hooves of the lower classes, who will spend it. That circulating money is getting the moribund local economy moving again. Secondly, it is providing the solid coin that she has purchased your worthless paper with. Those purchases are also putting more circulating money into the local prosperity for all three of the captured provinces.

“The occupation currency that she is providing is exactly matched to our own gold Farthings and other lesser coin to make exchange easier. Where you gentle ponies were bankrupting the local economies with worthless Notes of Payment, she is restoring the economy of the Northeastern provinces.”

Count Carron of Krow grinned widely, “It is? Excellent! I hold many mortgages and other loans in those provinces. They are up to three years in arrears. Now they can pay them up to current! That will get me the money to clear these pesky Notes of Payment that you are so concerned about!”

King Leiuee rounded on him and snorted, “Can you not read? I gave you those banking laws for a reason! Not a one of those loans is in arrears. In point of fact, they are ALL canceled.

“A draft drawn on a Note of Payment cannot be refused by the Note issuer without canceling the debit. They did pay with drafts drawn against your Notes of Payment. You refused to honor the Notes of Payment and further refused to take the drafts. That canceled those mortgages and loans. All that remains to do is pay the Notes off to Countess Arriane, who now holds them.

“If you refuse, it will cost the Kingdom three of its richest provinces. Your titles, fortunes and lands will be seized and you will be tried as traitors. When young Countess Arianne told me of the financial state of the provinces, I set my Royal Intelligence Service to looking into the matter. It did not take long for them to uncover the plot between you gentle ponies.

“I have in my possession, solid evidence of your collusion to seize the northeastern provinces through foreclosures and bankruptcies. You further conspired to make the population labor for you at slave wages, most of their so called pay being taken back to pay off their bogus debits. Your plan relied on them not knowing the laws that would have left them in full possession of their homes and lands and businesses.

“Guards! Take these ponies to the secure tower. They are under Royal arrest!

“Gentleponies, you have twenty nine days left to raise the funds.”

As the protesting nobles were led away, King Leiuee reminded them, “You are to have all access to your funds to gather or other assets to sell to meet your debits. Any attempt to move or conceal funds or income sources will be dealt with harshly.”

Up in the Occupied Territory of the Courser river valley, Arianne, Countess Corbiestep, called a gathering of the ponies of Prance who had been drawn by the news of gold and silver lodes. Dressed in her now famous simple Equestrian Infantry uniform, with only her pectoral of County showing her different from her soldiers, she began by asking, “How many of you know the rules and laws for making, filing and working claims?”

A surprising number of hooves were raised.

“How many of you think that those rules and laws are in any way fair to you who will be producing the gold and silver?”

Only a few stayed up. One commenting, “They are unfair but even so, with a bit of luck, I will make a lot more than staying on as farm labor.”

Arianne nodded, “Your point is well taken. Most of the gold or silver that you find will be too!

“My good ponies, I know that you have come in the hopes of starting mines or placer operations on the river. I have consulted with the local civil authorities to determine the proper way to allow you to do this work.

“Upon looking at the procedures, I found them to be totally unfair to you, who will, with luck, be producing the gold and silver. They not only paid you poorly for the raw gold, silver or their ores, there was provision for the nobles to pay for your gold and silver with Notes of Payment. Worse, any claim which proved to be highly productive could be seized by a highly placed noble in Gaiparee. You would be paid by a Note at 1/10^th the estimated value of the claim's production for only six months.

“You would get paper and far off nobles would get the gold! For the last three years, no Note of Payment given in these three provinces that I now hold has been paid!

“This unfair set of rules will not stand! I have issued new rules to let you keep and work or sell your claims. You still must bring your raw products of mining or other recovery to my Courser River Mint. It will be assayed, weighed and value set while you watch.

“Sadly, it does cost money to turn your gold or silver into coin. Those who do that work must be paid. The machines, furnaces and coin stamping presses are not free to run. That said, your price for what you bring Us will be a full one half of the assay value. It will be paid for by good coin, fresh from our mint!”

The meeting closed with all the attendees getting booklets of the new rules and maps of the areas open to claiming.

In Canterlot Princess Luna was looking over her latest report from the Occupied Territories of Prance. Besides chuckling at the way that Arianne was putting her stamp on the civil administrations, she was quietly admiring how their warrior Countess had dispatched a goodly part of her prisoners back to Prance on their parole not to fight against Equestria.

Celestia put her hoof on the same paragraph. “You know that they will just pick up arms again, as soon as they are back.”

Luna nodded vigorously, “I know that. So does she. Read the next paragraph! It seems that nearly a fourth of the prisoners do not want to go back to Prance! She is offering them work with the many local farmers to make up for the lack of seasonal farm workers and they are taking it! They KNOW that their generals don't have any useful brains!”

“Did you see this, Sis? Over three fourths of the gold to clear the Notes of Payment that she bought up has now been paid! The latest peace terms include outlawing Notes of Payment.”

Luna nodded with fake sorrow, “I know. Only a little more gold and she will be giving back our newest Province. Pity.”

Celestia pointed out, “She cleverly put that the state of War between our nations will resume immediately upon the violation of any of the peace terms.”

Luna soberly set her seal to a paper included with the report. Celestia shook her head slightly as she too sealed the requisition from Arianne, Countess Corbiestep to retain three of the enormous 200 centimeter railroad mounted Mage Mortars and 600 rounds of ammunition for them. Along with that she reported that she was fully stocking her regular armory with all of her legal supplies of large and small arms, tents and all the usual equipage for a borderland County.

Only four days later, both Princesses and their good sized retinues were on the train for the newly rebuilt Corbiestep Castle. There would be much pomp and ceremony to accompany the arrival of King Leiuee of Prance and his retinue.

A happily, almost dancing, Arianne lead her Princesses on a tour of the newly rebuilt castle and such of the facilities as was appropriate. In a beautifully made garden in the castle's forecourt, she stopped, suppressed a sob and shed a few tears before three tasteful stones marking the graves of her mother and both of her brothers. They had pretty floral borders and newly planted trees to both sides of the plot.

Celestia's eyes misted as she saw both the tribute paid to a family unjustly slaughtered and the still raw grief in her Countess. Luna simply dropped all royal formality and used her wings to wrap and hold Arianne. As a courtier was about to remonstrate with her about proper decorum, he was lucky enough to notice the Nightmare glaring at him from Luna's eyes.

The whole party retired to a large shady pavilion where a wide variety of light snacks and drink awaited them. Predictably, several nobles led by Duke Grabaland, grumbled, “What is this? We are due a banquet! This is an insult to their Royal Highnesses! And who is that common pegasus that Princess Luna is keeping so close?”

Luna stepped close to them, quiet as a dream, and interrupted their complaints. “Good my Lords, Our banquet is awaiting the arrival of King Leiuee of Prance, as I am sure that you are intelligent enough to know already. Your behavior is an insult to our hostess, and, I believe a calculated but veiled one. As for Dawn Fire, I have told you before this that he is my Agent in certain Matters of State Secret that you have not the clearance to know.

“Await the arrival of King Leiuee who has arrived at the Grimald Rail Terminal and will be here soon. Should you mar the occasion of this peace agreement between nations long hostile to each other, you may be certain that both Celestia and I shall remember it.”

At that moment, a clear and precisely blown fanfare of trumpets announced the arrival of King Leiuee and his retinue.