About some days after. . .
Mr. Kingstone brought the first books of my stories. The novel was dark blue with a golden window and a moon outside the window, in the back there was the "strange-looking" city in white and a smaller moon on top of such city.
As for the kids' book, the book itself was yellow, with characters such as the grasshopper, the fly and and the bat in the front, with other characters in the back.
'The thirty copies shall be selling them in Spring.' Mr. Kingstone giving a card with a specific direction. 'We will be selling the books as the accorded price in the Novel Heaven Bookshop inside the city. The card has the day and time when we will meet as well as where it is.' He told me.
'Thank you very much.' I thanked him.
'Say, is it okay if we take lunch here?' The old librarian asked joining the conversation. 'This ol' friend of mine does not believe me when I told him that here there is something called "breakfast all day."'
'Oh! Sure.' I nodded and put the books on one arm and whistled out. 'Ginevra!' I called out to my friend.
'I'm here!' Ginevra came trotting gently. 'Good afternoon gentleman, my name is Ginevra and I'll be your server today.' She presentes herself while making a small bow. 'A table for two?' She asked.
'Yes miss, and Thank you.' The old librarian thanked her and Mr. Kingstone nodded bowing back.
'Very well.' Ginevra took a pair of menus that we keep in a table next to the restaurant entry and stepped inside the dining lounge. 'Follow me please.'
'Enjoy your lunch.' I told as I let them go and returned to my office and kept admiring my new books.
. . .
At the end of the day. . .
My children and I read a few short stories and then we prepared to sleep. As soon as we had our pijamas on, the aurora borealis came by once more and the babies went on to admire it as they went to sleep.
I myself read a bit of my new novel, and while I doubted it would attract much atención in two years alone, I did hope to make some money out of it.
In March . . .
The snow was melting almost completely, leaving trails of mud in the road that is marked by footsteps, horshoes and wheels. The birds were starting to sing once again and the temperature went up from minus thirty degrees to cero degrees, which was a huge change.
The days were also becoming larger and the nights longer, therefore I changed the schedule
'So, what can we do for spring?' I asked Orson in a table of the restaurant.
'I Have no idea.' Orson admitted defeat sighing heavily. 'Maybe some type of. . . Picnic Promotion. . . Or basket?' He asked.
My eyebrows raised up at the idea. 'That, is actually a great idea!' I smiled. 'But, what do we put in a basket?' I asked out in the air.
Orson thought about it. 'Well, since it is spring, how about we put in the Classic food for a picnic?' He suggested. 'You know sandwiches, bread loafs, cheese board, jars with beverages like milk or juice and small sweets.'
'Wonderful idea! But the making beverages like orange or other fruit is expensive.' I added to the problem.
'In that case, let's go for just water and milk.' Orson suggested. 'That way, we don't have to spend too much and make more.' He wrote the idea down. 'As for the sandwiches, we can make them of ham, boar or beef.' He went i to thought about it. 'As for the cheese board, how about we put three types of cheap yet good cheese and salami. As for the rest, we could add a small bowl of fruits and veggies. . . But again, they are expensive.' He murmured the last part.
I thought about it for a moment and then came up with something. 'How about we cut the fruit in cubes? Like the potatoes but cut them in bigger cubes and out small amounts of each fruit in each bowl so it may be cheaper.' I suggested.
'That's a great idea.' Orson nodded as he wrote it down. 'But then the mold and oxidation problem comes by.' He murmured yet again with a new problem.
'Well make the basket a product that you have to order for the day you are going to have the picnic then.' I quickly came with the idea. 'That way, we don't have to make them in anticipation and at the same time have the ingredients and food ready too cook and prepare.'
'That would be nice.' Orson wrote the idea down.
I myself started to draw a very good drawing of the basket with the things we talked about.
Once that was done, we then calculated the price for each basket.
'Each basket shall be sold for. . .' Calculations being made by the two of us. 'Fifty seven copper!' We declared and then we made a high five.
'I'll go and take a look with the craft club in my school, they will want to make funds by selling baskets to us.' Orson offered.
'Sure. Ask them for around. . . Twenty to twenty five baskets for now.' I asked him. 'During the first week of spring, it should be enough to make orders and have around twenty orders ready, the rest can then be bought according to the total amount of orders.' I told him as I took some money of my tres sure funds and have it to him. 'Try to not over pay more than twenty coppers per basket and no less than fifteen coppers per basket.' I asked him.
Orson nodded and took the pouch. 'What about the fruit?' He asked.
I then remembered a place. 'I'll worry about that later, for now the baskets are the priority.' I told him as I started to write a small letter to the Wizard tower.
'Very well.' Orson out the money in his pocket and sighed. 'So, I heard you are about to publish some books, right?' He asked looking at me.
'Actually yeah, how did you know?' I asked. I thought I was low-key about it. I thought.
'Well, some literature scholars have inquired about seeing in the News papers about a baker publishing the first official childrens' book in history and a book of something along the lines of "Fiction."' He answered. 'And, well, let's just say that the author's initials "A.C. Baker" are the same as your initials in your office door.' He concluded.
I blushed a bit. Oops. I gulped. 'Well, yes. I casually wanted to try my luck. I feel myself lucky that a resident in the apartment complex knew a very good editor and that the editor liked both books.' I shrugged it off.
'I see.' Orson seemed to be contemplating it. 'Did you know that the editor Kingstone is one of the most famous editors in the literature industry?' He inquired me. 'His way of advertising is odd yet effective, he first goes around to help in advertising the works of the authors to libraries and bookshops, and then depending on the audience searched for the book, he will advertise them in places where that specific audience frequents.' He explained.
I gulped down saliva at the thought of how strange yet effective his advertising methods sound. Yet it is probably one of the most effective methods since there's is no social media to advertise work in this world. I noted and concluded.
'If I'm right, your children's book is probably going to be advertised to schools and in parks where families and kids frequent. As for the novel though. . . I actually don't know for what audience is.' Orson smiled embarrassed. 'Can you let me know what audience do you want to draw with your novel?' He asked.
'Em. . . Well, mostly young adults like you and me.' I admitted.
'Then, you might as well become famous in a few weeks for sure.' Orson declared laughing a bit nerviously.
I side-eyed him in that luganos of his. 'Did. . . Did you do something?'
Orson blushed. 'Em. . . Not. . . Much.' He declared smiling a bit more nervous now.
I raised an eyebrow while still giving him the side-eye. 'Orson? What did you do?' I asked him.
'Em. . . Well. . .' He started to stammer and sweat, and also avoiding eye contact. 'I. . . M-might have. . Said, something?' He smiled with fear.
I have him the "mother stare."
Orson gulped down and then stared at the table. 'Em. . . Maybe. . . I said something like "my boss is probably the author?"' He shrunk in his seat.
My eyes bored into him. '. . . I'll be completely honest, I don't know whether to laugh or to scold you.' I repliegue shaking my head at him.
Orson then decided it was a good idea for a break and to escape to the bathroom outside.
As for myself, I sighed a bit exhausted. I would not be surprised if this makes me more famous than what I predicted.
. . . .
March 21st, in the city. . .
I was in the background with my kids who were with lighter clothing due to the rising temperature and less snow today.
I was watching the citizens of the capital fan of the books' descriptions in the sample copies. Mr. Kingstone and I decided that I would have the "samples" with descriptions since I asked them to be customized that way. The rest of the books shall be sell normally. I smiled to myself as Mr. Kingstone and I made eye contact.
He nodded to me and I nodded back. I turned around with my babies and we went to walk around the city. It's the first time we explored the city without anything that had to do with work. I sighed. That sounds as if I have become a workacholic. I pursed my lips at the thought but then shook my head and payed attention to my surroundings.
As I kept myself and my babies through the sidewalk, I couldn't help but notice that a lot of bookshops and libraries were already showing my books by the windows which made me nervous and made myself small as to not attract attention.
I then soon witnessed a beautiful (and probably rich) mother and her baby in a very beautiful, elegant, black stroller wih wheels that resembled a chariot's but smaller, with white details and with a aturde yet thin handler. I fell in love with the stroller right then and there.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out the mother. 'Em, excuse me?' I called out to her. 'Your stroller is beautiful and I've been thinking of getting one on my own. May you tell me where did you get the stroller, my beautiful lady?' I asked her in the most polite and cordial way I could think of.
The mother smiled sweetly to me. 'Of course, I actually just got this one today.' She turned and pointed in a specific direction. 'About two blocks from here, there's a Miscellanous store called "Home and Family trinkets." Ask for the baby section and once there, ask for a stroller.' She gave the directions.
'Oh! Thank you so much!' I bowed slightly to her. 'Have a nice day!' I waved goodbye to her and went my way to the Miscellaneous store.
On my way there, a man was taking his bike with balloons attached to his bike and stopping every now and then to people who wanted to buy his balloons.
'Mom, can we have one of those?' Liam asked pointing to those balloons.
I took a look and then nodded. 'Sure.' I whistled out. 'Mister! Can I buy one?' I called out to the man selling balloons.
The man turned to me came in his bike once he gave the balloons to his clients. 'Hello mam! One for the boy?' He asked looking at Liam.
'Yes my good sir.' I nodded and then nudged Liam forward. 'Go on, choose your balloon.' I encourage him to.
Liam, being a small and shy boy from the countryside was intimidated by the big chubby man with the mustache, but he focused instead in the latex balloons that were capable of floating with strings attached to them so they would not float away. There oval balloons, thin balloons, and even some balloons with pictures and words on them.
Liam seemed to think about it before deciding. 'Can I have. . . The balloon with the picture of a tree please?' He asked.
'Sure young one, nice choice.' The balloon seller complimented Liam's choice as he quickly Located the specific balloon, which was a green one with a pine tree in the middle, and untied it to then give it to Liam. 'Here you, do not let it go, it will fly away with no chance of returning.' The man gave Liam his balloon and Liam squealed.
I chuckled. 'How much is it?' I asked as I took out my pouch.
'Two coppers mam.' The man said with a gente time.
'Very well, in that case keep the change.' I told him as I gave him five copper and went on my way with Liam to the store for the stroller. I hope the tip makes his day. I smiled to that thought.
As we kept walking, I could see the store at the distance so I stopped and turned to Liam and saw that he was loosing the trip on the balloon. 'I have an idea, hold on.' I took the balloon that was about to fly off but caught it in time, I then took Liam's wrist and tied the balloon's string to the wrist. 'There we go, now it won't fly off again.' I smiled.
Liam was giggling at having the balloon tied to his wrist as we walked to the store. Before entering though, I noticed that some families and kids saw my trick as to not loose the balloon and quickly started to copy the idea. I smiled to myself and entered the store and quickly asked for the "babies section."
. . . .
Twenty minutes later. . .
I made a rookie mistake. The typical mistake of letting yourself crack with the great offers and deals before knowing what you need instead of what you want.
But I have the troller and two kids with new a pretty outfits. I smiled proudly as I saw my two babies with pretty and cute outfits. Liam is now wearing trouser for spring, a lime green shirt and a brown little jacket with brown overalls under the jacket. Baby girl on the other hand, she was wearing a little white dress with a light pink bow in her waist at the front. Both children pouted at me, as if to say "how could you do this to me?"
'What? You look adorable.' I pinched their cheeks and went on to take my purchases around with more easiness than before.
But then I saw a beautiful red siren skirt dress, with an ivory blouse of turtle neck and bell sleeves. The blouse was decorated with white "pearl-like" buttons and and a pretty black chocker with a red jewel incrusted in a black and Smooth surface.
I don't need it. I tried to ship past it, but then cracked. But I WANT IT!!! I cried on the inside and went immediately into the store.
. . . .
20 minutes later. . .
I was now dressed in the pretty dress and now I looked more fitting among the city's society. But my wallet suffered a huge blow. I cried on the inside yet satisfied with myself.
I made our way back to the big library where the sale of my books seemed to have been victorious, as there were almost no books with the exceptions of the books that belonged to me.
'Hello gentleman.' I made myself known to Mr. Kingstone and his helpera. 'I see the sales were a success.' I smiled brightly.
'Very much so, my lady. In fact, the thirty books that were sold were not even enough for the next hundreds customers that were interested from the start and for customers who were just passing by. Thanks to this, we were able to make a good rough approximation of how much would the books will be sold in the future months.' Mr. Kingstone explained it to me. 'But of course, we shall also let the customers do some of the work for us, since thirty copies were now sold, we will let the books and customers speak for themselves and word will soon fly out like wildfire.' He promised.
'That is wonderful.' I nodded to such promise as I went to check my books. 'Are you still going to need these?'
'I am afraid so. You see, the clients were amazed about how easy and quick it was to read the back cover and decide whether it was a good choice to buy or not.' Mr. Kingstone nodded to my idea. 'Therefore, I am afraid we are going to need the covers for a little longer.' He sighed a bit exhausted.
I smiled to that and then had an idea. 'How about you make a . . . Board with the back covers description each? That way I get to have the books and the boards not only will be bigger but more conveniente for those who are in the back or just passing by.' I suggested.
Mr. Kingstone thought about it. 'Yeah, yeah, that sounds a better solution. Let me just make send some boards with the books and once they are done I shall give them to you.' He promised.
'Wonderful.' I nodded clapping with my hands.
'For now, we must pack up, and let me escort you to a chariot.' Mr. Kingstone left the books with one of his assisstants and he escorted me and my babies to a chariot close by at the end of the side walk. 'Can your stroller. . . Em, get smaller?' He asked.
'Actually yeah.' I nodded as I took my babies out of the stroller and get them inside the chariot to then take out the wheels with the chariot's man, then push it down to the floor, and then made it into a small and light lugagge. 'There we go.' I smiled proud of myself.
Mr. Kingstone was impressed. 'Seems one of those new strollers made with copper made by expert bronce smiths.' He noted to the color of certain parts of it.
'Well, I think so. The man that attended me for the stroller had a mechanical arm that would sometimes expel vapor and had screws and wheels rolling every time the arm mover.' I recalled that moment. 'He was a serious, yet very professional. And polite when you are polite to him.' I smiled.
Mr. Kingstone. 'Yeah, I thought I recognized the design. They are called "Steam-inventors," They are basically inventors who work with the power of vapor to make the world more modern based on tecnology that works on vapor.' He explained to me.
My mouth was on the floor at this point. 'Holy gods! That sounds marvelous!' I got excited.
'It sure does, in fact, your novel's tecnology reminded me "a bit" of the tecnology that the Steam-inventors produce. Although more different.' Mr. Kingstone noted.
I blushed. 'Well, I didn't know that Steam-inventors were a thing until now.' I shrugged.
Mr. Kingstone chuckled. 'Oh, don't worry, I know that already Miss, I'm just informing you to keep it in mind in case you want to, I don't know, maybe invest in them? It is your choice, but personally I believe they will change the world for the better.' He winked and then he made a small bow raising his top hat briefly. 'Good afternoon, Miss Baker.' He walked away.
'Good afternoon, Mr. Kingstone.' I bowed lightly and then entered the chariot who left on its way as soon as I closed the chariot's door.
'Where to my lady?' The coach of the chariot asked me while keeping eyes in the road.
'To the witch tower, if you please.' I asked politely.
'Very well.' The coach nodded and continued on bringing me and my babies to the witch tower.
I wonder if. . . An idea was going through my mind as I smiled to myself. If I could meet with the Steam-inventor to create cooking sets and laundry machines. I wondered as I watched the the streets and people coming and going through sidewalks, alleyways and roads.
At the Witch Tower. . .
I entered with my stroller and cute babies and went to the clerk. 'Good afternoon!' I greeted the clerk.
'Good afternoon my lady.' The clerk turned to me and smiled. 'So you came back for more spices?' She asked smiling.
I blushed a bit. I think she remembers me. I chuckled a bit. 'Well, not so much this time, I actually came to make a deal with the main wizard in charge of the green floor.' I especified my intentions.
'Oh, I see.' The clerk nodded and started to check some documents. 'I have found here that you've made a reservation to discuss a deal with such wizard, yes. Have a seat and the Wizard Ambrose and the Wizard in charge of the green floor will come to discuss about the subject in a moment.' She pointed to the same waiting area.
'Yes, Thank you.' I nodded to her and went to take a seat.
After a few minutes, Ambrose and the Wizard in charge of the magical greenhouse appeared and transported us to the greenhouse.
The Wizard in charge was a man with long hair pulled up in a pony tail with white strand at the sides, a goatie beard, a glass in one eye, a Wizard tunic with the symbol of a tree in greeen and. . . Points ears?
I blinked at that but smiled anyway. 'So, as I wrote in my letter I was hoping that you would let me have some early spring fruits and vegetables. Is it going to be a problem?' I asked the Wizard in charge with a bit of nervousness.
'Yes and no, my lady.' The Wizard's voice sounded deep and soft at the same time. 'We have no problem with selling you a batch, the problem can come up with the fact that it can make you depend on us for your products and such, which can come up as something both good and bad at the same time.' The Wizard stopped at a specific door with a pine tree en graves in it. 'This why I am glad that you came by right now, so we can discuss the perks and the consequences that would come up in this partnership.' He opened the door and stepped aside so I could enter.
'Very well, Thank you.' I nodded to him and entered with my babies.
'Ambrose, make sure we are not bothered not interrupted by anything or anyone unless it is an emergency.' The Wizard ordered Ambrose.
Ambrose nodded to him and waved at us goodbye before disappearing in a whirlwind.
The Wizard in charge closed the door behind him and walked onto his desk and sat down before looking at me and pointed at a seat in front of his desk. 'Please, sit down and get comfortable.'
I nodded. 'Thank you.' I sat down but not before I collocated the stroller close to the wall and took a look in my surroundings. The wizard's office was of a rustic style and while it was not that big, it was not that small either. You could walk without bumpinh into anything and here was enough space for a chimney, two book shelves besides it and a third book shelve behind the Wizard in front of me. There was a circular window that let some sunlight light the place a bit, but there was also a small chandelier that had some sort of magical crytals that shined like lightbulbs and remplaces the candles.
Meow. I quickly jumped a bit at hearing that. 'You have a cat?' I asked looking around to see if I could spot the cat.
'Yes and no.' The Wizard answered looking at his shoulder. At first it was empty but then a light aura started to form and then some sort of cat with tiger straps, two tails, little antlers and four eyes appeared. 'This is "Zia," my spirit partner. It's a feline spirit but, it is pretty much not a cat per se.' The Wizard explained what the creature was as the creature jumped off his shoulder and walked towards me through the table.
I looked at the creature and the creature looked at me and blinked. He creature sniffed me twice and then jumped off the table to then walked up to the chimney and curled up close enough for warmth.
'Thank you for not touching her.' The Wizard thanked me. 'When people new to magic have the "great idea" of touching a spirit, it always ends up with either an adult or a kid with scratches and demanding that I "sacrifice" my companion.' He told me with an exhausted tone.
'Oh, don't worry. My cat is also like that. He loves me, he loves my children, but is very neutral with my staff and customers.' I told him. 'There was one time I warned a kid to not touch him. The kid did anyway and end up bleeding. The mom tried to demand an apology but then I rerturned the favor.' I half-smiled at that.
The Wizard raised an eyebrow. 'How so?' He asked curious.
'Well, the cat scratched the kid because the kid yanked out the tail.' I started to recall the event. 'When the mother tried to make it seem that the kid was the victim, I yanked out her hair in return. Then I asked "did it feel good? No? Then now you know why your brat scratched your kid. Teach your kid to not touch and then we get to talk."'' I smiled retelling the story. ' I last a client after that, but, she was new and was as much as a brat as her son, so I didn't really care.' I shrugged it off.
The Wizard chuckled. 'Nice lesson.' He approves.
I smile back. 'Coming back to the main subject. . .' I have an indirect.
'Eh? Oh yes, you see, we can make a partnership to sell our. . . "Leftovers" to you so you can use them in your restaurant, but the problem can come with the fact that in this Empire, people are distrusful of Wizards and witches.' The Wizard explained things to me. 'Not because we haven't done anything bad, but it is because of the superstitions of the church. The church believes that the their "deity" or "saint" magic is the only "real" magic in the world, and that witchcraft and magic are dark or fae forces that are building up against humanity.' He sighed. 'This is why we like to accept offers from businesses form other people, but we want to also confirm that you'll be willing to keep this partnership discreet so it does not affect you. Yes, we would like to have you on our side, but we are also aware that you rejected the King and the church, so we practically already know you will reject us.'
I nodded in agreement. He is right. I prefer to stay neutral.
'We still want you to accept the partnership, and we promise not to push our business to you, as long as you don't push your business in ours. How does that sound?' He asked.
I thought about it for a brief moment and nodded. 'I agree.'
'Very well.' The Wizard took some papers and show es them to me. 'This is going to be a partnership of three years, the shipments will be irregular so we don't bring any suspicion from neither the Royal family nor the church, in the mean time, you are to go in to the city and try to establish stable deals with merchandisers and other farmers. Is that okay?' He asked.
I nodded happily.
'Very well.' Wizard moved his hand in the air and a pen appeared along with some ink that landed softly in the table. 'Please sign here and here.' He gave me the pen and pointed to specific places. 'If you fear or hear that the royal family or the church, or even both start connecting you with us, let us know immediately and we will take care of it.' He reassured me.
'Thank you so much, Wizard. . . Ehem. . .' I nodded as I signed the papers and then gave them to him.
'Oh right. . . I Em. . . I am a half-fae my lady.' The Wizard took the papers while briefly pointing to his ears. 'So I can't exactly tell you my name, but you may call me "Almond."' He presentes himself.
I stopped myself from chuckling. 'Understood, Wizard Almond.' I said half-smiling.
There was a bit of ackward silence from both ends for a few minutes, until I cleaned my throat. 'Is there anything else that I have to do, sign, or I may go now?' I asked while trying to be as polite as possible.
Wizard Almond blushed embarrassed and nodded. 'Ehem, yeah, we are good to go. Let's bring you and your kids back to the main floor.' He accompanied me outside with my stroller that had my two babies.
Once in the main floor. . .
I had to sit down due to feeling nauseous. Teletransportation is not fun.