CRYSTALLUM LOST DREAMS | Fantasy Novel |

Chapter 2 - Part 2

"Hello boys!" exclaimed Katia, joyfully.

"Hi, Katia. Is Aran at home?" Cora asked, taking a look inside.

She invited them in. "Are you guys planning another adventure?" she asked in a tone of complicity.

"No way," chuckled Cora, "the holidays have just started."

As they climbed the stairs, they moved past walls filled with antique paintings and polished collection items, family portraits, and large tapestries depicting war scenes from the country's unification.

One thing Cora was sure of: the Allets were the richest family in Lud. Generations of merchants and politicians who funded entire caravans throughout the continent and Aran was the latest heir to a glorious past. There was a story that was often told in town about how, after a winter that was longer than usual, Mr. Allet supplied Lud with flour for an entire month and without asking for any compensation.

Cora knocked on the door of the room and waited for several minutes before Aran opened it.

"Come in and don't make any noise, I have a headache," he murmured. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was disheveled.

As always, Cora was amazed by the amount of clothes that filled the open wardrobe. Objects and equipment directly from the capital were neatly arranged on the shelves. On the desk, next to the school books, there was a replica of a vaasp signed by Rumat Sandàl, an old champion of the Edel Grand Prix. The most prestigious object, however, was the Hozman sword brought back by Mr. Allet at the end of a trip to the Imperial city of Aletar.

Fez approached it and grabbed it: the Seorite set in the hilt was drained of its fluid and the porous surface scratched the skin. The blade's edge, now worn, made it a useless weapon. But in Cora's eyes it was something unique: the weapon symbol of the only nation on the continent that opposed the kharzanian force.

"Fez, damn it! Stay still and don't touch it!" roared Aran. "I've told you a thousand times that if you break it, I'll hang you upside down from the clock tower." He snatched it from his hands and carefully put it back in its place.

"What manners!" he snapped, stepping aside.

Aran gave him a disdainful look and then turned to Cora. "I have to confess that you gave me a shock, but when I was sure that you would recover, I went ahead with the exchange."

Cora nodded. "You did the right thing." He absentmindedly fiddled with the brass sextant hanging on the wall.

Aran pulled a rough-stitched cloth sack from under the bed, tied with frayed rope. He opened it by pulling on a flap and emptied it on the blanket: a real cascade of gold coins filled the sheets.

"Oh-oh my!" Fez stammered with his hands in his hair.

Cora held his breath, he had never seen such amount in his entire life. He almost backed up against the desk.

Aran sat next to the shimmering little treasure, crossed his legs, and joined his hands in a calm attitude. "Since Cora has already recovered, we will leave tomorrow. Tonight I will go talk to the merchants who are organizing the caravan. It will take three, four days at most to get to Clodia. The contact will await our arrival directly at the station." He sighed with satisfaction. "The story is simple: we buy tickets for the competition, pay what is due, and finally board the train for Edel." Aran snapped his fingers in front of Fez's still stunned face.

"Is it safe to transport all this gold?" Cora asked, puzzled. Fez meanwhile started feeling the coins one by one.

"The Order of the Knights of Lamia is protecting the caravan. Besides, who would ever think that we have all these coins?" Aran explained. "Remember well, tomorrow morning at dawn, at the west gate. Don't be late," he said dryly.