Mister Chaudbury

Chapter Seven - King Of Scandals

        Certain soldiers of Tashil's stood inside for his extra protection, despite Tashil had his dagger on him at all times. The Banker welcomed him into a dark gray room in the dead center of the facility. It seemed worn down, rusty, and arcaic in some places. A circular table stood in the middle with five chairs. Two for the Banker and one of his associates, three for Tashil, Harrison, and Chaudbury, despite Chaudbury's unexpected absence. Two long, narrow, yet dark hallways stood at either end of the room, making it almost impossible to identify anyone entering. A constant noise of air blowing through specialized vents in the metallic ceiling of the building filled the ominously silent atmosphere.

      The Banker had a rather strange appearance. He wore a very turban-like hat that was tied over with a headband and left a veil over half of his face, letting him show only one eye. Strange red dots were present on his cheeks, and his smile was ghastly in its own right. He seemed to be a devious fellow.

      The facility in itself seemed more or less abandoned, or infrequently used in years of perhaps decades. Tashil seemed rather disappointed, but continued to go along with the proposed deal as planned.

     The second part of Tashil's company arrived at the destination. The final soldiers stood outside the facility to protect from intruders. The slaves were left to tend to the horses and chariot with which they were stuck with along the way. They were forbidden entry unless addressed by the king.

    Liz sat down near one of the wooden edges of enclosed trees growing in a line down the city streets that existed just outside the facility. Some townsfolk and commoners walked by carrying groceries and moving on with their daily lives in the background, seeming to have to no knowledge that a meeting between kings and associates was brewing. Liz sulked her head down as she sat, seemingly lifeless and out of energy. Yolanda came to her side.

   She sat down beside her and hugged her, beginning to comfort her. She took notice of the large scars on her back that still had not yet been properly bandaged.

    "I'm sorry Liz, for all this," she said to her, "But you did your best to make all of us happy, and the best you could ever do. Without you, all of us would just be miserable here." She told Liz with a smile, and she smiled as brightly as she could, she had a missing tooth and yellowing along her other rows of teeth, but the feeling was the same. Liz felt comforted and thanked Yolanda for her help. Shakeisha tried talking with Melody, but supposedly, Melody wasn't interested. All of them waited out there in the sun while Tashil began speaking with the Banker.

    All parties were sat at their respective sides of the tables. One soldier brought in, Tashil's documents, and the Banker's associate brought in his.

   "We understand that Galacia has quite the food supply, yes? Suppose half of that was to be taxed upon a new tariff installed by me, that taxes by the pound. Now let's take that half, and distribute it only to the lower classes. We'll take the other half, and sell it for a cheaper price in trade with other nations, giving you guys profit by quantity," the Banker began to discuss.

   Harrison followed his proposal with his own list of questions, which the Banker answered thoroughly and to Tashil's delight, his intellect was much higher than first perceived. They continued on.

    "Following on with this. I have my own offers right here in Corbia. Let's say we establish a bank for Galacia, right here in the midst of Corbia. We keep it secret, covert, underground. We maneuver to store a large sum of money there and set up the same system in Galacia but in Corbia, meaning finance people in Corbia, set up accounts and withdrawals and have envoys deliver profit to Galacia. By the time Rosh figures it out, we'd have already cashed out through the bank and burn it before Rosh can discover what it is," the Banker schemed.

    Harrison and Tashil both looked at each other. It would be the greatest act of fraudulence in history. To essentially have people withdrawal money to a Galacian bank from Corbian citizens against their will and knowledge to profit the king and the banker would be enormously scandalous. The risk was also incredibly high. However, just the thought of a massive international scheme excited Tashil, and gave him yet another angle to push his evil reign and and flex his absolute rule between two countries now. That was a golden dream, to him.

     The corruption had gone too far even before this point, but Tashil was ready to let this go on to the next levels and possibly scam the entire world. He'd become the richest criminal on the face of the earth. But according to Vashti, he'll never be rich in his heart.

      And it was precisely Vashti who would show up on the scene to ruin the fun for Tashil and his notorious reign.

     From the sun-coated horizon of Corbia, Vashti, Izan, and Wyatt rode their stallions into the mighty country and came before the facility. The guards at Tashil's dispense were resting their weapons across their shoulders, but swiftly geared themselves for battle. They stood before Vashti and his men, but they quickly over came them. The other two guards who were near the slaves gave Vashti his free reign into the facility, for they feared his strength, and did not want to be like the guards he just smashed against the ground. Vashti began a huddle for his men and had gone over a plan. Soon after, Vashti was gone, and Wyatt was left outside. Izan carefully placed the armor of one of the fallen guards on himself, and snooped his way inside.