IV. Transplants
269 BC
Securing more trade for Emporion took the better part of a season. With a small adjustment in taxes it seems to have worked. If the volume of trade is what it should be then that will more than make up for the reduction in taxes. I arranged for travel back to Mastia. If I was lucky I could find Videllec and reconnect to the Governor Hadrusbal.
I arrived in Mastia to find it suffering the same way Gadiz had. Hadrubal managed a better mood when I saw him this time. Still the wrinkles of concern crossed his face. The bold action of the Lusitanns had stunned him. Now Baikor had been brought into the fold of Lusitannan influence. "We must be wary of the tribes. Should they grow to powerful they may question our trade arrangements", he told me while thinking about distant things. In other words they would raise prices for raw materials. With the tribes fractured it would be easier to keep these prices low. With a grand army and unification it would be difficult if not impossible to achieve the same low rates. With so much on his mind and trade suffering, I had to remind him of why I came back. With a great sigh he got up and paced the floors. "How can you expect more goods at lower prices when I don't even know if shipments will arrive from the interior. This Latronos is worse than his father. He is now turning his aggression northward. The best iron mines are in the very area he plans on attacking. I receive orders from the senate to get even more armor so that they can raise a force in Sicily." He sat there breathless having spewed all this out in a single action. "After all the groveling i did to get this position, now I cannot meet the demands of my people.", he said quietly. "I am sorry I cannot help you Nikea". I nodded and made my exit. Perhaps I could score a deal with merchants. My father had penned a letter of items in need in Emporion.
***
I again rented appropriate quarters and began hunting for excess items. I found some pottery which was in need back in Emporion. I took it off the merchants hands and arranged for travel back to Emporion. I would stop in Arse and stay with some good friends of my father. It was hoped that with all the chaos maybe the merchants in Arse needed some supplies that our merchants had in excess. It was worth a try and if I could get a quote I could deliver it when I arrived in Emporion. Perhaps a profit could be made out of this mess. The profit alone from the pottery would justify this trip.
Before I left I scoured the merchant quarter for Videllec. He was no where to be found. His ship still anchored in the harbor. I approached the ship and heard terrible news. Videllec's home village was off the road about halfway to Baikor. Apparently a detachment of soldiers from Latronos's army laid waste to his village and killed everyone. Gods this was horrible. Videllec likely sought revenge on these heinous killers. I may never see him again.
***
Everything changed in the late fall when i received a letter from my father. He stated that the huge Greek Flotilla had landed north of Emporion. I was shocked. Why had they come to Emporion? I had to get back to Emporion immediately. I got as far as Arse before the seas turned violent. I recognized these seas. There would be no traveling them until spring. I hired a small escort company and stormed north on the shoddy roads that cut near the rugged coastline. As beautiful as the land was around me I was preoccupied with the fact that the survivors of the Athens and Sparta had landed on our shores. The journey seemed to take an eternity. The future was unwritten and for the first time in my life I was truly scared.