Claire put herself between the incinerator and the men. Her hat had flown off her head. Her hair was wild and her cheeks were flushed. Paddy was growling at her side, even though the dog did not really understand what they were protecting.
"Stop!" She yelled again. "What are you doing? Do you people have any idea how stupid this is?"
The men froze, startled by her sudden intrusion. Paddy barked louder, tail stiff, as if punctuating her outrage. Claire spun toward Vidar, eyes blazing.
"You are wasting food--good food! And then you wonder why your people are skinnier than starving ghosts. Maybe you deserve to if this is how you treat resources."
Vidar stiffened, but Claire pressed on, words tumbling like stones. "If the problem is ducks eating what little you grow, then cage them. Build farms. Build ponds. Close them off and control them. The meat is edible; I can give you ten duck recipes off the top of my head. Food is not always about rankings. Don’t waste good duck eggs by burning them as if they are trash. Duck meat, eggs, feathers...all of it has a use."
Her voice rose, echoing across the lake. "You complain about drought, about hunger, about the tier of your cities, but you are standing here wasting food. What is wrong with you people? What else are you wasting like this?"
Vidar’s expression flickered--shock, then something unreadable.
Claire jabbed a finger toward the baskets with eggs waiting to be thrown into the flames. "I’ll tell you what. Starting next week, I will trade for these eggs and the duck meat. Every last one of them. You want rice, noodles? Fine. But I am not leaving without making this clear: those eggs are mine."
Paddy barked twice, tail wagging furiously, as if declaring himself chief omelet inspector. Claire stood tall, daring anyone to argue.
Vidar inclined his head, his voice calm but tinged with relief. "As you wish, Miss Claire. We will prepare them for trade. The prince will make a list of the things we need. We can’t always trade for food alone."
Claire agreed. Vidar invited her back into the carriage, and he made sure that one basket of eggs was loaded. With a speed faster than the one used to come to the lake, Claire was driven out of the city. She was taken straight to the beach and escorted onto her boat under heavy guard. Not one ordinary person was allowed to set foot on the beach before she left.
"Oh, Vidar, I won’t be back for two days." Claire said, after shoving the basket of eggs into the captain’s cabin. "I need to rest as well."
Vidar’s eyes clouded for a moment, looking uncertain.
Claire continued on. "Should I find my eggs missing, I will know whose ass to kick." Fishing was her main line of work. Her parents could handle the eggs and ducks in their breakfast shop.
Vidar chuckled. "Yes ma’am."
She lowered her voice and whispered, "If you find high ranking creatures, save some for me. I will make the trade worth your while."
He nodded. She had no idea how relieved he was to hear her say all this. It confirmed that she was not abandoning her trade in Driswen.
Suddenly Claire stopped. She opened her bag and handed over the megaphone, gas cooker, glass and saucepan. "Help me keep an eye on these things as well. There is no need for me to drag them back and forth on every trip."
Vidar could have wept. If she was leaving such precious things behind, then she was definitely returning. He and his knights stepped off the boat and Claire set out.
As her figure disappeared across the waves, silence hung for a moment. Then, one knight chuckled. Another clapped Vidar on the shoulder. Soon, laughter rippled among them, relief breaking through the tension.
"She took the bait," one knight said, grinning.
Vidar allowed himself a smile. "Indeed. The real purpose of taking her to the lake was to see if she would take the eggs. I didn’t even need to give a speech."
"We needed someone willing to take them anyway. Now we have an answer," the knight whose hand was on Vidar’s shoulder said. "The prince’s trade plan can begin."
Vidar cleared his throat. "Find out what else is edible and breeds like a nuisance. If she can trade for it, then we sell it."
In the city, scar face and his group of fellow kidnappers were not celebrating like the knights. Their plan had failed. Claire had left.
"Next time," Scarface promised.
***
As soon as she crossed to the other side, Claire’s phone started to scream. Messages came in and missed call alerts chimed. Apollo had called about ten times. So had her grandparents, parents and brothers.
"Was there an emergency at home?" she muttered, calling her grandmother first.
Wilder answered the phone rather quickly, and very sternly. "If this is you, Claire, I am going to twist your legs like a pretzel. For the love of spilled soup and broken teeth, where are you?"
"I like my legs as they are, grandma," Claire answered softly. "I am about twenty-eight minutes away from the dock."
"You have never been gone this long before," Wilder screamed. "Were you fishing in the underworld? Why didn’t you answer anyone’s calls?"
"I was diving." She replied calmly. "I couldn’t exactly take my phone with me under the sea! I am sorry for making you worry."
Wilder muttered some more comforting curses that made Claire wince. Nothing crass, just talk of Claire sending her to an early grave. "Call your grandfather. He is probably bawling like a baby at the docks."
Claire ended that call and dialed her grandfather’s number. She went through the same routine, only Donovan was gentle and understanding. Wilder was right, he was at the docks, waiting for her.
After him, she called her parents and brothers. Finally, she called Apollo.
"T’sup purple nipples?" She started, sniggering immediately after.
On the other end of the call, Apollo took a deep breath. "I am glad you are back and okay. Respectfully, I will not respond to your childish greeting. Instead, I will share great news. Everything that you have brought back, we will buy. We will give you the best prices on the market. How does that sound?"
Claire’s expression bloomed like a rose hiding thorns. "Like I am about to slaughter a piglet while its mom is watching."