Luminous

2 - Meya

After her stint in the Ice Pillory, Meya's sentence was to donate her wages from the last three months to the manor's coffers. Since all that gold had long transformed into her flesh, Meya must instead work without pay for three moons.

Once they had yelled their heads half off, Dad and Farmer Armorheim flounced back across the bridge to settle their taxes. It fell upon Jason to steer Meya and Deke straight home without stumbling into more trouble.

High noon had risen by the time they made it to the village. The dirt road was empty save for flocks of sparrows and pigeons pecking for seeds in clumps of spiky grass along the wayside, and the occasional pile of sunbaked horse dung swarming with flies.

"How come you're here, Jason? 'Tisn't bazaar day, is it?" asked Meya as she massaged her hands. After almost freezing in the ice, they chided her by burning. Jason sighed as he handed Jezia his waterskin,

"The king's overseer, is how. He summoned all merchants to the castle to discuss the coinage shortage."

"The what what?" Meya gawked, having never heard of those words in her almost seventeen years, then winced as Jezia doused her hands with water.

"We're running out of metal. 'Tis why the treasury issued these new coins. Precious metals are more expensive. They're even thinking of scrapping money altogether." The merchant cocked his balding head, his voice lowered,

"They're still hushing it. Ore ships haven't returned from Everglen since last month."

"What happened?" Deke joined in. Jezia leaned in and whispered,

"That's the problem. Nobody knows. The king's sent several ships to investigate. They've all vanished, too."

Meya frowned as she navigated the pothole-strewn lane. Mining had been banned in Latakia for two centuries. According to the fourth High Priest to name himself Uriel, the goddess Freda suddenly realized digging too deep a hole would allow the evil she'd sealed underground, the demoness Chione, to emerge and wreak havoc upon the land once more. And thus, she conveyed her enlightenment to Uriel in a vision during his daily prayers.

Why the goddess hadn't divined the obvious centuries sooner wasn't a harmless sentiment to ponder aloud, as Meya discovered at the tender age of six for the price of a lump on the head. Since the Ban, Latakia had been ferrying ships across the sea to a barren land ironically called Everglen to carry ores back.

"Just when Myron got his letter! Typical Freda," snorted Meya. After all the butter Myron piled on Yorfus the Blacksmith for an apprenticeship, them ships just had to sink. "Will you two be fine? What's gunna happen if we dun have coins?"

Jezia looked to Jason, who heaved a deep sigh of gloom.

"Crosset could survive without trade, I reckon, but for us merchants and the great cities, our only hope is lifting the Ban."

"King Alden's fought to lift it since he took the throne, but more dukes on the Council are against him. Baron Hadrian's leading the lot. He couldn't ever get enough votes to abolish it."

"Ain't he s'posed to be all-powerful?" Deke frowned. Jason chuckled.

"Wouldn't want a second Devind so soon, would we?"

"Can't we make money out of other things?" said Meya. At Jason's raised eyebrow, she added, "Say, I dunno...seashells, shiny pebbles, wooden chips...?"

Out of examples, Meya shrugged. Jason's eyes twinkled. He gestured at the pink-with-brown-patches piglet Deke was leading along on a leash.

"Say I want to buy your Hanna for fifty snail shells. Would you accept?"