Zeke was pacing the room for the hundredth time this morning. He was once again going over all his preparations. He had called a meeting for just after sunrise and that time had finally come. Any minute now, his core followers would enter this very room and it would be his mission to convince them to support his plan, even after he had told them what was at stake.
The boy rubbed the sleepiness from his tired eyes. He had spent the night scheming and thinking of plans. By now, even his contingency plans had contingency plans. Still, he could not shake the feeling as if he had not done enough to prepare. What if he led his people, and his family, to an early grave because he had overlooked something crucial?
Before he could question himself any further, the door swung open. David stepped into the room and bowed slightly to Zeke. A moment later, Margret and Kerim also entered, followed by Zeke's parents. David remained next to the door and closed it after everybody had entered.
Zeke shot him a confused gaze. "Where's Leo?" he asked.
David shook his head as he took his seat at the conference table across from Zeke.
"We don't know," David admitted. "He has been missing since yesterday. Apparently, he told the guards that he might be gone for a few days."
Zeke's brows furrowed. He could not figure out what Leo was up to. It was not in his nature to leave his family and friends alone in this time of crisis, at least, Zeke didn't think so. However, he quickly banished all those concerns from his mind, now was not the time for that. He turned his full attention back to the people in front of him.
Zeke made eye contact with every single person before finally informing everyone about the purpose of this meeting.
"As you all know, we have around five weeks to come up with a sum of 100,000 gold or lose the estate," Zeke began. There were nods from all around. This obviously wasn't news to anyone here. Even the lowliest of servants had probably heard about the rumors by now.
"But what you don't know," Zeke explained, "is that we will probably all die here if we don't come up with that money."
This declaration caused every single face at the table to distort in shock. Even David's mouth fell open slightly. There was a moment of silence before every one of the gathered people began to question Zeke at once. He raised both of his hands, signaling for silence, before explaining his reasoning.
"Let me first explain my train of thought," Zeke said in a calm voice. "The reason I believe us to be in danger is that with the loss of our estate, we would lose our rights as citizens in Tradespire and therefore our protection."
"Can't we just buy another estate with the money we brought?" Kerim asked. "Sure it might not be as nice, but we could buy something cheap for now and then work our way up…"
"Unfortunately not," Zeke said with a shake of his head. "You see, the layers of this city are not arbitrary. Our estate is in the third layer. This technically gives us noble status here in Tradespire. Even if we could afford another place, one can not simply buy an estate in the top three layers. You have to know the right people. Maximilian might have had those connections, but we don't."
"…let me guess," Margret said, "We need those noble's rights?"
"Exactly," Zeke said with a grave nod. "This is also one of the reasons I believe us to be in danger. The Goldfinger company is acting too aggressively against us."
"Aren't they just after money?" Kerim questioned with a raised brow.
"That's what I thought as well, but it is likely not the case," Zeke stated. "If they were after money, they would have played this differently. Instead of forcing us out, they could have strung us along and made a fortune from our interest payments alone. In the end, they would still have gotten the estate after bleeding us dry."
A contemplative silence settled over the group, and Zeke gave them all a minute to consider his words.
"So? What's your theory, young lord?" David finally asked.
"I think they are working with somebody… probably from the empire," Zeke stated without hesitation. This caused another round of gasps, but Zeke continued his explanation without giving the people time to settle.
"There are several reasons why I think so," he explained, "The speed and accuracy with which they were getting their information, for one. But much more importantly, it is how they behaved. Think back, Gilderoy wanted us out of here right away. Even though he clearly knew about how much gold we were carrying, he never once asked us to leave it as a guarantee for the debt of 100,000 gold."
"That is not exactly solid proof," Margret interjected.
"No, it is not, and I don't have anything like that either," Zeke admitted, "But the amount of circumstantial evidence is far too clear for it to be just a coincidence.
"What does that mean for us," Karim asked. He had remained admirably calm so far, but his nerves were starting to show.
"It means that we can not afford to fail in procuring the money," Zeke said, "and that is the reason why I have asked you all to come here today."
His relaxed smile and unflappable demeanor projected an air of confidence that Zeke himself by no means felt. On the inside, he was a nervous wreck. But if there was one thing he knew about leadership, then it was that the person in charge should never appear panicked.
Despite the knot in his stomach, the faces of the gathered people relaxed upon seeing his confident act.
"So? What's the play, oh wise one?" Kerim asked with a wink.
Zeke leaned forward slightly and let the silence build for a moment to heighten the tension. When everybody was on the edge of their seat, Zeke revealed his plan.
"We are going into the engineering business," he stated confidently.
His announcement had sent his audience into a stupor, and before they could recover, he explained further, "To be more specific, we are going to build a new generation of personal airships."
"Impossible," Kerim said right away. "Do you know how difficult it is to design an airship, even a small one? It would take us months to come up with the plans, even if we had the best engi—"
"I already have the plans," Zeke lied.
This declaration caused his audience to go silent once again. Zeke smiled widely, projecting as much smug confidence as he could muster. It wasn't an absolute lie that he had the plans. In theory, he had all the parts he needed to come up with a functioning prototype. He just hadn't had the time to write it down yet.
"E-Even if that is true," Kerim continued after a moment's hesitation, "there is no way we could start mass production in a measly five weeks. We would be lucky to finish a single one."
"And that is all we are going to need," Zeke stated confidently. "When you sell a product of this magnitude, you don't just produce a batch and hope for the best. That would be a recipe for disaster. No, the way these deals are done is by producing a single prototype. Your potential clients will then order a specific amount based on that model.
"And how will that help us get the money in time?" Margret asked.
Before Zeke could open his mouth, David jumped in. "The young lord intents to ask for a part of the money upfront." David's eyes pierced Zeke's.
He nodded at the butler. "That's right," Zeke confirmed, "I will demand half the money paid right away."
"But that would mean that you are confident in selling 200,000 gold worth of product based on a prototype alone," David stated. His eyes blazed. "Those must be some impressive plans."
"Indeed they are," Zeke said with a smirk. He tried to project a confidence he was not feeling at all. This time, David wasn't fooled.
"Can I see those plans, young lord?" he asked.
All eyes focused on him. Now that the request had been made, they all wanted to see those fantastical plans. Zeke couldn't say that he hadn't expected this turn of events. With only a slight bit of strain in his movements, he nodded. Zeke walked over to a chest in the corner of the room and went through the collection of gadgets.
David and Margret exchanged disappointed gazes. They knew that there were no plans in there. All it contained were a bunch of Maximilian's old toys and failed research objects. As Zeke continued to go through the pile for a while, Margret was about to intervene. She had no patience for such a farce. It was then that Zeke exclaimed in triumph.
"HA!"
He emerged with a diadem in his hand. Zeke walked back to the table. He stroked the surface of the metallic contraption in fond remembrance. He had not used the device since he had become a True Mage, even though he had so deeply relished the tool back then.
He was awoken from his nostalgic musings by a confused Kerim.
"This is?" the captain asked.
"Pardon me," Zeke said as he cleared his throat. "You asked me to show you the plans. For security reasons, I don't have a physical copy. I can only show you the plans… like this."
After the announcement, Zeke put the diadem on his head. With a slight push of his Mind Magic, the 'Memory Projector' began his operation. Zeke had once used the tool on a daily basis, as he tried to master his [Perfect Memory Recall]. He quickly remembered the ins and outs of its usage and in mere seconds, hundreds of sheets of paper were projected into the air above the table.
These were of course not Zeke's authentic design plans, as they didn't exist yet. What he did project, however, were plans of previous airship models he had found in the engineering books he had scanned over the last two days. For good measure, Zeke also projected a three-dimensional model of an airship that was slowly rotating in place.
The entire scene looked like the most elaborate product presentation Zeke could possibly imagine. If he wasn't the one faking it, he would also believe the plans to be authentic. Everybody around the table looked up with slack-jawed amazement at the scene projected into the air. For a moment, Zeke bathed in their shock. But when the moment had passed, he ended the projection and removed the diadem from his head.
"This will suffice, I presume?" Zeke questioned in a haughty voice.
"Apologies, young lord," David said. "I had to make sure."
"Apology accepted," Zeke said nonchalantly. "Are there any further questions?"
"Just one," Margret said. "How confident are you that this is going to work, Zeke?"
His face grew serious as well. For this part, he couldn't put on an act. His people had to feel his sincerity if they were to trust him fully.
"How certain?" he repeated.
"I am certain enough that I will bet my life on it. My life, your life, David's life, Kerim's life, the life of my mother, my father… even Maya's life," he said with a slight hitch to his voice. "Does that answer your question?"
Margret nodded deeply, she had heard all she needed to hear. David also seemed satisfied by the answer. All eyes were now on Kerim.
"Shit!" the captain exclaimed. "Since you have already been kind enough to include my life as well, I guess there isn't much of a choice for me, is there?"
"Indeed there is not, Kerim. My plan will not work without you and the crew," Zeke said in a serious tone.
"Fine, fine, you can count on me as well," the man finally said. Zeke didn't miss the slight smile that had formed on the man's face. "So? When do we get started?"
Zeke looked into the determined eyes of everyone present before making his declaration.
"Right now!"