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The Numismatist
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Character/Pairing: Sanaki, Naesala
Genre: None. Ever.
Word count: 681
Rating: G
Warnings: One easily-missable spoiler for FE10 ending.
Notes: Happy birthday,
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misheard. I intended to write you something that didn't suck, and since I was unable to beat this into shape before I got sick of it, um... Just consider it a placeholder until I regain some level of competence. o_o“What do you mean, a counterfeiting problem?” Sanaki demanded. What she did not ask was what he was doing there in the first place – he was self-satisfied enough already.
“I mean ‘a counterfeiting problem,’” said the former king of Kilvas, smirking. “Do I need to slow down? Some of the money coming into Serenes from Begnion... isn’t.” He shrugged elaborately, his wings fanning out behind him. “I thought you might be interested. I can always –”
She raised her chin and frowned at him. “Do you have proof, or are you only here to aggravate?”
“Give me a moment to mull that over, would you? No one told me I’d have to pick one.”
She glared. Naesala smiled nonchalantly back. “I’ll hear what you have to say,” said Sanaki, as though she were the one doing him the favor and not the reverse. “However, the next time you barge in without announcing yourself, I may not be so indulgent.” He shouldn’t have even known where to find her, unless he’d greased some very important and trusted palms. They were both lucky she’d only been writing an informal letter to Micaiah when he’d come in. She’d have Tanith scare the truth out of someone as soon as he was gone.
He set a small leather bag on the desk before her. She pulled out three gold pieces, spreading them out before her for ease of comparison. “Would you care to point out what’s wrong with these?”
“I’m going to want this back,” he said, handing her another piece. She couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Now pick up one of the others. Much heavier, isn’t it?”
“I thought counterfeit coins were supposed to be light. Gold is heavy.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly and somehow made even that look smug. “Then gold-plated lead must be worth extra.” He took the real coin back from her and continued in a more businesslike tone. “You’ll notice that one also has a casting sprue. All of Begnion’s coinage for the past two hundred years has been struck.”
“I believe Daein’s currency is still cast, so that and the others like it probably come from somewhere near the border.”
“I thought as much. These are the works of the two counterfeiting operations we’ve seen the most of – there’s one on the border, and the other probably works out of Sienne. You might want to do something about that.”
She nodded. “I will. There are others, though?”
He smirked. “Mostly curiosities. Has the Empire ever issued a gold coin bearing the likeness of the late Duke Culbert?”
“No,” she said, appalled but certainly not surprised. If anyone was going to create a coin with his face on it, it would have been Senator Valtome. If anyone’s face had ever not belonged on a coin, it was Senator Valtome. She would have all the offending coins collected and melted immediately.
“You know, I suspected as much. They’re mostly copper, anyway. Oh, and with as many fourreés as your industrious citizens are turning out, I wouldn’t be surprised if your regular coins got a little smaller. The gold plating has to come from somewhere.”
“I appreciate your telling me all this,” Sanaki said cautiously. “I’ll move quickly to put an end to this and bring those responsible to judgment. Now what were you expecting in exchange?”
Naesala, it had to be said, didn’t do "innocent" very well. “Me? Nothing. I’m only interested as... a collector, you might say.”
“A collector?” she repeated skeptically.
“Of course. I’ve always been interested in coins, ever since I was little. I collected them fanatically. At one point I had a room full of them, wall-to-wall.”
“That’s... actually fairly impressive,” she said, still cautious.
“I would go look at them every day. They were my greatest source of pride.” He sounded almost dreamy. “My collection made me happier than anything else.” He looked up and away thoughtfully, running a hand through his hair. “Of course, most people called it the treasury, but I’ve never found that it helps being so particular.”
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