บท 37: Alexandria and a heart attack.
It took another week before we finally made it to Egypt.
Thankfully the last few days, the weather had settled down, and made the trip a little more bearable.
The ship docked in Alexandria, as the ship was tied to the docks, I looked around at the busy dock area, where thousands of people could be seen wandering around the docks.
At the moment Julius and Jane stood beside me, both covered in long, lightly colored cloaks that covered them from head to toe, only leaving their faces exposed, but covered by a shadow that was made by the hood of their cloaks.
While I on the other hand, I wore a dark green tunic that went to right above my knees, with a fine fabric as my belt that went around my waist, and dark britches, with knee high deer skin boots, what I normally wore everyday, the only thing different is the fact that I had my hair tied up, and hidden under a piece of fabric that I wore over my head, to keep my hair out of sight, as well to help keep the sun out of my eyes, normally I would wear my sunglasses, but I was trying to blend in with the crowd, not stick out more than I already will.
In England or other European areas, people might think my hair is just really blonde, to the point it looks white or silver, it's been known to happen, but here the sight of white hair could become a problem.
I'm just thankful I no longer need to hide under long clothes to hide my pale skin, with the occupation of Rome in egypt, it became common to see pale people here, of course I still got stared at for my overly pale skin, and hight, but a lot less than I would have gotten a few thousand years ago.
Stepping off the ship, we merged into the large crowd of people, and headed to my bank, which was placed in the middle of the city.
Rome had been forced out of Egypt a little over 600 years ago, but thankfully I got word of the trouble that was taking place, and sent word to the Alexandria bank head to get in touch with the leaders of the forces that were kicking the Roman's out, and to make a deal with them, offer them 20 thousand gold, for leaving the bank alone.
Of course we also told them what would happen if they didn't.
It was the usual, we can destroy your country with the pure amount of money we have, by paying whole country's to go to war with you at the same time, to the point you are surrounded on all side and have nowhere to go, or that we can hire assassin groups to go after you every day until one of them is finally successful, or you back off and leave the bank alone.
Or that we can sink your entire country by pulling the bank out of your country while Roman soldiers still hold a majority of Egypt cities, by pulling back all loans in full all at once, With a 10% interest. Taking a large chunk of your country's wealth with us.
And of course they would say something along the lines of, "we will take your banks first before the rest of the city's," in the hope of securing wealth for themselves and the country.
And we would say.
"You could do that if we had gold in our bank, but most of the gold is moved between the other banks. When there is conflict in a country where a bank is, the gold is transferred to one of the other banks, Where it is safe." making it a moot point.
But after we showed the stick, we showed the carrot, where with our far reach, we can help with trade agreements, we can help with your economy, and us just being in your country is a boon, that will draw traders, but as soon as we are gone from your lands, no country will want to anger our bank, and risk us taking away the boons we give them. so they won't trade with them, and avoid any contact with the country that angered the gringotts bank.
I'm really happy Julius implemented that rule recently, wars had been a worry to me for a long time, but now any time a country is under attack, or a state of conflict, most of the money in the banks is transferred to other banks.
I had forgotten how much war and conflict there was in this period in time.
I was used to the twenty-first century, where war didn't involve conquering, and just involved blowing stuff up from a distance, then once everything was destroyed, we left.
But now, in the time of kings, war was the only option for most monarchs, to expand and grow, to support their subjects as well as to add to the ability to bring in income.
As we neared the bank, I looked at the building that was built on top of a large hill that rose above the city.
The building was built in a mix of Greek and Roman, made out of white limestone for the walls, the large pillars that went around the building, were made from marble. Like what you would see in Greece. But it also had its Roman flair. With statues on the roof, at all four corners, as well as intricate art built or carved into the limestone and marble.
Walking up the 12 steps and past the massive pillars, I came to the main door.
The main door was made out of 6 inch of steel that could be locked from the inside. And with a foot of limestone as the walls, it would be extremely hard to get in, if not impossible to get in with the door closed.
But what caught my eyes was what was above the door.
In gold the word "gringotts" was displayed. And I couldn't help but chuckle at the historians explaining all of this, in later years.
During the day the large metal doors were left open, with 8 guards standing outside the door.
The guards all wore polished Roman style armor, with helmets and purple capes and tunics under their armor.
The purple was my idea for the bank's color, which I chose to be royal purple.
From the look of them, the guards were ex Roman legionaries, who found our pay better than their military pay.
The guard's eyes glanced at me for only a moment but slid off me a second later, when they didn't see anything dangerous about me.
They did linger on Julius and Jane, but only for a moment before looking for other threats.
Stepping inside the massive building of opulence and wealth that was my banks, the floor was polished marble with intricate art on the walls and ceiling. Candles lit up the inside, from where they were placed on the walls and hanging from the ceiling above on large metal chandeliers, all of which had gold inlays added to them.
Inside the bank, there were more guards inside the main area, all standing to attention, off to the side, where they would be out of sight unless you looked right at them.
The massive open room was cut in half, by the reception areas, which is where you go and talk to a person who will help you.
Behind them, is the office area, where you could see people hard at work, with paperwork, and other duties.
Stepping up to one of the areas. I handed the middle aged woman a small thin piece of gold that was shaped like a credit card.
The woman looked at it in confusion, but she did take it from me, and glanced at what was on the gold card.
As soon as she saw it, her face went pale, and she looked up at me in shock.
Her reaction brought a small smile to my face.
In a rush, the lady pulled a deep red cord that hung beside her, the cord went to the ceiling, and along the top, to the back wall where It ran along the wall to where I could see a large desk with a man sitting behind it.
The man looked at the bell that was ringing non stop on the wall by his desk, then over at where the lady pulling it was.
All the while the lady continued to pull the cord while giving me a wide smile and said. "Just one moment sir, the head man will be right with you." all the while, continually yanking the cord. The small bell echoed through the building, drawing people's attention to the spectacle.
The man that was sitting behind the desk must have figured out something was going on, so he scurried over, as fast as his legs could carry him.
As he scurried between the desks and the people working, I watched his approach.
The man was no more than 4 foot 7 with a bald head and a massive mustache, and gold rings on all of his fingers, and the nicest clothes money could buy.
The money and clothes weren't a surprise to me.
My bank heads must circulate with kings and the rich, and you must look and act like them for them to even listen to a word you say.
Of course they were watched carefully to make sure they don't get greedy or make any bad decisions that could hurt the bank, in any way.
Those who did, tended to go missing without a word, then to be replaced the next day.
Turning to look over at Julius and Jane, I gave them a quick wink, then turned back just as the short man arrived.
The look of awe on Jane's face almost made me burst out laughing, when I saw her, unlike Julius who has seen my banks many times before, Jane was open mouthed, in awe, and shock, from the amount of wealth that was clear for all to see.
As the man arrived a warm smile spread across his face as he stepped onto a small stool so he could look over the marble divider teller's desks.
Then he looked at the lady who finally stopped pulling the cord that rang the small bell.
"Yes Heba." The man said to the lady.
The teller handed over the gold card with a shaking hand.
Taking the card from the lady, the short man looked at what was carved delicately into it.
And nothing happened, or well something did happen.
The man froze…completely, and for around 30 seconds he stared at the card and the seal punched into the middle of the card.
The seal was something only the heads of the bank knew about, each of the head bankers had had one seal press for Messages that they sent, and as a symbol of their position in the bank.
But what was different about my seal was the crown over the seal, signifying me as the head of gringotts.
As I was starting to worry about the man, the man kept out a yell, grabbed the right side of his chest then fell backwards, off his small stool and onto the hard marble floor.
Leaning over the desk, I could see the small man holding onto his chest, all the while, still staring at the card in his hand.
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Words-1,950
Rushed chapter done on a lunch break so please let me know if there are any problems with the chapter.
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