Chapter 13: Opportunistic Advantage Part 2
Lester was sitting in the middle of a screaming match in the kitchen area of the Milligan household, clutching the last of his gold coins. Georgie had been right about the mistress of the house being a harridan. He thought it mainly applied to older female humans, but it had to be a good description for someone so angry, regardless of age.
The start of his surveillance had been smooth. Getting into the house had been easy. Withdrawing the last of his golds from his deep pocket in case he needed them quickly, he clutched them in one hand before starting.
He had scouted around the building for a few minutes to map out possible means of escape in case of discovery. A few windows and a back door were sufficient for his possible need. The closest neighbors’ houses were a hundred yards away.
Peering into the windows, he observed a relatively organized house filled with random bolts of cloth and tailoring tools everywhere. Yardsticks, scissors, pincushions stuffed beyond capacity, and random spools of thread were everywhere, even though there seemed to be a system by which they were placed. Almost every surface of the living room had stacks of cloth that varied in quality and amount. The kitchen was spared the clutter.
Lester supposed that made sense as loose piles of cloth near open flame seemed a bad idea to him. The one bedroom he could observe through a window was also spartan compared to the rest of the clutter found throughout the house. A fancy-looking bed with two ornate nightstands to either side, a large trunk at the foot of the bed, and a wardrobe in one corner.
The preparation seemed anticlimactic after the beginning of his surveillance. With his concealment spell active, he walked in the front door and hopped onto a stool in one corner of the cooking portion of the home.
The female present, he assumed to be Mistress Milligan, had ignored him as was intended. The cost of the spell had spiked while he was moving around. Still, as soon as he settled into place and stopped moving, she had curled her lip slightly at him, ignored his presence, and went back to angrily chopping vegetables for a soup she had been preparing in a pot over the hearth.
After she had spent some time mangling the produce, the last rays of the setting sun had died, and she set to lighting the room with a few lanterns and candles. The fire burning in the hearth had been going before Lester arrived.
She spent a few minutes clearing off the living room table and placed a single lantern in the center. Warming the room with the soft glow calmed her a bit.
That facade of serenity she had gathered during the activity quickly vanished as she went back to her soup pot hanging over the fire and scowled down at it. Her gaze drifted to the coals of the fire underneath, and she grew contemplative. She glanced at Lester again, then shook her head and muttered to herself too softly for him to hear.
Lester thought about leaving until the rest of the family arrived. As a creature that had survived on the flesh of others, this woman’s quiet rage and mood swings were creeping him out. A pernicious divinity couldn’t be more pleased by the woman’s behavior and what it implied she could be manipulated into doing in the future.
His musings about flight were moot as the front door burst open, and the rest of the family piled into the house and excitedly talked about the day. It was an older man, four boys and a girl. They ranged in age by a few years each. They varied in height from the smallest, about a foot taller than Lester, to one almost as tall as the mother. The older man and the two largest boys greeted the woman before rejoining the discussion.
As enthusiastically as the youngest three bounced around the room while talking, they were careful not to get too close to the hearth fire or any of the light sources in the room. The older man was observant of where their movements took them in a kindly cautiousness. The woman watched them like an eager hawk, silently tapping her soup spoon against one leg. She didn’t notice the splotches she left on the side of her dress from the dirty soup spoon.
In the middle of their prepubescent bouncing, the three youngest stopped and glanced at Lester on his stool. Looks were thrown back and forth with shrugs exchanged before his presence was promptly ignored in favor of other things. The three oldest males hadn’t even glanced in his direction.
As a collective, the group jabbered on about some problem at the mill before all of “the excitement” of being led to the shelters when the bad-girs had invaded the town. They had not all gone to the same shelter, and gossip was to be had about the various goings on of the villagers in each. The woman seemed disappointed at something not happening and went back to her soup pot.
She silently fumed as she violently stirred her soup. The conversation was vexing to her. From Lester’s immediate impression of her, she was vexed by most things. The conversation ended abruptly as a knock came from the front door. All fell quiet, and everyone looked nervously at the woman. Lester carefully continued not to move.
Throwing the soup spoon she had been assaulting her concoction with into the sink with a clatter. The woman stalked to the front door and flung it open. A poorly glimpsed figure jumped back into the shadows of the porch, away from the abrupt movement of the door. She drew in a deep breath and shouted at the figure standing on her front porch,
“It is past dusk, and we are about to eat dinner! Who are you? What is so important that you couldn’t come in the morning?!”
A woman of refined clothing and regal bearing stepped into the light cast from inside the house. She smoothed the skirt of her immaculate maid uniform as she addressed the angry woman,
“Good evening, Mistress Milligan.”
“Marie? What are you doing here so late? I trusted you to have more sense than the gods gave children that dinner time is not to be interrupted. It’s bad for your digestion.”
“Alas, Mistress Milligan, I apologize for intruding upon your family dinner, but I have word from Lord Adder that could not be made to wait.”
Mistress Milligan rather rudely did not invite the elderly maid in for tea, instead barking at the woman,
“Well? Out with it. What couldn’t wait will morning?”
“Might I come in to discuss it in detail?”
The woman standing sentry against the intruder to her family’s sacred dinner time pursed her lips distastefully as she regarded the maid. She finally nodded after a few long moments,
“Aye, if it’s that important, no need for the neighbors to be gawking at the news. Get in, get in before you let the heat out.”
Marie glanced around to take in the warm air of the evening and raised an eyebrow,
“As you say, Mistress Milligan.”
The maid swept into the house and waited for a seat to be cleared near the living room table before seating herself with a nod of thanks to the youngest boy who had done the task.
Mistress Milligan filled a kettle with water from a pitcher near the sink and placed it above the hearth to heat water for tea. She returned to the table and motioned for one of the boys to bring her cups and saucers. Her second oldest accomplishing the task, she motioned for her husband to sit at the table with them and shooed the children away.
The children retreated from the confrontation without protest into their respective rooms. If it was unnerving to see children go as quiet as they did, Marie didn’t show it. The two older ones went into one, and the three other children into a separate room.
Master Miller Milligan spoke as he seated himself at the table after clearing a seat for himself,
“What’s this all about, Marie?”
The maid wasn’t paying attention to the man’s words and did not reply directly.
Marie was staring at Lester. He was not accustomed to his concealment spell cost spiking so suddenly without him doing anything. The longer she stared, the more sharply the cost was rising. Slowly, he placed a gold coin into his mouth before chewing and swallowing. The cost became more manageable as his mana started regenerating faster.
“What an oddly detailed stuffed animal and quite distinctive too. Did you make it? Mistress Milligan? Why the scars?”
Master Milligan frowned at Lester, and the cost of his spell spiked again with the direct attention of three people staring hard at him. Lester repeated his earlier act, placing a gold in his mouth and slowly chewed. It was his second to last piece of gold. Violence would soon follow if the spell broke. He was okay with violence, but that would spoil his other plans.
“No, I didn’t. I suspect one of the boys got it at a festival. It would be like them to waste good coin on something so horrid. I’ll say it one more time, then ask you to leave. What’s this all about?”
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Marie brought her attention back to the man and woman at the table. She thought about the best way to broach the subject she had been sent to convey before nodding firmly to herself and addressing the couple.
“Could I please ask Robby to join us in this discussion?”
Lester’s ears perked. This helped him immensely in identifying his target. Mistress Milligan’s face went scarlet with fury. She screeched,
“Robby!? What did you do? Why is the Lord of our county sending someone to deliver a message about you!?”
Before Marie could assert the boy had done nothing wrong, the smallest of the boys ran back into the room with a frantic look. He seemed unusually panicked at his mother’s anger, even for such a young boy. Lester studied his target carefully, memorizing the boy’s appearance and facial features.
“Nothin’, Ma! I swear! I been good all day!”
Lester subvocalized the words. He didn’t think matching the boy's tone would take too much skill. Not after.
Marie glanced again at Lester in the corner, then stepped into the brewing shitstorm Mistress Milligan was preparing to unleash on her youngest boy,
“Mistress and Master Milligan, Robby. No one is in trouble. Please, let me explain. Lord Adder has known for some time that your family has been concerned for Robby’s future. I have been sent to inform you that those concerns are to be put at ease. Lord Adder has decided the county will need another Luciloo in the near future.”
Roger Milligan broke into a smile as Kara Milligan scowled suspiciously. Robby’s face had shifted with the mercurial speed of a whiplashed emotion as he went from being terrified of his mother’s wrath to approaching the moon with happiness and excitement.
The scarred and beaten old Goomer in the corner of the kitchen, silently observing the scene, smiled to himself. This was fantastic news indeed. The boy should be excited at such an opportunity. Lester was.
Lester thought this rapid shift of emotions was a common trait of many young of any species as he had seen Gomm’s moods shift with the same swiftness. The comparison in his mind with his abducted nephew did not bother him as this wasn’t his relative. Unfortunately for the young human, Robby was a means to an end.
Roger Milligan spoke up,
“That’s wonderful news. The other boys and our daughter had a secure future with inheriting our success or finding their way in the clergy or guard, but we were worried about finding something for Robby.”
The boy piped into the conversation in excitement, his voice rising in volume with his questions,
“Really? Mistress Marie? I’m to ‘prentice with the rangers? When? How long? Do I get a bow like they use?”
The boy gasped in realization before shouting his last question,
“Do I get my own horse!?”
Kara Milligan cut off any answer Marie might have given to the boy’s questions.
“Enough, Robby. I have questions Marie needs to answer.”
The boy immediately shrank back from his mother and silently fidgeted nervously at the mild rebuke. Marie didn’t like that instant fear of reprisal the boy was demonstrating. It spoke of a strained and subservient relationship with his mother. Lester thought he might take advantage later.
Kara Milligan’s suspicious scowl lent an air of contempt to her evident mistrust of good news,
“Why? Marie, tell me why now? What has happened to prompt this…opportunity?
The questions did not ruffle Marie’s composure. They served as a good lead in smoothing some of the news by paying the woman enough compliments to think this was a grand opportunity. It probably wouldn’t work on the contentious woman, but it was worth a try.
“He has selected Robby as a candidate, mainly due to him successfully running announcements when Kitron has been….unavailable.”
“Drunk enough to converse with the gods, you mean.”
Marie’s mouth twisted in distaste, but she nodded to concede the point.
“Quite. Robby’s faithful and efficient performance, thanks to you and Master Milligan instilling professional competence, has undoubtedly helped Lord Adder select Robby for an advanced training program.”
Roger looked pleased at the compliment. Kara snorted in derision,
“No doubt he is an excellent candidate, such a useful and attentive boy. Never at fault for useless daydreaming or getting overexcited and ruining the things he touches.”
Robby deflated at his mother’s words, and the boy’s father frowned at his wife. Kara ignored them both and asked another question,
“What advanced training program? Quit dancing around with unearned compliments and spit it out, Marie. What are the details? How much will this cost us? Why are you here tonight instead of the morning? Why couldn’t this wait?”
Marie observed the woman sitting in front of her and the woman’s husband. If Master Milligan was growing irritated by the bearer of good news being badgered by his wife, she couldn’t tell. Marie stopped trying to sugarcoat things. It wasn’t helping.
Impatiently sitting in the corner of the kitchen and eavesdropping on the events unfolding, Lester was unknowingly in agreement. He needed to get on with the evening’s events and couldn’t enact the rest of his plan without knowing the potential benefits or consequences.
“Very well, Mistress Milligan, I will lay out the actions to be taken in Robby’s training. Please hold any questions until I have finished.”
Kara nodded curtly in the satisfaction that Marie was getting to the point. Her soup was getting close to burning. The maid explained how things would be happening, knowing that the orders from her lord would not be well received. Lester listened closely from his perch atop the kitchen stool.
“…So, Robby will leave for Purpolis in the morning.”
“No, he fucking won’t! Sending a child unaccompanied to the capital?! After an attack on the town?!”
Kara screamed back. Lester was muffling his sounds of joy at the news.
He smiled in glee at the details that would mean his plan could go forward. His spell cost spiked at another glance from the well-dressed maid’s glance in his direction. She was damn sharp to have started to notice his slight facial movement. Lester’s smile froze.
Marie gave a shiver at the creepy doll in the kitchen. Why Mistress Milligan made the damnable thing, she didn’t understand. The woman was strange in the wrong way. She was aggressive too often and jealously protective of anything to do with her family. Marie got the impression the woman saw her family almost as possessions.
She was glad the youngest boy would be out of the house soon. It wasn’t blatant abuse or overt danger she sensed. If it had been, she would have had Lord Adder separate the family from the woman.
She did her best to ignore the horrid thing in the corner and calm down the screaming woman in front of her. Mistress Milligan resisted her efforts and didn’t want to be calm about anything. After several minutes of calm explanation followed by shouted exclamations of how this would not stand, Marie lost her temper and became blunt with the woman.
“Mistress Milligan, this is our Lord’s will. It is an excellent opportunity for your youngest boy, who is currently without alternate prospects.”
“You swore to our lord when your family arrived in Adder County. You are now being held to that oath to obey. Robby will be ready to leave for Purpolis in the morning.”
“Correspondence with him in the future will be allowed and encouraged. If you break your oath, your family’s presence in this county will no longer be required. Is this clear to you?”
The woman seemed to need something else to lash out at besides the terse refusal of her desires. The composed maid before her did not flinch in the face of her fury. The furious woman snapped at her husband, who was looking worriedly at his son.
“Roger, get the things Robby will need to travel to the capital. Be quick about it, and don’t forget the clothes I made him just last week.”
She threw a venomous look at the maid,
“They were to be his solstice present, but he won’t be here for it, will he? He’ll have to have a tailor in the city adjust them to his size instead of me.”
Marie did not respond to the look as the boy, Robby, started to look upset. This seemed to incense the other woman to new heights. Kara looked around the room for something else to shout about.
Her gaze fell on her now teary-eyed son, then the dreadful, oversized, creepily smiling doll on the kitchen stool. She couldn’t help wondering who had the bad sense to make a deformed kobold with burn scars as a child’s toy. The claws and snout were genuinely horrifying. Fine stitching, though, she couldn’t spot the threads from where she was sitting.
“Quit that bellyaching! You aren’t the one that has to do without your help around here tomorrow. Go to your room and get your things ready for the morning. You are leaving for the capital, and I won’t have you embarrass me by being unable to provide for yourself.”
“And take that damned doll with you. I'll never know why you wasted good copper on it at the last festival. It is a horrid, ugly thing.”
The boy protested this new injustice.
“I didn’t-“
“Go! Now, Robby, or you won’t make it to the capital!”
Robby dejectedly sniffled his small form from the table to the effigy of the latest injustice his mother blamed him for. He looked dejectedly at the wrinkled, ugly, pink, why-did-they-give-it-antennae-that’s-just-weird doll and picked it up.
Marie corrected her thinking a small amount at discovering the seamstress didn’t make the strange doll. It was similar to finding out the person in the carriage with you hadn’t brought the jar full of hornets. She was just shaking it.
Marie thought it was odd that the boy struggled an unusual amount with the thing's weight. Its fingered paws oddly bunched as he slung the thing’s head over his shoulder and gripped it around the waist. It was only a foot smaller than him, and who had decided to give it fingers and claws?
Mistress Milligan returned to haranguing as Marie ignored the woman and watched the boy with his doll. Did its smile grow as the boy disappeared into his room?
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