Galen Vesa

*Enjoyed yourself? *

“You tell me.”

My back itched a bit and my mana swirled in odd patterns throughout my body. I think I could safely say, I didn’t dislike it.

*Well I would guess she got the better part of the deal then. *

I picked up the guilty coins off my bed and stacked them up on her desk. The amount... I'm sure whores in town were much cheaper. Giving me that much must been a kind of compliment on her part, I think.

I've straightened the stack. Nine gold coins. Each half an inch thick. The imperial nuggets. Odd name for a coin. They were worth around seven plain golden coins each and the guild paid something shy of nine hundred silvers per coin. If one would trust the books I checked last week, a silver could buy a room and four meals for anything between a day and a week depending on the part of the town one choose to stay in. An awful lot for a one-night performance. A sum I did not want to accept.

And luck wanted her back in our room.

“Huh? I thought… It’s just a dream… I thought… Please tell me I have not insulted you… I am sorry if… I thought… I honestly have no idea what I did yesterday… I...”

Vittoria stood by the door, bathed in golden light of the sunny morning. With shadows gone from her face and healthy pink returning she looked beautiful. Stunning I may say. And perhaps slightly troubled. And perhaps a whole lot of blushing.

“Think nothing of it.”

I waved away her apologies then packed my washing basket with fresh underwear and a cotton robe. My official guild suit still had not been made and given the number of upgrades and redesigns it received over the past few weeks, I may not see it ready for another month. Vittoria on the other hand already dressed herself in the emerald suit. The white silk blouse she wore today had an inviting low cut that easily caught one's eyes. A cheap corporate tactic meant to distract the customer attention. It worked and Altina paid well enough to play the game. Maids and all the girls from the lobby received extras if they skipped the underwear and even more if, well, it all depends on the person. The guild provided a wide array of services. Probably one of the reasons why it had so many recurring customers. And surprisingly, males were only half of that.

“I did not dislike it, I think. So...”

I pecked her on her flushed check as I walked by. Her body had the pleasant smell of small pink flowers I saw growing in the garden. Nothing I could name but apparently rather common in this world.

She blushed and stammered through something while I held her gaze until her eyes run away towards my exposed pillows, and even down below. Like everyone else, she went silent and stared. Trying hard not to but her eyes wandered anyway.

“This time, I feel no need for a payment to be made and, I cannot accept such undeserved generosity.”

I turned and walked away, sparing her any more distress. On the corridor I’ve heard her sucking the air in when she realized what I meant.

*Ah, the dolt and his silver tongue. Careful or she may misunderstand…*

You watch too many movies from my memories, you lizard bum. It is not that simple to sway one's heart and for sure I am not her type. I wanted to check something. That is all.

*And? *

Nothing. Must been the charms. Well, the powder she uses has too much zinc in it. Not sure if that’s healthy. Like licking a metal rod. Blah.

Erta, are you sure we got all the charms? They are all women here and I have nothing they haven’t seen in a mirror. Why do they stare so much? Maybe some spell is still active?

Whenever I went to the large, communal bathroom, all the whispering always died down and the room suddenly became full of eyes praying on me.

Just like now.

*Dolt, have you seen yourself in the mirror recently? *

The maid on the morning duty took my basket and put it away while I glanced at myself in the tall mirror mounted on the wall and surrounded with shining red mosaic. The maid had a good look too.

I am looking. I see pillows. Big pillows. So?

*Your face dolt. Your hips. Your hair. Jealousy is a part of woman’s heart. *

Eh? If one looked at it like that. I did resemble a victim of too much Photoshop. A perfect image of unnatural beauty. A fake. A hot fake at that.

*All the more reasons to be vary. *

Yes, yes. All good and nice but even ~I~ know it’s impolite to stare too much.

Walking through the shower area I put my arm under the cascading water at such an angle as to send a stream of steaming liquid into a face that froze at the level of my butt. Nothing to see there. Not a dangly banana in sight.

~Sigh~

*I say, one out of ten. You move your arms too much. Remember, a gentle sigh is not a sneeze. *

You think so roomie?

Over the past few days I devised and perfected my counter attack against the patronizing lizard. I brought my hands up and…

*Where do you think you are touching! *

I am Cleaning. Thoroughly.

Erta, tomato style, had a certain amount of deadly cuteness. She disconnected herself with a hiss and a promise to get me for that. The downside of feeling whatever my body felt and my secret weapon against her nagging. Not that I cared. I just had to scrub my funny bits after last night. Odd and sticky business. Maybe I shouldn’t have let Vi drink that much?

I washed off the remaining foam under the cascading water and moved onto the Olympic size bathtub. Several of the tiny water spirits that took care of the bath, came and greet me with bubbles and rainbows. Another spectacle I could do without.

Flicking off my shoulder one overly clingy elemental, I sat in a quiet corner and let the warmth seep in. Apart from the company, I did enjoy this bath.

The dormitory had an oversized, Roman style bath attached to the first floor. Well, I called it Roman style, others called it the bath. Divided into four separate areas, the place had everything one could wish to laze around.

Every morning around fifty people hauled their sorry bottoms to this temple of steam and heated water and let the warmth banish the morning drowsiness. I went there as well.

Sleepers on my feet and basket in hand I joined the morning procession of naked bodies and flocked to the bath every day. And every day the same thing happened. They gawked.

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I washed myself as quickly as I could to avoid any possible trouble and then spent most of the morning hidden within the convenient steam. I’m sure spirits had something to do with that, but I ignored it.

My day usually started around third morning bell, perhaps nine in the morning, and lasted until Altina or Beatrice came to kick me out from the Archive. Sometimes Vittoria or Li came and insisted I joined them for lunch or some similar social awkwardness. Mostly concerned around my elven origins, why I’m here and where did I come from. It turned into a running gag with me telling a different story everyone when someone asked the same question.

Since I had no uniform and since the town still had issues with an Elf strolling the streets, I stuck to the guild grounds and the archive. I enjoyed working there. Long brainless work, book after book. A job perfect for me.

Using an abacus and a chalk slate, I checked the books for clerical errors. I looked whether the sums matched and after a crash course in local economics, I also checked if people were properly reporting the values of their transactions and the matching taxes. I got promoted to an Auditor first class even before my official guild training ended. Hence the party last night. I probably should thank whoever decided this world must have a base ten numerical system.

Using Zee’s absence as an excuse, Vittoria, Li and the girls from the room across, stuffed me in a maid’s dress as per their tradition and drank themselves silly while I filled their cups. The maid dress being a size too small for my pillows ripped in several places. Even Chuko let a giggle when the fabric gave up and the contents spilled with a ~fhwomp!~

I continued pouring their wine and eventually had to carry Ann back to her room and Chuko handled the other two then came back for Li that snored on my bed.

I wouldn’t go as far as calling them my colleagues, they weren’t as friendly as that, but Vi’s presence and Li’s constant babbling mellowed them to be kind enough.

“The guild master wants to see you.”

Beatrice’s voice came from the edge of the bath as the second bell rung out. Her heels stood not far from my head and the angle of her legs offered an interesting view. She held a towel in her outstretched arm. Erta always complained about the towels. Something about me being too rough with delicate places. The stiff fabric did not help either.

“At the earliest convenience.”

Oh.

And here I hoped to soak up a bit more. Regardless, I climbed over the edge, shook off the water and wrung my hairs out. Not something an esteemed lady would do but it worked for me. I pat myself out as we walked and tried to dry my hairs as much as I could. I have yet to master the magic of wrapping a towel round my head in a way that it would stay there.

I must give Beatrice some credit, she did not stare. And oddly enough, her presence quickly emptied the changing room. I honestly have no idea why. She is nothing but professional. A bit shy perhaps. Perhaps those scars on her chest have something to do with it. I did not ask, and she did not look too keen on conversation when I once happened upon her in a quiet corner of the bath.

With my pillows secured and tucked under my robe, I followed her to the main building. I also reached within me and tugged at the angry dragon. What can I say, her reactions were… entertaining?

*We will talk about that in the evening. Now, any idea why we are being summoned?”

So we can get fired? Not a clue roomie. I had not been approved to work with the clients yet and Altina did not complain about anything I did. Could be anything.

Beatrice Shoved me into the office and closed the door behind us.

“Ah, here you are.”

The guild master put down her quill and took a good long look at me. My hairs still dripped a bit and her ears twitched to the sound of falling droplets.

“How are you Karin? Does anyone give you any trouble?”

Under Beatrice nose? Not even Zee dared to annoy me. Gossips held that anyone messing with the elven doll would quickly find herself unemployable. The guild master had many influential friends throughout the empire.

“I am well. Thank you.”

I gave her a polite nod and focused on the parchment unfolded before her. It had my name on it and described some additional terms of my employment. Including a bonus that doubled my salary. That kind of bonus. Altina leaned back in her seat.

“Take a seat, please.”

Beatrice brought a chair for me.

“Normally I would wait for my employee to come and tell me what she is comfortable with but in your case, it got a little more complicated. Your presence made ripples throughout the entire Fenira and, I will not lie to you, gossips of you made certain parties… not exactly involved but interested. And such gossips can be used.”

“For a business opportunity?”

From what I could see the amended contract contained a list of my new duties. Some were, vague.

“Uhm, yes. You may say that. An opportunity that would secure your, no, our future.”

She held my gaze for a moment then procured another parchment and push it towards me alongside a quill and a bottle of red ink.

“I’ve compiled a list of all the tasks you’ll be required to carry out. Some of which you may not be comfortable with. Please feel free to strike off the ones you won’t agree to and remember, there is no pressure or obligation on your side. Your current contract stays unchanged regardless of your choice. You can walk out through that door and be sure that I will treat this conversation as if it never happened. ”

That appendix had an awful lot of zeros written right next to the word payment. If the current market values would hold for the next year or two, this income could secure my future. That is, if nothing kills me.

What do you say roomie? Is it worth our commitment?

*As long as you do not mind “Planning and executing assassinations” or “Providing essential knowledge on the affairs of third party…” Dolt, have you even read that list? *

Nope. I did not. She wrote that amount in such big and tempting letters. More of the corporate tricks, eh? I took the quill, dipped the tip and started removing items from the list. Some things are not worth any money regardless of what you feel about them.

“If I may ask, what is that work suit the document refers to?”

Altina smiled and a smile on her face could hardly be associated with a happy thing. She inclined her head towards Beatrice and moments later the head maid returned with a box and placed it in my lap. The contents were, intriguing. Erta let out a long sigh.

*Well, if you stay still that may cover… something. *

Something being the key word.