That night, after Gerwin helped Lucas get dressed in his newly obtained finery. At Adin’s suggestion Lucas had gone with the black suit and the ruffled cravat. Lucas didn’t care for the lace cuffs around his wrists, or the way the pants flared around his boots. It made him feel like a sort of well dressed hippie pirate, but Adin assured him that this was indeed the height of fashion for men right now.
Men didn’t seem to get to wear much color in this society, and Gerwin laughed when Lucas mentioned that he might want to get something that would stand out a little more next time. “You know, red, or maybe blue,” Lucas said, looking at himself in the mirror, “You know, something flashy.”
Gerwin chuckled and added, “That might leave some of the partygoers wondering if you were there for the men or the women, sir.”
“Neither, obviously,” Lucas shot back. “I’m just there for the booze and the coins.”
Ever since he’d paid the old man for the shirt he’d wrecked, they’d largely been on good terms. Lucas wasn’t sure if that was because he was bringing money into the estate on a regular basis or if it was because he mostly kept to himself, but it was probably a bit of both since he really only seemed to care about how Danaria came out in all this.
After that, Lucas went out to the cider house to decide how best to take what he needed to take with him. He chose to travel light. Adin loaned him an ivory-hilted dagger, which was all he would have as far as weapons went, though he doubted he’d need one. If he got into a fight at a garden party.
That suited him fine. It just left more room for potions.
This time, he opted not to bring much with him in the way of protective potions. While Hura’gh mocked him for looking like a stranger, Lucas settled for a Potion of Clear Thinking in case he needed an edge and a smoke bomb in case it all went to shit, along with the healing potion he almost always carried on him.
Noxious Potion of Camouflage (1 use): Create 30 cubic feet of choking smoke for 10 seconds. 10% chance of nausea.
Tainted Potion of Clear Thinking (1 dose): Intelligence 3, perception 3, poison 2, 50% chance to cause a nasty headache when the world becomes too clear.
Tincture of Healing (1 doses): Light healing, euphoria 1, poison 1, endurance +1.
He couldn’t justify more than that, though. Even carrying three took up nearly a third of his space, just left him 7 vials of blue. Adin suggested that he just fill up a flask and parcel it out that way, but Lucas didn’t like the idea of a bunch of people getting high and passing out at the party and causing a scene.
He didn’t want to leave an opium den in his wake, and presumably, if he left the men and women he was about to meet with no way to take it home with them, they would try it on the spot.
Brew of Mana Intoxication (pure) (1 dose): Euphoria 7, poison 2, intelligence -1, mana regeneration decreased by 170% for 1 hour.
So, instead, he split the baby and brought a small satchel that he’d leave in the carriage. That way, he could re-up as necessary without clinking around the party like a junk salesman. The ruffles and folds were good for that, at least. They hid the lines and bulges of all the little extras he was carrying.
Once Lucas moved and flexed to make sure that nothing was likely to fall or slip he finally pronounced, “Don’t wait up guys, I’m going to knock em dead tonight!”
“I wouldn’t do that laddie,” the dwarf smiled, “Those are payin customers, we want em alive!”
It took a minute to realize that Kar’gandin was being sarcastic, but that just put a smile on Lucas’s face. He spent several minutes waiting in the foyer for Danaira after that, and when she finally descended, he was left nearly open-mouthed at how pretty she was.
Danaria was always lovely. She was a sweet young woman in her early twenties with a slender body and blond hair. Back on earth all of that would have been ruined by endless Instagram attention, but here she was a hothouse flower that had been sheltered from the travails of the world by her brother and her servants, so her kindness only amplified that.
Tonight, though, neither her kindness nor her sweetness entered the equation. Instead both were overwhelmed by the diaphanous pink dress that she wore, exposing just a hint of decolletage. It was pretty tame by earth standards, but it bordered on risque in fantasy land, and she walked slowly down the stairs, holding her skirts up just high enough to reveal her slippers, as she walked unsteadily down the stairs.
“Well, I … Wow, just wow. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject,” Lucas said with a smile as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “You look great, Danny, just… the guys at this party aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em.”
She blushed at the compliment and stood there silently for a moment. He was sure that he was supposed to complement her heavy earrings, or her pearl neckless, or some other detail, but as he searched for the answer, he finally noticed that she’d extended her gloved hand for him to kiss.
He did so, making her blush a second time, and the silence lingered a moment longer before she managed to squeak, “Thank you. You’re too kind, Lucas.”
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Gerwin brought her a light gray shawl that went well with her outfit, covered up her exposed shoulders, and gave Lucas a warning look. After that, the two of them were off.
The butler didn’t need to do that, of course. Lucas was well aware of how pretty and interested Miss Parin was and had no intention of going there. Never shit where you live, he reminded himself while he helped her into the carriage.
Unlike their quick trips to Meadowin, this ride was going to be a lot longer. The VanDavin estate was almost as far from the north gate as the Parin Manse was from the east gate, and as a result the two of them would be riding together for almost half an hour each way.
That wasn’t a problem. He didn’t mind spending time with Danaria at all, even if she looked and smelled nicer than usual. Despite his best intentions, it was impossible not to flirt back with her at least a little, and it was with some relief that he welcomed the topic change to potions, at least initially.
“This is less pleasure than business anyway, at least for me,” Lucas told her absentmindedly. “You’re welcome to stand around and look pretty and have fun while I do that, though.”
“Adin mentioned that to me,” she agreed. “I could help you know, I don’t know a lot about mana potions, but I could spread the word and—”
“It’s probably best that you don’t,” Lucas said, mentally cursing Adin’s name. Lucas had been very clear with the man to leave his sister out of anything even remotely drug-related, but it would seem he couldn’t help himself.
“You don’t want my help?” she asked, sounding a little hurt.
“It’s not that,” Lucas answered quickly. “You’ve been very helpful so far. I couldn’t have gotten these clothes together or learned to dance half so quickly without your help. I just… These, uhmmm, mana potions aren’t exactly sanctioned by the Alchemist’s Guild and are pretty illegal, and I don’t want you getting in trouble if something goes wrong.”
“I see,” she said finally.
He was glad she did because he didn’t. The idea that he could somehow shelter her from things going wrong was pretty laughable, and he half expected her to throw that in his face. He was cooking in her backyard, her brother was his lackey, and he was using her goddamn family name. If there was blow back, it was heading straight for her and everyone she cared about, so asking her to stay out of it at this point was kind of ridiculous.
His real fear wasn’t that, though. It was that she’d get curious and end up in the same spot as her brother. The very last thing he wanted to do was hook such a kind soul, it was like murdering a butterfly with ether, and much of what made her wonderful would be replaced with a grasping goblin-adjacent junkie willing to do anything for her next fix.
Lucas knew a number of dealers who had been eager for those sorts of arrangements with pretty young women, but that had never been his thing. Honestly, he thought it was a little creepy.
As the moment stretched into an uncomfortable silence, he decided to level with her, but only a little bit. “You see, Danny,” he told her, “It’s like this. Mana potions are in high demand amongst mages and even some wild talents, but they’re… well, they’re not good for you. They’re sort of like a poison.”
“If they’re poisonous, then why are you selling them?” she asked, aghast at the prospect.
“Well, they aren’t poisonous for the people that use them all the time, just for people like you and me that don’t,” Lucas clarified. “And the people that use them, they can get desperate, so you need to stay well clear of both the mana potions and their users, you understand?”
“You’re so sweet!” Danaria said, hugging him, unexpectedly. “Always thinking of other people. I don’t know what my brother and I would do without you and your other friends, I really don’t.”
Well, friends might be a little much, he thought to himself, before he said, “You’re welcome,” instead.
After that, he managed to veer the conversation into safer territories, and before he knew it, the two of them had arrived at the estate. Of course, he saw the large manor coming up well before they arrived. The VanDavins were apparently much better off than the Parins and their four-story manor dominated the countryside for some distance.
The grounds were almost as nice, though. The gates were flanked by twenty foot tall topiaries that had been grown to resemble giant horses, and the long gravel drive gave them plenty of time to examine the gathered crowds as well as the paper lantern-lit glower gardens.
All in all it was very impressive, but as they disembarked their carriage and the driver left them to wait on the far side of the manor, Lucas focused on the details. Nearly everyone had a glass of wine in their hand, and more than a few were drunk already. This was a target rich environment as far as he was concerned, and he would have rubbed his hands together in anticipation if he wasn’t trying to play it cool.
For the first half hour, Lucas stayed close to Danaria while she made introductions, and he met all the right people. This was one of the few things that Adin would have done a better job with. In her mind the right people meant the rich and powerful, but actually the people he really needed to be talking to were the men with deep pockets and sallow complexions. He needed to be talking to anyone that Adin might have considered a friend.
Still, he endured. He met their hosts, Mr and Mrs VanDavin along with two of their daughters and one of their sons. They were gracious enough, but it was clear that they considered the Parin’s beneath them, and that Danaria had been invited as some sort of courtesy.
After that, the opening act of the party was a blur as he was bombarded with the faces and names of well-dressed strangers. He struggled to remember any of them, but it was a losing battle. He met not one but two retired field marshals, which struck Lucas as funny because Lordanin had hardly any army to speak of. He also met three dukes, four viscounts, half a dozen heirs and heiresses, and one duchess in a sea foam green dress that was at least a decade older than him that gave him a particularly hungry look that left him no illusions about how much better she wanted to get to know him as she asked about his adventures in far off places.
Lucas endured all of that with as much grace as he could muster, even though he could already feel his social battery beginning to wane, before he managed to break away from Danaria to go spend some time with the men, “Just stay with your friends here, and I’ll be back in a little bit. I’ve got some business to take care of.”
“But don’t you want to dance with me first?” Danaria asked sweetly.
“Later,” he promised. “After I’ve had a couple drinks.”