It takes some time, sitting quietly with the two women, before I've settled down, and I'm ready to go. With a few big breaths, I gather myself, and stand again. Selena, and the new metal, my guilt - everything else can wait. I have a party to get through. I try to give the best, most confident nod I can to Selena and Beth, and tell them I'm ready to go back.

Selena goes back to hiding while I head upstairs with Beth again. She helps me push through the crowd, searching the house until we find Eryk in the main parlor, just off of the foyer. He's seated on one of his couches with a number of people from numerous smithing companies around him. At least the other refinery owners are gone. I have no idea how I'd explain what happened earlier...

Beth gives me an encouraging pat and heads off with a smile. Time to get back to it...

As soon as I poke my head out of the crowd, Eryk's face lights up. "Ah, Aria, you're back!" he greets me, raising his hands happily. It's only the small, dark look in his eyes that show the worry he hides underneath.

I fake smile too, pulling myself through the small gaps in the surrounding people so I can reach Eryk. "Yeah, I'm back," I respond, while forming a quick telepathic connection and letting him know Beth helped me calm down.

Eryk speaks up with a cheerful expression, silently relaying how relieved he is at the same time. "Well, gentlemen, now that the girl of the day is back, I should return to everyone else. Please come by my place when you have the chance, and we can speak about your orders some more." When Eryk rises, everyone else moves as well, and they exchange respectful gestures. I follow along, and we move back into the crowd.

We speak to a whole bunch of other people briefly, and all the faces start to run together. I just do my best to show that I'm smart and competent and connected like we planned earlier. A lot of them are business people, and we even hit the metalworking guild members after a while.

"That was some presentation, Eryk." The man who speaks from the head of the uniformed guild workers is somewhat older, with a few wrinkles around his eyes, and hair so dark brown that it's almost black. He would be the guy in charge of the guild members here. Palmer was his name, I think. We exchange respectful gestures, and I carefully note that Eryk is lower standing here.

"I'm glad you liked it. We put a lot of work into it after all."

Palmer frowns, his already serious looking face becoming even more serious. "I would like to ask about that. You know you admitted to employing a seven year old child, right?"

Eryk shrugs. "I made sure to do it legally, if that's what you're asking."

Pretty much everyone nearby is scowling at him when Palmer says, "Using loopholes in contract law... I'd like you to send copies of any contracts to the guild so we can make that determination for ourselves."

"Of course, of course," Eryk agrees readily. "We have two so far, signed by Aria's late Guardian."

"That's right, the orphanage caretaker, yes? What about her new guardian? Is he aware of your arrangement?"

"Yes, of course. Karl Liffan read Aria's work contract in Fredricson's office after he passed. I haven't met the man to discuss it, but he hasn't issued any orders to terminate the contract."

Palmer rubs his chin in thought for a few moments. "I see. I'll still need to look over your current contracts, but I also want you to send proof that you have renewed the agreement with her current guardian, as soon as you reasonably can."

"I'll get on that," Eryk agrees immediately.

Palmer narrows his eyes ever so slightly, with a hint of threat in his voice. "See that you do."

With respectful gestures, we manage to pull away from the guild members after that, and mix back into the crowd. Woah, so that's the guild Eryk has to answer to...

----------------------------------------

Things start going pretty well as we continue to mingle, moving through the party together and making small talk with dozens of guests around the house. From time to time, people show more interest in me. Some seem excited, but others doubtful. When it comes to that, Eryk has me do some simple math problems for them, and they're all really impressed. What's with everyone and math...? Well, as long as it works, I can't really complain.

Besides other business people, we meet a number of Eryk's relatives who were invited. Some because they're also business people, but some just because. Like Kathy, who we meet near the front corner of the foyer with her husband, a man named Bradford.

Him and Eryk talk for a bit while Kathy introduces me to a woman named Fina. She's... right, Reena told me that she's Kathy's close friend. We exchange greetings, and talk a bit. It sounds like Fina's husband died a few years ago, and she currently works at Gentle Waters, a 'bath house.'

When I ask what that means, the women chuckle and explain that it's a place for people to bathe and socialize. At the same time...?

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"Oh my gods, what do we have here?" comes a woman's voice all of a sudden. I turn to look, only to have her lift me up in her arms. I freeze up to keep from flailing until she settles me against her, arms wrapped around my midsection from behind, like a hug. I try to turn, and the first thing I notice is that she has big breasts, from the way they press against my head and mostly block my sight.

When do I manage to lean out and look up at her, I find that she's extremely good looking, second only to Selena, and a little older. Maybe twenty, I think. She has bright blond hair that hangs down behind her. I can't even see where it ends from this angle. She's wearing a pale purple dress, easily higher class than anyone else around. I can feel the silky smooth fabric of it, even better than my own dress, the way she has me pressed against her. "That's quite a head of hair you have, little one," the woman says with a playful smirk.

"Yuka." Kathy fails to hide her scowl for a moment, before fixing her expression. "What brings you here today? Shouldn't you be working?"

"It's nice to see you too, Kathy," Yuka responds sweetly. Somehow, she doesn't even sound like she's faking it. It's more like she just doesn't care about Kathy's hostility. "It's Independence Day, everything's closed today, silly."

"Not-" Kathy cuts herself off before whatever she was about to say, eyes flicking to me for a moment.

Before she can go on, Yuka speaks again. "I couldn't help but notice this little cutie. Your hair is gorgeous. Aria, was it? What do you do with it to get it like this?"

"Yeah," I nod a little. "I umm, try to keep it clean?" My cheeks feel hot. Is my hair really that nice?

"When was your last trim?" Yuka presses on, shifting to hold me with one arm while she trails her fingers through my hair with what looks like a genuine expression of wonder. I shake my head a little.

"I've never cut my hair."

"Really? What's this section?" Yuka asks confusedly, her fingers picking out one part in particular. I reach back to touch it, finding the one clump of hair cut about chin height, most of the way to the back, on my left side. That would be... The one bit that got hit in battle, I realize.

"Oh, this?" I hide my nerves when I realize that. "That bit got clipped by something and cut. I didn't mean to."

"I see..." the woman sighs. "A shame that anything would cut hair as beautiful as yours. If you take care of yourself, you will be absolutely stunning when you're older, you know that?" Her words just make me blush more. I'm not used to compliments like this...

"Are you done now?" Kathy cuts back in. Her and Fina at her side are staring with hard looks at Yuka. They look like they want to say more, but the other party attendees around us are all watching. How do they even know each other? And why don't they like her? She doesn't feel like a bad person or anything...

"Yuka." Eryk suddenly coming into the conversation draws everyone's attention onto him. "I don't recall inviting you." The flat, slightly annoyed expression he holds tells me that even he doesn't like her.

"I couldn't help but hear about the big party you were throwing this year, and I didn't have much to do with everything closed for the day," she shrugs.

"So you decided to invite yourself to my party." Yuka reminds me of Eryk a little, the way she ignores all of the unpleasant looks directed at her like she doesn't care.

"Umm, how do you all know each other?" I finally ask, looking around at them all.

With a faint grimace, Eryk says, "We're distant relatives."

"We're second cousins," Yuka adds on. "I'm a bit of a black mofa in the family," she says with a grin. I don't understand the phrase though...

Eryk must guess as much from my expression, so he explains, "She's saying that she isn't exactly well liked in our family."

"Why not?"

He shakes his head. "You don't have to worry about it. Now, could you let her down, Yuka?"

"Fine, fine," the woman sighs, rolling her eyes dramatically before setting me back on my feet. Then she pats me on the head and says, "Don't worry about these grouches, little one." As soon as she straightens up again, her eyes lock on something behind me, but I can't tell what with all the other people around.

"Oh! Bruna, it's been so long! How are you doing?" She raises her voice with a big wave of her hand while trotting off into the crowd.

"Bruna, don't-" Eryk starts, spinning halfway around before he just puts a hand to his head with a defeated sigh. "Ugh, that woman..." he groans.

Going up beneath him, I ask, "...Eryk?"

"Don't worry about it, Aria," he rubs my head a little and shakes his head like he's trying to forget about all of that. "It's not that important anyway. Just don't get involved with her, alright?"

"Sure?" I respond uncertainly. I hardly have any idea who she is anyway.

"My my my," comes another new voice before Eryk has even recovered from the last encounter. "To think you'd let that whore into your big to-do. Tsk tsk, Eryk, you're slipping." The woman who steps up is, well, just seeing her side by side with Kathy, they look extremely similar. Besides her black hair being cut to the tops of her shoulders and the way her dark dress shows her figure to be less curvy, they're nearly identical. Especially in the face.

Eryk almost jumps in shock when he sees her. Completely opposite of Yuka, I can feel my extra intuition screaming in the back of my head all of a sudden, telling me to be careful. "Yuka I can understand, but what on Loqa brought you here?" Eryk growls, brow twitching as he visibly tries not to glare.

"Oh, you know," the woman sneers, before lifting her skirt in a curtsy. A divant curtsy, and she doesn't even bend her knees. At all. A shudder goes up my back at the display. There's no way she's a noble, right? When Eryk responds, I'm even more confused. Rather than a gesture matching hers, he spreads his hands out to the sides, with a slight bow. I- they-?

Huh?

They both did gestures as if they are of a higher standing than each other. What does that even mean? Completely at a loss on how I would follow up on that like I'm supposed to, I realize it doesn't even matter. They lock eyes immediately after, staring each other down and ignoring everyone else as a hush falls over our immediate surroundings.