Kiri was relieved to be out in the street with Gilliam. She’d had to get out of The Leaning Pillar before her blushing gave her away. Garon’s gushing over the Firebrand filled her with pride. It was like she was somehow taller and straighter and lighter from the feeling that swelled inside. Gilliam hadn’t been as complimentary, but it seemed he was trying not to make Kiri feel he liked the Firebrand better than her. Come to think of it, why hadn’t Garon been similarly concerned? Here he was, obviously wooing her, and complimenting another woman! It was lucky for him that it was actually the same woman.
“What are you smiling about?” Gilliam asked.
Kiri started guiltily. “Nothing, nothing,” she said. “Are we going straight to see Lord Westfall?”
“One doesn’t go straight to see Lord Westfall,” Gilliam said. “We will have to wait to be announced.”
He paused to nod to the guards at the gates. Kiri hesitated a moment before following him, glancing at the guards, who had already turned back toward the road. Apparently her being with Gilliam was enough for them not to question her.
“But yes, we are going directly to see Lord Westfall,” Gilliam said. “He expressed an interest in meeting you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, of course,” Gilliam said. “I told him what a surprisingly accomplished young woman you are.”
“What do you mean by surprising?” Kiri said.
Gilliam laughed. “One doesn’t often meet a barmaid who can read, let alone handle a nobleman’s bookkeeping, even a country lord’s.”
Kiri pursed her lips and stared straight ahead as they walked on, trying to decide if she had just been insulted.
They entered the manor not by the grand entrance, but by a small door on the side. Kiri tried to stick close to Gilliam who set a quick pace. They went through a narrow hall that led past the clatter of the kitchens, ending in an arch through which Kiri could see the splendor of the great hall.Just before the arch Gilliam stopped and knocked on a narrow, nondescript door.
“Who’s there?” a bored male voice asked.
“Gilliam to see Lord Westfall,” Gilliam said. “With Kiri of The Leaning Pillar.”
“Come in,” the voice answered. “You’re late.”
“Don’t worry,” Gilliam whispered to Kiri. “We’re not late. He always says that just to try to have the upper hand.” Then he broke into a charming smile and swept the door open.
“Squire Yarin, so good to see you again,” Gilliam gushed as he swaggered into the room.
Kiri followed behind him and meekly closed the door. She had never seen Gilliam act like that before. It was surprising to find he had it in him to be so pompous.
The room was very small, but it must be just a vestibule of a much grander space, because, although it was small, this room was grand in its own way. No detail had been overlooked. The windowless walls were paneled in hardwood inlaid with spidery lines of gold tracing a three-lobed leaf, the emblem of Lord Westfall. The room was lit by oil lamps, ornately carved sconces. Six of them lined the wall behind the man who must have spoken to them. He was much younger than Kiri expected, no older than herself. The blow the fact of his youth dealt to his stature was offset by the truly intimidating desk he was seated behind. It was a behemoth, and every inch was intricately carved. Kiri wanted to go close and see what all those shapes really were, but she remembered her dignity and stayed where she was, standing behind Gilliam’s shoulder. There was nowhere to sit in the room except the high-backed wood chair Squire Yarin was already occupying. Kiri clasped her hands behind her back and chewed on the inside of her lip.
“Is Lord Westfall indisposed?” Gilliam asked. His tone, previously effusive, was now clipped.
Squire Yarin narrowed his eyes and set his lips in a thin line. Kiri snuck a glance at Gilliam. His expression was neutral, but his eyes were locked with Yarin’s.
After a few moments Yarin let out his breath in a huff. He jerked to his feet. “I will announce you.” He pulled open a panel in the wall that hadn’t looked any different from any of the others and slipped through.
Kiri leaned close to Gilliam. “That’s a door?”
Without looking down at her, Gilliam nodded.
Kiri continued chewing on her lip while she and Gilliam waited in silence. It seemed like a long time to her, but was probably less than a minute, when Yarin slipped back into the room. He went immediately back to his desk without so much as glancing at Gilliam and Kiri. With brisk, stiff fingers he pulled together a stack of papers and tapped them against the desk, straightening them. “Lord Westfall will see you now.”
“Until we have the pleasure again, Squire Yarin,” Gilliam was gushing and pompous again. Kiri hurried to stay close to him as he swaggered through the hidden door.
This room fulfilled the promises its antechamber had made of grandeur. Although just as narrow, it was three times the length of the other room. An ornate rug stretched from Kiri’s feet to the desk at the far end. This room had wood panels like the antechamber, but they only reached as high as waist level. Above that, the walls were lined with vast murals. They were delicately painted, and seemed to depict all of the landmarks of Westfall Valley that Kiri knew well, filled with the plants and animals that she loved best. If she had been the one to commission the artists who painted this room, this is exactly what she would have asked for. While they walked quietly to the desk she forgot herself and stared at the paintings. One ibis nearby seemed to be looking right at her, curious. Gilliam tapped her arm and she whipped her head front. Lord Westfall was standing in front of his desk, frowning at a piece of paper in his hand. Kiri was glad he didn’t seem to have noticed her gawking at the artwork.
Lord Westfall beckoned with one hand, eyes not looking up from his paper. When they stopped in front of him, Kiri kept her own eyes lowered and trying to look respectful rather than nervous, Lord Westfall slammed the paper down on his desk.
“Gilliam!” Kiri flinched at the sudden bark of Lord Westfall’s deep voice. “What do you make of this? Three robberies at the docks! Three nights in a row!”
“I wouldn’t know about crime, my lord,” Gilliam said. “It sounds very troublesome.”
“Of course you know about crime,” Lord Westfall said. “You’re from the capital aren’t you?”
“I am, my lord,” Gilliam said.
“You know what they do in the capital when they have problems like this, don’t you, Gilliam?” Lord Westfall drummed his fingers on the desk and looked at Gilliam with the confidence of having asked an easy question.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I can’t say that I do, my lord,” Gilliam said.
“They double the guard, man,” Lord Westfall slapped the desk again, his confidence replaced with irritation in an instant. “You must know that. You’re a city man. Not like this ignorant country girl.” When he said the last he gestured at Kiri. She blushed scarlet, feeling the anger of having been treated as a mere prop welling up.
Lord Westfall squinted at Kiri as if he just had noticed she was an actual person. “Who’s this?” he asked.
“This is Maid Kiri,” Gilliam said.
“Oh yes, oh yes,” Lord Westfall said, as excited as if he hadn’t dismissed her intelligence moments earlier. “The numbers girl! Good to meet you, girl.”
“N-nice to meet you as well, my lord,” Kiri dropped into an awkward half curtsy and Lord Westfall guffawed. Kiri’s cheeks got even hotter.
“Well if you know numbers, girl, answer this one,” Lord Westfall said. “In the city they’d double the guard. Me, I’ve got no guard at the docks. So what’s double of nothing?”
“It’s nothing, sir,” Kiri said.
“Exactly!” Lord Westfall clapped a hand on her shoulder with enough force that her knees buckled. “So there’s the thing to do! I’ll double the guard. Maybe even add an extra man for good measure.” Laughing to himself, he went to sit behind his desk.
“So then you’ll only have one...” Kiri began.
Gilliam talked right over the top of her. “Can we be of any further use to you, my lord?”
Lord Westfall waved him off. “Dismissed, dismissed,” he said. “Take your numbers girl and get to work. And bring her to the party. New blood! The best thing for a dinner party.”
Gilliam bowed. “My lord.” He headed back to the door, raising his eyebrows at Kiri, who was staring wide eyed at Lord Westfall. She managed to shake off her shock and mumble a “my lord” before following Gilliam out. It wasn’t clear whether being “new blood” would be good or bad, but she was almost definitely in over her head.
~
After hours of working on Lord Westfall’s mountain of records, it had grown dark enough that Gilliam said he would be walking Kiri home. She was tired, frustrated to see how little progress they had made in all that time. How were there even enough people in the valley to produce so much paperwork?
Brooding thoughts of endless hours of work followed Kiri down the hill toward town, so she thought to distract herself with conversation. “Is the capital much different than Westfall Valley?” She asked Gilliam, knowing he had lived in the great city of Laed most of his life.
“Laed is much different from Westfall Valley, both more beautiful and more awful,” he said. “By virtue of my peculiar upbringing I am one of the few that can say that he truly knows both sides of it. I was born in the ugly side. There, many people live in close quarters. It is always filthy, and there is murder and theft. And of everything in that part of the city, they say, the Thief Lord takes his part.
“I was lucky enough in my youth to be taken in by a wealthy noble family to be the companion of their son and that is how I came to know the beauty of the wealthy side of Laed and the majesty of the palace. Its many windows are the most exquisite colorful glass. Its lawn and gardens have no equal. And there are those that say, when they are sure the king will not hear of it, that the Thief Lord takes his portion of that side of the city as well.”
Kiri was mesmerized by his description. When Gilliam finally finished he smiled at her gape-mouthed stare. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
Kiri nodded. She had not fixated on the contrast of beauty and ugliness. The talk of robberies and murders had caught her attention. There, in the city, that was where the Firebrand was needed! If only there were a way for her to go there.
“It is amazing,” she agreed, firmly pulling her mouth closed and head out of the clouds. Best to focus her attention on what she could do here and now, anyway. “Speaking of the crime, what was it Lord Westfall was saying earlier about the docks?”
“There was another robbery,” Gilliam said. “They’ve been happening every night at the third hour after midnight, like clockwork. Lord Westfall’s guard will put a stop to it.”
“Of course,” Kiri said. Then again, maybe not. She flexed her hand inside of its glove and knew the Firebrand would be where she was needed.
~
The Leaning Pillar could be heard before they reached it; there must be a lively after-dinner crowd. Kiri stopped where the light from the windows didn’t reach. “Let’s go around to the back door,” she said. “If I go in the front Karey will insist she’s swamped and I have to help.”
“Are you certain?” Gilliam asked. “I can see empty tables from here.”
“Hurry,” Kiri said, quickening her step. “I don’t want her to spot me through the window.”
Gilliam didn’t argue any further. He followed Kiri with his hands in his pockets, through the dark alley and around to the back of the inn.
Kiri ran lightly up the steps and stopped with her hand on the door. “Thanks for walking me back.”
“Of course,” Gilliam said. “A lady should not be unescorted at this hour.”
Kiri looked back at him, her hand still on the door. She choked back a laugh at the idea that she needed an escort.
“Is something wrong?” Gilliam asked.
“No...just,” Kiri took a breath, forcing her voice to steadiness. “You are very courteous.”
Gilliam cocked his head to the side, thinking over what she had said. Then he gave a little bow, and Kiri wished it was not so dark in the alley that she couldn’t read his expression. “My thanks, Kiri. Good night.” Kiri watched him walking away and turned the handle, still behind her back, stepping into the inn at the same time as she turned around.
“Ack!” She had slammed right into someone’s chest. Someone tall. She took a step back. “Oh, Halden, you scared me.”
Halden backed away from her, hugging the wall so she could join him in the narrow space at the foot of the stairs. “I saw you go around back.”
“Through the window?” Kiri said. “I wasn’t trying to...I mean....hmm...”
“Karey didn’t see you,” Halden said.
Kiri was relieved that he seemed to realize it was not him she had been avoiding. “So, ah, you were waiting for me?” she said. “Did you want to ask me something.?”
“It’s your night off,” Halden said.
“Yes, it is,” Kiri said. “You know that’s why I was avoiding Kary, she hates working alone.”
“She’s glad to have you here,” Halden said. “But she knows it’s your night off. You shouldn’t work, you know, all the time.”
“I’m very grateful for my time off,” Kiri said, wondering where this was going.
“You gotta make the most of it,” Halden said. “You know, you’re only young once.
“Sure,” Kiri said. She moved toward the stairs. Halden put his hand on the rail in front of hers, stopping her.
“You were working in the manor tonight.”
“Oh,” Kiri took her foot off the step and let go of the banister. So this was about moonlighting. She hadn’t given a thought to how Halden might feel about her taking on another job, but now she felt guilty, like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“A lot of people told me I shouldn’t take on a young lady with, you know, your experience,” he said. “Said you ought to stay with your family. But I’m not a man to go back on my word.”
“I’m sorry, Halden,” Kiri said. “I should’ve told you. I didn’t think...”
“Needs a family’s guidance, they said,” Halden said.
“Trust me, they couldn’t be any more supportive than you have,” Kiri said.
“Supportive,” Halden mused. “You know, It doesn’t seem to me that support is what you need, Kiri.”
Kiri was starting to get annoyed at his hem-hawing. “To tell the truth, Halden, I don’t really get along with my family.”
“Hold on, now, that’s none of my business,” Halden said, holding up his hand. He looked alarmed at the personal turn the conversation had taken...although hadn’t it been personal from the start, and by his fault? “What I mean to say is, it’s possible to push yourself too hard. It might seem easier...work takes up the whole mind and all. But the mind needs some just being time, too, not only working time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kiri said. “Make sure I have some down time. Thanks, Halden.” She threw him a smile then took the stairs two at a time. She needed time to get a decoy ready before Karey came upstairs. If Halden was already worried about her reputation she couldn’t be caught sneaking out at night.