Side Story: Iris
She hurried to the Guild, occasionally taking side streets as people bustled on the main thoroughfares. The late morning sun provided a pleasant warmth as she replayed the earlier conversation with Exill, still clutching the play tickets to her chest.
‘Who should I go to the play with?’
All her old friends lived in Brieshire, and she had been so consumed with work that she hadn’t the time to make any new friends here. On top of that, the nosy mercenaries at the Guild made dating incredibly difficult in spite of her apparent popularity. Iris was thoroughly consumed in thought as she paid for a cheese baked loaf that she usually ate for lunch.
“Are you giving these to me dear?”
“Haah?”
She looked down to see that instead of paying for her bread, she had slid the two play tickets across to the genial Baker who was also known as a prolific gossip.
“Ah! I’m sorry, here are your coins, please return the tickets.”
The Baker slid the tokens back, her scuttlebutt eyes glimmering in delight.
“So who’s the lucky lad you’re watching this with? Is this a saucy romance?”
Panicking, Iris ran away without a word, clutching her bread. The Baker cackled as she imagined the fallout that would occur, the boys in the Guild would not enjoy this!
Iris panicked as she entered the Guild through a side entrance, quickly stripping off the dress to change into her uniform. Her mind racing because she was under no illusion how the men of the Guild would react. Rumours about her ‘new boyfriend’ would spread to everyone within the hour thanks to that gossiping Baker.
‘If only her bread wasn’t so delightful!’ she fumed.
Racking her brain, she came up with a solution while tearing into her cheesy loaf. ‘I’ll deny I have the tickets, then gift them to someone else, maybe Trey and Maxine.’ Her heart dropped at the thought of giving the play tokens away, but she resolutely made up her mind.
Satisfied with her plan, she fixed the braids in her hair before starting her shift at the counter. She processed many drop off’s, occasionally scraping her hand as she shifted rough monster parts into a trolley. These would eventually be sorted and processed at the Guild warehouse complex in the outer city.
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After signing up a bright-eyed member to the Guild, she was greeted by the sight of Mattan, colloquially known as ‘Sundry’s Cockroach’. The hulking man dropped off several pounds of grey lichen from Skeletons, as well as three large Wheyr tails. He slicked back his greasy locks to examine Iris, who was busy weighing the lichen.
“What’s this I hear about a boyfriend?”
“W-what? I don’t have a boyfriend…” She stammered while double checking the weights on the scale.
“I heard he’s the son of a noble, and that he’s taking you out to see some raunchy play this evening.” Mattan’s lips curled up in distaste.
“That is not true!” She exclaimed perhaps a bit too loudly. Mattan merely shrugged his large shoulders while collecting his earnings for the day.
“Well, as long as he treats you right it’s okay. You know we care about you right?”
Iris was touched when she saw many who had been eavesdropping nod their head in agreement. Nonetheless, she was furious that they would interfere with her love life so casually. Whenever someone remotely showed interest in her, some of the old hands would gather round and give them a stern talking to. She remembered one poor fellow who had returned to ask for his flowers back - something he had earlier gifted!
Meanwhile, Mattan scratched his sweat soaked tunic before patting her hand, mistaking her pause for acceptance, “We know you’re worried about marriage, and the lads have agreed to no longer tease the guys who approach you. You know, we just wanted to get to know ‘em is all.”
Iris exhaled slowly, trying to return her blood pressure to normal and extricate her hands from Mattan’s sticky palm. The heavyset Merc was a bit slow, and dirty, but he had a good heart. Mattan had turned over a new leaf and was drinking less and saving more, it all happened after Exill treated a nasty gash on his forehead one especially drunk night.
In a city where most people struggle to survive, and kindness is in short supply - the newcomer’s actions stood out. She had kept an eye out on the promising guild member since Mattan mumbled about some green-eyed kid treating his forehead. She put two-and-two together when Exill returned the next day to register his address as Sundry Inn.
Of particular concern was when the promising recruit gave up his stable healing job in exchange for a slave, but rumour had it that he saved the Vampire from the verge of death and was working hard to free her. But then again, there were stories of him groping unmarried women and tearing their clothes apart.
Talking of outlandish rumours, anyone who encountered Envy knew there was remote chance the murderous woman would submit to be his sex slave. Instead, there were whispers that he was a masochist who enjoyed submitting to her in elaborate roleplays.
All this passed through her mind as Iris went about her day. She occasionally stopped her task to talk to guild members who she knew could assist Exill in renovating the Clinic, asking them to drop by tomorrow morning. Marco, the other clerk in charge of missions handed her a piece of honeyed flapjack during a quiet spell.
“So… are you going to see the play tonight? I heard a lot of Mercs have suddenly expressed their interest in the fine arts this evening. You might run into some of them tonight.”
Iris sighed as she bit into her flapjack, it was too delicious. The situation was growing out of hand, and she was worried what people might think if she handed the tickets to Trey and Maxine after all this furore. The famous mercenary couple were well known within then Guild, and they would be fully aware of the rumours by now.
Her usually kind gaze was shrouded in worry as she ended her shift that evening.