Exill let his head fall back into the soft embrace of the pillow, and enjoyed the rich scent of Wheyr tail soup wafting in through the open doorway. He didn’t want to deal with an angry Vampire right now... so he turned his back to her.
“She wasn’t expensive. I bought her for 500 D’s in a bundled deal with a blood potion recipe.” He lied by downplaying her price just a little. “Besides, she can help me around in the clinic... I know how much you hate doing housework.”
“I’ve seen her, and she is in no condition to do chores.” Envy countered. “If an assistant is what you wanted there are any number of orphans who would beg for this opportunity.” Her hardened eyes watched Exill’s indignation grow.
“If such people are out there, why didn’t they respond to my...” His words trailed off. ‘If they couldn’t read, how would they know?’ His biases had filtered out a part of the population, and its realization left him speechless.
The edge of Envy’s lips curled up in distaste. As someone who had survived off the streets, she was all too familiar with prejudice, but she had expected better from him.
To Exill it was a flash of insight. Having spent so much time in Ark he had taken on a resident’s way of thinking. Although he never shooed them away from his doorstep, his mentality had changed over time. Treating orphans like vermin, a nuisance, not even registering their presence.
‘Why did I spend 700 Denars when I could have saved someone within arms reach?’ Questioned on the value of one life over another, there were no easy answers. Eventually, he gave a halting reply:
“The kids – orphans out there have a chance at a future, it is a remote possibility but it exists. However for this girl... there was nothing for her. She was forsaken.” He emphasized the last word like a curse, not mentioning that a part of him died, every time he shrugged off her desperate pleas.
“Has she been... abandoned by the World?” Envy asked cautiously, the fact she had interrogated the Diviner still hadn’t been shared with him.
Exill paused for a while, scoffing at her choice of words. Diallo admitted after the purchase that Tsarra had been interned there for four years. She wasn’t a loose thread of Fate, but the World had abandoned her for all anyone cared.
“No… she just wore me down.”
Envy heaved a sigh of exasperation. She had assumed the Witchdoctor had spent several thousand Denars purchasing another slave when it could have gone to better use reducing his debt. However some anger dissipated upon hearing the price and knowing it was bundled with a valuable recipe. After a short time, she forgave him just a little.
“Then, what is the recipe?”
“Surprisingly simple. nine-parts my blood, one-part yours, one-part anti-coagulant sealed in an airtight container. It holds stable for a month. The ingredients are going to be delivered tomorrow.”
Envy paused, then her voice dropped to a sardonic whisper: “But why did it have to be a girl?”
Exill’s eyebrows rose while turning to glance at the Vampire. Her tone smacked of borderline jealousy just then, and he found the thought amusing – for only a second. He quickly dispelled all doubts, “Have you actually seen her? Half her body is covered in scarred tissue and weeping sores. There is a huge hole in her cheek. I didn’t choose her to warm my bed.” He faced the wall again, effectively dismissing her.
After a brief minute, Envy softly sat on the edge of his bed, her hand hovering over his head as if to brush back his tousled hair. She was sorry for her earlier outburst but didn’t know how to apologise. He had been sleeping uneasily with a frown, looking pale and physically drained.
Mistaking her presence as a desire to feed; he tried to control his annoyance, but it leaked out from his curt tone: “I’m sorry but I’m not feeling well, you can feed tomorrow.”
She sensed the irritation in his voice and stood up, slamming the door behind her. Regretting the fact she felt sorry for him at all.
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Envy returned to her room and stood in front of the ‘Lost Memories’ poster, summoning happy memories to tamp down the anger. She was lashing out again, but she didn’t understand why. Feeling frustrated, she curled up in bed, trying to fall asleep
***
That night, storm clouds rolled into Ark, and the gentle patter of rain gradually rose to a crescendo as lightning hit the tall spires around the city. Tsarra lay shivering on the patient’s bed, shadows fleeting past the frosted window while thunder roared shortly after.
She had woken earlier to find a red haired woman glaring at her from the doorway, whose dispassionate eyes dissected her with ease. This woman had killed before, she was sure of it.
Trembling lightly, she tried to sleep but the lightning illuminated threatening shadows in every corner of the room. Tsarra eventually crept out of the treatment room and climbed upstairs. She was greeted by the wafting scent of Wheyr tail soup and was drawn to the kitchen, where she stood for minutes, eyeing the gently simmering broth. There was meat in there somewhere… she was sure of it.
Startled by a sudden noise, the dwarf backed away from the enticing stockpot and tiptoed to her master’s door, her small feet causing the floorboards to creak. She knocked several times and after a while, entered after hearing no response.
She saw Exill lying on the bed, one arm outstretched to his side, briefly illuminated by flashes of lightning. Tsarra tried to reach the bed from memory in the dark, when she felt a sudden grip envelope her waist, dragging her into his arms.
“Hyaah?”
“I’m sorry, you can feed.”
Exill mumbled into Tsarra’s ear while gently stroked her auburn curls. She felt her bare toes curl in embarrassment as her heart thumped painfully to a rhythmic beat. His hand gradually slowed until it rested on her shoulder, providing a reassuring weight. Before she knew it, she drifted off to sleep despite the heavenly tribulation raging outside.
***
Exill woke up to the sound of knocking at the front door. He groaned when he felt the weight of Envy resting on his arms, making it numb. It was likely the herbalist delivery, or Iris, in either case the Vampire could handle it in his stead.
Hearing the front door open and two pairs of feet ascending the stairs, he suddenly realised the weight on his arms couldn’t be Envy. Opening his eyes in shock, he found Tsarra nestled against him, sleeping softly. Extricating his arm, Exill closed the room door gently and raised a nervous hand of acknowledgement to Iris.
“Good morning Exill! Envy tells me you bought another slave, where is she?”
Exill froze.
The two women noticed his unnatural response and their women’s intuition drew their gaze to his bedroom door.
“It isn’t what you think. She came to me in the middle of the night. I thought she was Envy.”
Iris peeked through her fingers at the blabbering Witchdoctor, trying to hide her embarrassment. He really was as lewd as the rumours suggested! She glanced at her friend to check if she was alright. She knew Envy occasionally shared the bed with Exill.
Envy didn’t appear perturbed while continuing to apply wax to her leather armour. Her fiery eyes felt strangely cold as she focused on a blemish near the shoulder strap. Iris tried to hold back her urge to grip Envy’s hand to comfort her, and instead steered the conversation away: “Did you hear Envy and her team took down two Clay Guards yesterday? That was quite the feat wasn’t it?”
“Yes, an impressive achievement.”
What Iris didn’t know was that Exill had single handedly taken down two of the monsters a couple months ago. In the process, he had won the bet with Envy, a monumental achievement at the time.
Exill excused himself when he felt the atmosphere grow tense. Grabbing a mug of tea, he snuck past the women, there would be some other way to occupy his time downstairs.
After several minutes, Tsarra tentatively poked her head out of the room, and was greeted with the sight of two women staring back at her. She nearly slammed the door shut. The red haired woman was there, and she looked intimidating!
After a minute, she heard a knock and a gentle voice calling out, “Hi, you can come out. I’m a friend of Exill and we won’t hurt you.” Iris tenderly teased the diminutive dwarf out of the room and led her by hand to the table where the murderous woman studiously ignored them. The Guild employee wove her charm while pushing a mug of tea towards Tsarra and lit her up with kindly grey eyes.
As a hand aficionado, Iris softly inspected the claw that had become of Tsarra’s hand. The fingers had fused together as they healed, and the thumb was missing. The dwarf blushed while withdrawing her claw, hiding it under the table. Aside from the hole in her cheek, it was her next greatest source of shame and embarrassment.
“Did Exill say he would treat you? Did he say how long it would take?”
“Yes… no.”
Iris heard the rasp of her voice and caught a glimpse of the hole in her cheek through which air whistled softly as she spoke, lending it a subdued quality. The dwarf leaned back to avoid the hand that tried to touch the hair covering the most despicable part of her face.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I won’t touch you there. Tell me, what is your name? I’m Iris and I work at the-” Iris was interrupted by a knock at the front door but continued when she heard Exill receive the day’s delivery. The two women continued to talk while Envy sat to the side, quietly maintaining her equipment.
Eventually, Iris had to excuse herself when the Market Bell rang the eleventh hour. Envy took this opportunity to leave the house as well, leaving the overwhelmed dwarf suddenly on her own.