A carriage arrived to pick them up, a covered one this time, and it took them to the Silver District, specifically an area known for its good food and excellent restaurants. To be honest, Cass was surprised to see so many restaurants in a city. Outside of Beergmutar, they were rather uncommon institutions, though there were a few in Tyine. Cass had heard rumors about this kind of place, and as she stepped out of the carriage she could not help but marvel.

There were tables set up with two to four seats apiece, all set with a cloth covering them and the soft glow of candles helping to light the area in the fading light. Servants would take orders from the people at each table and bring out plates of food, steaming and freshly prepared. Having spent most of her life hungry, a part of Cass felt it was a dream.

“It is a nice looking place, isn’t it?” Odal asked beside her, “and it is well known for its dishes that replicate food from other countries, I thought you might like to eat some food from your home country…”

“It is quite pretty,” Cass did have to agree, but she did not bring up that she had never really had any cuisine that Haj was known for. “I can’t wait to try it.”

They were guided to a table and soon a servant came over to them with a menu, “Sir Warrior, Lady Strioi,” she said brightly. “Welcome to- Oh!”

As Cass sat down and turned to look at the server, she recognized her immediately, “Your name was Natalie, right?”

“Ye-Yes,” Natalie stuttered, embarrassed. “I- I apologize Lady Strioi, I was surprised to see you again… Allow me to thank you again for your help.”

“As I said before,” Cass waved away the thanks. “I felt it was something I had to do, so there is no need to thank me. For that matter, you can call me Cass.”

“Oh I could never do that Lady,” Natalie turned red and was terribly flustered by the suggestion. “I need to apologize again, I have not been doing my job, I brought the menu for you and to ask what kind of wine you would like tonight…”

Odal was watching the exchange with interest, and came to Natalie’s rescue by putting in an order of wine. Cass just copied him, there were more wines on the list than she knew existed and she knew nothing about the differences.

Natalie scurried away to get their wine and Odal asked about the young girl and how she knew Cass.

“I just happened to help her a bit when I took that walk,” Cass smiled as she remembered the man begging before her. She sincerely hoped he was in a great deal of pain right now…

“I see,” Odal cleared his throat. “Well, I am glad that you are settling down here, I am sure you will love it.”

Natalie brought the wine and left to give them time to peruse the menu, but much as with the wine, Cass had no idea what anything on the menu was… She ended up asking Odal for help and he seemed quite happy about that for some reason…

“She is quite young to be working here,” Odal said after Natalie left from taking their order. “She must be quite the worker.”

“She certainly has more determination than I expected…” Cass mused as she sipped her wine, it was quite good… “When she goes home tonight she will have to walk through some rather dangerous areas.” She frowned, Cass was unsure why Natalie was here, but to put herself at risk again after what happened that night, Cass doubted that she had a choice. Cass could respect the willpower that allowed her to come back to work here.

“Would I be able to have a Warrior escort her home?” Cass asked Odal, wondering idly why she cared so much. “It isn’t exactly safe.”

“I will send someone here for her,” Odal nodded. “But for the future, you should not risk yourself either.”

“Odal,” Cass chuckled. “I was able to deal with thugs on the streets before I had these glyphs, with them and my magic there is no risk at all.” Not entirely true as she thought back to the crossbows from before, but she was not about to say that.

“It is better to be on the safe side, I am a Warrior. I know how to bring down a Strioi, and so does every other Warrior.” Odal said grimly, “Even those fallen to the Sand, so it makes me worry about you walking about on your own. I will escort you personally if you will let me.”

“Alright,” Cass agreed, but it was mostly a lie. She would probably ask him to take her places for a few nights just to make them think she was letting him guide her and then slip out whenever she wanted to do something without being watched… “Though I would imagine you would have been bored after dealing with me all day.”

“I worry that it is the other way around!” Odal laughed, “you are not really what I expected from a former slave…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just that for a slave to be so… Assertive.” Odal had to think for a bit to find his words, “Educated, well-spoken, determined, and well… Stunning, to be honest.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Wait, is he expressing interest in me? Cass’s mind went into overdrive as she considered how to react. Her first instinct was split between shoving her fist through his teeth and laughing in his face, but… He could be useful until he was disposed of, still, better to be cautious.

“Odal,” Cass began slowly. “You hardly know me or my history… I am hardly educated, and as to my nature, I am not sure I understand myself. You would be far better off looking elsewhere.”

“Ah, I see.” Odal looked downcast, and Cass realized she had made a mistake. Ideally, she would be able to lead Odal on until she was able to leave this city, and she had tried to phrase her words to put distance between them, but suggest she was open to pursuit.

Except that Odal was hardly an assertive man, and Cass had no real idea how to deal with this kind of person in this situation… She would have to give some ground here probably…

“But I wouldn’t mind spending a few dinners with you,” Cass smiled, idly wondering how a ‘Warrior’ could be so toothless. “Though I think your opinions might change as you get to know me.”

“I don’t think so,” Odal brightened again smiling. “You are a pretty amazing woman, Lady Cass.”

Natalie returned with their meals, and Cass had to admit that it was very good. Apparently it was the meat from a native pheasant drizzled in a delicious sauce that was both sweet and a little spicy. She also had to admit that she enjoyed this kind of lifestyle… Maybe someday she could live like this with her Master, but that was just wishful thinking…

“Do you like it?” Odal asked, and Cass was actually a little grateful she had the opportunity to tell the truth for once.

“Quite a bit!” She said excitedly, whatever else she thought of Odal, he did have good taste… “I have never had anything like it.”

“I am glad that you do!” He laughed, “it is certainly my favorite meal here.”

“Do you come here often?” Cass wondered what it would be like to do that, she supposed she could now.

“Well, after my patrols I would often pass by on my way home…” Odal took a drink of his wine, “So eventually I stopped in, and maybe once a week after that…”

A thought occurred to Cass, “but you never saw Natalie before?” Perhaps he was just unobservant, but Cass didn’t think so. Odal was stupid, not blind.

“No, I have not.” Odal frowned, “I thought I knew everyone who worked here as well… I guess it is a good thing that they hired on new workers, they must be doing well.”

Perhaps, but what had led to Natalie working here, especially when she had to walk home at such a dangerous time? It would have been something recent, Cass thought that she would have to investigate.

“So you passed by this place on your way home… Where did you patrol?” Cass asked curiously, hopefully it was someplace Cass could use his influence at some point.

“Most often in the Silver District market,” Odal gestured roughly in its direction with his utensils. “Though every Warrior is rotated to spend some time in different areas, over the years I think I have had assignments just about everywhere in Beergmutar.”

Well it was too much to hope that he would be a palace guard, but Cass pocketed the information for later as Odal asked about her past. Now that was a hard thing to answer.

“It really is not worth mentioning for the most part…” Cass sighed, “The simple version is that I was a homeless orphan who was arrested for theft and ended up in an experiment, where my abilities were discovered.”

Odal frowned slightly, “I am glad for that discovery, otherwise your theft would be inexcusable.”

Cass could not help but scowl at this, and she wondered if she would be able to resist getting rid of him long enough to find a use for him… “Odal, you can’t have it both ways like that. Why should magic excuse someone from their crimes? Why should it be a crime to take some bread just to survive? You should think about some of the situations people find themselves in and make a choice. I am not saying that what I did was right, nor am I saying what the guards arresting me did was wrong, but that you can respect a person who sticks to their beliefs and principals and not someone who looks for loopholes and excuses.”

“Ummm, La- Lady Cass…” Cass started, she had been so angry she had not noticed Natalie walking up to her! No, that wasn’t it, Cass still had the instincts of the street, Natalie approached so quietly that Cass would not have noticed anyways… “I brought your check…” She was looking at Cass with wide eyes, not much different from when Cass rescued her… Cass had not sounded that angry, had she?

“Ah, uh- I apologize, Lady Cass.” Odal cleared his throat, “I will think more on what you have said in the future, in the meantime please let me take care of this…”

“Odal, you don’t need to do that. My salary is quite a bit more than yours after all…”

“No, I insist.” Odd that he was so firm on this, but Cass wouldn’t mind spending her money elsewhere so she allowed him this much.

“Ah, Natalie,” Cass remarked as Odal pulled out his purse. “I am going to have a Warrior escort you home tonight, we really must talk sometime.”

“That isn’t necessary, Lady.” Natalie refused, to Cass’s surprise. “But thank you very much for your kind offer.”

“It was not an offer,” Cass’s smile turned slightly dark and Natalie shivered. “It is for your safety, after all.”

“As- as you say, Lady.” Natalie bowed slightly, still shaking slightly.

“I suppose if I were to ask you would say you work here every day,” Cass continued as Odal counted out the correct coins for the meal. “And from dawn until dusk, right?”

“Yes, my Lady…”

“Then I will have to ask the owners to give you a day off sometime so that we can have that conversation.” Odal handed Natalie the money and she fled like a frightened rabbit…

“Lady Cass,” Odal smiled sympathetically. “The lower castes can be very nervous around the higher castes like the Strioi, I am sure she will be fine.”