“Look, I’m fine.” Fen shook his head.

“Not until Wednesday at least, Fen!” Amilee replied, shaking her head adamantly. “You need more rest.”

“Amilee, if I rest any more, I’m going to lose my mind. I’ve been driving Mercy crazy!” he cried, throwing his up in the air in exasperation.

“That’s not true.” I mumbled, not wanting to get involved in their argument, but also not wanting him to go back to work before he was ready.

“Besides, she’s bored here too. There’s only so much lazing around we can handle!” Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. We’d taken to napping a lot in the last few days, him in his bed and me on the couch, snuggled up with Diana. It had gotten a bit monotonous, if I was being honest. “Besides, Mercy will go with me, and keep an eye on me. If I have another growth spurt, she’ll be right there, and we’ll let you know so you can come!"

Amilee sighed, turning to me, “Will you be okay to help him if it happens?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. I won’t try to put him out like I did last time.”

“Do you feel up to going back to work?” Amilee watched me carefully.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve been fine for a while. I didn’t over-do it too badly, luckily.” I shrugged.

Fen’s cousin heaved a great sigh, “Fine. But I’m not happy about it.”

“It’s going to be fine.” Fen said soothingly, patting her shoulder.

“I should go get ready, I guess.” I stood.

“How long do you need?” Fen wanted to know.

“Not long.”

“Did Axl bring you the right clothes?”

“Yep! He’s good at interpreting my bad directions!” I laughed. “I hope what I picked out is alright to wear. Are slacks and a blouse okay? I should really get more business wear.”

“We can do that after work.” Fen nodded.

“Fen, don’t do too much.” Amilee warned.

“It’s just shopping.” he waved his hand languidly.

“On your head be it.” his cousin sighed, then turned to me and smiled, “Well, have a good first day at work, Mercy. I’d better get going.”

“We’ll be careful, Amilee, I promise.” I told her earnestly.

“I know you will, it’s him I’m worried about.” she jerked her thumb at her cousin, who grinned a little sheepishly. “Have a good day.” she said, waving as she left the room.

“Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?” Fen asked, lifting two shirts from his bed to compare them.

“Yep.”

“I’ll swing by your room in fifteen, then.”

“Alright.” I left, and hurried to my room and changed into the clothes, then put a little bit of makeup on. Just some mascara and a lipstick that was just a shade darker than my actual lip color.

I’d thought about having Axl get my pencil skirt instead of a pair of my slacks, but given that I’d gained weight since coming to Faerie, I had a feeling it wouldn't have fit, or would have been so tight it wouldn't have been appropriate.

Slipping on a low pair of heels, I walked out into the sitting room just as Fen knocked on the door. Going over to it, I opened it, “Perfect timing! I just finished.”

“Good.” he nodded, glancing at my outfit, “Looks nice.”

“Thanks.” I smiled slightly. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Being nervous on your first day at a new job is normal.” he shrugged, offering me his arm, like usual, and we started walking. “And remember, I’m not about to fire you. Just do your best and you’ll make it through. You’ll get the hang of things before you know it.”

“Is it a very fast-paced office?”

“Not usually. Besides, you’ll be doing admin stuff. Nothing that’s an emergency. The only thing that will be pressing is if I need you to write a letter, and most of those you’ll have a template to work from.”

“That’s not so bad.”

“No. Axl will be glad to have that off his plate.”

“I’m sure! That’s just a silly little job. I can definitely do that. Give me all the silly little jobs. That’ll keep me busy and get done the stuff other people don't like doing. I’m also decent with spreadsheets, and if I don’t know something, I can usually figure it out with a little bit of research.”

“Duly noted.” Fen nodded.

We reached the front door, and went out. His sports car, and Axl, waited in the drive.

“Will they think it’s weird I’m arriving to work with you?”

“Axl rides with me as well, and they don’t think that’s weird.”

“Axl is also your bodyguard. I’m just your assistant.”

“They’ll have heard about your situation from the people who came to the party. News travels very fast in Faerie, and they’re all very well-informed on what goes on here, by necessity, given that our job involves keeping your world and this one connected with ease.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded. Fen opened the back passenger side door for me. “Oh, thanks.” Then much to my surprise, he went to the back driver’s side door and climbed in.

“What, not gonna keep Axl company?”

“No, I’m just the chauffeur!” Axl chuckled.

Fen rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “I thought you’d prefer the company.”

“You’re not wrong. Thanks.”

“Of course.” he smiled slightly.

Axl pulled smoothly away from the curb.

“Can you manage all three of us, Axl? Or do I need to do it?”

“I can manage three!” Axl said cheerfully.

“Good.” Fen nodded.

“It takes a lot of power to take more than yourself too and from Faerie, doesn't it?”

“Yes and no. It depends on where your strengths are too. If you’re extremely gifted at fire magic, but have no aptitude for going between our worlds, then no amount of training to increase your strength in that area will improve it. If you have an aptitude for it, you can increase it, though. Some people do plateau, and can never move past just taking themselves to and from.”

Axl interrupted to say, “We’re going!” I felt his magic surge, and I looked out the window to watch our surroundings blur, then turn into streetlights and a city setting.

I turned back to the conversation. “That’s interesting though. So I probably won’t ever get particularly good at levitating?”

“It’s a little early to say that, yet. You’ve not tried it very much.”

“I hope not, because it seems like it’d be useful.”

“It is useful. And most people have at least some capacity for that, it’s not a rare or unusual ability, like clairvoyance, mind-reading, or even strong healing magic.”

“I see.”

It was quiet for a few moments.

“Is it good to be home?” he asked quietly.

“I guess.” I shrugged. “I can’t say I missed it all that much. Having such a peaceful break from everything was nice.” I could see spirits on the side of the road as we drove past, but we were moving fast enough that they couldn't bother me. I shuddered. “Will the new ring prototype be done soon?”

“I’m not sure. I haven't been able to work on it lately, all things considered, but even before all this madness ensued, I could only work on it in my spare time, and that'll hold true now that I'm back to my normal schedule again. Putting such a powerful spell on a ring is proving to be difficult. It’s normally put on buildings, to keep them safe, and has an appropriate power level to match that, so more often than not, the ring just can’t contain it and breaks.”

“Ah. Well, that’s okay.”

“I have an enchanted mirror with me, as do Axl and Breya.” Fen produced a mirror from his inside jacket pocket. “So we’ll be able to keep an eye out for them. I’ve had them hang some large, enchanted mirrors throughout the entire building as well, and in all the bathrooms, since people are most likely to be alone in the bathroom. And of course, if you see a spirit, just scream and someone will come. I’ve given the security team instructions to make sure you get help if you need it, and the security team is very good.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “What about as we’re walking in? Will we have to go through a parking garage? That’s the kind of place they like to congregate, for some reason. Sort of sketchy, always a little dark, usually kind of lonely.”

“We do, but my spot is right next to the elevator, and we’ll keep our eyes out with our mirrors.”

“I’m sure they’re useful, but you’ve gotta be able to angle it right. Could you enchant glasses, or something?”

Fen blinked. “I don’t know. Mirrors are just the traditional way to do it.” he was quiet for a few moments. “Hmm.” I felt the fey king’s magic surge, and a pair of aviator sunglasses floated through the gap in the front seats, soaring gracefully into his hand. “Let’s find out.” he muttered. There was another, far more powerful surge of magic, and the lenses on the sunglasses glowed for a split second. Fen studied them, then put them on, and looked out the window. “Oh yeah, that worked!”

“Good!”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” He frowned, taking off the newly enchanted sunglasses. “Mirrors are just what we’ve always used. I think it would work on normal glasses too, like even ones without a prescription.” Fen tapped on his phone, saying, “I’ll have some delivered to the office today, and we’ll see if it works. If it does, and I don’t know why it won’t, I’ll enchant them all and issue them to the security team, to be worn at all times. And Axl and Breya.”

“And I don’t need them!” I laughed, then tilted my head to the side, “I wonder if you could do it with contact lenses.”

“I’ll have to look into that.” he shrugged.

Axl navigated the car into a parking garage, and parked on the bottom floor, in a reserved spot right by the elevator.

“Ready?” Fen asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I sighed, steeling myself.

“I’ll get out and come over to your door and help you out, so you’re not alone for the split second it’d take me to get over there.” he said, putting the sunglasses back on.

“Thank you.” I said softly.

Fen nodded, then got out of the car, looking around as he rounded the back, then opening the door for me. “I think we’re good.” he said as he stood aside, letting me out. “Let’s get in quickly though.”

“Of course.” I nodded.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

We hurried to the elevator, with Axl on our heels.

“I brought these with me, from the car.” the bodyguard held out another pair of sunglasses. “Will you do them for me? I'm not much of an enchanter."

“Of course.” Fen took them and shot a short burst of magic into them.

“Thanks.” Axl slipped them on.

“Thank you, Axl.” I smiled at him.

“Don’t thank me, lass, I only want you to be as safe as anyone else here.” he rumbled, smiling kindly.

It would be nice to get to know Axl a little better. Rosie was a dear, but I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know her husband, who was supposedly a teddy-bear, according to her.

“I’ll tell Breya to bring a pair in with her for that too.” Fen tapped on his phone again.

“Anything I need to know about the office? Like any interpersonal issues or anything?”

“Not that I can think of. But don’t let Aren flirt.” Fen said thoughtfully, turning his lilac gaze up to me, “And don’t let anyone be rude or catty. Tell me directly if they’re even remotely snotty.”

“Oh they’ll hate me if I run and tattle.” I shook my head. “It’s better for me to prove them wrong or just be nice.”

“Honestly, I’d rather you tell me. Stupid, childlike stuff like that has no place in my company.”

I shrugged, but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure I felt comfortable tattling. No, I’d do what I could to solve any issues first, and if all else failed, then I’d tell Fen and ask him to help. That was more my style. I wasn’t a tattle-tale.

The elevator door opened, and we stepped out into a large, open-aired room with desks. Most were already occupied.

“Ready?” Fen asked me quietly.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I sighed.

We left the elevator, and all eyes in the room turned to us. I fought the urge to hide behind Fen’s huge, jet-black wings.

Aren sidled up, smiling nervously. “Welcome back, sir.”

Fen nodded, “Thanks.”

“And welcome, Mercy.” Aren said politely.

“Thank you.” I murmured. At least he was being appropriate, at the moment.

Fen raised his voice, “Everyone, this is Mercy. She’s going to be my new personal secretary. As such, you’re not to try and foist any of your duties off on her unless specifically directed to by me. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

I saw a couple of less than friendly glances, but most of them seemed neutral or just curious. One or two of my new coworkers even smiled politely.

“Now, if you need me, don’t. I have a lot to catch up on.” Fen sighed. “Come on, Mercy, you’ll have the desk just outside my office.

A line of doors at the back of the room led to private offices. His was the largest, and had a desk sitting outside the door, perfect for a secretary.

“Let me know if you need anything as far as supplies go, chances are we already have it here somewhere, unless you want something specific. Axl, get her set up on the laptop and then get her started on something, I don’t really care what.” Fen said, “I have to go tackle whatever is in there.” he seemed to steel himself, then pushed into his office.

“Alright, have a seat and we’ll get you started in no time. Our IT department is great!”

“That’s nice.” I smiled.

“And as long as you get your work done, Fen really doesn't care how you spend your free time.”

“Oh that’s nice.”

True to his word, my laptop was up and running very quickly.

“I’m going to have you go through and sort the mail that piled up while the boss was out.” Axl told me, “Does that sound alright?”

“Of course!”

“And feel free to listen to whatever you want, each desk is enchanted so that you can listen without headphones and no one else can hear unless they’re behind the desk with you, like I am now.”

“Oh that’s really cool!” I grinned. “So I can listen to my true crime podcasts and it won’t creep anyone out?”

“It probably wouldn't creep most of us out anyways, but yes. Let me go get the mail.” Axl returned in a flash with a large stack of mail. He explained how it should be sorted, then left me to it, saying, “Let me know when you’re done. I’ll be in my office, it’s connected to Fen’s inside, but it also has its own door.” he motioned at the door to the office next to Fen’s.

“Okay.” I nodded.

He went into his office and I settled in at my desk, opening and sorting the mail, pausing only briefly to start up a podcast to keep things from getting boring.

I felt gazes every so often from around the room, but tried to ignore them as I worked. Every now and again, I’d catch the gaze of one of my new coworkers, and I’d do my best to smile in a friendly way, though they usually immediately looked away.

After a while, one of the women approached. She had cranberry red skin, black hair, and a large set of tawny hawk-like wings.

“I thought I might introduce myself. I’m Willow.” she said politely.

Hurriedly, I paused the podcast. “Sorry, I'm listening to a podcast to pass the time.” I smiled apologetically, and stood, “I’m Mercy, but you already know that.” I grimaced a little, holding out my hand to shake hers.

Willow shook my hand. “Yes, but that’s alright! It never hurts to remind someone.” she laughed a little, “What podcast are you listening to?”

“Maybe it’s a little weird, but it’s a true crime one, one of my favorites.”

“Oh no, not weird at all! I like true crime!” Willow smiled. “It’s very interesting!”

“Yeah! I listen to a lot of true crime and I read mostly cozy murder mysteries.”

“That sounds nice, actually.” she laughed. Willow seemed pretty easy going. “There’s a rumor going round, but I want to be able to put it to rest, or know the truth. They’re saying you can use magic, is that true?”

I blinked, then smiled, “Yeah.”

“I can’t feel any coming from you.” She seemed puzzled.

I held up my hand, showing her the prototype ring. “I wear this to keep it muted, I guess. Spirits are drawn to me as well, and I can see them. They’re working on another ring that’ll both mute my magic for fey folk and spirits, to help keep me out of trouble.”

“Oh, I see!” Willow nodded, “I could see how that would be difficult! And why the boss had so many enchanted mirrors hung up around the building! That makes so much more sense, now!” She laughed. “That’s very unusual, though. I understand why His Majesty is keeping you fairly close to him, for your safety.”

“Yeah. I’ve appreciated his protection.” I told her honestly.

“Speaking of the boss, what does he have you doing on your first day?” she nodded at the mail on my desk.

“Oh, just busy work. Sorting letters. That’s okay, I said I’d do pretty much anything. This is a good job, given I came from working part-time in a coffee shop.” I frowned, then added, “I’ve done admin work before, but not in a couple of years. It’s nice to have something full-time with a boss as good as F-...His Majesty.” I stopped myself, a little late, from using his first name.

“From what I’ve heard, you two are friends, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then use his name, we understand.” Willow shrugged.

“I don’t want to be inappropriate.” I grimaced.

“It’s not. If he gave permission, he’d be sad if you didn’t. Aren uses his first name, although I’m not sure he was given permission, he might just be taking the liberty.”

“I’ve met Aren previously, that does seem like something he’d do.” I sighed.

“Did he flirt terribly with you?” Willow grimaced.

I rolled my eyes, “He definitely tried to.”

“Well, you tell me if he does and I’ll smack him.”

“Fen said to tell him if he tried it again.”

“Even better, we’ll let the boss smack him!” Willow giggled.

I couldn't help but laugh as well, “I’d kind of like to see that!”

“Me too!” my new friend grinned mischievously.

“So what do you do here for work?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I’m a graphic designer! There are only two of us, so we stay pretty busy, but I like the work! The other one is Tari, he’s right there.” she pointed out a fey man with light blue skin and darker blue hair. He had webbed fingers, from what I could see, and scales covering his neck and a lot of his arms and hands, and claws that definitely weren’t retractable, like Fen’s were. He looked up, likely hearing his name, thanks to his fey hearing, and nodded at us, smiling politely.

“You’re the only two graphic designers for the whole company?” I thought about how tall the office building was.

“Yes. Normally there would be more, but His Majesty likes to have direct input into our work. Otherwise we normally wouldn't be up here on the top floor with him. It’s just easier for him to come check on what we’re doing if we’re right here.”

“Makes sense. He sounds very hands-on.”

“Almost to his detriment. If he delegated a little more, he wouldn't be so busy. But he makes sure things are done correctly, so I understand why he does it.” She shrugged.

“I get that. I had group projects in college l where I just told everyone to show up and what to do the day of, and did all the work myself so that I knew it was done right because I couldn't trust anyone else to do things properly if I wanted a good grade. Little goody two-shoes me.” I laughed.

“What’s your degree in?”

“Fine art and English.”

“Oh another artist! No wonder I liked the look of you right off the bat!” Willow giggled, clapping her hands a little. “You’ll have to show me some of your work sometime! What specific area was your art degree?”

“Textiles, even more specifically embroidery.”

“That’s really cool!”

“I loved it. Not that I can say it or the English degree was particularly practical either, but they were certainly great!”

“I bet!” Willow smiled, then motioned at another fey woman. “Flora, come say hello!”

The woman had magenta hair and sage-green skin, with a snake-like tail, butterfly-like wings, and dark purple eyes. “Hello.” her tone was mild, compared to Willow’s enthusiasm.

“Nice to meet you.” I smiled.

“Indeed.” was the polite reply. She seemed far less outgoing than Willow, but that was okay.

“Mercy is an artist too!” Willow smiled.

“How nice.” Flora’s tone was a little flat, but it might just be that she didn’t care for small talk. For that matter, I didn’t usually like small talk either, though Willow was very nice.

“She can use magic, too! Just like the rumors. And since the High King and her are friends, he’s been keeping her close to help keep her safe.” Willow explained. “I know you were curious about that.”

“Well, it’s none of our business is it, really?” Flora rolled her eyes, then said in a long-suffering voice, “I should really get back to work.”

Willow glanced at the clock, “Oh, I should too! But it was nice to chat with you! We’ll have to go get lunch together sometime!”

“I’d like that, thank you.” I nodded.

Both fey women went back to her desk and I sat down. Willow had been very nice, but Flora hadn’t seemed very interested in being friends. Oh well, you couldn't win over everyone. Nor would I try, that would be exhausting. She didn't have to like me.

After about an hour of work, I sat back, satisfied that I’d completed the work fairly quickly, given the amount of mail there had been. Getting up, I went to Axl’s office, knocking lightly.

“Come in!” he called.

I went inside, “I finished sorting it. Do you want to come look it over?”

“Sure.” he stood, and as he did, I felt a surge of magic in the other room.

“What was that?”

“Who knows.” Axl shrugged, “Given that most of the employees here are fey, we use magic pretty regularly.”

“Well, that makes sense. I’ll have to get used to it.” I smiled as we walked out of his office. But the smile died on my face when I saw that the mail I’d carefully sorted had been scattered all around my desk. “Oh no! That’s not how it was when I left it. How’d that happen?! I’m sorry, Axl, I’ve got to re-do all this.”

Axl was looking around the room, “It’s alright. It’s no big deal. There’s no hurry. Message me on the chat system when you finish it so you don’t have to get up from your desk.” He gave me a meaningful look, and glanced at the other office workers in the room, all of whom looked to be absorbed in their work.

“Okay.” I said softly, annoyed at whatever had scattered my papers. It wasn’t like it could have been a stray breeze, there were no windows open. Had someone walked by quickly and knocked it off? Or had the burst of magic I felt been someone scattering them? How rude, if so! Picking on the new girl? I genuinely hoped not. Hopefully whatever had happened hadn’t been on purpose, and whoever had done it hadn’t done it intentionally.

I knelt and picked up the papers. Then as I settled back down in my seat, I saw that a chat bubble popped up from Axl within the messenger system installed on all of our laptops. *I suspect the magic you felt was someone scattering the mail.*

*I really hope it was an accident, but I have a bad feeling that you’re right.*

*If anything like that happens again, please let me or Fen know. We’ll deal with it.*

*Yes sir.* Dealing with someone who didn’t like me and treated me badly was something I could handle on my own, but sabotage (although that seemed a bit extreme of a word, but technically it was sabotage) was different, and I would tell them about that. Because sabotage could affect more than just me, if it caused me to not be able to get my work done on time, which delayed other things, which delayed even more things. It could cause a domino effect, which could be disastrous, if left unchecked. That and something about sabotage was inherently threatening, somehow, though in this case it was just scattered papers.

I sighed as I thumbed through the mail again.

Thankfully, it didn’t take me as long to sort it the second time through, and I finished in about thirty minutes. I messaged Axl that I’d finished and he soon appeared, checked over the work, and approved it.

“Good job.” he smiled. “Not that I ever doubted it would be just fine.”

“Well, no one’s perfect.” I snorted. “Least of all me.”

“Let’s get you something else to work on.” Axl came around the desk, and I let him have my chair as he navigated through the file system to a specific folder. “This is one of the files in the shared drive.” he explained, “If you could take these files and take out the monetary amounts and replace them with an underlined space, we can use them as templates for next time, and it’ll make our lives easier.” he showed me an example, “Like that.”

“Of course!”

“This will take you a good while, since there are quite a few, fairly long documents in here. Just save them in the same file when you’re done.” Axl told me, giving a brief explanation of the naming system they used for files.

He stood, and went back around the desk, allowing me to resume my seat. “Of course! I’ll let you know when I’m done!” I smiled.

The bodyguard went back into his office. I was beginning to realize that Axl was sort of like the office manager, too. But that made sense, if he was Fen’s main personal assistant.

Soon I was busily deleting numbers and replacing them with lines as Axl had requested. It was easy, steady work, and I could focus on my podcast.

At some point, I went back to refer to an earlier document, only to realize that the first couple of documents that I’d finished, I was currently working on my third one, were gone.

“What?!” I muttered, frowning as a sinking feeling filled me. It was a shared drive. I clicked around, checking to see if somehow they’d been moved or misplaced. But they hadn’t. They were just gone.

Now very annoyed, I pulled up the chat thread with Axl. *Axl, the two files that I was working on that I’d already finished are just gone. I checked to make sure that they hadn’t just gotten misplaced somehow (computers, yo), and I can’t find them. I can't shake the feeling that someone else deleted them on purpose.*

A few seconds passed, and his reply popped up. *It is a shared drive. That’s probably what happened. They probably heard me giving you directions and guessed what you were working on. Go back and re-do what you’ve already done, but save them onto your own computer this time. I’ll make a password protected shared drive for you to move them to and tell you how to access it.*

*Alright, thank you.* I hit enter, and sighed, then started over on the work.

This was going to get really old, really fast, if it kept up.