After returning the dishes to the kitchen, Allisse finally remembered the bag of magical components tied to her waist when it bumped into the door frame, and so she made her way to Aeriav’s suite to deliver them. She knocked on the door and Thomas opened it. She tried not to stare at the withering on his face and turned to the warlock instead. “I picked up everything on your list,” she said.

Aeriav glanced through the bag’s contents and walked away. Allisse turned to Thomas. “The platinum coins you gave me were Recilian sovereigns. They’re worth almost twice as much as a normal crown. I have the rest of your money.”

“I might never have caught that,” said the fighter. “Still, I said you could keep the change so you can keep it. Feel free to get back to your work.” He started closing the door and Allisse walked away, stunned. She’d expected to make decent tips, but this was… This would change…

She felt a thousand worries she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying slip away. The house was out of food, but now they’d be able to fill the pantry, catch up on the last two months of rent and pay next month in advance, plus have more than half of the money left over for anything else that came up for quite some time.

A single tear ran down her face, and more followed it as the emotions overwhelmed her.

Allisse got ahold of herself and wiped her eyes. She’d figure out what to do with the money later. What did she need to do now? The flow of customers –no, they were called patrons– seemed to have stopped for a moment. So she had time to… clean the privies. She headed to the nearest water closet, looking around for patrons who would need her urgent help. But of course, when she needed them most, the halls were empty.

As she reached the door, Thinneus was coming up the stairs holding a crystal decanter full of water. “Good timing!”

“Oh?”

“I also heard about your fall earlier today, so I brought you a snack”

Allisse blushed. “It wasn’t that big a deal. Besides, I ate my fill at lunch.”

Thinneus pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and unrolled it to show a heaping handful of candied almonds. “You sure?”

“I was, but you make an excellent point.” Allise popped a couple into her mouth and Thinneus took one. “These are amazing. Where did you get them?”

“I –crrk– swiped these from the kitchen.”

“I don’t know if you should have done that,” said Allisse, eating another almond.

“The pantry’s full of food; they won’t miss it.”

Allisse shrugged and ate a few more. Thinneus finished his and asked, “So what do you do for fun when you’re not running in every direction helping customers?”

“Patrons,” Allisse said. “At least, that’s what I was told we were supposed to call them.”

“Okay. So?”

“Huh? Oh. I don’t know. I keep pretty busy. My grandmother is sick and I’m the only one to care for her and bring in money, so I spend most of my days working or looking for work. And I try to help her when I can.”

“So you never have fun, then? I don’t buy it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met people in my life that I believe have no idea what fun is. But you, you’re not one of them.”

Allisse smiled. “Well, I like to go up to Market Plaza and watch the street magicians putting on their shows. I feel bad because I never have any money to give them. But I love to watch.”

“You like magic?” said Thinneus, perking up. He made a flurry of gestures with his right hand and out of his palm a tiny cherry blossom tree sprouted from a seed and bloomed into a rainbow of colorful flowers. It was obviously an illusion, but Allise was transfixed as the scene changed and butterflies streaked forth- And then her vision went black.

“Allisse, are you okay?”

“I think so.” She felt a bit of bile rise. “No.” She opened the door to the water closet and threw up into the latrine. Thinneus tried to hold her hair back out of the way.

“I’m sorry,” Allisse said.

“Don’t worry about me. Did my magic do something to you?”

“I don’t think so. I feel just like I did when that grubwump hit me with… whatever it was it hit me with.” Thinneus handed her the now-empty handkerchief and she wiped herself off.

Allisse sat down for a second. “Sorry to waste your thoughtful gift.”

“It was stolen.”

“Well, I told Wren I’d clean the privies. I guess I know where to start.”

“I’ll help,” said Thinneus.

“I can’t ask that from you.”

“I’m not going to leave you by yourself. Besides, I was already planning on it.” He pulled out a washcloth and a bar of soap.

“All right then.”

Thinneus wetted the rag from the decanter and handed it to her with the soap. He then rinsed out his own handkerchief from the decanter as well.

“You’re using that as a rag?” Allisse said.

Thinneus shrugged “It’s already dirty.”

They set to scrubbing.

“So, did we finish everything on that list Marcaveus gave us?”

Thinneus pulled it out and began rereading it. “Everything except… oh, we need to check on rooms and see if there’s anything people need us to do for them.”

“We’ll have to remember that. Where did you learn magic?”

Thinneus focused intently on his cleaning for a moment. “I picked it up here and there. So, what did you do before you started work here?”

“When I was little, I helped my parents make charcoal. Then… goblins attacked one day and my parents didn’t make it. I went to live with relatives in the city, though they kind of treated me more like a maid. And when their smithy started losing business, they sent me out to live with my grandmother. Since then I’ve been doing odd jobs to keep my head above water. It’s been tough.”

“I was adopted too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Thinneus scrubbed an already-clean wall. “I got separated from my birth family when I was just a baby.”

“Were you ever able to find them again?”

“No. They died.” He kept scrubbing for a few moments and then continued. “If I’d been with them I’d probably be dead too, so I guess it worked out. Anyway, this restroom is clean; we should probably move on.”

A patron came up to them as they were walking. “I heard your inn features baths.”

“Yes,” said Thinneus, “the Alabaster Inn has every luxury you could desire. The bathhouse is down the stairs and to the right. And if you need anything, we’ll be happy to help.”

The guest left and they made their way to the privy on the next floor. It was dirtier than the last one, but having someone to help made it more bearable. They both set to scrubbing.

Allisse asked Thinneus, “So how did you come to work at the Inn?”

“It was time for me to head out on my own and I decided to come to this city. I asked around and this sounded like the best way for me to make some quick coin and get a place to stay while I figure out how to go on from there.”

“Wait, did you just come up to the Inn and ask for a job?”

“Yeah. I spoke to Marcaveus last night.”

“And he just said ‘yes’? Are you a noble’s son or something?”

Thinneus laughed, “I’m a smooth talker is what it was. Why do you ask?”

Allisse wrung out her washcloth. “Adrosse was saying that pages are supposed to be the children of nobility.”

“Who?”

“Some girl who’s on staff, I think. She didn’t think I was cut out to work here.”

“Haven’t seen her. But I already know this about her: she has a habit of being wrong about things.”

Allisse smiled. “But even still, when I took this job, I didn’t realize that it was for people who grew up in noble households. I don’t know how to interact with high society. I nearly got killed by one of the monsters today and it wasn’t even the scariest one I’ve run into. The manager’s a vampire. And I’m constantly messing things up.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Thinneus wanted to speak but at that point a group of adventurers walked by and the sorcerer among them stopped to speak with Allisse. “We just got in from our journey and we’re famished. Could you get us some food from the kitchen; anything will do. We just need something to tide us over before we meet at the palace for dinner. We’ll be in the Magenta Suite.”

“Something with meat in it,” said the berserker.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

As she turned to leave, Thinneus grabbed her elbow lightly with one hand while conjuring a scrap of vellum into his other hand. He whispered in her ear, “When you have the time, read this,” as he tucked the note into her pocket. And then they were separated.

Allisse descended to the kitchen and saw Elizabeth scurrying between dishes, trying to keep them all from boiling over, burning, or going cold. Remon was working on what looked like a wedding cake, and it was as tall as Elizabeth. Allisse waited for an opportune time then spoke. “A group of adventurers wanted something to eat soon. They just got in and-”

“And they can go to some street vendor if they’re not willing to wait,” said Elizabeth. “I’ve spent hours preparing this feast and I don’t have the extra hands to make anything new let alone the time to make it correctly.”

“Now, now,” said Remon. “Marcaveus is always talking to you about putting the patrons’ needs first.”

Elizabeth sighed. Allisse said, “They’re headed to the palace for dinner.” She took a gamble on something she thought might get Elizabeth’s attention. “I think they’re worried the palace chef won’t be able to create a decent meal, and they don’t want to arrive too hungry just in case.”

“That’s a legitimate concern,” said Elizabeth. “Their cook can barely boil a roast, let alone manage a meal fit for heads of state. Well, I’m too busy to cook anything myself. And if Remon doesn’t finish his masterpiece he’ll be gloomy all night.” She looked over at it. “I probably will be too. Anyway, there’s room in the kitchen for a third. Do you know how to cook?”

“I’m passable.”

“It’ll have to do. I’ll walk you through it.”

“They said they wanted something with meat.”

“Hmm… Pan fried steak. It’s simple, delicious, and quick, and it’s not something any common inn would serve. Pull down a pan, start it heating on the range and then get a dab of bacon grease melting in it.” Allisse followed her instructions as Elizabeth tended the various dishes that were going on, tasting and tweaking and moving them on and off the heat as needed.

As the bacon grease began melting in the pan Elizabeth said, “There’s some leftover beef in the icebox. Cut it into strips an inch thick.” Allisse got on that, careful to avoid getting any blood on her uniform. “Careful, careful,” said Elizabeth. “You don’t want them to be jagged or uneven.”

“I didn’t realize that affected the flavor,” said Allisse.

“It doesn’t. But it looks bad. And the meat can cook unevenly on one side.”

Allisse sighed and was more careful with the next one, working her way cautiously around the bone.

“That’s good. Get those two on the pan before the grease starts smoking.”

After Allisse had done that, Elizabeth had more instructions. “There’s butter in a dish there. Get three spoonfuls in a small bowl and then go over to the spice bins.” Allisse did, and opened the wooden containers to see an assortment of spices from around the world, placed next to common herbs like chives and mint. Its contents had to be worth the value of a small house. Elizabeth interrupted her gaping and said. “Take the butter and add salt, pepper, fennel, sage, and mystron leaves. A pinch of each.”

Remon paused in frosting the cake. “Not fennel, that’ll ruin it. Try saffron instead.”

“Saffron is for people who make it to dinner on time,” said Elizabeth, “not for people who can’t even be bothered to show up. And I agree fennel is bad on its own but it balances out the herb blend.”

“How about powdered truffle?” countered Remon.

“It’s too much.”

“Not if we leave out the fennel.”

“I already added the fennel,” said Allisse. “Should I have done that?”

“No,” said Elizabeth. “But mitigating disasters is a part of cooking. Add just a dusting of saffron and some jankin root. Wash it first; we don’t want our patrons tasting dirt.”

After Allisse finished seasoning the butter, Elizabeth had her cut two more steaks to replace the two that were about to come out of the pan. Then the chef dashed to move the drippings pan from the spit before its smoking contents burst into flames. Elizabeth surveyed the kitchen and examined the butter. “Good, now chop up some garlic, two cloves, as fine as you can manage. And then get the last pair of steaks ready.”

“These haven’t been cooking nearly as long. Are you sure?”

Elizabeth looked up from the pot she was stirring. “Yes. Some customers like their steaks cooked rare, others less so, so we did the first low and slow and we’ll be doing the last high and fast. They’ll all be cool enough to eat at roughly the same time, and everybody will have something to fit their taste.

When it came time to cook the last two steaks, Elizabeth had Allisse put the chopped garlic in there to cook briefly, only to scoop it back out and mix it into the butter. Elizabeth then said, “Remon, can you show her how to plate these correctly; I’m busy with the pheasants.”

Remon put a few flourishes on his design and walked over. “The thing about food is it should be as pleasing to the eyes as it is delicious to the tongue. Elizabeth thinks I’m mad but I swear it enhances the flavor. Anyway, you’ve got these laid out on the trays nicely but we want to spruce it up with some greens like this, and maybe some peppercorns like so.”

“What about some cherry tomatoes on the side for color?” asked Allisse.

“Good thinking. I had something else in mind but those work better. And then Elizabeth will want you to put a dollop of that butter you’ve been seasoning on each steak.”

Allisse finished garnishing and arranging the food and put a knife on each plate. Then Elizabeth walked over to inspect it. “Acceptable,” She said, adding some forks. “Now bring it up to them before it gets cold. And tell them you made it yourself.”

“You’re too kind,” said Allisse.

Remon took a bowl of fruit from the pantry and added several pears and two apples. “She just wants to make sure her reputation isn’t lessened by an amateur's cooking.” Elizabeth harrumphed and got back to her work. Remon handed Allisse the bowl of fruit and said, “Something to balance out the meal.”

Allisse took it in her other hand and out of the kitchen up to the adventurers. As soon as she knocked on the door, the berserker opened the door, yelled “Food’s here!” and eagerly took the plates while shutting the door with his foot. Allisse stood there for a second and then the door opened again, this time by the sorcerer. He said, “We’re supposed to tip aren’t we?”

“Yes,” said Allisse. “I, uh, they told me to let you know that I made it myself.”

The sorcerer shrugged. “What’s the normal tip?”

So far Allisse’s tips had ranged from pittances to enough to buy her own horse. She thought for a second but couldn’t get an answer she was satisfied with. “It’s my first day. I have no idea.”

The sorcerer dumped the contents of his coinpurse into his hand, picked out all the silver and copper coins, and handed them to her while returning the rest, then closed the door. If she didn’t make it past today, this would be enough money to feed her and her grandmother for the next week.

With that errand completed, Allisse decided to finish checking on the rooms. She knocked on the door to a suite, got no response, and then moved to the next. At the third door, the Cerulean Suite, Countess Barania herself answered the door and said, “There you are! We expected you hours ago. Marcaveus will hear of your negligence.”

That’s right. This morning they’d told her they wanted her to come back before lunch. “I’m so sorry m’lady.”

“I suppose it might work out. I’d like to take a bath.”

“Our baths are downstairs on the-”

The woman cut her off. “I’m not interested in the public baths. I wish to get clean in private. Have a tub brought to my room and full of water by the time I’m back. I can trust you to do that at least, right?”

Allisse nodded. The countess and her servants left. Allisse went to the back of the servants’ areas, hoping she could find a washtub. The area back here was mostly a hallway and stairs that led to other floors. She could use this area to get around the Inn without meeting other patrons. That thought made her smile. There were various closets that held supplies. It was back on the first floor that she finally found what she was looking for: a gilt, elegantly-wrought washtub that was more than big enough to accommodate one person. And a quick heft told her it was too heavy to carry up multiple flights of stairs. She’d have to get some help. And that reminded her of something. She propped open the door to the dining room and whistled, like Lupin had earlier that day. And it had the same result; in a moment there came a buzzing of wings and then a small pixie.

“Wren,” said Allisse. “I need to carry a bathtub up the stairs to a patron, and it’s too heavy. I bet you’re the strongest one here. Could you give me a hand, or four?”

Wren nodded and together they started maneuvering the washtub up the narrow back stairs.

“Oof,” said Allisse as a sharp turn forced her into a corner.

Wren said, “Sorry I got distracted by a noise I heard.”

“It was my fault,” said Allisse. “I got out of position.” Going up the stairs, she saw part of a figure moving up the next flight. It looked like they were wearing the same loose androgynous clothing that Adrosse wore. Whoever it was shut the door behind them.

Allisse looked at Wren. “What do you know about Adrosse?”

“Who? Is that a patron or someone who walked in off the street or how did you meet him?”

“Her,” said Allisse. “She said she worked here and she was really rude to me.”

Wren laughed. “Of course, Adrosse. Now I remember. Yes yes yes. You’ll have to forgive her she can be like that when she meets someone too much like herself.” She opened the door to the public areas with her own hands, her magical ones being otherwise occupied.

“Why does everyone keep saying she’s like me? I’m nothing like her.”

Wren did a terrible job of pretending innocence. “Maybe it’s just she looks like you and people get confused by the resemblance.”

“Maybe that’s it.”

“Allisse just as a favor don’t mention Adrosse to anyone outside the Inn. Marcaveus wouldn’t like it.”

“If you say so,” replied Allisse. They set the washtub down in the Cerulean Suite. “I don’t suppose you could help me with the water from the kitchen as well?”

“Nope, sorry, I really need to get back to work. Oh but don’t get it from the kitchen because Elizabeth’s going to be overwhelmed as is, instead you should get it from the baths where it’ll already be hot and we also had them blessed by a druid for a bit of healing magic and that should still be good even in a tub.” She flitted off down the hallway and Allisse was left by herself.

Allisse found a pair of buckets and began hauling hot water up the servants’ stairs to the Cerulean Suite. She remembered Countess Barania saying she’d tell Marcaveus about how Allisse had messed up. Then she remembered all the other mistakes she’d been making all day: arriving messy and barely on time, losing the grubwumps, making a fool of herself and the Inn helping sell the weapons, wasting time in the marketplace and getting back late, accidentally insulting professor Ilyana, and so much more. How many of those she’d failed would report that to Marcaveus? Probably most of them. Adrosse’s remarks came back to her. What made Allisse think she could make it here at the Inn? She wasn’t a noble’s child, she didn’t know anything about etiquette or what people like this were used to. Adrosse was probably right that Marcaveus had hired her on temporarily to fill a slot in his workforce until he could find someone who could actually do the job right. She was just embarrassing herself here. And it was exhausting her.

By the time Allisse had carried the pair of buckets up the stairs for the tenth time, her arms began to feel the weight and her mood had begun to darken. By the fifteenth trip, her arms were aching and her mind was trying to figure out if there was any point in continuing the charade. By the twentieth trip, she could barely carry the weight and had convinced herself she might as well quit right now and go home. Forget making the job last for days or weeks, she didn’t know how she as going to make it through the hour. She’d made enough money to survive for awhile and buy enough time to find a job she could actually do. And then a group of patrons walked by talking about dinner, and that reminded her how wonderful the lunch feast had been. She might as well hold out until after she’d gotten a chance at dinner. She hurried to finish the remainder of filling the tub and then headed down to the dining room. If she was going to quit, she was going to do it on a full stomach.