Being a banker was fun, until it wasn’t.

“Come on, surely you won’t mind a free dinner?” the man smiled at me as he leaned onto the counter, as much as he could before his nose bumped into the iron bars.

“I already have plans sir, I’m sorry,” I said to him.

“Just change them,” he said.

“Was there anything else you’d like me to help you with sir, or will that be all?” I asked him.

“If not dinner, a drink! My brother owns a wonderful tavern, with a balcony overlooking the sea!” he said as he stood back up.

“That sounds nice, sir,” I said.

He rolled his eyes, and it made me want to bang his head against the bars that separated us.

How did everyone else deal with this? They made it seem so easy…

“Now, now son. Take a hint with pride and get going,” another man behind him said. The man trying to flirt with me turned, to obviously protest, but the moment he saw who was behind him… he went silent.

“Uh… yea…” the man then coughed and hurried away, without another word or even a glance at me.

The older man who had been waiting behind him smiled as he walked up to the counter. Two men who stood beside him on either side were also smiling, amused.

“Thanks for that sir. How may I help you?” I asked the obvious nobleman. He actually wasn’t dressed as nice as some of them, but his two guards were enough proof to validate the assumption. So far only nobles had such guards.

“I’ve come to authorize a check. The individual should be in tomorrow to cash it out,” he said as he pulled around a letter.

He slid the letter along the counter, and under the bars. I accepted it happily; glad to have a normal customer again.

“I’ll need to see your badge sir, and will need a signature,” I said as I put the sealed letter down under the main counter, onto my own. I reached over to grab the small board we used to verify signatures. It was a fine pen and white paper, which was so thin it tore sometimes even when people wrote upon it. I’ve had to replace the paper half a dozen times already today because of it. It was my first day and I already wanted to complain and tell them to use different paper.

“Of course,” the man happily pulled around his badge. He had made it into a necklace, so he had to pull it out of his shirt and off his neck.

Sliding the signature board over so he could sign it, I took the badge and studied it.

It had the number eighty three upon it, and the name Thraxton Albererc. The color if it was the same as all the rest, a burnt bronze, but his had a little emerald situated into the end of it. The little green jewel was used to let anyone know at a glance that it was for a noble, not a commoner.

As the man signed his signature, I noticed he had done so without tearing the paper. It told me he had done this often.

“Thank you, sir. I shall go verify this right now, if you’d like you are welcome to take a seat,” I said the usual line as I gathered up his badge, letter and signature.

“I’ll be here,” he said simply.

As I stepped away, I noticed the stares of the guards. They weren’t just glaring at me because they were weary, but for similar reasons as that other man had been doing.

Maybe men noticed me more when one of them tried to get my attention?

Walking to the back office, I passed a few other tellers. Most were human, but they were all friendly. The few that weren’t busy talking to a customer gave me smiles and words of encouragement as I walked past them.

Most thought I was a new hire, and were wishing me luck in keeping the job. Supposedly it was hard to do, and many people tried many times to get a job here before succeeding… and then were fired shortly after.

Entering a back office, I found Sofia. She was near her desk, but like usual not sitting down. She seemed to never sit, even when she wasn’t busy.

“Sofia I have a check that needs to be verified,” I told her as I walked up to her.

“Oh? Whose it for?” she asked.

“Thraxton Albererc,” I said. I hoped I had said his last name correctly.

“Ah, I know him well enough. Usually I’d just take a look at him to verify it, but since you’re new let’s do it the proper way. Come on,” Sofia waved me to the next room, which was full of cabinets.

Each cabinet had a letter upon it. Yet not all cabinets were the same. They were different colored, to represent the different clients. Sofia took me to the cabinet in the center of the wall. A cabinet that was white, made of fancy wood, and only had four drawers.

She slid open the second drawer, and allowed me to scan the folders for the correct name. I quickly lifted his folder, and was surprised to find that it was… thick. Nearly three times as big as the others I had opened and seen before.

“He’s actually a VIP. Chances are he only went to your window since you were new. He’s kind like that,” Sofia said.

Kind…? Because I was new?

We found his signature record, and I quickly compared it to the one he had given me. Then I compared the badge, its number, and the color and shape of its jewel.

It all checked out.

“All good?” Sofia asked.

I nodded.

“Then it’s authorized. I shall accept that,” she held her hand out for the letter, which I gave her.

“You destroy that,” she said with a point to the paper with the signature.

I nodded.

“Then I make a receipt and you give him back his badge, and the receipt,” she said as she stepped away.

I put his folder back and closed the cabinet drawer, following her quickly.

Sofia went to making the receipt, and as she did I wondered how many could authorize a check. “How many can authorize this? If you weren’t here?” I asked. I went to tearing up the paper of his signature as I waited.

“Any member, Renn. There’s a few… well, a few of them too,” Sofia said gently.

We were alone in the office, but her office door was open and there were people not too far from it.

“I see,” I said. I tossed the bundle of shredded paper into a bin next to her desk.

She handed me the receipt and nodded. “When you’re done with him go on a break. You’ve been working since we opened,” she said.

“I’m not tired,” I said simply. Did she forget I wasn’t human or something?

“I know. But it’s weird if we don’t pretend we are, Renn,” Sofia whispered.

I nodded, understanding. “Right.”

“Good,” she smiled and nodded, glad I understood.

Leaving her office I returned to my stationed window, and quickly laid down the man’s badge. “Your badge sir and your receipt. It has been approved, and tomorrow your check will be cashable,” I said.

“Thank you young lady,” Thraxton said as he put his badge necklace back on, and then I slid him the receipt.

“No, thank you sir for helping me earlier. I really appreciate it,” I said with a nod to him. He had helped me, even if it honestly hadn’t been very needed.

As he took the receipt, he also laid down a coin next to it.

“Huh?” I stared at it, and wondered if he wanted to now make a deposit.

“For you. Keep up the good work. Don’t let foolish men like that bother you, they’re not worth the effort it takes to toss them out,” he said with a smile.

“Ah…” the man turned away before I could figure out what to say. “Thank you!” I said as he and his guards left.

Reaching over to pick up the coin before anyone walked up, I slid it along the countertop and made it fall into my other hand.

A gold coin.

A… a gold coin? As a tip?

“Lucky…” one of the other teller girls whispered nearby. I turned to look at her, but she looked away real quick.

“Ah…” that was what Sofia meant.

He was kind to the new girls.

Reaching under my counter, I grabbed the closed sign and went to hanging it up. Everyone ignored me as I walked to the back hallway, as to go on this supposed break that was enforced.

Staring at the gold coin as I headed to the employee hall, I wondered how much it was worth.

Vim and I had a lot coins… but they had been the currency of Telmik, not Lumen. And although I was literally working in a bank… I still had no real clue on the buying power of the different coins I was handling.

Here the currency was called Marks. Lumen Marks. They even called the different metals the same thing, too. Silver and gold were both called Marks, oddly enough.

There were bronze and copper coins too, though I hadn’t seen many of those. Most of the coins used in the bank were silver and gold.

Wonder how much that check had been for…

Passing some gossiping women, I rolled my thumb along the coin’s edge as I headed for the lunch room. I didn’t have any plans to eat, but I had to go through that room to get to the main lobby from here.

“Oh new girl! How’s your day been so far?” a happy woman smiled at me as we passed one another, speaking happily.

“Very good! It’s fun here,” I said.

“Fun! This aint’ fun, this is life! Keep it up, this is the best place in the world honey don’t let it get taken from you!” she said as she passed.

I laughed gently at her. Taken from me… it seemed most of the human workers here thought the same way as her.

They worked hard, and went far and beyond their duties… because they didn’t want to be fired or replaced.

I wasn’t entirely sure what they were paid, or given, since of course… I wasn’t a human. I was a member of the Society. We didn’t get paid. Any of us could get any amount of money we wanted just by asking for it.

I’d ask Reatti later. It’d be interesting to know… and would probably help me understand the value of the currency too.

“Vim really should have answered some questions before running away,” I whispered.

But that was the kind of man he was. He expected me to just… learn on my own, I think.

“I heard someone mention Vim!” a happy shout came from the lunch room I neared.

Laughing as I entered the room, I raised my hand to Reatti. She had stood from her seat with a weird looking fruit in her hand which was half eaten.

“Of course it was you!” she shouted at me.

“Indeed it was,” I admitted as I walked up to her.

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She wasn’t alone. She was sitting with two other women… but I didn’t recognize either of them. One was dressed in the attire of a banker; the other wore a messenger bonnet.

“How’s being a banker?” Reatti asked as I stepped up to the table.

“I got a tip already,” I said as I showed her.

“What the heck!” the woman dressed as a banker shouted, nearly knocking over her cup in the process.

I shifted away, in case she spilled its contents. The banker’s uniform was black, and it would ruin easily if I wasn’t careful.

“Wow, jeez…” the messenger woman whistled at the sight too.

Reatti sighed as she reached out to take the coin. I let her, as she spun it around her knuckles. “Tip? You must be crazy good at flirting, Renn,” Reatti teased.

“Uhm…” should I tell them I had gotten it because I hadn’t been good at it?

“It’s real…?” the messenger asked while staring at it. I noticed the other woman was too. As the two drooled over it, I also noticed others at nearby tables started to look our way too. Some had begun to whisper amongst themselves.

“Ah well, just goes to show it does happen. Here ya go,” Reatti handed it back to me without a thought.

“Hm,” I nodded as I took it back.

“Have you gotten a gold mark before Lynn?” the messenger whispered to the woman she sat next to.

“Not even a silver mark,” the banker didn’t whisper.

Suddenly a little conscious, I smiled at Reatti and nodded. “I’ll see you later Reatti. I need to get something done before I go back to work,” I said.

“Oh! Keep it up!” she let me go with a knowing smile. She waved the half eaten fruit at me as I left.

Leaving the lunch room, I headed for the main lobby… and did my best to ignore the conversations I left behind. None were… mean, or bad, but it didn’t feel good to have received something that so many others seemed horribly envious of.

I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t need it. Or care for it. Yet by the sounds of it…

Glancing down at the fist that now hid the gold coin, I wondered if it would have actually changed lives as some of the humans had whispered it would do.

“Maybe it would,” I said as I remembered the conversation with Vim. Back in the beginning, in Ruvindale. When he had taught me about the coins of the north.

He had told me a single gold coin could buy the whole Sleepy Artist, and everything in it.

Maybe this coin was the same.

Hopefully not…

What kind of man would tip that much wealth though? Just for doing my job?

“Oh! Renn! How’ve you been? Did you find my sister’s dead body anywhere?” Brom asked me as I entered the main lobby. He was standing guard near the stairs.

“She’s having lunch,” I said with a smile at him. I liked these two a lot.

“Damn,” he sighed and nodded.

“Mind answering something for me, Brom?” I asked as I stepped up to him. I glanced around to make sure we were somewhat alone. Or well, as much as we could be in the main lobby.

Here it was busy, but it was the kind of busy that was loud yet not. I’d need to whisper to make sure no one could actually hear me.

He nodded and turned a little, since I had approached him on his scarred side. I stepped to the left, so I’d be able to whisper into his remaining ear.

“I got this as a tip. How much is it worth?” I asked him, and showed the gold coin to him with a cupped hand.

Brom frowned at it. “A gold mark?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Well… hm…” he looked around, and then nodded. “That’s more than a year’s wage for most of our workers, Renn. Who gave it to you?” he asked. I noted he actually sounded concerned. He didn’t want to know because he was jealous, but because he was worried that I might have caught the eye of someone strange.

“That’s very Vim of you,” I said to him.

The man blushed and stepped back, his mouth going agape. “What!”

A few people looked at us, but I ignored them as I giggled at him.

That reaction wasn’t, though.

As he tried to settle himself down, I noticed his scarred part of his face and head didn’t get red like the rest did. It remained a pale white.

Brom coughed, quickly getting himself under control. “Thanks,” he then said.

My smile broadened as I nodded. “Thanks,” I giggled at his honesty.

He sighed and shifted. “All the same, that’s a mighty gift. To us it doesn’t mean much, of course… but most humans would happily kill you for that,” he whispered.

“Even in this town?” I asked.

He nodded. “Especially here. Money is like their gods here,” he said.

“I see… It had been a noble. A man named Thraxton,” I said.

“Oh… oh good,” Brom visibly relaxed, which made me feel a little better.

“You know him too?” I asked.

He nodded. “I should. I’ve had to guard him a few times. He’s the king, Renn.”

I blinked, and the coin fell out of my hand.

Brom was the one who panicked and bent down to hurriedly grab it before it rolled away.

“Sorry,” I apologized as he hurriedly went to hand me the coin.

“Careful,” he warned.

I nodded as I accepted the coin back. “The king? Really?” I asked.

“Well, as much as one can be a king here. He’s not one yet, I guess. They haven’t passed the declaration yet. He’s the man who rules Lumen. The head of the royals,” he said.

“Wow.” Why hadn’t Sofia said that?

“That coin makes a lot more sense then. By the way, he knows about the Society. Or well, I don’t know how much he knows… but he knows that we exist. He knows we’re special. He’s offered the city to have Vim for a year, before,” Brom said.

“Wait what?” I nearly lost my bonnet as my ears jumped up at what he had said.

Brom raised a hand, telling me to lower my voice. I stepped away from him, and nodded.

“I don’t know the whole story, Renn. You’ll have to ask someone else. I’m sorry,” he said.

“Alright.” I would.

“You’re either very lucky, or the opposite. Not sure what to think of you yet,” Brom said.

“We’re going to find out. You’re still willing to spar later?” I asked as I prepared to step away, to head up the stairs to Gerald’s office.

He nodded, and smirked. “You bet I am. I’m winning that spear, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop me.”

“Sure and…” I stopped three steps up the stairs, then turned back to look at the man. “What?” I asked.

“Hm?” he tilted his head, wondering what I wanted to know.

“What do you mean win a spear?” I asked as I hurried back to the floor, to confront him.

Brom stepped back as I drew closer, and did so again when I stepped towards him once more. He couldn’t retreat anymore as he hit the edge of the stairwell’s handrail. He groaned as he gave me a worried smile. “Vim… he promised me one of those spears if I didn’t let you beat me while he’s gone,” he said.

“You’re kidding!” I shouted.

The whole room went silent, and we were now the center of attention.

Brom raised his hands, to try and calm me down. “I’m sorry… I thought you knew and…” he mumbled, now worried.

For a tiny moment I didn’t see Brom, but instead only my anger. But that fraction of a moment passed quickly… and I let it go, and smiled at the man who was now cowering before me.

“It’s ok,” I said.

It wasn’t.

“Is it?” he moaned with a tiny voice.

“I’m not angry,” I said.

At Brom.

“You sure…?” he whispered and looked around, as if for help.

“I’ll just have to beat you harder, is all,” I said.

“Please don’t…” he groaned.

“Then, I’ll beat him…” I mumbled as I went to climb the stairwell.

As I left Brom behind, I ignored his relieved sigh.

I couldn’t believe Vim. Really? He promised one of the spears? To keep me from winning of all things!

I can’t believe he’d do such a thing. Really. That man. That protector!

“Free will my butt!” I grumbled as I knocked loudly on Gerald’s office door.

“Enter!” he said.

Opening the door, I stomped into the room and slammed the door shut behind me.

Gerald yelped, standing up from his desk.

“Renn! What is it?” he asked worriedly. He was alone, and had been writing something… writing with a pen that was now…

Staring at his left hand, and the broken pen that barely was hanging on within it, I sighed and felt horrible.

“You broke your pen, Gerald,” I said.

He looked to his pen, then back at me… then at the pen again. He coughed and nodded. “So I did…”

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself and realized I really needed to not get so angry around these people yet. Even Brom had been scared of me a moment ago… luckily he was made of stronger stuff than Gerald.

“Sorry Gerald. I had just been… I just learned something upsetting. If you don’t mind I think I’m going to stab Vim in his sleep when he gets back,” I said as I stepped up to his desk,

Gerald, surprisingly, grew a huge smile. “Please do!”

“You seem oddly happy at that idea,” I said.

“Well… better you stab him than anyone else. Plus it’s not like it’d work after all,” he said.

“True,” I said. Though… why wouldn’t it? Although we could endure a lot of damage, we could still die. Even Vim wasn’t free of that rule.

Gerald tossed his broken pen into a small chute near his desk, and pulled open a smaller drawer as to procure another.

“Sorry again,” I said.

“It’s fine. I break them occasionally… though…” he slowly sat down as he pondered it. “A few years it’s been. I think,” he noted.

Great.

“Did my letter ship yet?” I asked. That was the entire reason I had come here after all.

“It has. Though Renn, it will take many weeks… maybe even months, depending on the passes, to reach her,” he said.

“That’s fine. As long as it does,” I said.

Hopefully Lomi enjoyed reading it as much as I had written it.

He nodded. “It shall. The couriers we use are the ones the whole Society uses, Renn. We pay them exceedingly well, and hand pick them from our other messenger programs. They’re basically raised from birth to be trustworthy,” he said.

“Raised from birth?” I asked. I thought of the messenger girl in the lunch room, who had been sitting with Reatti.

Gerald nodded. “We fund many of the orphanages throughout the town, and even most the country. Through the church in the west as well. A part of that charity is used to find skilled and trustworthy children, to take in and raise to become workers. Employees or servants.”

Slowly sitting down in the chair in front of his desk, I stared at the man who just calmly told me something absolutely amazing.

“We do that?” I asked.

He nodded. “Rather our sisters and brothers in the church do. I don’t know the entire process or details… we don’t get them until they’re of age, usually,” he said.

“I see…” I wondered if that was a good thing. “By the way… I was wondering why all of our employees seem to think I’m going to be fired soon,” I brought up to him.

“They all think that, because they worry over it for themselves. We hold raffles for employment, and are very scrutinizing when we do. Compared to most other guilds our pay and benefits are nearly night and day in levels,” he said.

“We pay well?” I asked.

“We pay three times the average as a base. We also provide many benefits, perks, and give bonuses. We also provide housing to those with families, for a much reduced fee,” he said.

“We give houses?” I asked, I sat forward. That was…

He nodded. “Just to those with families. They need a child… though lately I’ve noticed a vast uptick in early births and marriages. I think we might need to reconsider how we do it…” he said as he thought about it.

“Huh…” I wasn’t sure what to say or think.

Great pay. Bonuses. Homes…

“You’re like a church unto yourself,” I said.

Gerald frowned, but nodded. “Well, our guild stems from them. Most of us here aren’t devout like those back west, but there are a few who are… and Brandy, for as sinful as she is about money, is heavily religious too,” Gerald said.

That was new information. And it made sense, too.

That was why she was the bookkeeper. It was why the Chronicler and the rest trusted her, then.

And also explained why Vim didn’t seem to care for her much either.

“What do you have there?” Gerald noticed the coin in my hand as I scratched my ears beneath my hat.

“Ah… a coin. The uh… King? Thraxton gave it to me as a tip, I guess,” I said.

“Thraxton was here?” Gerald blinked, staring at the coin.

I nodded.

“He gave you a… a gold mark, as a tip?” he asked me.

I nodded again.

Gerald sighed and sat back, suddenly looking tired. “You’re…” he groaned.

“I’m what?” I asked.

“Nothing… nothing… what are you going to do with that? It’s a fortune, Renn. If any of our human employees saw that…” he shook his head, unable to finish his words.

“Know anywhere I can buy paint and a canvas?” I asked.

Gerald lifted his head in thought. “Paint and canvas? You wish to paint something?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I see… Yes. I can procure them for you. Or would you rather go buy them yourself?” he asked.

“I’d rather buy them myself, if you don’t mind. If it won’t cause trouble,” I said.

I wanted to see the town.

“I’ll send Reatti with you then. I don’t want you to be offended Renn, it’s not that I don’t trust you… but the art of painting is still something only the wealthy and powerful indulge in. Even here in Lumen. The shop is one that will get you noticed just for looking into its window. Please understand,” he spoke kindly, but firmly. He wouldn’t back down on this.

“I’m completely okay with that,” I said.

Gerald breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “Good. Good. I’ll let her know… that coin can be used. I doubt you’ll spend it all, but depending on what you buy and how much it might take a good portion of it. Plus they’ll have change for it too,” he said with a nod.

“Painting is that expensive?” I asked. It hadn’t been that bad in Ruvindale.

“It is.”

“Hm…” Maybe it was because of locations.

“Did Thraxton say anything to you? Anything odd?” Gerald then asked.

I shook my head as I slowly stood from my seat. It was time I went back to work. I wasn’t entirely sure how long a break was… but it had to be over by now. “Not really. He just wanted to verify a check. For someone tomorrow,” I said.

“Ah… that’s probably what Sofia delivered a few moments ago, then,” Gerald said with a look to the right of his desk. Where a little box was, with a single small parchment left in it.

“Likely,” I said.

“Thank you Renn,” Gerald said as I went to leave.

“For what?” I asked.

“For being what Vim said you were,” he said as he went back to work, focusing on the piles of paper before him.

Hesitating at the door, I wondered what Vim had said I was.

Opening the door, I thought of the way I had scared him upon entering… hopefully Vim didn’t mean it that way.

Yet…

“Bye Gerald,” I said as I left.

He nodded quietly, and I left him and his pen strokes alone as I went back to work.