The Innkeeper's Daughter

Chapter One - A Perfect Day

Aliana yawned, smiling as she stretched across the bed. Her soft, lavender sheets twisted around her bare skin in a pleasant hug.

“Tea rose,” she said out loud, though it wasn’t necessary to do so. Aliana just liked the sound of her own voice– rich and pleasant, the voice of a rich man’s wife to be. At least, that’s what she hoped. She’d been practicing in order to impress Carl, the Viscount’s younger son.

Yesterday, they’d taken a walk in the royal gardens where they’d encountered the miniscule roses, whose fragrance was light and sweet. She conjured up the memory of it in her mind as best she could as her Ability activated.

Perfume Self Ability Activated!

New Perfume Discovered: Tea Rose!

Aliana smiled in satisfaction and swung her legs over her bed. She stood and inhaled deeply as she stretched, enjoying the light, sweet smell that hovered around her body like a mist. She liked using this ability every day as soon as she awoke, even before washing (most regular folks washed every few days, but Aliana had heard that Ladies of the Court washed every day, and so she did, too). She liked the way the warm water amplified the smell.

A quick glance out the window told her that it was already nearly noon. Oh, bother! she thought grimly. There wouldn’t be time for a full bath. Instead, she rushed over to her beautiful basin made of rare porcelain and dipped a washcloth in it, scrubbing her private areas and under her arms as quickly as possible before pulling on a long, flowing pale blue gown.

Her hair would have to remain unbound, but she thought Carl liked it when she looked a little wild. Of course, at his birthday celebration on Friday she’d be the picture of pristine perfection: the daughter of a prosperous Innkeeper becoming engaged to the Viscount’s son. Not his heir, obviously, that would be a bit too much even for Aliana to achieve. But even a younger son was still nobility!

She ran down the two flights of stairs as quickly as possible.

“Good morning, sunshine!” her mother called out from behind the Inn’s bar around the corner. “Or rather, almost afternoon.”

The Inn was a tall, relatively narrow building, but richly furnished and immaculately kept up. The downstairs was primarily the dining room to the left of the stairs as Aliana came down, from where her mother had greeted her, and just three rooms to the right– in the early days of the Bellowing Daisy Inn, when Aliana’s great great great grandparents had founded it, this ground floor had been all they’d had. The subsequent back storage rooms and the two floors above (one entirely comprised of luxurious rooms and the top reserved for the family, honored, intimate guests, with one brand new elegant suite) had been added on in her great grandparent’s generation, when the town of Lothelan’s increasing prosperity meant that it was more city than town.

Aliana had lived all her life in Lothelan as the pampered only daughter of a very prosperous Innkeeper. So prosperous, in fact, that she’d forgone focusing on Abilities that would help her run an Inn and had instead been working on Abilities useful to a Courtier. Her father had exploded with apoplectic rage when he'd realized what was going on under his very nose and to be fair, she could understand why. If one wasn’t born into the Nobility, a person with such a refined skillset risked simply languishing, becoming useless as they failed to find a venue in which to use their more elegant- if, to the lower classes, seemingly pointless- Abilities.

But there was no risk without reward, she’d explained to her father with exceedingly great patience.

She intended to marry well– very well– and then she would of course hire someone to run her family’s Inn. That she’d keep the Inn was a given, in her mind. After all, it was now one of the proudest and oldest institutions in the city. But she’d needed to do something intriguing to catch Carl’s eye, and something as bold as an Innkeeper’s daughter selecting Courtier would be just that. And it had worked! She was courting Carl and her father, dear man though he was, could kick rocks. Just like everyone else who had doubted her.

“We don’t have a choice,” her father was saying to their general manager, Stewart, in low tones. Aliana had his nutty skin and green eyes, but she had her mother’s rich dark tresses and thick eyelashes.

Stewart looked like he wanted to argue, but her father Roland cut him off.

“Let’s continue this conversation later,” her father said, eyes flickering at Aliana. His demeanor changed as she looked at her beautiful daughter. “Ally, my sunshine, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she said with pride.

“Cutting it a bit close, eh?” Her father winked and tousled his daughter’s hair.

Aliana reached over the counter and grabbed the piece of toast her father had been eating, scarfing it down in two bites. “I need my beauty rest.”

“No, you don’t,” her father said fondly. “What are your plans for today?”

“Carl is going to meet me at the fountain, and we’re going to go to the Library for a poetry reading, after which we shall have tea at the Keep,” Aliana reported promptly.

Her father smiled with pleasure. After all, what had their family worked for for so many generations if not this? A daughter married to nobility.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Do I look alright?” she said with a touch of anxiety. Today was the last day she’d see Carl before his birthday in two day’s time. She had to ensure that he would propose to her-- preferably in private before his birthday, but a large surprise engagement at the event itself would also suffice.

“You look wonderful,” her father reassured her. He reached out a hand and smoothed Aliana’s hair a little bit to make up for the slight muss he’d made earlier.

“Will my dress for Friday be ready tomorrow?” she asked her father.

He frowned, which alarmed her somewhat, but nodded. “Yes, my dove, it will be ready for Friday's party.”

“Excellent. Stewart, have it put in Room Three down here. I may want to make alterations,” Aliana ordered their general manager, who nodded his acquiescence.

“Now, where is that girl? She should have been here by now.” Roland frowned.

“Farewell, father!” Aliana dropped the crust of the toast back onto his plate, leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, and left.

Aliana stepped onto the street feeling buoyant and full of energy. She walked as quickly as she could without breaking a sweat– that wouldn’t do, even with the fragrance that surrounded her thanks to her Ability. In just a few days, she’d be engaged to Sir Carl, and could look forward to adopting the nomenclature Lady Aliana in reality.

She’d spent her life watching the lords and ladies– particularly the lesser ones from far off lands who frequented the Bellowing Daisy if there wasn’t room at the Keep. Roland had dedicated his life to keeping his mother’s (and his mother’s mother’s, and on back) Inn in the very best condition. True, travel had slowed somewhat over the last ten years or so as the roads had become more dangerous. But so what? That wasn’t her—

BANG!

Someone had run into Alianna, spilling a small cup of coffee all over her beautiful blue gown.

“Why you clumsy–!” Alianna snapped, looking down at the small, thin girl in front of her.

She had thick, dirty blonde hair that she’d attempted to tame into a heavy braid and grayish blue eyes. Clad only in a simple, beige tunic and black tights, she was obviously someone’s servant. In one hand she held the cup with the offending beverage, now half empty. The other, she held up in apology, and Alianna could see that she had no Sigils marking her wrist to indicate either her Class or Subclass. That meant she was young– perhaps around fifteen or so.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” The girl said in a loud voice. Louder than a servant should be, Alianna thought.

“Sorry doesn’t fix my dress!” Alianna looked at the beautiful garment incredulously. She was already late; she didn’t have time for this! People were starting to stop and look at the commotion, which wouldn’t do.

“I’ll… I’ll…” The girl looked completely frantic, and awkwardly grabbed her tunic and reached toward Alianna as if to use it for a towel.

“Don’t,” Alianna said contemptuously. “Just don’t.”

The girl stepped back, unsure of what to do.

Alianna concentrated.

Remove Stain Ability Activated!

In front of their eyes, the stain from the coffee disappeared from the dress. The girl stared at her with wide eyes.

“Well, that’s useful!” she said cheerfully, as though all wrongs had been forgotten with the restoration of the dress.

Alianna stared at her incredulously, but didn’t have the time to deal with someone so insignificant. “You mind yourself,” she said sharply, and turned to continue on her way to the fountain.

The nerve of some people! Alianna couldn’t believe the audacity of the girl, both to run so recklessly on the street and to be so… so chatty. Ugh. Not for the first time, she was grateful she’d acquired such a useful Ability, pedestrian though Remove Stain had felt at the time. But it was one of the few Abilities that had use both in her life as a Courtier and at home helping her father with the Inn, and Alianna, while proud, was nothing if not practical.

She put the disconcerting incident out of her mind as she approached the fountain. Ever punctual, Carl and his Bodyguard Oliver were standing next to it. Carl smiled like the vision he was.

Every inch a lord’s son, he wore a perfectly cut red velvet tunic that was probably a little warm for the late summer temperature, yet looked perfectly marvelous. He had perfect blonde hair with just the right amount of wave and lovely green eyes.

Our children should have the most marvelous green eyes! Alianna thought as her heart melted.

“My dear Alianna,” Carl said with a gallant smile, stretching his hand out to welcome her.

Carl was an Enchanter, a pathway common enough for a younger son, and he whispered something as she approached. Suddenly, in his hand he held a bouquet of fresh wildflowers. “For you, my lady. To match your wild yet elegant appearance.”

Alianna stuffed her excitement down into her stomach at this display of affection and adopted a proud, deserving smile.

“My dear Lord Carl,” she said as she accepted the flowers. “You flatter me.”

“Shall we go to the Library so I can read you some poetry?” he bowed and proffered her arm.

“Of course, my lord!” she accepted with all the gentility she could muster. Behave like a lady! she reminded herself.

“Oliver!” Carl snapped at his bodyguard, who nodded and walked with them.

“Hello, Oliver,” Alianna said graciously, thinking that generosity of spirit to the soon-to-be lesser Classes couldn’t hurt.

Oliver was a few years older than Carl, but already much taller and broader. He had very tanned skin– probably from all of the outdoor training he must engage in to keep his muscles so large and firm, Alianna thought– and warm brown eyes that probably would have matched his hair if he had any.

Oliver simply smiled and touched his hands to his head in a gesture of respect. He was a man of few words, though whether that was his nature or how Carl preferred it, Alianna couldn’t say.

“How kind you are to Oliver, my lady,” Carl said with an odd look in his eye. Alianna thought he sounded pleased, yet had the distinct impression that he was upset.

“One loses nothing by a little kindness,” she said, quoting a well known court pamphlet, but calculated that changing the subject immediately was most certianly in order. “Now, with which poet shall you delight my ears today?”