Jackson met the Madame the following morning. She was an older woman but had aged gracefully. Her hair was greyed by age, and her dark eyes showed wisdom. She dressed much more modestly then her girls, being a semi-formal dress of a green color. A leather belt was around her waist with an old sword, that was familiar to Jackson. Something about the craftmanship of the hilt.

“My name is Madame Julia. As you know this is my business for satisfying men more primal needs. Young Gypsy has told me of your deeds, and I am quite impressed. She also says she’d like you to join us as a guard, part time.”

“Yes, we don’t have anything.”

“She also says you like to hide things. What secrets lurk inside of you; I really don’t care. This is the deal I have to offer. We will give you a room, food and a small sum of silver at the end of each week. You will be the guard for the girls in house twenty-four hours a day, as well as a guard for any travel that we may do. If you do any adventuring, you must see me first before committing to any job and give me ten percent of the earnings unless I say otherwise. Also, advertisement is a good way to get on my good side. We are considered a blight to this town, and this new movement of girl power has made it worse. Spreading the word while working, I might be inclined to give you some extra cash per head.”

“Sounds fare. Do me and Barbara get paid separately?”

“No, a week of work will be money in both your pockets. But you won’t be paid if you’re not here. Few days absent will result in less money, and I won’t pay you if you’re gone for a week or more.”

“Sure. I’ll take the deal then.”

“Good, one question lad. Is that dagger one of John’s?”

“Do you know that blacksmith?”

“Yes, back when I adventured, he was the guy to get a blade from. His blade wasn’t bad either, too bad he ran away before I could tie him down.”

She seemed to day dream for a moment thinking of the blacksmith. Jackson didn’t know how to respond, so he just watched her.

“Heard you’re not so bad either. Not bad looking by any means, plus the different eye colors is a rare treat to see. Must draw a lot of attention.”

“Sorry, different eye colors? I’ve seen a lot of people with green eyes, is it rare?”

“Lad, only your right eye is green. Didn’t you know?”

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

Jackson was slightly shocked and looked for a mirror. He found one in the corner of the dimly lit room. He stared into his own eyes and was shocked to see that his left eye was indeed a different color. It was a rich gold color, like Barbara’s. His right eye was still its pale green.

“Why is it always my left side? Could this have something to do with my sight?”

“Lad, are you alright?”

“Yes. When I was fighting the Wurms, my eyes were Green, now one of them is Gold. It strange.”

“You fought them, maybe it was damaged and that is the result. Clearly wounds aren’t a new thing to you, missing an arm and all.”

“Your probably right. It just shocked me a little.”

…A week after the summoning…

Jackson parried Joseph’s blade easily. It was a comical fight. Joseph wildly swung, and Jackson countered. Joseph grew irritated and charged. Jackson saw it coming and spun out of his way. As Joseph tried to recover, he felt a wooden blade strike his back again. This was his fifth loss that night. Earlier that day, Jackson agreed to his private training idea and spent the last hour destroying him.

“Should of know… After all your cousins…”

“They have nothing to do with this. They may have learned formal styles of swordplay, won a few matches, but I never had any of that. I was the punching bag. I learned through getting beaten, like you are. But, why don’t you think?”

“Sorry, but I was trying to…”

“What was your strategy in that dual? Swing until I hit. Break his defense with force? I could see every attack you made before you even moved.”

“Why does that even matter? The strong will win the fight!”

“Fool, if I can tell the attacks I can know the ones to block, and the ones to avoid. I just got to wait for an opening, or you to collapse from the strain. What a joke of a hero you are! Think of this as chess, or a card game. Do you throw the queen away to kill a pawn, or a waste an ace when a two would do? No, you plan ahead and wait for an opening. Some say a match is determined before a single attack is made, it not strength, its prediction.”

“Easy for you to say. I never used a sword before. All I know is that they hurt when they hit you.”

“Try a metal pipe. Damn little… My arm still sit a little off from that time. But I did learn how to fight with one hand… Guess that something.”

“That sounds horrible! Your cousins…”

“My uncle… He doesn’t like me. Before I could fight back, he’d use me to teach my cousins. Maybe I picked my skills up from him.”

“Man, I’m sorry…”

“For what?”

“I never knew you had it so hard. I mean at school, and at home. Why didn’t you ever hang out with me?”

“Let’s have one more round before hitting the showers.”

…Present…

Jackson explained the deal to Barbara, and hoped she understood. In any case she seemed happy. Gypsy leaned off the bed post, smiling deviously.

“So, you agreed to stick around. So, dear, how will this work?”

“Gypsy, what are you on about? Didn’t I explain the deal?”

“Not that. I remember you saying something about your Aunt. Her beliefs. So, DEAR, how does this work?”

“You would remember that.”

“By what you said back then, aren’t we…?”

“Hey, I’m going to check on the guilds requests. I will need some spending money, plus Madame did say I get extra if I increase the number of people coming!”

Jackson rushed from the room. Gypsy started to laugh at his reaction. She would later explain what had happened to Barbara, whom seemed happy afterwards.