by Logan Jacobs
“You’d be our frontman,” I said, “at least to the elves. We’d take care of all the details, so you’d just have to pretend like it’s your operation.”
“We figured that the elves might be more open to buying the whiskey if they think an elf is responsible for it,” Penny added. “You know, elven prejudice and all that sort of thing.”
“I understand,” Flavius said. “So I would just have to set up meetings and then vouch for the quality of the whiskey, right? And you would, ah…”
“Pay you for it?” I smirked. “Yeah, that’s the idea.”
“And, uh, not to be too crude about it or anything, but how much coin are we talking about?” the day elf asked. “You know, just… I could really use the coin. I am interested.”
“Oh, you’re interested,” I said. “You wouldn’t have asked that question if you weren’t, and you definitely wouldn’t still be talking to us if you didn’t want in on our little operation.”
“Alright, alright, I’m interested,” Flavius said. “But I really can’t vouch for a product or tell you who would like it if I haven’t actually tasted it for myself, so…”
“We didn’t bring any whiskey with us, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said. “It would be pretty stupid to bring something that illegal with us to our first meeting with you, don’t you think?”
“You know, just in case you turned out to be less than cooperative,” Penny said.
“Right, of course,” the day elf said. “But then-- okay, so let’s say I’m interested, as long as the pay is worth my while.”
“It will be,” I said with a shrug. “And just to show you that I mean well, I’ll even let you sample the product before we settle on the specifics of our arrangement.”
“Why don’t you meet us at noon tomorrow?” Penny suggested and then glanced up at me. “Maybe at, um… what do you think?”
“At the fountain in the eastern quarter of the Hanging Gardens,” I said. “We’ll bring a sample for you to try, and you bring a list of the names of elves who might be interested in our product.”
“This isn’t some kind of setup, is it?” Lord Flavius asked.
“If we had wanted to kill you, don’t you think we already would have?” I grinned. “Trust me, we want your contacts just as much as you want our coin.”
“But speaking of setups,” Penny said, “if I were you, I wouldn’t--”
“I won’t say anything to anyone,” the elven lord said. “What would I even say? A human and a pixie offered me money to introduce them to some elves around the city? And they want to sell everyone drinks that taste as good as they’ll make you feel?”
“Yeah, to be fair, I don’t think you’d get very far with that kind of information,” I laughed. “Then we’ll see you tomorrow, Lord Flavius. Don’t be late.”
“I won’t be, I swear,” the day elf said. “But do you think I could… you know… maybe know your name?”
“Wade,” I said as I stood up from the chair. “And if you can still remember that name tomorrow, maybe I’ll throw in a few extra coins for you.”
I slipped my hand around Penny’s waist and moved toward the door, and as soon as we slipped back outside, we hurried out of the VIP section and back onto the main floor of the casino. We blended into the crowd as best we could, and then we turned our gaze back toward the roped-off section to make sure that Lord Flavius didn’t come out screaming.
I had a feeling that we wouldn’t have to worry about that.
After a few minutes passed, the day elf finally came out of the private room, but he rejoined his party like nothing at all had happened. He had been too eager to hear the details of my proposal, and that meant he might as well already be on my payroll.
“Do you think we can trust him?” Penny murmured beside me.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that we can trust any elf,” I replied, “but I sure as shit think we can use him, and once he sees the money we can pay him, I’m pretty sure dear old Flavy will bend over backwards to do anything that we ask him to.”
“Good,” Penny said, “because I’m ready for us to speed this operation up.”
“I know what you mean,” I said with a smile. “Once Flavius is officially on our payroll, then that means all the races in the Gold City will be buying whiskey from us, and that includes the elves.”
“That’s hard to even imagine,” the redheaded pixie sighed. “It’s almost like a dream.”
“Well, you better get used to it,” I said as I pulled the green-eyed thief closer to me. “Because once that happens, we’ll only just be getting started.”
“And then comes the revolution,” Penny whispered.
“Well, that’ll come soon enough,” I said. “But that won’t be the first thing that happens.”
“Then what’s the first thing that’s going to happen?” the redhead asked.
“Oh, that’s easy,” I laughed. “First, we’re gonna become as rich and as powerful as Kings and Queens.”
Chapter 12 - Ashlin
I wiped the back of my neck with a towel and then twisted my dark hair up into a loose bun. I thought rehearsals would finish a little earlier, so I might have time to clean up before my meeting with Cimarra, but Count Kieran had made us work late, and that meant if I didn’t get down to the office in about two minutes, I would miss our appointment time.
I knew that Cimarra would understand. After all, she was the most understanding person that I knew, but I didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness. She had said that she needed to meet with me after rehearsals this afternoon, and even though she hadn’t said what it was about, Cim had made it sound like it was important.
After I slung the towel over the back of a chair backstage, I slipped on my shoes, pulled on a light robe over my dancing clothes, and hurried toward the stage exit. Just before I could sneak out the door, one of the other dancers hurried after me and caught me just before I left the stage.
“Ashlin!” the blonde dancer panted. “I’ve been trying to get your attention!”
“Oh, sorry, I must not have heard you,” I lied. “Can it wait? I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“Well, I guess so,” the other dancer said. “I was just really hoping that you could go over that last step with me one more time. You know, the one where--”
“How about we go over it right before the performance tonight?” I asked. “That way, it’s still fresh in your mind, okay?”
“Well, I’d rather--”
“Trust me, it’ll be better that way,” I interrupted her. “Plus, if you fumble the move, you can just do what all the rest of us do.”
“What’s that?” the blonde asked. “Curl up into a ball of embarrassment and just die?”
“No,” I laughed, “just make your shimmy a little bigger, and no one in the audience will notice your footwork.”
“Oh!” the blonde dancer said. “Oh, well-- I mean, I can do that.”
“I’ll show you tonight, I promise,” I said, “but right now, I’m so sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”
I stepped around the other dancer and hurried down the hallway toward Cimarra’s office. I felt bad that I had tried to ignore the blonde at first, but it was only because I’d been in a hurry. I had to remind myself that she was new, and that just meant she was scared and wanted to do a good job.
After all, there weren’t very many respectable jobs for a young human woman in this city, so I knew she just didn’t want to screw it up and lose the best thing that had ever happened to her.
I knew that was how I’d felt when I had first started working here.
When I was just outside Cimarra’s office, I wiped a little line of sweat from my hairline and brushed it off onto my robe. I knew that it was silly to be so concerned about my appearance, especially since Cim and I had danced together before she stopped to devote all her time to Wade’s business accounts. We had both seen each other drenched in sweat on stage before, so it wasn’t like she’d be surprised to learn that
I had sweated during rehearsals today.
But when Cimarra had asked to meet with me, it had sounded like more than just an everyday kind of meeting, so I had really wanted to look nicer than usual. But it was definitely too late for that now, so I tried to push aside the thought and just steady my breathing before I walked into her office.
Of course, that meant I also had to push aside the real reason that I had wanted to look nice. Sure, I wanted to get a little cleaned up to meet with Cimarra if we were going to talk about something important, but I knew that deep down, I wanted to look as pretty as possible because…
Well, because of the off chance that Wade would be there.
I knew that was completely ridiculous, but I couldn’t help myself. We had only just seen Wade, and I knew that he had long since gone back to the Gold City, so there would be no reason for him to come back through the portal already.
And it certainly wasn’t because he was going to suddenly burst into the theatre, scoop me up into his arms, and carry me off to bed.
My cheeks grew hot at the thought, and I shook my head to try to get them to return to their normal color before I went inside to see Cimarra. Here I was, all hot and flushed at the thought of Wade, and I was about to go see one of his women.
But even though it felt a little disloyal to Cimarra, I thought maybe it wasn’t such a crazy thing to have thoughts like that about Wade. Not that I would ever be able to tell him how I felt about him, but somehow, I didn’t think Cimarra would really mind.
After all, it wasn’t like she was his only woman. I knew that Wade was also with Penny and Ava, and I was pretty sure that Twila was one of his lovers, too, but nobody had confirmed that for me. Cimarra didn’t seem to mind any of them, so maybe she would understand the crush that I had on Wade.
But even when I thought about telling her, I felt my cheeks grow hot again, and I couldn’t imagine actually saying the words out loud. Because at the end of the day, it wasn’t really a crush. I was desperately and hopelessly in love with Wade, and I didn’t think I would ever be able to tell him.
And it really hurt.
I could never be like those other women. They were all so badass and talented, so I didn’t know what Wade would ever see in me. Cimarra was brilliant and had a great head for business, Twila was charming and a constant source of information, Penny was fierce and the best thief in the city, and Ava was a fucking real-life assassin.
And I was just a poor dancer.
“Ashlin, is that you out there?” Cimarra called from inside her office. “You don’t have to wait for me to call you inside, you know.”
“Sorry!” I said and turned into her office. “I was just trying to get a little less sweaty, that’s all.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Cimarra said from behind her desk. “It’s just me, after all.”
One quick glance around the office told me that she was right, and Wade was nowhere in sight. That was probably for the best anyway, since it still felt like my cheeks were actually on fire, and I was only now able to exhale.
“Do you need some water, sweetie?” Cimarra asked. “You still look really flushed from rehearsals.”
“No, I’m okay,” I said and then bit my lip. “Count Kieran worked us later than he was supposed to, so I just haven’t had time to cool off yet, that’s all.”
“Okay,” the raven-haired woman said. “In that case, why don’t you have a seat, and we can get started?”
I sat down across the desk from the other woman and crossed my legs back and forth a few times until I found a comfortable position. While I adjusted myself, Cimarra scanned a few lines from the stack of papers spread out in front of her, and then she finally swept them to the side and looked up at me.
“This is actually about rehearsals, so I’m glad you brought it up,” Cimarra said.
“Count Kieran hasn’t said anything to you, has he?” I asked. “I’ve been hitting all my marks, and I know I can’t get that one jump like he wants me to, but my legs just literally aren’t long enough, so as much as I want to, I just--”
“I didn’t call you here to scold you,” the other woman interrupted. “And we both know that you’re one of the best dancers that Kieran has, so if he ever even thinks about complaining about you, I’d have his head for supper.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, then, if it’s not about my performance, then what is it?”
“Well, it is technically related to your performance,” Cimarra said with a smile. “I want tonight to be your last performance, Ashlin.”
“But you just said--”
“This is a good thing, not a punishment,” the raven-haired woman interrupted. “I want tonight to be your last performance because starting tomorrow, I want you to be my full-time assistant.”
“Oh!” I said. “Really? You want me?”
“Of course, I want you,” Cimarra laughed. “You’re like my little sister, Ashlin, and that means I trust you completely. Plus, it’s obvious that you have a good head for business, and you’re always willing to do whatever I need or ask you to do.”
“I just didn’t think--”
“Unless you don’t want to be my assistant?” the other woman interrupted. “You certainly don’t have to be! I just assumed that you might want to-- you know, that you wouldn’t necessarily want to be a dancer forever or anything, but if you do, then--”
“No, no!” I said. “I do want to be your assistant. I’d love to! I’m just surprised you asked me, that’s all.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be,” Cimarra said, “but you’re very modest, so I’m not surprised.”
“I mean, I love dancing and everything,” I said, “and I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to dance here in Count Kieran’s show, but…”
“But you want more?” the other woman guessed.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “I’d much rather work for… well, for you.”
“Well, you’ll actually be working for Wade,” Cimarra said, “and you’ll just be working through me and alongside me. That’s all.”
“Yeah… that’s right…” I felt my cheeks grow hot again at the sound of Wade’s name, and I wanted to melt into a pile of sweat that would just evaporate from the floor at my feet. There was no way that Cimarra didn’t notice, and I could have kissed her when she didn’t say anything about it.
“Anyway,” Cimarra continued, “now that we have so many properties and accounts to manage, I really need someone to help me, so I don’t get behind with any of my work.”
“I guess keeping all the accounts for two cities would be a lot,” I said.
“Exactly,” the other woman replied. “It’s one thing just to run the accounts here, but now that we have the accounts in the Gold City, too, I really need a second pair of hands. Especially since if things go well there, we’ll just keep expanding and growing our business all over the rest of the empire.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “But you know I’ve never really done any kind of record-keeping or anything like that, right?”
“I know,” Cimarra said with a shrug. “But you’re also a fast learner, so I know you can handle it. And just as importantly, I know that you’re loyal to Wade, so we can trust you with all of the information that you’ll need to know.”
“Yes, absolutely,” I said. “I would never do anything to hurt him or put him in danger-- or his business, I mean.”
“Both are important.” The other woman smiled at me. “And don’t worry, Wade knows how loyal you are. He thought it was a great idea when I told him that I wanted you to be my assistant.”
“He did?” I swallowed.
“Of course,” Cimarra replied. “This way, you don’t have to dance in the show anymore, I get an assistant, and you get to help Wade and his whiskey empire.”
“That sounds amazing,” I said. “I mean, really. It’s perfect.”
“Good, I’m glad you agree,” the raven-haired woman said. “We’ll start tomorrow, so make su
re you enjoy your last performance tonight, okay?”
“I will, I promise,” I said.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Cimarra said. “You can still dance if you want to, but just not in the show. Any other dancing that you want to do would just be personal. You know, just for yourself.”
“Do you still dance?” I asked.
“Sometimes, but not really just for me,” Cimarra said and then gave me a little wink. “That’s more of something that I do for Wade, you know.”
“Oh!” I bit my lip. “Oh, I understand.”
Before my face could turn any redder than it already was, someone knocked on the door, and we both turned to see Twila in the doorway.
“Hello, loves,” the halfie madame said. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No, we were just finishing up,” Cimarra replied. “What can I do for you? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, everything’s good,” Twila said as she strode into the room, shut the door behind her, and then sat down in the chair beside me. “I just wanted to stop by and give you girls an update from Golierian.”
“Have we already made progress with the human guard?” Cimarra asked.
“Yes,” the golden-haired halfie said with a grin. “Golierian signed all the papers and made everything official, and he just came to tell me about it this morning.”
“Perfect,” Cimarra replied. “Does Dryson know yet?”
“Oh, Dryson also came to see me this morning,” Twila said, “and he said that he’s already picked out fifty men for the foundation of the guard, but he has two dozen more that he can use as backup.”
“You mean like understudies?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Twila told me. “At least, that’s what it will look like to the elves, but since even understudies need to be trained like the main performers…”
“Then the human guard will technically be fifty men, plus two dozen extra, equally trained men,” I said.
“That’s the idea,” the beautiful halfie said with a nod. “The elves will just think it’s in case something happens to any of the other human guards-- you know, so they’d have replacements-- but in reality, we’ll be forming the first real soldiers in Wade’s army.”