“Job?” Mauro repeated.
There was an awkward moment of silence, broken hesitantly by the older dwarf. “You… you are Mauro Theustone?” she asked.
“Yes.” Mauro said slowly.
“Oh,” Penya laughed. “You had me worried for a moment there! We’ll be travelling all over the place these first few weeks, so you’ll want to dress down a bit.”
The gnome seemed thoughtful. “Maybe no one told him he’d been hired.” He said.
“Nonsense.” Penya said sweepingly. “The Engine approved him right off.” She took Mauro gently by the arm and motioned to move out the door. “I’ll give you a tour and then you’ll want to find a place to stay while you’re trained—that inn you chose hardly commands the respect your position warrants.”
But it was cheap, Mauro thought to himself, and that was what mattered most.
The tour didn’t take long. Despite how large the entrance made the tunnels appear, there were only about twenty rooms in the area and most were machine rooms where parts of the Engine could be worked on. Mauro was introduced to the five other people who worked there and the receptionist, whom Penya had stopped briefly to talk to while Mauro showed himself out. He stopped short though as he walked through the door and straight into himself.
Things had a slightly different perspective from the view of the gnome. Fillo was not typical of his race—for starters, he was mostly responsible. He had a job he liked and he usually showed up on time for it and left it on time. The Engine liked that about him, such as the Engine “liked” anything. When work was over, he was social, usually with dwarves—sometimes drinking, sometimes playing sports, sometimes going to concerts. He was about as dwarf as a gnome could be. He didn’t even think that causing minor pain was all that funny. (Funny, still, but not as funny as most gnomes considered it.)
He liked his job and was particularly anxious about finally meeting Mauro. His sister had spoken very highly of him and said that he even had a slightly gnomish, if not somewhat sarcastic, sense of humor (or as close as a dwarf could come to that.) He had to admit though, that he was a little disappointed to finally meet the dwarf in person.
Somehow Fillo had never pictured Mauro as being the sort of person who would wear any kind of formal suit, let alone the heavily starched and pressed travesty that now adorned him. From Filla’s description of the “test” that she’d been hired to help with, he pictured a dwarf with a perpetual smile. In person Mauro seemed a little out of sorts and Fillo had yet to see a smile cross his face at all.
It was actually Penya who was laughing now. “’name’s Penya” she was saying, “I look forward to working with you.”
Mauro looked slightly taken aback by the seemingly innocuous comment. “Working with you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Penya answered jovially. “I’ll be showing you the tracks for the first few weeks on the job.”
“Job?” Mauro looked rather confused.
Penya didn’t seem to notice, but Fillo was beginning to think that maybe they had the wrong dwarf. “Yes, if you’re half as good as this gnome says you are, it will be a lot of fun working with you.”
“Job?” Mauro repeated.
Penya broke the somewhat awkward silence that followed while Fillo’s brain kept working feverously trying to make the social connections about what was going on here. “You…you are Mauro Theustone?”
“Yes.”
“Oh,” Penya said with a laugh. “You had me worried for a moment there! We’ll be travelling all over the place these first few weeks, so you’ll want to dress down a bit.”
Fillo though, saw what was happening. It almost made him feel like Mauro was redeemed somewhat. “Maybe no one told him he’d been hired.” He said. He knew he’d be pretty off kilter if he came for a job interview and instead was experiencing his first day.
“Nonsense.” Penya said sweepingly. “The engine approved him right off.” Penya took Mauro by the arm and motioned to move out the door. “I’ll give you a tour and then you’ll want to find a place to stay while you’re trained—that inn you chose hardly commands the respect your position warrants.”
Hardly didn’t cover it at all. Penya and Fillo had both laughed when the Engine printed up the information on where Mauro was staying. If a bad side of town was possible anywhere where the Engine was running, that would have been it. Filla had stayed there for one night the first time she came to visit. She picked it randomly, but when she saw that the room was smaller than the office where Fillo worked, she decided to spend the rest of her visit somewhere else. She dubbed the place the “Bedbug and Breakfast” and it had become a bit of joke between them.
The tour was long and boring. Penya didn’t even open the door to Fillo’s office, just swept past it and said something about a janitor’s closet—that might explain the cleaning supplies. More than once, Fillo wished that Penya would stop yammering and allow him a chance to ask Mauro a few questions himself. Every time he’d started to say something, the old dwarf had silenced him with a look. This didn’t surprise the gnome at all, since Penya had told him in advance that it would be better if Fillo just kept his mouth shut, so as not to give Mauro the wrong impression. Fillo didn’t believe she’d been serious until it was enforced.
Finally, just as they were finishing up, Penya stopped to talk briefly with the receptionist, Fragmar, while Mauro continued toward the door. Fillo figured now was his chance to ask some questions so he followed quickly. There was a hiss of steam and someone who looked almost exactly like Mauro, only a little older and dressed more like Fillo had pictured Mauro would be dressed, was standing right on the other side of the door.
“Amazing.” Fillo said sincerely.
The people who knew Simon, either for good or ill, could all agree that for all his faults, he was good at thinking on his feet. There was maybe a second’s worth of time that passed before a smile broke across his face. He motioned down and outward with his hands as though he was conducting music and said very plainly, “Oops.” It’d been years since he had used that gesture and phrase, but he was confident that Mauro would remember it.
The rather surprised “o” that formed on his old friend’s mouth reaffirmed the trickster’s confidence. Mauro’s voice entered his mind, “Simon?” The dwarf turned slowly to face the gnome and an extremely short white-haired dwarf who had also just approached the door. With the great mental acuity that the group’s stone singer was known for (he sure wasn’t known for his fashion sense or tact), Mauro motioned to Simon and said, “Penya, I’d like you to meet my younger brother, Ximon.” He used the dwarven version of the man’s name.
The older dwarf and the gnome both introduced themselves and shook his hand. Penya took a moment to stare at Simon’s face. It was hard for Simon to act like such an invasion of personal space was normal, which it was for dwarves. The older dwarf said slowly, “Are you twins? You sure look a lot alike.”
“No, he’s my much younger brother.”
Penya looked over Simon’s beard and again into his face. “Really? I’d think he was the older.”
Simon started to say something, but Mauro interrupted, “Oh no, he’s younger. He just ages faster.”
Penya laughed and seemed to expect Simon to say something, but the supposed sibling just smiled.
Mauro added dryly, “Much, much faster. Believe me.”
Simon laughed. “It’s only a little gray.”
“What are you doing here, brother?” Mauro asked, making the last word sound like a rather dry joke that was totally missed by everyone other than Simon. Again, Mauro’s voice entered the conman’s mind, “there better at least be a good story behind this.”
“I’d heard you were in the area and thought I’d stop by and visit.”
“On your first day on the job too,” Fillo piped up. “Would you like a tour? We just gave one to your brother.” Penya looked slightly annoyed by the gnome’s offer, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sure Ximon h
as places…” Mauro started.
“That would be nice of you. I’d enjoy that.” Simon interrupted.
The tour, narrated gruffly by Penya, was short and rather quick. Quite a few doors were skipped over with her only commenting, “Nothing worth seeing in there.”
Throughout the whole tour, it was obvious that Fillo wanted to talk to Mauro, but every time the poor gnome approached and started to say something, Penya would either send him off to do something inane or simply cut him off and tell him to keep quiet.
Simon perked up noticeably when they entered Penya’s very messy office. He picked up a few orange punch cards from a stack that was lying on the desk. “I’ve never seen orange cards before,” he said with a provincial stupor to his voice.
Penya politely, but firmly, took the cards from Simon and placed them back on the rough stack on the desk. “We use them all the time, but it’s not something that anyone else would need.”
“Really?” Simon said with a well faked awe to his voice. “What do you use them for?”
Penya shrugged and started to say, “For our job…” but Fillo interrupted her.
“They’re used for programming the Great Engine,” the gnome piqued. “They tell the engine to change something.”
“How exciting!” Simon said.
“I know! Isn’t it?” The gnome responded with great enthusiasm.
Penya rolled her eyes and said sincerely, “Well that’s about all there is to see here. Let me show you to the door.”
Simon thanked the dwarf several times on their way out. He felt like the door would have been slammed behind them if it hadn’t been steam driven. The mountebank turned to face his faux brother. “Thank you so much, Mauro” he said with rare sincerity. “That was so much easier with your help.”
“Help?” Mauro nearly screamed as they began walking away from the door. “What help? I hope I don’t lose my job over this. I just barely got it. What were you going in there for anyway?”
Simon reached into his pocket and pulled out an orange punch card. “This.” He said simply.
Mauro stared at it, his mouth slightly open in surprise. “I’m fired,” he said with finality.
“Nonsense,” the charlatan said with slight dismissal. “You can bring it back the next time you go to work.”
“If they don’t notice it’s gone before then.”
Simon looked shocked at the suggestion. “How in the name of Gigana would that happen? I’d be surprised if they noticed anything moved in an office like that.”
“And you were counting on that?”
“Dearest brother,” Simon said graciously, “I never count on anything. I planned on being out of there before anyone noticed. Now where is the nearest unwatched card reader? This will only take a moment.”
“Unwatched?” Mauro said incredulously. “That damn engine watches everything! They even knew what inn I was staying at.”
“The Bed and Breakfast Inn?” Simon said simply.
Mauro looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know you were so good at getting information from that blasted machine. I haven’t learned how yet.”
The fraud laughed. “Only inn in this city that is just 6 silver a night and provides free breakfast. Where else would you stay?”
“You’re staying there too? I didn’t see you this morning at breakfast.”
Simon laughed. “Of course I’m not staying there. A person of my status would never stoop to such a level and neither should you, Aspects forbid. It was suggested by a dwarf of rather colorful background I ran into and inquired of.”
“Colorful background, eh?” Mauro said with a note of laughter in his voice. “Still can’t just say, ‘thieves’ guild’ can you?”
“I never associate with such riffraff, my good man.” Simon said haughtily.
“Where are you staying then?”
“The Rameum Arms.”
Mauro let out a low whistle. “Must be a pretty good per diem on this job. Doing work for Rhidayar again?”
“Just on vacation,” Simon answered a bit too quickly. “Unlike some, however, I try to keep up a respectable appearance.”
“Sajani would say that’s hardly necessary for a gong farmer.”
“She would, but that’s generally not in the scope of your humor.”
“Too subtle.”
“Indeed. Now where is a good place to use this punch card?”
“There’s a box in the broom closet at the inn.
“Seems a little more public than I want.” Simon said cautiously.
Mauro laughed. “I have it on pretty good authority that I’m the only one that has ever been in there.”
True to the quacksalver’s word, it didn’t take long at all. Simon dropped his disguise and they sat for a bit talking in Mauro’s tiny room afterwards.
“So that’s what the old tin head has been up to. Much more adventuresome than us.” Simon concluded.
“I suspect that you still shovel crap with the best of them.” Mauro added. “Why else would you be here?”
“That’s high-quality feces to you, mister.” Simon said warningly.
“Still full of…” Mauro started.
“Never!” Simon interrupted. “No need to be crude about it.” He quickly changed the subject. “So, this job you just took, you’ll be working directly on the Engine?”
“Yes,” Mauro answered with a hint of melancholy. “Steady work. Good pay.”
“Even after your ridiculous dwarven taxes?”
Mauro smiled slightly. “I’m told already that I’m too well paid to stay at a place like this. Penya says I need to stay somewhere more fitting my station while I look for a permanent place to live.”
“You really don’t do well at subtlety, Mauro. You never have.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mauro sounded slightly offended.
“You’re not cut out for that kind of work. If nothing else, it’s dignified.”
“Dignified? And what would you propose I do for a living? Be a fake and a gong farmer like you?”
Simon totally ignored the all too common commentary on his line of work.
Mauro however was getting himself worked up. “For your information, I could live out the rest of my days easily on what we earned during our time together. I don’t need some two-bit flimflammer telling me what is or isn’t above or below me! I took the job because I’d rather be working than sitting idle.”
“Finished?” Simon asked calmly.
“Not on your life, you fake dastard! Save the moral high ground for the tin head! Her and the den mother are the only ones that might, just perhaps, have any kind of authority to tell me what to do with my life and that’s just enough authority to get me to listen, not follow! Come in here doing your usual dirty work and drag me into the muck on your level once again and then have the bold-faced quackery to tell me how to live my life? I’ll tell you what. Maybe I want this job that you probably just got me fired from! Who are you to say what I should or shouldn’t be doing?” Mauro paused for breath.
“Finished now?” Simon was still very calm and even seemed slightly amused.
Mauro started to go off again, but the conman interrupted him.
“Really? This type of life has affected you, perhaps for the good. All that? What, maybe five or six long sentences and not a piece of profanity in the bunch. I am impressed.” Mauro made another attempt to start up yet again, but Simon silenced him with a motion and continued. “And, my friendly mud yodeler, of course I’d never suggest a career like mine. I did say that subtlety was not your style.”
Mauro seemed to calm noticeably after that last comment. “Then what are you saying? Speak directly for once, you damn fool.”
Simon sighed quickly. “And here you’d gone a whole five minutes or so…” he saw the look that the dwarf was boring into him and continued quickly. “Join up with Sajani. Fight the elves. Be the anti-hero you once were.” He matched the dwarf’s stare directly.
Mau
ro’s features softened noticeably. He looked down at his hands while Simon’s stare continued. Then quietly he spoke. “I once was. What use does a brave woman like her have for a washed up, mud yodeler like me?”
“She asked for me to send you that way.” Simon lied. “It’s why I’m here.”
Mauro looked skeptical.
“Well, obviously not the only reason I’m here. My travels are never that simple.”
“And chances are good that I don’t want to know any more about it,” he said softly.
There was a long and awkward silence while Simon waited for the dwarf to think things through. He knew that it wouldn’t take long. The choice was almost not for the stone singer to make. It had been made for him long ago. It had been decided when the dwarf was still a youngling, while he was forming his own opinions of the world around him and deciding how he wanted to change it. Sajani had not specifically asked for Mauro to come and join her, but Simon knew that he was doing the right thing in lying about it—the noble warden had to see it that way when Mauro arrived. He almost wished he could join her as well. Then the gong farmer, the tin head, and the mud yodeler would be reunited. They’d miss the den mother for sure, but that just couldn’t happen. And neither could he come fight with her, as much as he wanted to. His mission here was far too important.
Simon looked up from his reverie to see his old friend nodding slowly—the foregone conclusion being made and forged slowly in his mind. The conman had never believed in such nonsense as destiny—he didn’t believe that Ahj cared enough to map things out that much, but he did believe that people were wired to do things a certain way, his profession required that. Once the option was open to Mauro, there was no other path for him.
Mauro’s voice was quiet, but firm. The decision was made and Simon could see the previous anger and doubt departing from the dwarf. Mauro reached for the necklace he’d usually worn all those years ago, and found it missing. Probably not something he’d thought to bring with him, Simon thought. But the hand formed a fist around it as though it was there.
“I’ll come,” the dwarf said in an almost whisper. “I’ll give my resignation at the same time I sneak that card back in for you. I can’t say no to the tin head. It’ll cost a small fortune to cross the ocean, but it will be worth it.”
Wolf's Pawn (Sajani Tails Book 1) Page 15