Andoran's Legacy

by M. Gregg Roe

  “Then we can just have lunch together after class. We can listen to each other's problems, but nothing too personal.”

  He still looked skeptical, but he said, “It’s a deal. But I pay next time.”

  Marryn could see that he was serious, but she decided not to argue until their next lunch.

  They went their separate ways after lunch, and Marryn smiled all the way home. Denis was going to be her friend, and maybe someday he would be something more. But friend was good enough for now.

  Marryn leafed through the ledger, frowning as always at the atrocious handwriting. Nearby, Audrey sat on the rug looking through the papers that Marryn had given her. There didn’t seem to be any arithmetic errors in what was recorded, which was a definite improvement. But Audrey’s budget was indeed tight.

  Audrey was worrying herself to death about Demon Dresses, convinced that it was doomed. That was why Marryn had decided it was time to reveal her business plans.

  Looking over at her from where she was sitting, Marryn said, “Did you try to negotiate with Lilina?”

  Audrey put down the paper she was holding and then chewed her lower lip briefly. “No, I didn’t. She intimidates me.”

  Lilina’s beauty was certainly intimidating, but not her business skills. From what Marryn could tell, Desires had gone from overpaying Audrey to be their seamstress to underpaying her. “Do you want me to talk to her for you?”

  After a long hesitation and some additional chewing on her lip, Audrey shook her head firmly. “No, I’ll talk to her. What should I ask for?”

  “Maybe two-thirds of what they originally paid?” hazarded Marryn. “Actually, ask for three-fourths and then negotiate down to two-thirds if she objects.”

  “Okay,” said Audrey, probably trying to mentally work out the fractions. “I’ll go over and see her tomorrow.”

  Marryn closed the ledger and placed it on the small table to her left. “What do you think?” she asked, gesturing at the papers sitting in front of Audrey.

  Audrey pointed to the one that had a large rectangle connected by lines to a row of four smaller rectangles. “Sexy Clothing Company?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “That’s just a placeholder, but it gets the idea across. I want the focus to remain on apparel that makes people both look and feel sexy.”

  Audrey stabbed a finger at the leftmost rectangle. “So Demon Dresses will just be one part of the business?”

  Marryn leaned forward. “Yes, it will be one division. It will be the same as it is now, selling highly individualized dresses designed and fitted by Aliva.”

  “Okay, now please explain the other three divisions. I don’t want to read all this right now.”

  Reading seemed to be another of Audrey’s weaknesses. “The second division is Sexy Dresses. They will be like the one you designed, and that Dora sells in her shop. We’ll just offer a small number of designs and colors, but they will be made to order. Either you or Hazel should be able to sew them.”

  Audrey was shaking her head again. “Hazel is much better, and I just don’t have the time. How will we sell them?”

  “For now, through existing clothing shops.” Ultimately, Marryn wanted the company to have its own retail location. “Initially, it will just be Witch’s City Clothing. I’ve already spoken to Tobias about it.”

  Now Audrey was nodding, not surprising since that was reportedly her favorite clothing shop. Marryn pointed at the paper. “The third division is Sexy Alterations. We offer to modify clothing that people already own. And again, the goal is to make them more sexy. Aliva is really good at that.”

  “And she can probably teach Hazel,” added Audrey with a speculative look.

  “Yes, and we will also advertise that service at Tobias’s shop to start. He will be getting a share of the profits and an option to invest further.”

  “I just hope there are profits.” She pointed at the paper and grinned. “Now tell me about Sexy Underwear.”

  Marryn smiled. Then she reached down to where her satchel was lying, removed an item, and handed it over. Audrey held up the skimpy yellow underpants with a puzzled look, asking, “Is this for a child?”

  “No. Pull on it.”

  Audrey promptly obeyed, and her eyes widened in wonder as it stretched. “What is this made of?” she asked. “It’s so soft.”

  “It’s a blend of cotton and fibers extracted from a type of vine.” Then she launched into a detailed explanation of her plans to hire a village to harvest the vine and extract the fiber, ending with, “It might be months, or even a year, before we can sell any of these. And there won’t be a large supply.” That was good in a way since it meant they could charge high prices.

  “Desires would pay a fortune for underwear made from this,” said Audrey, holding it in front of her with both hands. “Especially if we can make them like the ones they have there. You would not believe some of the designs. Can I try this on? Please.”

  “Of course.” Marryn had worn them herself all day yesterday.

  Audrey went into her bedroom and closed the door, so Marryn turned her attention to the fire. It was a much nicer fireplace than the one in her family’s living quarters in the Witch’s Castle. That one always made the place smell of smoke, and rain leaked in through it sometimes.

  After a rocky start, Marryn had come to admire Audrey in many ways. But now what she felt was pity. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Audrey’s home village was completely gone. In the same situation, Marryn would have been a total basket case.

  The bedroom door opened, and Audrey returned holding out the underpants in her left hand. “Gods, I want some of these.”

  “So will everyone, I hope.” Marryn took them and stowed them back in the satchel.

  After sitting back down on the rug, Audrey turned her head. “I assume that you’ll be running the company. I sure can’t.”

  “That’s my plan, but I want both your help and input. Hazel and Aliva’s too.”

  Audrey frowned. “Aliva is planning to move in with Stanley. Isn’t that going to be a problem?”

  Marryn had already heard about that from her brother. “She already spends half of her time there, and she will still be coming here regularly. She can work on sewing while Stanley is at work.”

  “Do we need to hire another seamstress?”

  It was a good question. “Eventually. It wouldn’t hurt to start looking.”

  “Okay.”

  Marryn adopted a serious expression. “Audrey, I haven’t mentioned any of this to either Aliva or Hazel. Demon Dresses was your idea, so I came to you first.”

  “Thank you, but I won’t be doing much with the expanded business.” She furrowed her brow. “Although I do have some other dress designs.”

  “Then we will incorporate those.” Marryn smiled and spread her arms wide. “This is just the beginning. It’s going to take a while to get things going, and there will probably be changes as we go. Initially, we will be using money provided by our investors, but only until we become self-sufficient.”

  “Who are the investors?” asked Audrey.

  “Louisa, Tobias, and Kora.”

  Audrey nodded, scrunching up her face as she thought. “What about Almera?”

  “We already have enough money for the moment, but I’ll consider her if we need more.” Actually, Marryn really didn’t want to involve the woman.

  Audrey gathered up the papers from the rug, stacked them neatly, and then handed them to Marryn after rising to her feet. Marryn put them in her satchel and then stood up, assuming that the meeting was over.

  “And now,” said Audrey, showing an impish smile, “the two of us are going over to Desires. I’ll talk to Lilina and then show you some underwear you won’t believe.”

  That sounded good to Marryn. She ended up talking to Lilina on Audrey’s behalf, getting the woman to agree to the three-fourths figure. And the undergarments were amazing. Marryn was up half the night thinking about them
.

  Marryn was having difficulty believing what her mother had just told her. “But you and Father always said that I’d have to wait until I turned sixteen!” she exclaimed, waving both her arms. “I’m still fifteen.”

  Medea had that cunning look that Marryn knew all too well. “I did, in fact, discuss the issue with your father. We agreed that you have matured remarkably during the last year or so.” Now showing a vapid expression, Medea tilted her head and clasped her hands together. “ ‘I’m going to marry a wealthy man so that I never have to do any real work.’ Isn’t that how it went?”

  Sadly, her mother had a point. Marryn had even collected information on wealthy single men in anticipation. “Yes,” she sighed. “I was immature. Now I want to become wealthy myself.”

  “So that you can marry someone like Denis?” asked Medea brightly.

  “He’s just a friend!”

  “A friend you keep going to lunch with. A friend who you keep talking about. A friend who might one day become your first lover.”

  “Mother!” Marryn could feel her cheeks burning. “We haven’t even kissed!” But she did want to kiss him.

  Still smiling slyly, Medea went to her dressing table, removed something from the bottom drawer, and walked back over holding it out. “I bought this for you.”

  If Marryn’s lower jaw could have fallen off, it would have. And it felt like her face was on fire. She took the paper sack that was plainly labeled “Anti-Pregnancy Powder” and just stared at it in disbelief. “You’re giving me permission to start having sex?”

  “Not exactly,” said Medea, her expression now deadly serious. “You have permission to begin dating, and I advise you to take things slowly. But I also know that sometimes things happen on dates. I speak from personal experience.”

  Her mother had never spoken about any relationships before she met Mardan. “Are you saying that you got pregnant by accident?” she asked.

  Medea rolled her eyes. “No, I am saying that I sometimes ended up having sex earlier in a relationship than I had expected. It was never a problem because I used the local equivalent of AP powder that they sold in Lancia. I was always careful.”

  “Okay. Okay. I’ll be careful.” Marryn showed her teeth as she grinned. “So, you were a virgin when you first arrived in Lancia?”

  “Yes,” replied Medea, looking surprisingly serious. “In Argentwood, the village where I was raised, giving your virginity to a man was the same as agreeing to be his wife. And there was no divorce.” She shook her head. “Things were very different in Lancia.”

  Marryn wanted to hear more because her mother rarely spoke about her past before becoming an adventurer. Even now, Medea was good-looking. In her youth, she must have attracted all kinds of attention from males. But Marryn knew instinctively that this wasn’t the time to be asking questions about that.

  Marryn shook the sack. “I’ll take some of this before every date. Just in case we end up …” She couldn’t bring herself to finish and wished she hadn’t mentioned it.

  “Copulating is a polite term. And don’t expect the first time to go particularly well.”

  She really didn’t want to think about that, let alone discuss it with her mother.

  “Since your brother is out with Kora tonight,” said Medea, “I thought the two of us could go out somewhere nice to eat.”

  “All right. That reminds me. I’m outgrowing some of my clothes.” She thrust out her chest and pointed at it. “Especially here. I’m ready for them to stop growing.”

  Medea responded by thrusting out her own chest. “I felt the same way when I was your age. Large breasts seem to run in the family. But at least you won’t be having to stuff them into a chainmail shirt. Now that is uncomfortable.”

  Marryn couldn’t contain herself. She laughed so hard that tears ran down her cheeks.

  Despite the time she had spent with him, Marryn still found it difficult to read his expression at times. Denis was clearly pondering what she had just said, but she had no idea what he was thinking. He finished his apple juice without giving her a clue.

  “Does this mean that you want me to ask you out?” he said, frowning slightly. “Or is this your way of asking me out?”

  Marryn waved her hands desperately. “I wasn’t saying either of those things. I was just telling you what my mother told me.”

  “Oh,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “Obviously you’re not interested in someone like me.”

  “I never said that!” Marryn was suddenly aware that she had spoken much too loud. A number of the tavern patrons were now looking their way. In a much lower voice, she said, “I am interested in dating you, Denis.” The confession was embarrassing, but also satisfying.

  “Why me? The way you look, you could have your pick.”

  “Because I like you,” she said automatically. “Because you ask questions like that. Because I trust you. Because—”

  “Enough,” he said, finally smiling. “I’ll go out with you. But I don’t have much free time.”

  That was going to be a problem, what with him working two jobs and taking Shorinken classes. And helping out at home. They eventually settled on a date nearly half a month in the future. But she didn’t mind. As far as she was concerned, Denis was worth the wait.

  13

  ‡ Gathering ‡

  Standing between the two ornate stairways, Almera survey the parlor. Both fireplaces had been lit, creating warmth, illumination, and a pleasing aroma. The sounds of the many conversations were interrupted by the occasional loud crack from one of the fires. There was food and drink aplenty, and everyone appeared to be having a good time. It was gratifying.

  The purpose of the party was ostensibly to introduce the three girls to those who hadn’t yet met them (although some of those invited already had). But Almera was also throwing a party simply because she wanted to. It was something that she enjoyed and used to do far more often.

  Her husband walked up carrying two silver goblets, one of which he promptly handed over. She took a sip, savoring the spiced apple cider that she had made earlier that day. They were providing beveridges from their ample supply, but she had hired caterers to provide the food.

  “They’ve split up pretty much as you would expect,” he remarked, now standing at her side. His stylish dark green outfit was a match for her own elegant dress.

  Almera could see what Draymund meant. In one corner, Romee, Ilona, Iris, Polly, and Ermiana were all clustered together. Grasapa, Dulls, Hagen, and Medea were in another corner, no doubt reminiscing about their old adventuring days. Not far from there, Saxloc, Gabriel, and Hankin were probably talking about their own adventures. Marryn was with Audrey, Aliva, and Hazel, perhaps discussing their dress business. But there were also some odd groupings. Tabitha was speaking with Ermizad and Piran while her own parents were chatting with a lasciviously dressed Lilina and a noticeably drunk Elsebeth. Conrad looked uncomfortable standing near Louisa and Daragrim. Violet, by contrast, seemed to be doing all the talking while Cinda, Kora, and Carlinda simply listened. Violet’s husband was currently upstairs looking after their child.

  “The workman are behind again,” she said, not looking at her husband and careful to maintain her hostess smile. Almera was finding managing the construction of the building that would one day be Witch’s City Weapons to be trying. But she was also learning a great deal.

  “It doesn’t matter if we open late,” he said, then took a sip of his cider. “And don’t be surprised if the problem resolves itself. They can’t always accurately estimate how long a task will take, especially when the weather is so unpredictable.”

  Draymund had a point. And it was more important that the work be done properly rather than quickly. Still, she intended to have words with the craftsmen if the schedule slipped much farther.

  Polly suddenly ran up, looking cute in a lavender dress and matching hair ribbons. “Toilet,” she said, pointing down the hallway behind them. She darted past as they moved a
side.

  “And to think,” said Draymund. “Less than a year ago that girl was living on the street, begging and stealing to stay alive. Now she’s spoiled rotten.”

  Almera declined to comment, instead changing the subject. Still smiling, she asked, “What do you think of Audrey’s young man?”

  “It’s hard to tell given how little he talks.” Draymund took another drink of cider, finishing his. “All that really matters is that Audrey likes him.”

  That was true, and despite the young man’s shyness she could discern a real affection between the two of them. After Polly returned to the parlor, Almera finished her cider and set the goblet on the sideboard to her right. Then she smoothed her dress, checked her hair, and swept forward into the parlor. It was time to mix things up.

  Cornered by Cinda, Elsbeth, and Lilina, Conrad was clearly in need of rescue. But on the way Audrey was intercepted by someone she couldn’t exactly brush off.

  “Ermiana has been asking about resuming her sewing instruction,” said Ermizad, looking as regal as ever.

  “I’d forgotten about that,” confessed Audrey. She still owed the girl two lessons. “When?”

  “We will work around your schedule. I know that you have both classes to attend and teaching duties.”

  “I’ll, uh, send a list of possible times.”

  “This is fine,” said Ermizad. “My daughter is impatient, but there is no hurry.”

  It took Audrey several more minutes to extricate herself from conversing with the woman. As she approached where Conrad was still standing, she was startled by the topic of conversation. Instead of teasing him, Lilina was asking for advice about remodeling her office to include more built-in storage. There was no trace of Conrad’s normal hesitation and shyness as he made suggestions. Satisfied that they weren’t picking on him, Audrey went to the sideboard to get something to drink.

  “Hello. I’m sorry I’m late.”

  Audrey turned to see Peri standing nearby wearing an ill-fitting beige dress that simply emphasized her plumpness. She looked as overwhelmed as Conrad had earlier. Audrey smiled at her. “Hello, Peri. Would you like me to introduce you to my cousins?”