by M. Gregg Roe
Hazel’s apartment was in a small stone building that was only a few years old. Marryn walked up the stairs to the second floor and then knocked. With Hazel, you never knew who would answer if you went by early. She dated both men and women, but none of them for long from what Marryn could tell.
This time it was Hazel answering the door although she was wearing only a short yellow nightgown. “Good morning,” she said, then yawned. “Come on in.”
Marryn walked in and looked around. Everything was neat and orderly, which meant that Hazel hadn’t had anyone over last night. She pulled out the piece of paper, unfolded it, and handed it over.
“Audrey’s design,” Hazel said, squinting at it and blinking. “From the measurements, she has the figure for it. I’ll start on this today. It shouldn’t take all that long.”
“Good. When it’s done, please take it to Tobias.”
“All right. How is your search for a building going?”
Marryn had been hoping she wouldn’t ask. “There’s a building east of the Temple of Karth that was recently vacated and sold. The new owners are willing to rent it to us at a reasonable cost.”
“And who are the new owners?” asked Hazel, eyeing her suspiciously.
The sigh was unavoidable. “Draymund and Almera. Apparently they got it from Celebern. By the way, the former business was called Binette’s Boudoir.”
Hazel burst out laughing. “We will be making sexy clothing in a former whorehouse. That does seem appropriate somehow.”
“It does,” agreed Marryn. “I’ll leave you to your sewing.”
Back outside, Marryn headed home. In fact, she and Audrey had already agreed to rent the building. (And Audrey had also thought it was funny.) For now, they would simply figure out how to use the space as efficiently as possible. In the future, the interior would definitely need to be altered to remove some walls and create more office space. But the century-old building was in surprisingly good shape. Well, aside from the smell. It was going to need some major cleaning.
As she arranged her wares for sale, Almera felt nostalgic. When Audrey had first come to them, she had often assisted when Almera went to the daily market. Today’s helper had already run off twice. The girl just couldn’t contain her curiosity.
“Sit!” ordered Almera as Romee returned again. “Your job is to package up whatever they decide to buy. Put it all in a paper sack, fold the top over, and then hand it to them.”
“Okay,” said Romee, but her attention was elsewhere. And she was already tapping her right foot impatiently. It definitely wasn’t looking good.
Almera sat down in the other chair to wait for customers. The mid-morning sun was bright, which is why she had worn a cream-colored hat with a broad brim. She also thought that it made her look stylish.
Their first customer—a cook who worked at Lucien’s—bought nearly half her spices. The middle-aged man seemed more amused than annoyed by Romee’s barrage of questions. And the girl did manage to pack up his purchase properly.
The next customers were a pair of elves from a village Almera had never heard of. This time it was them asking the questions while Romee stared in fascination. It probably had more to do with their unusual clothing and odd way of speaking than them being elves. They asked such intelligent questions that Almera actually gave them a discount.
A short while later, she lost her helper again. “Look!” said Romee, her face glowing with childish delight. “It’s Polly.” She was gone before Almera could say a word.
By the time that Romee finally returned, Almera was out of all but two of her spices, and she only had two packets of each of those. Polly was with Romee, but it was Cinda, rather than Louisa who soon appeared sporting an expression of exasperation.
“Lady Almera,” said Cinda, nodding her head.
“How are you, Cinda?”
“I am well. I believe that I will purchase your remaining wares. Your spices and herbs are the finest in all the city.”
“Romee!” barked Almera, interrupting whatever the girl was saying to Polly. “Pack up the rest of these for Cinda.”
She obeyed, but then went straight back to Polly. After paying, Cinda said, “Would you like for me to look after Romee the rest of this morning? I will return her home after lunch.”
“Then I should be paying you,” kidded Almera. “Thank you, Cinda.”
After the three of them had departed, Almera took care of returning the rented table and chairs. Her next stop was the Temple of Arwon where she managed to shock Carlinda with the size of her donation. That was satisfying.
For Almera, selling the products of her greenhouse wasn’t about making money. It was about sharing what she had worked so hard to grow (and hopefully receiving compliments). It was also social, an opportunity to meet new people, or talk to old friends who stopped by. And it was something that she really needed to do more often. But next time she was going to try bringing the twins instead of Romee.
20
‡ Couples ‡
As he lay next to her, it occurred to Gabriel that Kora was every bit as complex as the game she so dearly loved. Like Sparrow, Kora seemed straightforward at first. She was shy, soft-spoken, innocuous. If someone introduced you to her at a gathering, you would soon forget all about her. But like the game, Kora held hidden depths. She was far more than she appeared.
Gabriel had grown up as part of a family of four. Sparrow, which could only be played with four people, had been one of the games that they often played in the evening. He had never been particularly good at the game, viewing it more as a social activity rather than something to be taken seriously. By contrast, his sister had rapidly developed into a skilled player, frequently finished their games in first place. In that respect, Marryn was like Kora, who had also grown up with two parents and a single sibling. And Kora’s family had also frequently played Sparrow together.
Marryn played Sparrow whenever she could, but she couldn’t begin to match Kora’s devotion to the game. In her early teens, Kora began to plan out her life, incorporating multiple goals and mapping out several possible methods of achieving them. It had been one of the least likely possibilities that had come to pass. Kora had interviewed at Desires, never expecting to be offered employment. But Aurelia had obviously seen something in the shy girl that others hadn’t. And suddenly, to her family’s dismay, Kora had become what most people regarded as simply a high-priced prostitute, but what was actually far more: a courtesan.
Kora still came across as shy and quiet, but that was by choice. With her training, she could assume a variety of personas. Gabriel could testify to that personally. Sometimes it felt like he was dating a variety of young women who all just happened to have the same body.
Another thing he admired was her dedication to studying Shorinken. As an advanced student at Xlee’s Martial Arts Academy, she was more than capable of fending off physical threats. It also kept her body in superb shape. Those skills were simply another layer of her complexity.
“I don’t mind if you date other women,” she said suddenly.
He looked over at her. “I am content.”
That comment resulted in a surprisingly girlish giggle. “Thank you for that, but I’m serious. I don’t want you to have any regrets. And I’m confident that you’ll end up back with me.”
This time it was Gabriel who laughed at her confident expression. “I will consider it. I confess that it does bother me that you bed other men in your role as a courtesan.”
“And one of the things I love about you is your honesty.” She rolled onto her side, facing him. “Gabriel, part of being a courtesan is simply providing clients with a sympathetic ear. I listen to what they have to say. I commiserate. If necessary, I console or even offer advice.
“I’ve learned a great deal in the process. People talk to me about their relationships, their marriages, their children, their jobs. Everyone has something to complain or worry about. And one thing I can tell you is that people who marry t
he first person they think they are in love with are rarely happy. I’ve been interested in you since the first time we met, but you were surprised when I approached you.”
“That is true, but I was not seriously looking for someone.”
Her green eyes were intent. “If you had been looking, I doubt that you would have even thought about me. I’m older, and your father deeply disapproves of prostitution.”
“That is also true,” he confessed, feeling a twinge of guilt. “But I am very glad that you did approach me. I did not have to worry about making a fool of myself when it came to intimacy. You were my guide.”
Kora reached out and caressed his cheek with fingers that were soft and warm. “You’re sweet. Have you thought about growing a beard? I think you would look good with one.”
His attempt to grow one when he was younger hadn’t gone well, but he was older now. “Then I will.”
She smiled saucily, then slowly licked her lips. “One more time before you leave?”
Gabriel was a gentleman. He was happy to oblige.
Romee took off running down the path with Ilona and Iris hard on her heels. The younger girls couldn’t match Romee’s endurance—she sometimes ran for over an hour straight—but they were fast sprinters. Saxloc didn’t even try to keep up. Half his morning had been spent receiving magical instruction from his grandfather, and he was scheduled to work at Witch’s City Weapons that afternoon.
Tabitha suddenly rejoined him. She had stopped to pull some small weeds that she spotted next to a rose bush. Spring weather had brought the mansion’s beautiful grounds to life, and that included the weeds. Tabitha suddenly took his left hand with her right, and the two of them exchanged smiles.
The girls were no longer in sight, but he still heard occasional exclamations mixed in with the birdsong. He and Tabitha were approaching the greenhouse which he could no longer look at without remembering the intimate activities the two of them had engaged in one evening while his parents were out. His mother had never said anything, but he was almost certain that she knew. The greenhouse was her personal domain. She would have noticed even the slightest thing off.
“Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?” asked Tabitha, punctuating her question with a squeeze of his hand.
“Of course. Where?”
“The Marsh Inn. Afterward I’ll show you the place I’m probably going to move to. It’s close to there.”
He knew that she had been looking for a place, and it sounded like she had finally found something. He liked having her living with them, but he could understand her desire for independence. And her desire to be away from the girls some of the time. The three of them could be irritating at times.
She described it as they continued to stroll along in the bright sunshine. It was a two-story house, not terribly large but fairly new and with all stone construction. And it was across from a small park, one of the few that existed outside of the areas around the three lakes. It sounded expensive.
Tabitha suddenly released his hand and announced, “More weeds. I’ll be right back.” She darted off to the left before he could respond. He stopped and watched as she yanked up an assortment of weeds and tossed them under a bush.
“Who owns that house now?” he asked after she returned and took his hand again.
She laughed and tossed her golden hair. “Half a month ago, the answer would have been Celebern, although no one could have proved it. Can you guess who owns it now?”
“My parents.” He knew about Celebern’s buyout.
“Only briefly. They sold it to—”
“Your parents,” he concluded, amused.
Laughing, she tossed her hair again. “They told me it was vacant and offered it to me. But I made sure they just weren’t kicking someone out. It’s been vacant for over two months.”
They neared the southwest corner. The gardening staff had been at work there, moving plants and clearing off a rectangular area where a cottage identical to Audrey’s would eventually be constructed. For Tabitha, that location was still too close, not to mention being monitored by the mansion’s magical surveillance system. She wanted her privacy, and he couldn’t blame her.
“When I asked them about the rent,” she said drolly, “they told me the house was going to be our wedding present. There is no reasoning with those two.”
“Did they happen to mention when we’re getting married? I’m just curious.”
Tabitha grinned. “No, and now they want four grandchildren—two of each.”
“But then we would need a bigger house,” he protested, not hiding his amusement.
After chuckling briefly, she squeezed his hand firmly. “Do you think we will eventually get married?”
He could hear that she was serious now. “I think it’s possible, but I also think that we should take our time.”
“I agree.”
Saxloc cracked a smile as he squeezed her hand lightly. “I also promised Rosalind I wouldn’t marry before I turned twenty.”
She jerked her hand away. “You what?” Tabitha opened her mouth to continue, but her attempt at mock indignation failed as she laughed instead. “Did she really make you do that?”
“She really did.”
He told her all about it as they continued their walk, occasionally encountering either Romee or the twins. They may have been joking, but it really was starting to feel like she might be the one he eventually wed.
Marshwood staff in hand, Audrey rushed forward eagerly. But the alligator simply continued its course, crossing the causeway, and then descending the slope before entering the marsh on that side. It was disappointing, because she really liked using her alligator-prodder, as she always referred to it. She stopped and turned back to see Conrad still walking steadily, but she could read the trace of amusement on his face.
“Maybe next time,” she said as she fell in alongside to his left. Conrad was still a man of few words, so he simply shrugged in response.
They were on the way back from Lovar, having visited Conrad’s parents and then departed after dinner. In some ways it reminded Audrey of when she had first met Erwin’s parents. They were clearly sizing her up as a possible daughter-in-law, or sister-in-law in the case of Conrad’s two sisters. But otherwise it had felt quite different. They weren’t wealthy. They were simple villagers who just happened to live within walking distance of a large city. They had made her welcome, and she had felt completely comfortable around them.
Conrad suddenly pointed ahead and to the right. After a moment’s searching, Audrey spotted it. An alligator was simply floating motionless, possibly hoping to surprise prey, or maybe just taking a nap. Conrad was incredibly good at spotting them, but that wasn’t surprising given that he had grown up in a place surrounded by a marsh full of them.
Their first stop in Lovar had actually been to visit Conrad’s paternal grandparents. Audrey found the older couple charming, but it had only been a brief visit.
“How many relatives do you have in Lovar?” she asked suddenly.
Conrad fingered his beard as he thought it over. “Two more grandparents. Three aunts and two uncles. Three first cousins.”
“Okay,” said Audrey, worried he might continue to even more distant relations.
“I also have two cousins in the Witch’s City,” he added.
“My grandparents had all died by the time I left home,” she said wistfully.
“Because there was no healing magic.”
“Or clerics to raise the dead,” she added. “It was a different way of life.” She dabbed at a tear. “I miss it sometimes.”
It was a long while before Conrad replied, but that wasn’t unusual. “I’ve tried to imagine it,” he said seriously. “Life would be more precious. People would be less likely to take risks. But they would have to take some in order to survive.”
Audrey was impressed. “That’s basically right.” She transferred the staff to her left hand and took his arm. “Maybe we can go to Merryton som
etime. It’s similar to how Farmerton was.” Except that the people there now knew they could get assistance either from Rohoville or Alessandra’s temple, making use of the Novox caravans.
“I’d like that.”
As they continued walking, Audrey idly played with her staff. When speaking with Conrad’s family, she hadn’t shied from mentioning the family and friends she had lost in Farmerton. That had made some of them uncomfortable, but avoiding the subject made her uncomfortable. Like it or not, the tragedy was now part of who she was.
After passing a family of four headed the other way, Audrey decided it was time to discuss something. “Conrad, do you want children?”
His response came faster than she had expected. “Not soon.” He hesitated. “Maybe not ever. I’ll probably have nieces and nephews in a few years.”
“And I’ve got Romee and my cousins. I feel the same way. I don’t know if I ever want to have children.”
“You’re only nineteen,” he said, showing the slightest of smirks.
Audrey couldn’t suppress her sigh. “I feel much older. So much has happened. I just want things to settle down. I’ll focus on my training and helping to raise the three girls.”
Conrad nodded. “And I want to focus on my business. I’ll eventually start looking for an apprentice, but not for several years.”
By then she hoped to be a full instructor at Xlee’s Martial Arts Academy. But the important thing was that the two of them had the same outlook at present. She couldn’t say if Conrad was the one she would end up with, but he was turning out to be a better match than either Erwin or Saxloc. That was good enough for now.
Jessia reached over poked him in the center of his bare chest, and not gently. “Admit it,” she said. “You only agreed to go out with me because you were curious about the woman with no past.”