1??????????Soul Bound
1.2????????Taking Control
1.2.3??????An Enchanting Original
1.2.3.5????Flirting for experts
6:30 am, Wednesday June 7th, 2045
8 bells of the forenoon watch
Droday wax, 5th day of the month of KrevinBelember, A2F1600
When she left the Sanctum she found three of the monks deflecting arrows with their staves, while Dino supervised. She clapped in applause and they immediately stopped and formed up on her, ready to escort her.
Kafana: “Very impressive.”
Dino shook his head. “Not really. Guru says that we will have mastered this when we can do it while blindfolded. We’re a long way off.”
Just how many combat skills had Bungo and Tomsk shared memories of to the monks? She cast a speed buff, not because she needed to get there quickly, but to discourage people from trying to talk to her. They set off running, speeding through the Plaza of the Founders, with the big statues. One day she’d have to take the time to stop and read the inscriptions under them.
They ran on, through the Plaza of the Public. Irus the Blind was thankfully not around; instead there was a fit young Slav, set up with a small table and Tarot cards, trying to interest passing adventurers in placing bets on which of the three face-down cards on the table was the Queen of Cups. Another man, a Vecci, was facing him and seemed to be winning lots of coins. She felt tempted to have a go herself - didn’t her emerald give her a boost to luck? On the other hand, that would feel a bit like cheating, and she didn’t want to try to remove the emerald from the harness under her clothes here in the middle of a crowd. She’d try it next time she got an opportunity.
They arrived at the Speckled Dove in short order, and she noticed the tables had been re-arranged. There was now a blue lantern hanging at a wide window under the balcony, and three tables on a raised dais surrounding it, the fine etched crystal plates and glasses on the table tops glinting in its light.
A young Burgundish girl in a cute serving costume with thick chestnut hair flowing down her back approached Kafana. It wasn’t until she saw the orglife label “Fox-chan” that she recognised her as one of the orphans.
Renarda: “Madame Sincero! Doesn’t the lamp you crafted look nice? Those tables are now in so much demand that they’re being booked more than three months ahead.” She looked overjoyed at the prospect.
Kafana spent a moment processing the torrent of information.
Kafana: “Renarda? Sorry, I’m the questing spirit. I’ve not seen you since you helped with serving the gelato. I take it you’ve been offered a position here?”
Renarda: “Oh. Yes! Yes, it is wonderful here, I’m so lucky. And it is all thanks to you. If there is ever anything I can do for you?”
Kafana: “You can thrive and be happy. Which you seem to be doing. Your hair looks wonderful. That’s the lamp which reveals poisons? Do many customers poison each other when eating together?”
Renarda: “You hear stories. But no, not often. However merchants, or nobles taking people out for meals, have been known to slip a bit of magic potion into a glass. So Columbina has been having us market them with the approach ‘Booking a high table is a sign of sincerity, proof that you care for the other and want them to be comfortably free of doubt as to your good intentions. They’ll appreciate the gesture, even though they know that you, of course, never would.’.”
She waved and went on down to the kitchen, where Columbina’s staff were busy preparing lunch. She noticed a large quantity of pizza dough, but no sign of Columbina herself. She appropriated a table and had a think about what to cook.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Kafana: {Wellington, can you whip me up a rune diagram? I want something about the shape of a 50 cm pizza, that will buff attributes useful for clothes shopping. I don’t know. Courtly graces? Standing patiently? I’ve always hated trying things on in stuffy cubicles. They never fit me.}
Bungo: {I’ll have a 50 cm one too.}
Alderney: {Make his one anchovy, banana and sauerkraut.}
Kafana: {Hush! I’m making just one, to share between all of us, and you’ll like it and eat it, or you’ll go hungry. Hrumph.} She added an emphatic snort at the end, to indicate that she wasn’t about to brook any arguments. Who was cook here, anyway?
Alderney: {I’ve fitted people for costumes. It helps if they stand with the posture they’re going to be using when wearing them. Also, if I’m designing the costume just for them, it is nice to see how they move and what they’re like, something to spark my imagination, let me add personalised flair.}
Tomsk: {Never lie to your armourer. They need to know your size and strength accurately, or the suit won’t suit.}
Bungo: {How’s that help?}
Bulgaria: {Think of clothes as social armour. Rather than deflecting arrows or intimidating orcs, they deflect insults and intimidate oiks.}
Kafana tuned them out, and a few minutes later she received a diagram from Wellington with Rac linked to Lun, Lun linked to Cov and a thin thread of Krev binding all three together. She looked through the ingredients and spied a lovely pear-shaped Scamorza cheese that was hanging from the pantry ceiling. It was a pale almond colour, which would do for Cov. She took a wedge of salty Pecorino to grate over it, to enhance the flavour. Next she picked out some thin smoked Salisiccia. She could slice that and use it to make the runes themselves. Finally she decided upon trumpet mushrooms, which were dry enough to slice thinly. She’d saute them first, and add some coarse ground black pepper. She hummed contentedly, planning out her Boscaiola pizza. Surely it would be enough to feed an army, let alone six adventurers who’d had breakfast in arlife just an hour or two ago.
As she left the pantry she heard giggling, a loud “thunk” and then squeals of outrage coming from the larder. A few minutes later, a laughing Tomsk appeared, followed by a dishevelled Columbina shaking her fan at him and accusing him of cheating. Seeing Kafana, she straightened up and came over to inspect the pizza.
Columbina: “That man! Did you know he can now cancel magic aimed at him? His ridiculous sword absorbs it like a frog swallowing flies. How am I supposed to cheat properly when he cancels my advantages?”
Kafana: “Weren’t you accusing him of cheating?”
Columbina: “Of course. He was doing it better than I was, which is nearly unforgivable. I must improve my game!”
Tomsk: “I don’t think the city would survive. Captain Lelio was very embarrassed last night at the auction, when he had to report to us that he was unable to account for all the items which had been entrusted to him, because one was missing from the locked cells under the Watchtower where he’d been storing it.”
Columbina smirked.
Kafana felt a growing premonition. “That item. It wouldn’t happen to have been a bow, would it?”
Tomsk looked startled. “You knew? I only just discovered it, hanging on a pair of pegs above the gelato machine like a framed prize. It is now safely in my stash.”
Columbina pretended to be aggrieved. “The watch, their security is so lax they really ought to change their name. ‘The dozing’ perhaps? They leave keys everywhere.”
She produced an ornate shiny steel key.
Tomsk reached for it, but she swiftly moved it away and continued.
Columbina: “So when Kafana gifted the bow to me, I wanted to make sure nobody stole it.” She shrugged and cocked her head glancing up at Tomsk to catch his expression, “So I took it and put it safely in my own larder. All perfectly legal.” She flashed Kafana a wicked grin.
“You stole the key!” Tomsk helplessly reached for the key again, but Columbina decisively dropped it down the front of her tight tunic between her breasts and stuck her chest out towards Tomsk, daring him to try to grab it. He resisted. Barely.
Columbina: “Not at all. Captain Lelio gave it to me himself, when I lured WraithLock out into the open and needed to go through the Watchtower. I’ve merely forgotten to give it back, so far.”
Kafana decided to interrupt. “Children! As fascinating as this is, I’m cooking. Tomsk, give her back her bow. Columbina, give him back his key.” She tapped her foot, meaningfully.
They both looked down at their feet, simultaneously drew out the items, and exchanged them by feel, not looking at each other. It was unbearably cute. She felt tempted to send them to their rooms, just to see them pout and stomp.