by J. B. Garner
Siofra cut me off, planting her cane into the stone as she stepped between Sinclair and me. She didn’t interpose, instead taking an intermediary position. “Lady Stone, while I have great sympathy for you and your situation, we have to follow the rule of law, whether we be human or Figment.” She glanced at Sinclair. “That means I have no charges worth taking you before the Dragons … but that does not mean you will walk away without paying for your deeds.”
“I never intended to do otherwise,” Sinclair murmured. He looked over to me, not afraid to meet my angry gaze. “In fact, I think our orphaned friend deserves a considerable payment above and beyond base recompense. Believe it or not, I have grown rather fond of your impudent ways and considerable resourcefulness. You will make a fine member of the Saginaw Figment community.”
I bit my lip and tried to think clearly. I wasn’t just angry, I was hurt, and I was hurt in more ways than one. My forearms were throbbing, my heart was lost, and I had injustice slapping me in the face. Still, it was obvious that Mr. Sinclair wasn’t going away anytime soon and unless I wanted to leave my home here, I’d have to learn to live with him. As I sure as heck wasn’t going to leave with Aelfread being so close by, I’d better learn to deal with the system.
“Thank you, Master Sinclair,” I offered, refusing to turn away or back down. “As I hope to be as fine and principled a member of the community as you would like,” - I wasn’t sure but I thought Siofra had a look of approval in her eyes - “I must ask for considerable repayment with which to set up my new life in such a way to be helpful.” I flashed a hard, thin smile. “To the community, of course. I think there’s a lot of people out there that might need my kind of help, people who might be having a hard time dealing with their situations.”
The corners of Sinclair’s mouth turned down a hair but his smile split wider, showing more teeth. He wasn’t happy by my implied stance but he was out of escape cards. He had to take the hand he was being dealt. “Very well, Lady Stone, what exactly are your needs and terms?”
My smile slid into a smirk. “I’d get yourself a pen and paper, Governor, as this will be quite a list indeed.”
33
IT’S AMAZING HOW quickly you can settle into a new routine once things calm down. Maybe it helped with how similar it was to my old routine, at least on the surface. I straightened the framed fragment of my Genovo and Sons poster and turned to lean against the counter of the Easy-E-Mart, smiling as I looked out over the new fixtures and refurbished décor, standing on a sturdy, polished oak stool instead of my old milk crates.
It had only taken a month or two for Sinclair to make good on all the considerable repayment I wrung out of him, all carefully noted and enforced by Siofra. The Dragon’s Eyes, it turned out, were part magical CIA and part secret police. Not even Sinclair wanted to mess with them now that they were involved. I think it helped that the Drake seemed to want to help me out in this regard anyway, regardless of government involvement.
Despite that and all the other work I know he does for the community, I still don’t like him and I sure as heck don’t trust him. In fact, as we met one last time to sign off on the last bits of what he was due me, my last words to him as I walked into the elevator were, “I’ll keep my eyes on you.”
I don’t think it intimidated him but I think it put our relationship looking towards the future in the proper framework.
As for what I asked for, well, step one was the Easy-E-Mart, of course. Call me an idiot but I loved the place. I may have been stepping into a new life but I didn’t want to let go of every bit of my old one. Besides, I needed someplace to base my new contract work out of and I was shocked to learn how few spots catered to the Figment community. Why not start with a convenience store?
Of course, there was a lot of work to do. Beaks and Blythe (both had managed to survive that last encounter under the streets, though they landed in human jail) had done a good job wrecking the place. Add to that my desire to upgrade the place and for certain specialty equipment and products to be added to fit my expanded clientele and it certainly put a dent in Sinclair’s finances.
I had considered also having an apartment or the like built over the store but I figured that I would want a private space away from work from time to time. Sinclair’s generosity did take care of a full year’s rent with Mr. Jimenez though. Speaking of him, no, I still don’t know exactly what the ancient landlord is. Now that wererabbits and dragon-men aren’t rampaging through the lobby on a regular basis, Mr. Jimenez has seemingly forgotten the whole series of events and frankly I’ve been a bit too busy to press the issue. It’s a mystery I’m happy to leave to another day.
As for the Easy-E-Mart, well, most of the changes were subtle enough. I didn’t want to spook the little circle of mundane friends that frequented the place on the night shift, though they all noticed the three new signs in the windows.
The first, ‘Under New Management’, was simple enough. I was the boss now, after all. Though I had to hire all new staff and my choices were rather specific, no one cared that much as service overall improved drastically. What can I say? Goblins can be really hard workers if you give them an honest chance and Polly was pleased as punch to see some of the Gobbos find a way out of the transient tribal life.
The second sign, ‘All Hours of Operation Subject to Change on an Immediate Basis’, brought about plenty of questions, but I was able to deflect them easily enough. As I explained it, being the sole manager, there might be times when I would be forced to close the store for family or personal business. I assured the regulars that in time this would be fixed, once I found a few people trustworthy enough to promote to managerial positions. In the meantime, it gave me the proper excuse to shuffle mundanes out of the store when more unusual Figments had to shop or when business of a different sort walked in.
I also didn’t tell the regulars that those would-be managers would need to have enough magical talent and smarts to operate the rather extensive system of runewords that now protected the store. Woe to the next punk that tries to steal from the Easy-E!
The third was the hardest to explain. To mundane eyes, it read ‘Try Our New Ethnic Foods!’, which was unintentional on my part. The runeword inscribed on the sign’s back was meant to cloud the meaning of the sign and that’s what the magic chose to make it say to those not meant for its true message. Once Sarah asked what the heck that meant, I had to go shopping, settling on German food to stock because it was the easiest thing I could come up with.
What the sign actually says to Figment eyes or someone in dire need (I have a feeling that will bite me in the ass one day) is ‘Rune Service Available! Runecasting, Stonelore, and General Dwarven Help! Inquire Within!’ in both English and Truespeech. Maybe one day I’ll add Spanish too, probably French as well. Best not to leave anyone out, after all.
Yeah, life was going to be very interesting from here on out but that made me happy. For the first time in my life, I felt like I truly belonged somewhere. Heck, things were almost perfect.
Almost.
Sarah looked up from her El Explodo burrito (I had really wanted to stop carrying them but I also didn’t want to face a revolt from the regulars) and clucked her tongue at me. “You’re thinking about him again, ain'tcha?”
She was at her usual position, leaning against the counter and loitering between cab fares, while Officer Howard picked a new delicacy from the doughnut case. We had plenty of those, imported from a nice Centaur couple that ran a farm south of town. Kent mumbled as he raised the yeasty goodness to his mouth. “You’re likely right, Mrs. Bouchard, but I’ll be damned if I can remember who ‘him’ is. I swear I should know more about all this.”
I snapped to and tried to feign ignorance. “Well, officer, they did say you had suffered a bad concussion when those robbers wrecked my apartment. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” I still don’t know what exactly Aelfread had used to zap the poor guy’s memories but it hadn’t done the best job. Turning to Sarah,
I leaned my elbows on the counter and planted my chin. “Considering how my love life always was in the past, yes, I believe I am completely justified in pining over the one guy that was into me.”
News about Aelfread or any news at all from the Spaces Below The Lakes didn’t come my way. From what little I had heard, the whole business with the Cornerstone and Aelfie’s little escapade had sealed the borders for the time being. The only ray of hope had been Bunny’s initial scouting back in the tunnels. She had caught sight of Aelfie ensconced with Elven guards aboard a boat headed north up the Saginaw River.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, honey, you got every right to pine away!” Sarah flashed me a sympathetic smile as she picked at the burrito with her rainbow-enameled nails. “Just remember that if you found one fish, you sure can find another. I mean, shoot, you’re a big deal in the neighborhood now! Ms. Mary Stone, entrepreneur!”
Kent’s brow wrinkled as he chewed on the doughnut, his scattered neurons starting to assemble. Just as he was opening his mouth, his train of thought was derailed along with our entire conversation as the front bell chimed and Bunny strode through the front door.
She was always a happy surprise to see. Most Figments I could feel coming a block away but Garou in their human forms flew under the radar. Though most of the time when I saw her she was dressed for business, that night Bunny was fancied up a bit, eschewing her usual stretchable sportswear and leather jackets for a loose, pleated skirt, a poet’s blouse, cute pink pumps, and an actual, honest-to-God purse.
“Evening, Bunny,” I smiled, more than happy to shift things away from my romantic woes. “Does my favorite cop have a date tonight?” It always gave poor Kent a bit of a brain scramble when I called Bunny a cop (it’s the closest thing to accurately describe her job, to be fair; bounty hunter simply does not encompass the full range of her work) and he needed a good scramble right then.
“Good evening, Mary, Sarah, Kent,” Bunny fired off in quick succession. Turning back to me as she walked right up to the counter, she shook her head. “As if I could find a man who didn’t just stare at my rack all night.” Sarah grunted in sympathy and agreement while Officer Howard looked uncomfortable, perhaps because he had indeed been staring at Bunny’s voluptuous form. “No, I’m all fancy for business reasons, special business reasons.”
I blinked slowly at her knowing gaze for a moment before getting the not-so-subtle clue. “Oh, right. Special business.” I hopped down from my stool and made my way around the counter. “I’m sorry, you two, but Bunny and I need some privacy.”
“Ain’t they done investigating all that mess yet?” Sarah bitched as she scooped up her half-devoured burrito. “You’d think you’d be able to just fill out paperwork or something for the insurance.”
“Funny that you should say that, Ms. Bouchard,” Kent muttered as I scooted them both to the door, “because I swear that the investigation is over and – “
“It’s private business, all right,” I shot back as I managed to get them over the threshold. “It’s not about the incident at all.” That was likely a lie but I wasn’t bad at lying when you got down to it, not when I had plausible deniability on my side. “I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you both, I swear.”
Free stuff was always a good way to smooth things over so, assurances of future payment made, they both went on their way easily enough. Meanwhile, Bunny had snatched up a doughnut of her own and was staring into the spinning mixers of the frozen drink machines along the back wall.
As I locked the door and flipped over the ‘Open’ sign, I glanced over my shoulder towards her, visible through the chips aisle. I dropped into Truespeech immediately as I told her, “Grab yourself a cup and try the green one. It’s a Super Green smoothie mix made with locally grown Centaur produce. I added a generous amount of carrots, just how you like it.”
Yes, Lapin Garou had a thing for carrots. Promise me you will never tell Bunny that I let that out; she’d wipe the floor with me.
Bunny’s blonde locks bobbed as she proceeded to fill up a cup. “Don’t mind if I do, thanks, Mary.”
“So, what’s actually going on with all the fanciness?” I asked as I walked up to her. She finished pouring her smoothie as I got to her, a vividly green concoction.
“Well,” she muttered as she turned towards me, leaning her generously proportioned posterior against the counter, “I had to do some business that was more diplomacy than my usual fare but the exact business is not something for me to present. I was simply an honor guard.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then did I just send some paying customers out my door for nothing?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised when the doorbell beeped again, despite the locks, and Siofra’s bubbly voice echoed across the Easy-E-Mart. “Oh, dear Dwarf, it is always a pleasure to see your blazing hair and fine figure, even if it is part of my duties.”
By the time I turned back around, the door was closed once more. The Elf was dressed in an extravagant gown that looked to be made of moonbeams, diamond dust, and just enough jewels to make the semi-transparent fabrics safe for public viewing. Her Dragon’s Eye badge was on prominent display and I tried to fixate on that instead of the rest of Siofra’s well-displayed and utterly perfect body. Bunny was as distracted and uncomfortable as I was. At least I wasn’t alone in that awkward feeling this time and it felt good knowing that Elves simply had that effect on everyone, no matter their gender.
It also felt good to see her thumbs twiddling on her cell phone, the beeps of another inane game playing out. At least some of the Siofra I had known and relied on before was real and not a bit of spycraft.
“Watcher Siofra, it’s a pleasure to have you in my humble store again,” I managed to get out without stumbling over my tongue. “Before you go on … and I mean absolutely no offense here … could you, uh, do something about the, well, the clothes situation?”
She smirked and giggled with delight. “I suppose I should, especially considering the serious news I have to bring.” Shrugging her shapely shoulders, she continued, “Elven formal wear is not always the best bet for other situations, I suppose.” She touched two fingers to her forehead and wintergreen sparkles showered her body, replacing the gown with the far less distracting hunter’s garb she had worn in the tunnels, her smartphone shifting into that silver-handled cane.
Bunny let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Watcher, that is much more manageable. I was afraid I was going to have to shift there.”
I nodded in total agreement with her.
Siofra smiled and gestured for us to come to her. “Then let us get on with business then.” As we approached, she settled her gaze on me. “Lady Stone, I and Huntress Kincaid have spent the last two days as diplomatic envoys to His Majesty King Aelf Sylvinson in his court in the Spaces. Needless to say that after the whole Sinclair debacle, my masters have wanted to ensure that things were properly smoothed over both to ensure continued trade and to assuage the fears of the mundane governments.”
I tugged at the braids in my beard and nodded. “Yes, I can see why they might get antsy. It would be very hard to explain to the people of the United States why there are Elves and Dragons waging war through the Great Lakes region.” Trying not to look either too eager or too worried, I asked completely nonchalantly, “So, uh, did you see Prince Aelfson? Hear any word about him? Or, uh, anything really?”
Bunny put a hand on my shoulder. “Patience, Mary. She is not finished yet.”
The Elf nodded. “Correct.” She tapped her cane against the ground and a faint glow of light erupted from her free hand, congealing into a gold-embossed ivory scroll case. Spinning it once in her slender fingers, she offered it out to me. “What about our trip concerns you, dear Mary, is this missive sent directly from the King to you.”
I arched an eyebrow and took the case from her. It only took a moment to work out how it was sealed and another moment more before I had the fancy vellum letter, trimmed in gold leaf and illuminated like
some ancient manuscript from a hidden vault, unrolled and in my hands.
Too bad I couldn’t read a single letter of the flowing script. It wasn’t Truespeech, that much was plain. “And exactly what good is a letter I can’t read going to do me?”
“Ah, I feared as much,” Siofra nodded. “Fortunately, as the Dragon’s Eye must inspect all correspondence from foreign governments before delivery to Drachenreich citizens, I took the liberty of reading it in the King’s presence. Shall I recite it to you?”
Bunny had yet to take her hand off my shoulder and that made me nervous. Still, what choice did I have? “Go right ahead.”
The Elf cleared her throat and began, adding a hard inflection to her otherwise beautiful voice. “To Lady Mary Stone, runecaster. Know that these are the words of King Aelf Sylvinson, champion of the Sylvarian Elves and ruler of the Spaces Below The Lakes. Much information has come to my attention in regards to you, young Dwarf, and your actions in recent months. All that has reached my ears informs me of your excellent character and decisive action.”
My frown deepened. “I suppose that’s all true but this feels like a politician buttering up someone they are about to take advantage of.”
Siofra’s expression was unreadable as she continued, “More importantly, I understand that you were instrumental in the return of two precious things to my kingdom: the ancient runestone that sealed my pact with the Rumcutter Dwarves, now thirty years gone, and my son, Aelfread Aelfson. Neither of these things was damaged and one could be argued to have returned to me in a better state than whence it left my sight.”
I tensed at the mention of his name. There was at least a little bit of hope there if I understood the King’s subtext properly.
“To honor my ancient ties with the Dwarven people and to reward you properly for what you have returned to me, I grant you one boon. You may ask anything of me and my kingdom, as long as such a request does not endanger me, my kingdom, or its people. Think long and hard on this boon, for such things are rarely given and never again as freely. You may relay this boon to me through Watcher Siofra Yvirsdottir or another agent of the Drachenreich.”
