Entangled
While Kaylin told everyone willing to listen that she despised living in the Palace and wanted to clear out as soon as possible, living the high life, as Joey called it, did have some perks. Namely, breakfast.
As Kaylin plopped down at a table full of food in her and Belludeo's sitting room, she couldn't help but grin. For the first time since returning from the West March, she had a day off. And not even her evening etiquette lessons could dim her enthusiasm for that thought. Well, not much anyway.
Bellusdeo joined her at the table about halfway through her scarfing down warm, crumbly muffins. The dragon observed Kaylin's table manners with a slightly sardonic smile and Kaylin grinned in return. "Excited?" she asked.
"You have no idea." Today was apartment hunting day, and Kaylin was beyond ready to find a new place to live. "I have a list ready to go," she said, grabbing a goblet of some kind of bitter fruit juice. "So as soon as you're ready, we're out of here."
"The Halls mirrored just a few minutes ago," was Bellusdeo's unexpected reply. Kaylin set down her goblet with a frown, but the dragon shook her head. "You're not being called in. The Keeper has requested your presence for lunch at his store, that's all."
Kaylin bit her lip. "Well, that could be good or bad. He might just want to pass off the stone he's making me, but he knew I'd come by anyway. So something may have gone wrong with the spell. Or Pipsqueak broke something invaluable."
"Either is a possibility," Bellusdeo helpfully agreed.
Kaylin sighed, downed the last of her juice in one gulp, and pushed back her chair to stand. "Well, at least we'll score some free cookies out of this. Let's go."
Apartment shopping with Bellusdeo was quite different than apartment shopping with Caitlin. For one, they were shuttled from location to location by Imperial carriage. Which naturally made the landlords they were meeting much more respectful and polite than any landlords Kaylin had dealt with before; she was not used to receiving bows from men and women who would be examining copies of her paystub.
One less fortunate difference from shopping with Caitlin was Bellusdeo's general disdain for Kaylin's financial circumstances. Caitlin had been very aware of just how much Kaylin could afford for rent. And affording the places on the list with a private's salary was out of the question. However, Kaylin's list consisted of apartments deemed suitable by palace staff for Bellusdeo's presence, and as a result, she was completely screwed.
"It's... nice," she said, as the landlord led them into the fourth apartment they'd visited so far. Nice was an understatement. She could tell by the hardwood floors, the magelights, and the damn attached sitting room that this place was so far out of her price range, it might as well be the moon. She'd have to make sergeant before she'd be able to afford a place like this. She made a mental note to hunt down whoever on the palace staff created this list and kill them, as they obviously had no clue just how much the Emperor paid the enforcers of his laws.
Kaylin didn't even need to see the rest of the apartment, but she grudgingly followed Bellusdeo around from room to room. And really, it was nice. The kitchen was clean, and had more drawers and cabinets than Kaylin could ever fill, the bedrooms were bigger than Kaylin's entire first apartment, and the windows were beautifully fitted with glass and wooden shutters.
Bellusdeo seemed to pick up on Kaylin's dour mood and asked for a moment alone to discuss the property. The landlord smiled and bowed deeply, retreating to the hall. "You seem to not be taking this very seriously," she said, frowning, once the door had closed behind the man.
"Bellusdeo," Kaylin said, allowing exasperation to color her tone. "Don't you think if I could afford a home like this, I would have been living in a home like this? I'm not blaming you," she added hastily, seeing the darkening of the dragon's eyes in response to her words. "I know you didn't make this list, and I know that we could technically move here if we wanted to, with the Emperor's help. But I want to live in a place I could afford on my own, and that's just not what we're getting today."
Bellusdeo frowned. "I should have words with the Emperor regarding your salary."
"You should leave me out of this," Kaylin snapped back. "I'm going to have to meet him sooner or later, and I'd rather not have him ready to eat me alive just because I've annoyed him with salary negotiations." She held up her hand when Bellusdeo opened her mouth to reply. "We've had this discussion three times already today. Just drop it. It's time for lunch anyway." Kaylin glanced out the window and noted the sun's location. Past time, actually. Evanton would not be pleased. "After we eat, we'll skip to the bottom of the list. Maybe one of the last places they thought of will work better for me."
Bellusdeo remained quiet the whole ride to Elani street. Kaylin kept the piece of paper clearly marked with addresses out, and doodled exactly what she thought of the person who'd written the list in the margins. And today was supposed to have been a good day, too.
Oh well. If it meant waiting until her next day off to go hunting with Caitlin, then that was that. She'd deal with it. Not quietly, though.
Elani Street was as busy as ever, and Kaylin marked that a carriage really didn't make much of a difference when it came to speed. Not when the horses had to constantly stop for busy shoppers scurrying around. Honestly, she and Severn could walk the beat faster than this. They did finally reach Evanton's shop, and a knock on the door revealed a flustered Grethan. A much more normal visit today then, possibly.
Kaylin led the way into the shop, though she almost stumbled back into the street from the assault of her familiar. "Knock it off," she complained loudly, swatting at the small dragon. He chittered, obviously excited, and wrapped himself around her neck like a very odd and exotic scarf. Kaylin rolled her eyes and left him there, following Grethan into the kitchen where Evanton was sitting in front of a plate of sandwiches.
"You," the old man said, when she entered. "You are very late."
"I know, I know, but—" Her excuses were cut off when Bellusdeo entered the kitchen, as Evanton immediately stood from the table and rendered the dragon a deep bow.
"Lady Dragon," he said, hobbling forward. "It is an honor to have you join us in my shop."
To Kaylin's surprise, Bellusdeo returned the honor, bowing just as deeply. "Keeper. I am pleased to be welcomed here."
"We were not aware that you would be joining us. Otherwise, we would have prepared much more adequately."
"That is not necessary," the dragon said, serenely gliding over the kitchen table. "I am pleased to accompany Private Neya on her daily excursions, and what is considered appropriate for her is what I consider appropriate for me. Please, sit."
Evanton sat. Kaylin remembered to close her jaw. Barely.
Bellusdeo poured the tea while Grethan passed out the sandwiches. Pipsqueak lessened his stranglehold around Kaylin's neck, slightly, to watch the proceedings. The Keeper and the dragon beside Kaylin continued to speak and Kaylin crammed her sandwich into her mouth as quickly as possible. She needed sustenance before Evanton remembered that she was here and reacted accordingly. She was snatching cookies out of the tin when the old man finally granted her his attention.
"Your summoning stone," he said, fishing it out of a pocket and handling it across the table.
Kaylin took it warily, but the stone didn't make her break out into hives. No active magic at work then. And the stone looked just as it had before, except that it was now attached to a plain silver chain. "Again," Evanton said, as Kaylin rolled it around in her fingers. "It must be in direct contact with your skin to work. I would recommend you keep it on at all times."
Kaylin nodded, and flicked Pipsqueak until the small dragon retreated to her shoulder, allowing her to slip the necklace over her head. With a little bit of tugging at her high neckline, she managed to get the chain beneath her shirt. It was cool, but again, her marks remained inactive. "How do I use it?" she asked.
"It's not difficult," Evanton replied. "It's simply a matter of willing your familiar to your side. Be warned, however, that it may or may not choose to respond. And don't forget that your familiar can also summon you to his side."
Kaylin's eyes narrowed. "And let me guess. He can say no to me, but I can't say no to him?"
"Of course."
"Great," she grumbled, glaring at Pipsqueak. The silly thing didn't even react, remaining flopped on her shoulder. If he ever dragged her over without her permission, there would be hell to pay.
"Now," Evanton said, clasping his hands together. "Let's turn to why I asked you to join me today. There was been a theft from my store."
That got Kaylin's attention. "A theft? she said, more forcefully than she intended. "Again?"
Evanton immediately frowned, and Kaylin spared a glance to Bellusdeo, wondering if the dragon beside her was inadvertently responsible for Kaylin not getting clocked on the head by the old man. Grethan cowered on the other side of the table, causing a little flash of guilt. "Have you reported this to the Halls of Law?" she asked, trying to recover.
"I am doing so now," was Evanton's cool reply. Great. More paperwork to file. "As for the nature of the theft, it is not something I consider inconsequential, but it occurred in the store, not the Garden. As such, the recovery of the item is not as dire as in the past." Kaylin inwardly winced. Grethan looked like he was a second away from diving beneath the table.
"What was the item?"
"A summoning stone, very similar to the one you are wearing."
This made Kaylin blink. "What?"
"Yesterday, I believed that the stone was merely misplaced. I have three in my possession. The last remaining stone is intact. However, Grethan and I have determined that the stone was indeed stolen."
"Do you have any idea who? And why?"
A frown was her only answer. Great. That meant she was going to have to comb through Evanton's very incomplete shop records to try and find a suspect. Which she couldn't technically do until filing a report. Which she couldn't technically do while off-duty, meaning that she'd need to be early to work tomorrow so she could get the paperwork done before she and Severn started their beat. "Is the stone exactly like mine?" she asked, mentally thinking through the required sections of the report she'd need to write.
"It is slightly different. The cut and size of the stone is the same. However, it resembles a sapphire, rather than an emerald."
"Is the difference significant?"
"The emerald allows the two entities connected to the stone to summon each other. The sapphire will only allow one entity to summon the other; the reverse summoning is not possible."
Kaylin frowned. "And you're sure the theft is recent?"
She got a glare for that question. "Alright. Severn and I will be back tomorrow to take care of this. Anything else I need to know?"
Evanton sat back. "Not about the stone. However, it has come to my attention that you and the Lady require place to live."
This got Bellusdeo's attention this time.
"I happen," he said, with a slight smile, "to know of someone who requires a tenant."
Notes
Prompt for this drabble was Search.
Well, you can blame Cast in Honor for this. Anyone else getting a little impatient for some resolution of certain matters? Well do not fear. I will provide what you seek.
Silliness aside, this fic is old, and thus now classified as officially AU. Remember that I started writing before Cast in Sorrow. I'll be cribbing a couple things from the books that have come out since then, but some things will have to be drastically different, for the sake of time/the plot. For example, though I'm using Helen because it's easy to fit in, she's not broken in this continuum. Some things just need to be done without the world ending as a possible side effect. And of course, as these are drabbles, skipping around is expected. Finally, going to try and do this quickly. Next four drabbles are done. I'll post the next one later today or tomorrow.
Enjoy!
SJ
