Okay, guys. SO SORRY about the long wait. However, my goal for March and April is to write for at least 1 hour each day, so I'll probably finish this fic pretty soon.

Jade sat in the kitchen, staring at the ornate home that she had now become a part of.

"Are you going to sit here gawking all day?" Oliver's servant, David scoffed.

"What? No." Jade stood up and brushed herself off, although she doubted that there was a single speck of dust in the Divinan's home. "I just need to get to know how to work all these fancy appliances."

David rolled his eyes. "Do you know how to use anything in here?"

"I did get the job, didn't I?" Jade countered. "Of course I know how to use some appliances. Oven. Stove. Refrigerator." She hesitated. Rusticus didn't have many cooking goods. In fact, she had only just learned how to use an electric oven and stove for the job. She was used to ice-coolers and open fires, nothing electric.

David stared at her, unimpressed. "Is that all, Miss West?"

"Um, yes," Jade muttered, feeling somewhat foolish.

"Well, Mr. Oliver has instructed me to teach you about the kitchen. So, Rustican," he spat, "are you ready for Beck Oliver's Culinary Arts School? For the Gifted," he added.

Jade raised an eyebrow at that compliment. "Gifted?"

David snorted. "His words, not mine."

Jade nodded.

"Now, are you ready to learn about the food processer?"

"Yes."

"Okay, do you know about the settings—slice, chop, puree, shred, grind, mix, and knead?" David waited. "I'll take your silence as a no. Now if you'll wipe that stupid slack-jawed look off your face, Rustican. You have a lot to learn."

"Why can't Mr. Oliver teach me about the kitchen himself?" Jade interrupted. "I believe he would make far less unnecessary comments about my hometown and this would go much faster."

David glared at her. "Don't be so pushy. Mr. Oliver has a lot on his plate right now. Every moment of free time he has he spends on his work. He has more important things to do than babysit a Rustican."

"Work?" Jade asked, surprised. "I thought he inherited a fortune from his grandfather."

David nodded. "He did. Enough to make it by in Divinus. He started working in Rusticus in his early teen years—he was 13 or 14— and he lived all on his own. Father'd been dead for years. But when his grandfather died, Mr. Oliver moved to Divinus and was able to extend his work to the wealthy. He nearly doubled his grandfather's money and is now incredibly successful, even by Divinan standards." David stopped short. "But I'm not here to give you a history lesson, for God's sake, we have work to do."

"One more question?" Jade began.

"Is it about food?" David growled. "If it isn't, then it'll have to wait." He began walking away from Jade, making his way toward the refrigerator.

"What does Mr. Oliver do for his work?"

David stopped in his tracks and wheeled around to face Jade "It's ingenious work," He said briskly. "Nothing a Rustican like you would ever understand."

"Sounds to me like you don't quite understand it, either."

"No one is quite sure what he does," David said darkly. "Even his clients refuse to tell. But—" He hesitated. "I've heard that… that his clients come from all over the world. All huge world leaders."

"Including big leaders from Rusticus and Divinus?"

"Come on," David said softly. "I'll teach you how to use the food processer."

Late afternoon, and Jade was sitting in her new bedroom, complete with a computer, flatscreen television, telephone, and king-sized bed. The one bedroom was probably worth more than Rusticus's finest home. She swung her legs back and forth, pondering Oliver's work. She remembered her boss's words: He was ordering weapons. Was he selling them to wealthy world leaders? Was he helping them wage war on others?

Then she remembered something else: Her boss had had a suspicious that he was making war plans. Plans against Rusticus. Was it possible… could he be planning a war on Rusticus? Could he be supplying other nations with advanced weaponry so that they could eliminate Rusticus together?

Jade tried to dismiss the thought, tried to tell herself that Divinus could take out Rusticus without outside help. That they already had enough weaponry to destroy Rusticus.

Surprisingly, that information wasn't exactly comforting.

She sat back on her bed and continued pondering Oliver's plans. What if he wasn't just planning against Rusticus? What if his plan was to eliminate all the world's poverty-stricken areas? If his true plan was to create another World War? If he'd been selling others weapons so that they could destroy half the world? Destroy innocent people? Destroy the weakest areas in the world?

If his plan was to destroy…?

Jade stood up and grabbed her gun from her suitcase. Fortunately, Oliver had not checked her bags. He must've assumed that she was too poor to own quality weapons.

Partly, he was right. A Divinan gun could kill her faster than she could ready a shot or take aim. Luckily, she had the element of surprise on her side. But not for the moment. If she were to murder Oliver soon after she was hired, it would be far too obvious. She'd be caught and killed in a heartbeat.

She fingered the gun. Soon. Not yet.

So, hopefully that chapter was a bit longer than others. I tried to make it as long as possible, but for the next chapter I want to switch to Beck's POV, so I had to end the chapter before doing that. Anyway, the next chapter will be posted today or tomorrow!