Chapter 6

Business

The next day, Nia had already settled in the King's City. She had taken a train from Market Chipping, first arriving in Porthaven before taking another train to Kingsbury. Currently, she was staying at an inn she regularly visited every time she had come to the City.

She grabbed the hat she had gotten recently (the old one tortured her skull) and put it on her head, walking out the room and locking it with the key the man in the front desk. His name was Daryn if her memory still worked correctly. She walked down the stairs.

"Good morning, miss Randell!" Daryn greeted her from his place behind the desk.

"Good morning, Daryn." She walked to the front door. She was slightly relieved to find out he hadn't reacted one bit when she called him Daryn.

"Business with the city?" She sighed.

"Yes, it seems as if people just love to have me here." He laughed in his booming voice.

"True, true! Your company in the inn is really nice to have, now am I right?" She laughed with him and opened the front door.

"Oh, I don't know. You know how I am. Goodbye!"

"Aye. See you later."

She walked out, off to her first appointment of the day. She had a long list of things to do, and on the bottom of the list, (which she would be doing lastly) was to visit a certain blonde-haired man's castle had everything gone smoothly that day.

She breathed heavily, calming her raging heart down. "What a strange man," She said, as she recalled his handsome face. He had long unkempt blonde hair (long for the standards of a man) and his manner of dressing was very flamboyant. "To draw in the ladies, undoubtedly." She remarked dryly. "Such a playboy." He had angled features and marble like blue eyes that were so glassy had it not been for the mixed up lump of emotions she had seen in them they would have almost seem inhumane to her eyes. His voice was deep and rough, something that sent shivers up her spine.

Seeing him put her to shame. He was too beautiful for a man. She believed he was way more attractive than her, and it made her wonder why he had even bothered flirting with her the last time they saw each other. What did he see in her?

She lamented on the things he had said to her.

"You hair is absolutely marvelous!"

As if.

"No need for such formalities, my dear."

The 'my dear' part was absolutely unnecessary.

"You look adorable when you're irritated."

I also look adorable when I'm furious.

"And you smell wonderful as well."

Very nice to know that you have been sniffing me.

"The breakfast you cooked was delicious, by the way."

I suppose my cooking skills are okay.

"Heartless woman! Your heart is made of stone and ice!"

Glad that you know!

"You're amazing."

And you're a flirt.

Howl stood up and exited the bath tub, pulling the plug on the bottom of the tub and draining the water. He wrapped his waist with a towel, proceeding to the mirror stained with various cosmetics, surrounded by shelves of vials and packets of things he used to beautify himself. Howl was a very vain man today, hoping to make himself more dashing than ever to make the heart of a certain lady melt under his arms.

He smiled pleasantly; the thought of seeing her again today was overwhelming.

"Nia, Nia, Nia," He sang as he looked at himself in the mirror, "How can you be so strong to not have fallen yesterday?" He began with the daily ritual of applying the various products he used to beautify himself.

"Nia," He breathed, her name was something that he thought matched her. He loved her marvelous hair, and he felt delighted that she hadn't fixed it into some bizarre hairstyle all the other ladies wore. He pressed a finger to his cheek, recalling that her skin was flawless, perfect, porcelain white. "Has she ever been out in the sun for more than five minutes?" He joked to himself.

But the thing he remembered most were her gleaming eyes. When he stared right into them, he was fascinated by the beautiful color. They were deep and caring; he wondered what story lurked underneath those very eyes. "She has felt pain," He whispered lowly. "and she has shed some tears. I really wonder."

He thought deeply. "Where had she come from?" She was a foreign beauty. Not one girl had he seen in Ingary that had hair as pure white as hers. It resembled the clouds from the way it was curled, and he wondered if it was naturally like that way. "Marvelous," He remarked.

Another strange thing was her family. "Randell?" He questioned, having never heard of that name not even once. Whoever they were...they brewed unnecessary trouble, Howl thought. "And she has to pay for that," It made him quite furious for what they had done to make her bear such a burden enough to prevent her from settling permanently in one place. "And who are the fools after her?" So many unanswered questions. He sighed and continued with what he was doing.

Two hours later, a freshened Howl came out of the bathroom at long last, wearing his black lace up shoes and trousers, with his scarlet-and-grey jacket and white dress shirt. He went downstairs, where Markl was practicing spells on the table. "I'll see you guys a bit later," He said and went over to the door.

"Where are you going, Master Howl?" Markl asked like he usually did before Howl left the castle.

The wizard smiled to himself as he turned the doorknob to red down, feeling the familiar warmth again in his chest.

"Kingsbury." He whispered and he was out.

Nia sighed. This meeting is awfully boring and not to mention usual, she replayed in her mind. The brown haired man that sat before her coughed and she sat up straight. "Yes?" She wasn't frightened by the fact of getting scolded by this old fart, for that had happened countless times before. She was already accustomed to it. She knew a lot about this man, and so did this man about her. She knew the geezer's name was Bardolf, she knew he liked the constant chatter within the palace, and she was always called for a meeting with him for her sister was well known to start quite the situation. Yet as much as she hated him, they were very close friends.

To her, Bardolf Semaj was a very...important person in her life. She hate to admit but she looked up to him as an annoying yet caring older brother, who lectured her on her recklessness time to time yet meant just to remind her of how much she meant to him. He looked out for her ever since she had started working for the Ingarian Government while she did as much to look out for him as well.

"Now that we've finished matters," sighed he, looking at her with his expression finally relaxing, "...how is the family? I haven't heard from them in a long while."

The white haired miss looked down to her hands in thought, she thinking of how they were. Not one word did she receive from them in a long while, not one letter sent. It had irked her how they were doing, could they have been imprisoned? Dispatched? And yet, she felt that she shouldn't worry. After all...a family of dangerous wizards and witches should be able to protect themselves, should they not, said she in her head.

"Neither have I," she said, casting an aura of disbelief as she muttered those words.

Her family albeit slightly dysfunctional (courtesy of her elder sister), were tight knit. Their ability to use magic ran in their blood strongly. All of them were accomplished magic users coming from a land far from Ingary.

Bardolf was taken aback. He lifted his hand up to his chin, and pondered on the predicament they had tangled themselves in. "This is the first time that this has happened. I wonder."

"I wonder as well, Bardolf." She agreed. It was a foreign thought to her, the aspect of her family's possible extinction. Very, very foreign. Nevertheless, the old councilor put a hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"I will send for a knight from Camoa and request a search for your family, Nia. There is nothing to worry about." He assured. She smiled sadly. The geezer sat back in his chair and shuffled through papers. "You don't have a permanent residence yet, am I right?"

She nodded.

"I'll arrange a place for you to stay too. Guaranteed is that you would be placed under the protection of the Ingarian government."

Surprise took her face. She stared at him, while he laughed at her expression. "Are you quite sure?"

He nodded, chuckling. "Very sure, indeed. Since you being under a dangerous state right now because of family relations, it should make a very valid alibi for doing so."

Nia had doubted the idea almost immediately. "Don't be silly, that kind of power is out of your reach." She was doubtful of that event ever taking place, settling down, having a home of her own, having her own kitchen, her own bed...everything that one would expect from having their own place to stay; she did not believe it for one minute. Her thinking was eclipsed by that fact, clouding well-thought thoughts; making her confused. "Stop being so nonsensical." She smiled hysterically at him.

Bardolf smiled at her, a gleam in his eyes. "And that is where you're wrong. I've recently acquired the authority to do so. Straight from the king himself, since I've served him well as he says." He began taking out various papers from the drawers from his desk, also producing a fountain pen and a small glass container that held a certain thick, liquid like burgundy colored solid. "I have everything to make it official." He arranged the objects on his desktop and laid out the fountain pen before her.

He sat back in his chair while she gawked. Literally, gawked. Mouth open, jaw hanging, eyes wide. "This is all too much." She whispered, her head then crowding itself with thoughts of what exactly she could do with her own house.

The geezer, which wasn't really that old (about 26, Nia recalls) , shook his head. "I'd rather have you caged in a house and stayed put than you out and about, wreaking havoc on the poor townsfolk." He joked.

She was touched by his sincerity. She quit gawking and smiled warmly. "You've touched my heart, Bardolf! I never knew you could be not cruel for once."

He huffed and crossed his arms. "Don't push it." He closed his eyes, shutting out the sight of Nia peering through the documents. "I'll have you know, I've been maintaining that place for a while now. I thought it would be right for you." He took out a sketch of the house that he did himself and showed it to her.

Her heart beat erratically. Her eyes teared up and her grin widened. "This is perfect," She whispered, her hands trembling. She felt so much happiness and in an instant, Bardolf was sent to the ground by an overjoyed tackle-jug.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She cheered on and on while he reluctantly hugged her back but smiled.

He recalled in his memories, the first time her saw her, she was messing with the papers on his desk, starting out in the government as his assistant. He watched her get promotions, travel all over Ingary, fawn over one of his colleagues at work, fail miserably at her spells...the list goes on. She had grown so much in such a short time and it brought him to tears seeing how happy she was. Truly, she was his only younger sister.

"You're absolutely welcome."

Nia skipped along the cobblestone paths of Kingsbury, Bardolf trailing right behind her. He sighed and looked at the people around them, staring incredulously. "You're drawing attention, you know." Said he.

"I have no regard for what they think right now, I'm about to have my own house!" She chirped without looking back at him. He shook his head and smiled.

"I didn't anticipate this kind of reaction from you," His tone was thoughtful.

She gave a hearty laugh. "Well I didn't anticipate this at all!" She said in such a joyful voice it made the people who passed by stare at her rather than both of them.

Bardolf laughed. "I'm very glad that you liked it." He stated happily, observing the environment they walked in for the first time. He was amazed by how much things had changed from the last time they took this route. I really must go out more often. He thought sadly in his head.

"You lock yourself in your office all day, Bardolf. I wouldn't be surprised if you thought so much had changed here." She said cheekily, as if reading his mind. He huffed.

"It isn't my fault my office is so luxurious." He said smugly, and she laughed.

"Your right with that, if I say so myself." She mused out loud.

A few more minutes of conversation and walking, they had arrived in front of a house with a well-kept front lawn (apparently since the flowers and bushes are still alive, unlike the nieghbor's). It was a two story house and from the windows you could see white curtains. It was painted like its neighboring houses, albeit the size was bigger. It had an iron gate fence, and she spied what looked like steps to the back of the house. She could only hope it had a backyard. Nevertheless, she was overjoyed to have her own home.

"It looks better in real life," She said in a dream like state, and Bardolf laughed, opening the iron gate for her.

"Should we get started now or later?" He joked. She gave an eager nod and stepped in. She was amazed by the plants that grew, roses, hyacinths, daisies, marigolds, tulips, dahlias...what seemed like every flower she could remember were alive and growing right there in the front yard!

Bardolf motioned her to come with him, and she followed him to the back of the house. Her hopes were fulfilled. The backyard was far more beautiful than the one in the front!

"You've been maintaining this place so well," she remarked, as she sat down on the grass with him.

"Why yes I have." He chuckled and lay down on the grass. She followed suit.

"We have a lot of work to do, you know." He reminded her. She smiled.

"I know, I know."

The rest of the day was spent making her new house more like home. Buying new furniture, decorations, stocking the kitchen with food, everything.

She hadn't even remembered Howl for the entire time. Not one bit. She also hadn't remembered to visit them in Wizard Pendragon's Shop.

Were a lot more closer to our first issue, if you know what I mean.

Better pay a lot of attention to this chapter, because it is one of the most major chapters ever. Even though it doesn't involve Howl and the others that much. The devil is in the lovely details. :)

Madam Feather – I'm sorry I couldn't update as fast, I've been having a lot of problems lately..so yeah. Thank you for the very very very kind words!

Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle. I only own Nia and Bardolf so far.

I know this isn't getting a lot of reviews,

But thanks to the two reviewers so far.

It means a lot.

I would appreciate it if you would review, dear reader! Very much appreciated!

But still, I've written this for my own satisfaction and I will never withhold chapters because I severely lack reviews. I will never do that, that's plainly pathetic. Still, reviews, I love them. I would really like to know the opinion of you guys!

Thanks you guys, for reading!

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