September 1069

I chatted with John some more, then asked where I could find Robert's steward or seneschal and if John could lead me to him. He looked a little annoyed, though even that's too strong a word, at being drawn away from his reading, but he assented, said he could use the walk, and we went strolling through the castle, with me moving at half my usual pace because John was so much shorter and older. Eventually, after some meandering, we found the Steward of Berkhamsted, who was a man in his thirties with a slightly receding hairline, a faintly protruding gut, and the general impression of a pre-bureaucracy bureaucrat. After I explained what I wanted to him and that yes Robert had directed me to him and yes I was serious, the steward just kind of sighed and asked what I wanted.

My demands were simple: either a one-story home with a sizable cellar or a two-story house, with an attached stables or room to make or refurbish an attached stables. Fairly simple, all things considered. Oh, and to get it soon-ish, not to have to wait a season or a year for a new building to be constructed. I could tell the steward was going to double check everything with Robert first, and maybe complain about it to in not so many words. There probably wasn't a thriving real estate market in Berkhamsted.

After that issue was hashed out, I left John to his afternoon reading and went back to my room, unlocking and relocking the door as I did so. Then I rummaged through my bags, picked out a set of carving tools, grabbed the wooden board I'd purchased, and set to work.

In the bygone days of whatever is the opposite of yore, I had a business card. It said, 'Harry Dresden, WIZARD, Lost Items Found, Paranormal Investigations, Consulting, Advice, Reasonable Rates, No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.' The problem with recreating that here and now was, first, no mass, industrial printing to make business cards, and two, mass illiteracy. So business cards were out. If I wanted to advertise myself, I'd need to do it symbolically, and centrally.

Hence the wooden board.

Now, first off, I didn't want to actually advertise myself as a wizard. Unlike me-modern times, where people generally just looked at me as if I was a kook or a private investigator with a weird shtick, people here and now would take such claims a lot more seriously. And that brought with it a lot of baggage, and I really didn't need the White Council getting even more annoyed with me than they already were. Instead, I planned to make myself out to be some kind of multi-class Investigator-Herbalist. Symbolically representing the latter was easy. The former, well, the PI genre didn't exist here, and investigators in general were, let's just say not very common, so that was more of a challenge. The no love potions bit, that was easy. Just add a philter, with hearts coming out the top, with a big fat X crossing it out. The rest would take a while.

Then again, a good chunk of the local population was involved in the trading and business-operating business, and merchants tended to have a better grasp of literacy. It was rather necessary when keeping the books. So maybe I could get away with a half-symbol, half-word business sign. Herbology and whatnot for one market, investigation for the other, and word of mouth could handle the rest.

No, I wasn't looking for ways to skive off doing scribe work. I was just looking for ways to employ my already existing skill-sets for the benefit of others. And my wallet.

Wizarding is expensive.

Ultimately, all I accomplished to start with was carving my name into both sides of the board, then setting it aside and pulling out some parchment and ink to start sketching and prototyping various designs.

It was maybe an hour into this process when the temperature dipped and someone knocked against my door. I looked up warily, set my parchment and quill down, and called my staff to my hand. "Who is it?" I asked.

"The woman you gave your coat to," the voice of Elfleda said. "I understand if you don't remember my name, we did only meet briefly."

"I remember," I said, before walking over to the door, unlocking it, and pulling it open. To my slight disappointment, Elfleda was wearing a heavier green dress that concealed her figure, and after greeting me she turned back to the door, staring at it curiously.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"…magic, I suppose," she said after a few moments, before turning to face me properly. "May I come in?"

I leaned out and looked around. "Should you be here?"

She shrugged imperiously. "And why not? You returned, I wish to speak with you, so here I am."

"I guess." I looked back into my temporary room. "It's kind of a mess."

"I don't mind," she said.

"Alright," I said, opening the door all the way and stepping back. As she walked in, I moved over to the desk and chair I'd piled a bunch of things onto, moved things off the chair, and then dragged it out before gesturing to it. As Elfleda went to sit, I went back to the door and closed it, though I didn't magically lock it. Didn't want to send the wrong message.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked, sitting back down on the bed.

"Anything," she said with a shrug. "You're literate, different, and seemingly well-read. That makes you far more interesting than most of the people here." She looked around, her eyes briefly falling on my in-progress business board. "What's that?"

"Business card," I replied. "For advertising."

Elfleda cocked her head in confusion. "Advertising?"

"Uh, describing what services I plan to offer, basically," I said.

"I… see. I think. And what services are those?" she asked.

"Mix of private investigations, lost items, missing people, that kind of thing, and herbalism."

"An eclectic mix. But… quaint," she said.

"It's my skillset," I said with a shrug. "How have you been?"

"The usual court life," she said. "Most of the hangers-on here pretend they're special or important, but they're really not. Banal, mostly. Normandy… was more interesting."

"Was," I noted.

"As I said, you're far more interesting than most of the people here. Or there," she said. "But what about you? You left so quickly. Rather rude, that, when I had so many questions."

"I'm generally hesitant about involving myself with courtly politics," I said. "The last few times have all ended in… excitement. Which isn't good for my life-expectancy. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Oh?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"I decline to elaborate," I said. Especially since I had not the slightest clue how I was going to sanitize tales like 'I was contracted by Mab to find the murderer of the Summer Knight, who turned out to be the Summer Lady, who I then killed' and 'I walked into a convocation of vampires with a fellow Warden and ended up being partially responsible for a horrific bloodbath involving immortal regenerating ghouls.'

I mean, only slightly responsible, Vittorio definitely holds the bulk of the blame for that, but I still partially kicked off the events that lead to that, so. Anyway.

"Disappointing. Perhaps later?" she asked.

"Way, way later, if ever," I said. "So what kind of questions did you have?"

"About magic, primarily. Books on magic are rare and hard to acquire, you know. I certainly don't have any. And tutors, well…" She trailed off and shrugged.

"Ah, so you just want me for my magic."

"Hardly," she scoffed. "Thought that is a factor."

I rested my hands on the bed and leaned back, thinking. Elfleda's gift seemed fairly narrow. She could benefit from a general grounding in magic, and she might develop some proficiency with thaumaturgy – that tended to be a rather neutral discipline, talent-wise – but she wouldn't get as much out of it as Eva. Particularly since I knew very little about the Sight, which it seemed Elfleda was using a lesser, spinoff version of. On the other hand, there was an opportunity there.

"I'll consider it. Though, not for free," I said.

"Oh?" she asked, intrigued.

Hiding Eva's gift in the long-term from everyone would be difficult. I needed some support on that front, especially on the logistical side. I needed excuses to see her or for her to see me, ways to address her constant wardrobe mishaps, perhaps alternative tutors for non-magical subjects. Also, regardless of if Elfleda could see magic in some form or not, it was really just a matter of time until she figured out about Eva.

"There is a favor you can do me. A few, actually," I said. "Ongoing ones."

"Go on."

"I assume you've met or at least seen Eadric, right?" I asked.

"Your landlord, I presume? Eadric is a very common name in these lands."

"Yeah, him," I said. "He has a daughter, Eva. She displayed magic a few months ago. I took her on as my apprentice."

"And you would like me to look after her? Teach her?" she asked.

"That's part of it," I said. "The pressing issue is that the way her magic unconsciously manifests is… transformation of clothing, basically. So she needs a wardrobe. A large wardrobe, so that she can rotate through outfits while keeping the changes minimal and giving time for them to revert."

"How bizarre," Elfleda said. "Then you'd like me to take her shopping?"

"Basically," I said. "And cover any… feminine things and questions that might crop up. Beyond that, if you could teach her how to read and write French, and maybe Greek…?"

"Perhaps," she said. "And you are offering… what, lessons in magic?"

"That's what you seem to want," I said.

Elfleda smiled at me. "Well, not just that." Then her expression grew more serious, and she looked up at the ceiling, pondering. "Will you be living in the castle?"

"Definitely not," I said. "I plan to move into a house in town."

"Shame. Still, I imagine that would somewhat complicate matters with your apprentice." She suddenly grinned salaciously. "Unless you mean to pretend marriage to the girl, and have her live in your house."

I sputtered and coughed. "Uhm… no. Yeah, that… no. I'm pretty sure Eadric would try to kill me if I even suggested that. And, just… no. For so many reasons."

Elfleda hummed in a somewhat satisfied tone, then went back to musing. "I could take the girl on, as a lady-in-waiting. It would be a tad strange, considering my position, but still possible. Then she could attend me without much cause for suspicion." She smiled. "Of course, then that would require me to visit your house. Frequently."

"Somehow, I get the feeling you view that as a positive," I said dryly.

She laughed, the sound loud and rich. "True enough. And would you then be teaching us together?"

"Well, more you sitting in on her lessons. There's not really a whole lot I could tailor to you," I said. "Your gift's rather narrow in that regard, and also one I'm basically completely unfamiliar with."

"I see," she said. "How do you plan to explain this arrangement to the girl's father? Do you intend to tell him what I am?"

"Well, that depends on you. Are you fine with that?" I asked.

She tapped one long finger against her lips, which highlighted her well-kept nails. "The girl would need to know, but I would prefer it go no further. The best way to keep a secret is to not spread it."

"Hmm. Well… Elfleda. That's a Saxon name, right?" I asked.

"It is," she confirmed.

"Do you know English?"

"From my mother."

"In that case, I guess I can make the argument that you're the closest thing to a proper local noblewoman there is for Eva to learn from, and emulate, and that you're doing so as a favor to me." I scratched my chin. "Or we just wait for him to leave, I tell Eva, and you just end up taking her under your wing." I clicked my tongue. "No, Cuthbert might be problematic if we do that. He's, uh, Eadric's son. So, yeah, I think we'll need to tell him and get his approval."

Author's Note: That sputtering section can basically be summarized as *Molly flashbacks.* And also, no, it's not happening, let me just kill that avenue of discussion off right now.