For my loyal readers.
"Lunch will be served in about an hour, if you're hungry lad. And my room is the one at the end of the hall if you get really hungry."
If had been possible to die of embarrassment, Eleni would have done so already ten times over. Throughout the entire tour of the Heart Hart, the doxie, now known as Irina, had dished out more than her fair share of innuendo. That she was now offering her services only made things more uncomfortable.
"It was a joke, laddybuck," she whispered in Eleni's ear. When had she snuck up on her? "My lord told me to behave around you, so I'm afriad we'll have to wait for another time." After a quick, and unwarranted, peck on the cheek, the buxom young woman left Eleni alone in her new lodgings.
Eleni barely waited for the woman to leave before closing her door shut and locking it. Irina heard the bolt slide from the other side of the door and laughed. It was going to be a long summer.
Though irate, she had to laugh. Her grandfather had really worked one over on her. Want to get away from stuffy nobles? Sure, let me house you with prostitutes! An agitated hand ran through her hair, trying to calm her nerves. Eleni would simply learn how to adjust.
"Don't be shy if you get hungry. I'll be right below!" Eleni cringed at the woman shouting outside her door. "I hope to see you, darling!"
It would be a very, very long summer.
Eleni briefly considered returning to the palace, but her pride brushed the thought away. Lokejo would never let her hear the end of it if she ran back now. Scared off by a doxie, indeed. Royal pages were not scared of women. Even when a woman was intent on bedding said page.
When Eleni finally emerged from her room, it was only because she had been promised lunch. She desperately hoped that it hadn't been some ploy on Irina's part. As luck would have it, the buxom blonde cornered Eleni at the foot of the stairs.
"You missed me," she purred draping her slender arms around Eleni's shoulders. "Hungry?" The seductive whisper in her ear made her blush ten shades of scarlet, but Eleni nodded her head. "Then let's go to my room!"
Eleni struggled when she realized the trap she had walked into. There was no way she was going to let this woman strip her of her clothes, not to mention her dignity.
"Let him go, Irina. Not all men want you."
Eleni looked pleadingly at her savior, another woman, but this one at least tried to cover herself. At average height, the woman wasn't very intimidating, but she carried herself with confidence. Aloof in the way that only those with power can act, she played with her black braid, never giving Irina her full attention.
"Come on, lad, lunch has been served."
Apparently Irina knew better than to disobey and quietly followed. Eleni, left alone at the bottom of the staircase, was dumbfounded. Her grandfather really had sent her to a crazy house. One woman was harlot and another put the fear of the gods in your soul with a few words. What other surprises could await her? It was just too cruel.
The entire first floor of the Heart Hart was what its sign proclaimed, an eatery. Tables crowed room, and at the far side of the room there was a bar counter. The only thing the place was missing was customers.
"It won't be opening until after two." Once again, the dark haired woman had snuck up behind Eleni. Seeing her jump, she apologized. "Forgive me, little one. I have been told that I am much too quiet." She gave Eleni a tiny curtsy.
"That's not what the men say!" Of course, Irina could not be quiet at all. Something told Eleni that Irina had never been silent in her whole life. "Come over, young master, you can sit next to me."
Eleni shrunk away from the blatant invitation and at an empty stool at the bar. It was a few seats away from Irina, but not far away enough to insult her. The last thing Eleni wanted was to insult anyone in this house.
"Leave the lad alone." A portly, tanned man had just come out of the kitchens. He swatted at Irina with a dish rag. "What can I get you, lad?" Eleni was shocked into silence. How many characters did her grandfather intend for her to live with. "What's the matter, Irina got your tongue?"
Eleni blushed again. What was with these people? Everyone she met was intent on saying these kinds of things! She might have wanted a break from palace life, but this was too much. Eleni slumped against the counter, burying her face in her arms.
"Enough already," the dark-haired woman said, placing a gentle hand on Eleni's back. "Can't you see that you're embarrassing the poor boy." Somehow this woman always knew what Eleni was thinking. Maybe not all of the occupants were insane or difficult. "Come now, I believe James made a delicious fritter today. How about it, Myles?"
Hearing her supposed name for the first time made her head pop up. Here was the sole person who had bothered to say her name, the one person who wasn't bent on making her feel like an oddity. "You said my name," she whispered, truly amazed that she might have found one kind, sane person in this house.
"Am I not allowed to?" The woman bowed her head. "I apolo-"
"No, I'm fine with it, really. You're just the first person here to call me by my name. Thank you, Mistress... well, I don't know your name," Eleni concluded.
"Avery."
Suddenly, Eleni felt a pair of arms slink around her waist and an empty head rest on her shoulder. Irina did not like being left out, and she didn't appreciate the so-called competition.
"This one is mine, Avery. After all, my lord did send him to me, not you." Irina dug her nails into Eleni's sides. "This one i-" Again, the dish rag swatted at Irina. "Ow," she pouted. "What was that for, James?"
A plate heaping with food was placed in front of Eleni. "Let the lad eat in piece," he scolded Irina, before turning to Eleni. "You'll have to forgive her, she doesn't know any better."
"That's right," added Avery. "George found her in Scanra, the gods alone know how she was raised. The poor dear is a savage."
Irina almost knocked Eleni of her stool, trying to get at Avery. "Better than how you were raised!" For the third time in a handful of minutes, James hit her with his dish rag. "She started it!" All too quickly, Eleni was figuring out that Irina wasn't a delicate flower. She might have been prettier than any court beauty, but this flower had thorns. "It's not fair," she whined.
"Here, already!" James placed a glass of wine in front of her chair. "Leave them be, and no one will bother you." When Irina bounced over to her stool, she leaned over the counter to peck James on the cheek, much to the middle-aged man's delight. "Flattery will get pretty girls everywhere, huh?"
Placated, the blonde doxie calmed down long enough for Eleni to eat her meal uninterrupted. While she ate, Eleni subtly observed the two women and man she would be living with that summer. They were strange, there was no arguing it, but at least they weren't boring and meek. That would have been insufferable.
Later that night, Eleni was eating alone at a small table. She was finishing off her delicious piece of plum pie. Apparently, flirting wasn't Irina's only talent; she could bake. Throughout her meal she had watched the various patrons come and go, none had been particularly fascinating. Common people having a nice dinner.
As her eyes roamed around the room one last time, she saw something that wasinteresting. A young man, probably not much older than Herne or Percy, had just come in. He was very tan, almost as dark as some of the natives on the Copper Isles. But it was his clothes that got her attention. He was dressed in all black, from his short-sleeved tunic, to his breeches and boots. No one in their right mind would wear that much black in the summer.
Irina instantly glided over to the boy and gave him a kiss. The boy returned the gesture, laughing at something that was whispered in his ear.
Well, Eleni thought, quite satisfied with this development. At least she'll leave me alone for a while.
She was wrong. Irina dragged the boy over, introduced him as Merle Brown, and promptly left them alone. Eleni supposed they were meant to strike up a conversation and couldn't see any real reason to not speak with the boy. He was already offering her an easy smile.
As it turned out, Merle was a Trainee in the Provost's Guard, barely a few months on real duty. With what he considered a copious amount of luck, he had been assigned to a pair of Guards on the Day Watch, an assignment that he greatly enjoyed. Eleni laughed at his stories about ridiculously easy arrests and endless chases that he and his friends had been sent on. Merle was the type of person one couldn't help but like.
And just like that weeks passed and July disappeared. The city became warmer, muggy even, but Eleni loved every minute that she spent outside of the palace. Around the beginning of August, more and more people crowded into the city. Everyday, it seemed like the population of the city doubled.
When four new boarders took up rooms at the Hearty Hart, Eleni became very curious.
"They're farmers who have come in with their early harvests," Avery explained rapidly. Though they had already rented out all of the available rooms, the Hearty Hart was always full of customers nowadays. "They always think that selling their crops before the big harvest. Silly if you ask me." She was called away by a patron before Eleni could ask more questions.
So it was. Soon the city had an influx of farmers trying to sell their crops ahead of each other. To Eleni, after the fist few days, they were just more customers at the Hearty Hart. It wasn't as if the place wasn't always packed. The usual patrons were still there, the farmers had just added to the numbers a little bit.
Besides, tonight Eleni had been invited to dine with some members of the Provost's Guard. It promised to be interesting.
I had so much fun writing Irina. Gods bless the woman, she is a demon in disguise. But yes, Eleni has to have a feminine role model. So if it's a prostitute, it just means that there's a shortage of women.
A/N: And this is the beginning of the slowing down process. I move back into my dorm this week, and school starts just after. I promise to put out 1-2 weekly chapters, but school will take precedence.