Careful What You Wish For

[Llyr Llywelyn]

Dusk. Eight Ymiden, Arc 720
Continued from Balancing the Bones

They had taken a couple of inn rooms at an establishment located near the Tower of Gems. ‘They’ being Ezili, the eight slaves purchased from the Tower of Flesh, and Saza Moshe. Of course, upon arrival to the inn at the early morning hours when business had concluded and she’d left the Tower with her newly acquired bodies, Ezili had paid Saza. She offered, though, to pay him more if he only stuck around and helped with certain things – things like paperwork, that she gave him, but as she offered the assignments, it seemed that perhaps all she wanted was the other biqaj to stay in the room with her.

After a thorough search of the room, she slept in an upright standing position against the wall with her arms crossed. She slept near silently, breath hardly audible. Then in three breaks time, she awoke without warning, grabbed a journal, and settled on the bed to write. Here, she stayed… writing and sketching with quick scratches of a charcoal stick against pressed parchment. She said nothing, for another two breaks of her scribbling. Finally, she left to the adjacent washroom.

When she returned, the elegant blond had cleaned and changed into a long dress of gauze scarves that wrapped around with gilded strings that held it to her lean silhouette. She wore thin gloves, opaque at the fingertips, but gradually transparent and lacy as they extended all the way to her shoulders. Though the sun had yet to rise, Ezili found Saza (wherever he’d gotten to, and whatever he might’ve been doing) and insisted that he aid her in finding a decent breakfast – and did he know what tea was? Because she very much desired tea.

Before they headed away, she checked on the quarters which she’d secured for the slaves – and she counted each of them. None had attempted to run, and no fights had broken out. She went to each individual and she set her hand on their shoulder, and she looked in their eyes with her own color-changing ones – and each found variations of suspicion and surprise by the unusual woman who’d purchased them from the Tower of Flesh. Still, she explained little and what she did say – remained within the privacy of their own minds – as the Xyph didn’t share aloud her knowledge of the people she’d bought.

While she walked down the stairs of the inn, ahead slightly of Saza Moshe, she spoke in light-hearted chipper tones, “…if we can, perhaps we might bring them some food as well. I require to find supplies, and perhaps you might help me with that? Enough for a few trials trip with the lot of them and…”

She continued to speak about the slaves with Saza, in ways that she wanted them to be clothed for the hot weather and fed well and hydrated. Though questions might have been asked in regard to her intention, she swayed around each and simply chatted about the weather and how dry it was in Nashaki that her skin would surely crack if she stayed any longer.

Despite this, as soon as she got the chance, she drank tea hot and she enjoyed it all the same. But the sun had come out by then, and the temperature rose from the reflective sands, and Ezili nearly hid in the shadows with her uncertain affinity toward the bright sun. She gave Saza more coin, in trust, and let him handle acquiring the supplies she’d listed for him during the breakfast they shared. While he did so, she hid in the inn room and she slept a little more. It was her intention to wait out the sun, before heading out to travel from the city.

By the time the sun hovered in a haze of ruddy ambers and purples along the horizon, Ezili found Saza again. She seemed slightly different than in the morning though. A keen anxiousness brought her hands together in fidgets of her fingers while she pulled at her gloves. Her long blond hair had been taken out of the ponytail and instead hung in tightly-wound dual braids over her shoulders. She paced around the inn room, with glances at the corners and even under vases and wherever there was space to be underneath something. She found another spider and promptly set it in a glass container where it remained with a scarf over it, like the two others she’d found earlier.

“Did you find everything?” she asked Saza, while she walked to the window and stared out at the setting sun. “Please, tell me you did… I do not think I could stay here another trial.”

She took a quick breath, turned to look at the curly-haired biqaj and smiled her polite little smile. Her irises were of her frequent ice-blue color. “There is a caravan leaving tonight. With all hope, we shall be ready then. I… I would like, if you would care to, for you to come with me. While this may be your home, I can offer you coin but more so… support for your ambitions should you wish it.”

“This place does not recognize your potential. I cannot, however, promise you that it won’t be dangerous. What you saw in the street, how we met, one might consider that peaceful by comparison. My last companion… well… life is full of danger. A life of high ambitions is only more so due to those of similar minds you meet along the way. I believe you and I… we are similar of mind anyway. I would like to help you. Go ahead, think it over if you must. I will be departing Nashaki within the next break.”

[Saza Moshe]

8 Ymiden, 720 ‣ Nashaki

Saza couldn’t figure it out.

Did someone so clearly wealthy and powerful as Ezili really need some little tour guide? Was there no one else she’d brought along, from Yaralon and beyond the world as he knew it, that she trusted more with her coin than a relative stranger? Like everything else that’d occurred since his unexpected meeting with the strange, starlit blonde, the insistence (and continued insistence) that he stay with her longer, and do more, and more, and more – well, Saza was just confused. There was no getting around that. He’d considered that maybe it was a cultural thing, or that maybe he just didn’t understand the women his age that well, but… it still just seemed like an Ezili thing. And whatever enjoyment she derived from giving him more and more tasks, that was her own business.

It was nothing less than an experience, sharing the inn room with the other biqaj. Saza didn’t sleep much, and Ezili’s upright, unconscious presence at the wall was perhaps the least of his problems. For as much as he wanted to make himself comfortable in the room, sheltered from the elements and other various dangers that pervaded the city streets, it was hard for the curly-haired youth to let himself relax. The busywork from Ezili (for that was what it seemed to be) helped for a while, and Saza took his place sitting on the bed while he completed it, but there were only so many things to do. Once all of the paperwork had been filled out and organized, he looked around the room again… and since his pale acquaintance still slept, he opted to sleep as well.

He could’ve just left… and that thought had indeed occurred to him. But then he looked at Ezili again, asleep standing up, alone (besides the slaves) in a city she’d never even visited before – and he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He’d not meant to fall asleep on the bed – though Ezili had not made use of it, he still found it impolite – but it was just so comfortable, compared to how he usually slept. He had a blanket, of course, but it was typically used to cover the ground beneath him rather than shelter his sleeping form.

What restless bits of sleep he managed were cut off with the abrupt awakening of the woman at the wall. Sudden but somehow so sure, Ezili sprung into motion, wordlessly grabbing a journal and planting herself on the bed as if she hadn’t been standing… sleeping… doing whatever the hell she’d been doing for the past few breaks. Saza didn’t question it, not aloud, but raised his brows in tired acknowledgement of the continued oddities. She had the right idea though, even if it seemed to the younger biqaj slightly disjointed. He didn’t need sleep, not much of it anyway – so he sat up and pulled his own journal closer to get to work.

Saza might’ve already finished with the paperwork, but there was always more to do. He wasn’t clear on what exactly Ezili did for a living, but paperwork was paperwork, and it was a hassle no matter what the job was. So he looked over everything again. Things he had already completed and checked over twice, things he thought could have been handled a bit more efficiently. They were noted down in his leather-bound journal, rewritten in slightly-revised form on the opposing pages, and all the while the young blond drifted… and rested his chin in his hand… and drifted… and lifted his head in sudden alertness anytime he drifted too far. This continued for about a break, before finally Saza fell asleep again, sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed.

His sleep was perhaps more peaceful then, as he sat leaned forward over his open journal, holding his head in his hand. What dreams came to him were simple and short, and certainly less memorable than the events that’d taken place in the waking world beforehand. He slept for another break, and only stirred when Ezili rose from the bed. His head leaned forward too far, slipping away from the stability of his hand, and Saza awoke with the widening of bright yellow eyes. Immediately returned to his writing, the biqaj straightened up and removed himself from the bed, going to sit against the wall lest he fall asleep again.

It was easier, after that, to aid in Ezili’s various requests. Satisfied with the knowledge that the woman had not desired to sell him to the Tower, or to harm him in his sleep, Saza allowed himself to relax a bit more in her presence. He still didn’t like the fact that he’d just helped her sell three souls and buy eight more – but that was yestertrial’s work. Totrial, Ezili wanted breakfast and tea (of which he informed her that yes, he knew what it was, but he didn’t mention that he’d never actually tried any) and Saza was determined to get it for her.

So once the other biqaj had checked up on her newly-acquired slaves, the younger followed her out of the inn, and back into the dry heat of the outdoors. While he started them towards the nicest of eateries that he knew (and one that he definitely couldn’t afford himself), he spoke in steady, serious tones, “...and they should be able to provide anything you’ll need. They supply the Tower of Arms in the fortress to the east, and their main location is just a few streets away from…”

He continued to provide whatever assistance he could, asking questions when he felt necessary, but otherwise allowing the woman her privacy. Saza couldn’t help but find her objections to the heat amusing; he had never known anything else, himself, and in truth, he could not imagine a cooler environment. While temperatures certainly lowered in Nashaki, the air was always the same – dry and unforgiving.

Relatively unbothered by the rising sun, Saza set about acquiring the things Ezili and her slaves would need, after the other biqaj had finished with her breakfast and tea and opted to retire to the room. Although he wasn’t used to being trusted with so much coin (especially by someone that he still considered a stranger), Saza was frequently entrusted with the task of ensuring the various shops in the market were restocked properly and on time. He didn’t know much about business – not like the shopkeeps did, and certainly not like Ezili did – but he knew how to get things done, and so long as he was told what to offer and what to refuse beforehand, he was usually fine.

It took longer than he had previously anticipated, but after dealing with the local supplier’s impish assistant and making sure that the requested clothes, food, and water would all be prepared and brought to the inn as soon as possible, Saza returned to the rented room.

A quick stop by his current residence (the alley behind Leo’s shop) had allowed him a change of clothes, and the biqaj rested comfortably at the foot of the bed, papers held up above his head. Copies of the paperwork he’d signed for the payment to the local supplier; he read over the lines again and again, doing his best to memorize the phrasing. He looked over the name at the bottom of the page – Corinne Darling, but the ‘r’ in ‘Corinne’ had blended with the ‘i’ and he couldn’t stop staring at it now. His arms were lowered, and the papers laid over his chest, over the open front of his white shirt. Golden eyes fixed themselves on the ceiling while Ezili paced the room, before finally shifting to focus on her, when she paused near the window.

“Yeah, I found everything,” he assured quietly, and though he watched her upside-down from his current spot, he noted the little smile when she looked at him. “The clothes might not be the most comfortable… but they’ll keep everyone cool, and protected well enough from the sun.”

That mattered more than comfort or style, he thought. Perhaps if Ezili had accompanied him, the supplier might’ve offered better alternatives… but as it was, Saza had procured what he could. He was aware that he lacked the persuasion of a beautiful woman.

Saza’s irises lightened, gradually, into a deep blue shade. He set the papers to the side and sat up, afterwards turning to face his fellow biqaj a little better. Why Ezili seemed to dislike Nashaki so much, he wasn’t sure – he didn’t know if it was simply the heat or if it was something else – but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed with the woman’s rush to leave. Sure, he had a job (or many jobs) to get back to, and he’d already probably spent too much of his time assisting her, but… it was nice. It made him feel useful, and not only that, it made him feel like his efforts weren’t unappreciated.

So when Ezili continued, making mention of a caravan and extending the offer – or was it a request? – to take him along with her, Saza didn’t know how to respond.

What was he supposed to say?

He hadn’t been expecting that. It showed, too, as the blues of his eyes blended and blurred in a mixture of yellow and orange and red, a gradient that nearly mirrored the sky outside their window. Ezili’s voice was quieted as she finished with a statement on the time he was provided to think it over. A silence ensued… and Saza simply stared, unaware of whether he was meant to be flattered or confused or… or anything. But the shifting shades in his gaze finally settled, steady and golden.

“You would… take me with you?” his accented voice was uncertain, as if the very idea of it confused him. “I appreciate the offer, of course, but…”

But… but what? He had a few shops in the market to help out in? He had some friends that he hadn’t even spoken to this cycle? He had a makeshift home in an alley to get back to? He had no family, no stable career, and though he loved Nashaki, he had no real home. What he did have, however, was an opportunity. One that he might not ever be offered again, if he did not take it now.

Saza frowned; he glanced away from Ezili for a few quiet trills. As sad as it was to realize how little he truly had, she was giving him the chance to have more. He cleared his throat quietly, and raised a hand to tuck a few frizzy curls behind his scarred, pointed ear.

“Your braids are pretty,” offered Saza, as his gaze flicked back to the other biqaj. Not that her hair wasn’t pretty when she’d had it pulled into a ponytail, but – oh, he wasn’t going to try and explain. He interacted with so few women his age, he didn’t really know how to compliment her without it sounding wrong in one way or another.

“I’d like to go with you.”

Whatever uncertainty had filtered through his voice before, it had disappeared, and left a calm determination in its wake.

“I don’t need to think about it. If you’ve got more work for me to do, then I’m willing to come along and do it. What’s the use of being safe if I’m bored out of my mind? I don’t want to miss the chance to do more with my life just because I’m scared.”

He took a deep breath, and then nodded.

“I’m… not a fighter, and I can’t promise that I’ll be of much help there. But I think… if I can just get more practice with all of this,” Saza lifted the papers at his side, “I think I could be really good at it. So…”

The rich color of his eyes faltered, allowing flecks of red and blue to spatter his golden irises. Saza set the signed pages back down on the bed beside him.

“Where are we going?”

[Llyr Llywelyn]

8 Ymiden, Arc 720

Saza was a knowledgeable fellow. He knew the shops in the market and the business interactions between them and the Towers. He understood to keep his own biases out of things like the slave trade without so much as a pout or a grumble or an attempt to sabotage any of the exchange. He wasn’t cruel nor sadistic toward the slaves, but he wasn’t saccharine in extending pity either. He was, for what Ezili observed, wonderful at the art of focus and concentration. A proper citizen of Nashaki, then, with a keenness for neutrality. Ezili wondered if her Immortal father might like the fellow youth.

Of course, during the sunlight hours, while Saza was out – Ezili gathered a bit more information through the name, and soon discovered other names as well. Not just a Saza Moshe, but a Corinne Darling and a Kalba from the Tower of Arms. The information gathered explained the slightly noticeable weakness in the right leg. Ezili had learned much of Saza Moshe in the trial, through a contact within the city, but no more than she needed to know to trust an extension of such an offer.

Whether he would agree or not, she couldn’t predict.

“You would… take me with you?” He sounded almost surprised, but no… more confused, than surprised. “I appreciate the offer, of course, but…”

Patiently, she waited beside the window. She hadn’t minded the silence before either. Since she’d already set a limit of a break to decide, she didn’t have to rush him otherwise. She allowed him his thoughts and turned her gaze away to watch the sun lower and the sky darken.

“…your braids are pretty.”

Ezili glanced over again, a slight furrow in her sculpted dark brows and she smiled ina bemused sort of expression. What had he just said? What sort of negotiating tactic was that? A flippant compliment to distract or…

“I’d like to go with you.”

The blonde biqaj laughed with pure amusement. An airy noise as spritely as bells and chimes. She shook her head, the laughter faded while she turned her slender body to face him, while she listened to the rest of what he had to say. It might have been the most he’d said to her since they had met – that didn’t pertain directly to business, though she supposed it also had to do with business in a way. Her smile turned far more genuine than her usual thin polite one, and the irises of her eyes dappled in white and violets.

“…So… where are we going?” he concluded.

“Yaralon,” she answered simply. She walked over to the nightstand and pulled open the drawer. “Then, after that Cahryst, and then Rharne, and then we shall settle in Viden.”

“First, however, I require you to…” she threw down a stack of thinly pressed parchment that were bound with twine into a makeshift book. “…sign your names, all of which you go by, and initial each page to acknowledge you’ve read it. Then, prick your finger with… this dagger… and set the pad of your finger on the last page and the front page in agreement to the contract.”

“It is all mostly standard fare, for instance, your payment is determined here – by the value you provide me,” she turned to a page with a long list of various numbers in columns. “As well as your acknowledgment that any danger that befalls you, I am not liable in any court for. Oh, also, that if you witness something… hm… questionable in the law by either me or another employee within the company, that you must bring such to me first and let me handle it.”

She flipped through the pages, her gloved fingers pointed out what she spoke about though she moved on fairly quick. “I allow any kind of worship, or belief, under my employ but do not attempt to convert those other employees within my business and you’ll see here, of which it is called Curious Constellations. Now, your role specifically will be as my personal assistant but your tasks will mostly be scribe-oriented so do not fret. I do not wish for you to act as handmaiden or bodyguard. Other than within Viden, you may not inform others of my link with this company.”

“If you have questions, now is the time,” she added while she started around the inn room to collect the last of her belongings in preparation of travel. “Please, use the ink well and quill left on the nightstand with the dagger.”

Ezili paused by a mirror and fixed her braids slightly with a small smile, then she said, “You shouldn’t have to fight. Certainly, I don’t expect protection from you. If I believe we require something like that, then I would hire someone far more capable. No, I need you for all that you are talented at. To start with, I would like for you to keep a recorded account of our travels to come and what happens during the journey; any names of those we speak with or interact with, anything unusual that you notice or I mention to you, the weather, and so on. I want to be able to reference this account from time to time.”

“And if you require any additional supplies for this work, then we need to get them now because I don’t wish to miss the caravan’s departure from the city gates,” she admitted while she slipped on and tightened a pair of thinly-laced sandals to her otherwise bare feet.

[Saza Moshe]

8 Ymiden, 720 ‣ Nashaki

Laughter, as light and airy as a mid-trial breeze, and perhaps just as refreshing. Why Ezili laughed, he didn’t know. Saza couldn’t have identified what, out of everything that came out of his mouth, had amused her enough to earn such a positive reaction – but he wasn’t going to complain. He sat up a little straighter on the edge of the bed and continued, admitting easily enough that he was hardly the best of options if she needed someone to keep her safe… but that he had potential all the same. He wasn’t deluded enough to believe that Ezili would ever need his help in a real fight anyway, not after that display the night before.

The shifting shades of Ezili’s eyes might’ve distracted him, if he wasn’t so focused on the rest of it. As it was, the colors (and lack thereof) intrigued him, but he didn’t bother with the questions they created. Personal inquiries had no place between them, in spite of anything he might’ve wondered about the mysterious woman, and he had no intentions of jeopardizing his recently-earned position as her… as her what? Her recordkeeper?

He spent his question, instead, on an attempt to decipher her plans. Location, goal, length of stay, anything that might provide him some clue as to what it was that Ezili did – but her simple response was only more intriguing.

“Yaralon?” he repeated, just a moment after she’d said it – but more was added before Saza could even begin to consider what business she might have in the northern city. Of course, Yaralon was still south of Cahryst, and Rharne, and… and had she just said Viden?

Saza’s brows lifted in quiet surprise. His eyes followed Ezili as she moved about the room, the various colors within them having faded to reveal a darker blue. A bundle of parchment pages, bound together with twine, was retrieved from the nightstand and then set down for him to view. His gaze lingered on the drawer for a moment, as if considering something, before he turned his attention to the mentioned pages. His names, his initials… Saza might’ve frowned at the direction to prick his finger, but he didn’t object. What was a little finger-pricking?

“...if you witness something… hm… questionable in the law…”

He glanced up from the parchment. Ezili sounded like she was being serious, and her expression hadn’t changed when she’d said it. What did she mean by questionable? He wasn’t going to be helping her kill anyone, was he? Saza could ignore a lot of things, and certainly wasn’t unaware of the difficult and oftentimes unfair restrictions of the law, but he didn’t want to contribute to anything too terrible if he could help it. If there was one thing he’d learned from growing up in Nashaki, it was that the law came down hard, when it caught up to you.

Still, he didn’t ask about it now. Whatever sort of things the other biqaj was referencing, they could be dealt with in time – for now, he would let himself rejoice in the fact that he was finally doing something. His eyes flicked back down to the papers as Ezili continued, and he nodded along in acknowledgement. Nothing else concerned him; he worshipped no one, and he had no desire to change anyone else’s mind. The youth held a deep respect for his city’s Immortal founder, but he certainly did not worship him, and did not believe such practices to be all that productive.

Saza allowed himself another deep breath, offering one final nod as Ezili stepped away. He wasted no time in pulling the makeshift book closer to himself, but didn’t immediately sign. The bundle was set over his knee as one of his legs crossed over the other, and Saza began his own readthrough of the contract. He’d be the first to admit that it was hard for him to make sense of it all, but a lack of understanding didn’t stop him from trying. It was not that he didn’t trust Ezili (although he didn’t, not really) – he simply wanted to get a better idea of what it all looked like, laid out in technical terms.

“I can do that,” confirmed the blond, as the other biqaj explained what was expected of him in their coming travels, and he continued to flip through the pages of his contract as he spoke. (Was he supposed to understand all of this already? Would he seem unprofessional or unqualified if he asked her to explain how these things worked, sometime in the future?)

“I’ll need more to write on,” said Saza. He looked up from the papers, finally, and watched Ezili tighten the laces of her sandals. His shoes were dusty in comparison. “And if you’d prefer for me to keep the records in any certain way, just tell me how. I’ve only got this for today…”

The dark, leather-bound journal at the other side of the bed was grabbed, and he flipped to the latest entry before turning it for Ezili to see. Already written was an account of the trial’s purchases – not his own, but those he had made with Ezili’s coin – and he shut the journal again before setting it to the side. He reached for the quill on the nightstand, and continued, “but I’ll fix it and add everything else that you’ve mentioned, before I start the next trial’s account.”

Saza Moshe
Corinne Darling
Kalba

The last one was added with a slight hesitation. Saza worked through the pages quickly, signing SM wherever it was needed, and then the quill was set down.

“I’d like to get the rest of my things before we go, as well,” the dagger soon replaced the quill, and Saza stared at the pointed tip. Right… he could do this. His other hand was raised, and after a moment of consideration, the blade was pressed against his fingertip. A grimace twisted his youthful features, but he didn’t linger on it long, setting the dagger to the side and moving to press the bleeding pad of his finger onto the parchment. It was pushed down into place and rolled to the side, leaving a bold, silver impression of his fingertip.

Another silver marking was left upon the final page of his contract, and then Saza carefully adjusted the thinly-pressed stack to keep it neat. Irises returned to a steady golden hue, the biqaj stood, and extended the little bound book to Ezili.

“Glad to be at your service, Mistress Magpie. Is there anything else that I should be aware of, as your assistant?”

[Llyr Llywelyn]

8 Ymiden, Arc 720

Ezili tried to give a sense of disinterest while Saza read through the contract. She appreciated that he bothered, though. Not that she had the ease of such selectivity as to judge him if he hadn’t. Rather, she hoped that his shrewdness would serve to make him one of the very few personal assistants that might manage to remain alive for an extended duration of employ. The last handful hadn’t fared so well… but she did have high hopes for Saza Moshe. It would be too much of a shame for a fellow biqaj with such wonderful eyes to perish.

When mentioned that more supplies were needed for writing, she simply nodded. She responded, “Of course. You may make use of anything you need, consider it as a business expense and it will be added to the seasonal inventory.”

She leaned in to look at the last entry on the journal that he showed her and she smiled politely – thinly – as if she didn’t want to give him too much approval but she didn’t want to disapprove either. She almost took the journal for a closer look, but he shut and set it aside before she could. The blonde shrugged and finished with the laces on her sandals.

“We will go over your first few nights together so please, record how you naturally think best and we will work from there, together until it is understood,” she explained. She made certain she’d collected everything before she looked over Saza and wondered. Was he excited? He seemed eager enough, though he focused on signing the contract. She stepped closer and glanced over with a slight hint of a smile when she saw that he included all of the names she’d acquired on him. Honest. That was good.

“Of course, did you want someone to help you? You could take Leyliqe with you to help pack faster,” she offered. She tried to seem disinterested, again, while he pressed the dagger into his fingertip. Her heart leapt a little though, like a rabbit startled by a loud noise, and she tried to not let it show though a biqaj could never fully hide with the change of colors in the irises of her eyes. The blue color fell in a flood of warm ambers and deep rich indigos. She caught the grimace, and the same smile as before – polite, thin, minimally approving – showed on her pale pink lips.

Eyes of gold looked back at her, and she nodded while she accepted the completed contract. The mortalborn ran her gloved fingers over it, and in a sense, she sealed it then – within her own heart – to never be forgotten nor destroyed. Or so she intended. She slid it into a small satchel that hung from the thin belt at her hips. It impossibly vanished into the too-tiny holder, though.

“Glad to be at your service, Mistress Magpie. Is there anything else that I should be aware of, as your assistant?”

Ezili stared at him for a moment, and then she laughed in the same airy amusement of before. She picked up her items, and went to the door and casually held it open with her foot while she gestured with a head tilt for Saza to leave the room. “Oh, Saza Moshe, that would take us far longer to discuss than time we currently have.”

“Tonight, though. Tonight,” she promised. “I don’t wish to miss the caravan so go, retrieve your items and find us at the western perimeter.”

[Saza Moshe]

8 Ymiden, 720 ‣ Nashaki

The incident with her possibly-contaminated glassful of water being the exception, Ezili had been nothing less than accommodating, during the short span of time in which he’d known her. Saza wasn’t the type to trust someone outright, and he certainly wouldn’t extend that sort of naïve thinking towards a woman as clearly capable as she was, but he couldn’t see the downside yet. Leaving Nashaki wasn’t ideal… but it was still what he’d wanted. It was easy to think about and imagine when he’d never been in any real position to do it. Now… it was daunting, and he wondered what sort of perils might await him – but he let the fear drown and disperse in his excitement.

Saza simply nodded when Ezili spoke, nodding in clear acknowledgement of her words. If there was one thing he did know how to do, it was how to pay attention. The Tower of Arms had cemented that quality into the structures of his adolescent mind, and now it served him well, whether he was meeting someone new or conversing with those more familiar to him. Most people appreciated that, he thought – feeling like they were really being heard.

At the suggestion to take the slave girl along with him, the biqaj glanced away, uncertain if he really wanted to… make use of Ezili’s slaves, like that. Saza didn’t mind putting his opinions aside when it came to business matters, but in his own life? When he was away from his new employer? He had no desire to perpetuate or gain benefit from the enslavement of anyone else. So he just shook his head, and the gesture was slight, unbothered. It wasn’t only for Leyliqe’s sake that he refused; it wasn’t as if he had much more than what would fit in his bag.

He handed over the contract after that, signed in ink and silver blood. To say that he was nervous was an understatement – he’d never committed himself, legally, to any sort of business or employer. Certainly not one he knew so little about. But in spite of his distrust, he gave himself willingly to the cause. What the cause was, he just hoped he’d find out soon.

Another laugh fell from Ezili’s painted lips. Saza was clueless as to why, yet again; his gaze warmed into a bright, orange hue, and he watched her gather the rest of her things from the rented room. He grabbed his canvas bag from where he’d set it near the pillows, and then slipped his journal into it. All the rest of his things were spread between Leo’s front counter and the alley behind the shop… so he didn’t take long to follow Ezili to the door, bag slung over his shoulder to rest comfortably at his side.

As he stepped through the opened door, he paused, and looked again to the pale woman holding it. Her vague response did little to help his growing curiosities. Saza stood there for a moment, observing the other biqaj a little closer, eyes shifting from one shade to the next in fleeting thought. Orange and gold, yellow and red, pink and blue. All swirled and faded in the span of a few short trills, leaving a calm, dark blue behind.

“Of course, Mistress. I look forward to working with you.”

Saza inclined his head in another polite nod, and then continued through the door. He kept to Ezili’s timeline as best as he could; it ended up taking longer just to get to Leo’s shop than to actually retrieve his meager things, but it was finished soon enough. Farewells were offered to the various shopkeepers in the form of respectful resignations, and though he was questioned more than once as to where he was going, Saza offered nothing more than the fact that he would be gone. On the way to the western perimeter of the city, he said more farewells in his head: the ones he dared not speak aloud.

For the friends that’d left him alone through the aftermath of recovery; for the slaves in the Tower of Flesh. For the mothers and fathers that’d always done their best to help him, and for those that’d passed over the arcs. For the father that might still remain, living somewhere within the walls of the city, and for the mother he’d buried alone. He blinked through shadowed, scarlet irises, and said farewell to the boy that’d always stood beneath the Tower of Chamadarst.

There were towers everywhere, he supposed. There were houses, and tents, and friendly faces in the crowds. Nashaki had nothing that he could not live without. So he let his goodbyes be short, not sad, and he didn’t think of them again.

[Kasoria]

Review Rewards

Name: Ezili/Llyr/Treacherous Lying Buttface

Points awarded: 15

Knowledge:
Negotiation: Setting Time Limits to Agreement.
Negotiation x2
Business Management: Can be Used in Tandem with Negotiation.
Business Management x2
Persuasion x2

Loot: +1 Contract of Employment with Saza Moshe

Renown:

Skill Review: All Skills played with proper range

Name: Saza

Points awarded: 15

Knowledge:
Writing: Signatures & initials
Writing: Reading through a contract
Writing: The language of contracts
Negotiation: Buying for someone else
Negotiation: The limits of low charisma
Negotiation: Using old contacts
Intelligence: Keeping records for future reference
Intelligence: Keeping quiet about connections

Skill Review: All Skills played with proper range

Notes:
Very impressive how you managed to pack a lot of plot and character development into comparatively little. Fine work, both of you, setting things up nicely for the future without splurging on and on with purple prose. These are how the more sedate threads SHOULD be done; still at a pace, with a definite plot, and skillfully written enough for some nuance and fun to be had. Also my first Nashiki... Nashki... whatever thread!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to this review, feel free to PM.