It was a long shot, but the Scalvert’s Stone hadn’t let her down yet.
* * *
She returnedto the shop but found herself restless and pacing. She’d sent post for her most important delivery on her first day in the city, and while the coffee had shown up promptly, the other parcel had yet to arrive. With the shop repaired and cleaned and nothing upon which to expend her nervous energy, she felt thwarted.
After weeks of steady work and with Cal absent, her hands itched with the inactivity. At last, in exasperation, she gathered her notes into her satchel and hiked to the pub she’d visited on her first night in Thune.
She sat at a table in the back, ordered a meal, and made increasingly irrelevant lists. When noon arrived, her meal remained half-eaten, and her nervous organizational efforts were in shambles, so she lunged from her seat, paid, and stalked back to the shop to wait.
The idea that an applicant would arrive on the first day was, of course, ludicrous. But the Scalvert’s Stone… well. She either trusted its power, or she didn’t. And if she did….
the Scalvert’s Stone a-fire
draws the ring of fortune.
Viv started a fire, boiled water, ground some beans, and made a cup of coffee, which she drank too quickly. Then she made another. And another. As a result, she was nervier than ever and wished she’d written other instructions on the advertisement. Or that her probably misplaced faith in the power of the Stone wasn’t keeping her corralled there. Did she really believe it would deliver results so soon?
Blackblood hung ominously on the wall, and she found herself wanting to take it down to sharpen it and to lose herself in the repetitive, familiar action of it, but she forced her gaze away. She found herself annoyed that Cal had made her hang it up and then angry at herself for blaming him, since that was a stupid thing to think. Viv could have juggled the man one-handed. He’d hardlymadeher do anything.
And then, in late mid-afternoon, there was a rap on the door, and it opened briskly.
A woman strode in, glancing about in a way that was both cautious and confident. She was tall—not as tall as Viv, of course—with glossy black hair cut severely at chin length. She wore breeches and what looked like a sweater, dark and shapeless, with a collar that covered her throat. Her face was aristocratic, her eyes dark. Viv also noted with surprise the short stubs of horn parting her hair, the hint of dusty magenta in her skin, and her whipcord tail. The woman was clearly a succubus.
Viv’s head was already buzzing from her fourth cup of coffee, and she started up from her seat.
The woman slowly looked her up and down, but her expression didn’t change. She glanced deliberately at Blackblood on the wall and then back. “Assistant Wanted,” she said. It wasn’t a question. Her voice was throaty, but she spoke precisely.
“Uh, that’s right,” replied Viv. And just stood there.
The woman’s eyebrows slowly rose, and she closed the door behind her. She held out a hand. “Tandri,” she said.
“Viv.” She awkwardly returned the handshake, cursing herself for drinking so much coffee. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to actually show up on the first day,” she said, which was absolutely untrue, but seemed a good excuse for how scattered she probably appeared.
“I like to be prompt,” said Tandri.
“Good. Good!” Viv tried to get hold of herself. She’d hired help before. Sure, they’d been mercenaries and cutpurses, but the principle was the same. Lay out the job, set forth the terms, get a feeling for whether they’d cut and run at an inconvenient moment, and then make the call. Easy.
“So, I’m looking for an assistant. I guess that’s clear from the notice. The job’s… uh, it’s sort of… um. You ever hear of coffee?”
The succubus shook her head, her hair moving like a liquid curtain. “I have not.”
“Well, that’s fine, doesn’t matter. Tea though? You know tea. I’m opening this shop soon, kind of like a tea shop—but coffee—and can’t run it all by myself. I need somebody willing to learn the work, take customers, help with whatever needs doing. Probably some cleaning, too. And they’d make coffee, you know, as needed, after some instruction… from me. Uh. I wrote ‘food service experience’ in the notice. You have that?”
Tandri’s expression didn’t falter in the slightest. “I do not.”
“Um.”
The succubus inclined her head at Viv. “Do you?”
Viv’s mouth hung open for a moment, until she eventually managed, “I… do not.”
“Iamwilling to learn. That was higher up on the notice,” said the woman.
“That’s true.” Viv scratched the back of her head. Gods, this was so awkward.
“Advancement opportunities, it also said,” prompted Tandri. “What sorts of opportunities?”
“I did write that, didn’t I? Well… I mean, if things went well… I guess it would depend on what your interests were?”
