The little house was bustling with morning activity. Lukas was finishing the last of his breakfast while Alena was sliding into a loose green cloak in the other room. Once he was done, Lukas took a few steps away from the table to put his plate and flatware in the wash tub. They would finish cleaning it later. Alena stepped out of the bedroom, putting up her long black hair.
It was a small house with only two rooms, sitting right up against the town wall, far from anywhere in town that either Lukas or Alena needed to be. But it had been their home for a couple of years now, and they were fond of it. What’s more, they were on good terms with their neighbors. Even though they didn’t have much furniture, their home was welcoming enough to them.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Alena said, walking up and nuzzling Lukas’ facial scruff before running her hands through his short, shaggy brown hair. “Stay safe, okay?”
“For you, anything,” he replied, gently cupping her freckled cheeks.
Alena left first, striding quickly through the twisted streets of the district they lived in until she got to a part of town that wasn’t quite as cramped. Out here, the stone buildings were cleaner and the roofs were tiled instead of thatched. The streets were wider than they needed to be to accommodate foot traffic.
When she arrived at her destination, one nondescript house among many but with a sign over the window, she tried the door. Finding it locked, Alena pulled out a key and opened it herself. She had arrived a little early.
“Mother! Father!” she cried out. “I’m here!”
“Alena!” came the cry of her mother Susann, who strode out of the kitchen to embrace her. “We’re still eating breakfast if you want some.”
“No thank you, Mother,” Alena replied, sinking into the bony embrace. “I’ll just say hi to everyone and get started for the day.”
“Won’t you eat with us?”
“I’m full, I promise.”
When she entered the kitchen, Alena’s youngest sister stood up from the table to grab her in a hug, her long braided brown hair flapping about wildly.
“Edith,” their father Wendel said, “I’ve asked you not to get up from the table until you’re finished eating.”
“Sorry, Father,” she replied, sitting back down.
Zensi, Alena’s older younger sister, swallowed what was in her mouth and said, “Alena, you need to finish the documents for our arrangement with the Siegert family before the end of the day. I can’t deliver the missive until we have those.”
“Give your sister some room to breathe,” Wendel said, setting down his fork. “She’ll deliver. Won’t you, dear?”
“Of course, Father,” Alena replied. “I’ll get started. Let me know if you need anything. And I like your new look.”
Her father beamed. He’d gotten his hair done and had his long-time beard shaved off in the process. The neatly trimmed hair and mustache really worked for him.
Alena made her way to a small office with a desk surrounded by papers. Sitting down, she pulled the first form over and started filling it out. Her family were all merchants, working together as part of the same small business. Even Edith, who was only starting puberty, had a small but essential role to play in their work.
Time passed and Alena’s stomach started to growl. It must have been nearing lunch. Surely she had enough time to sign a few more documents. Maybe afterward she’d take her sisters out to eat.
A knock on the door frame interrupted her thoughts.
“Alena,” her mother said, “there’s someone here to see you.”
“Me?” Who was here for her? Her father and mother handled client interactions personally. “Well, send them in, I guess.”
Alena thought that she vaguely recognized the long-haired woman who entered the room. From her darker skin, she was definitely an immigrant, probably from the east judging by the people Alena had met while working this job. She was dressed nicely, which meant that she either was or worked for someone with money.
Oh shit.
“Alena Kappel,” she said, “The prefect has sent me to invite you to have a private lunch with him today. If you’ll please follow me—”
“May I have a moment?” Alena asked, standing up suddenly.
She grabbed her mother and dragged her to her father’s office, opening the door and closing it behind them.
“Alena?” her father asked. “What’s wrong?”
“That bastard sent someone to drag me to lunch with him!” she cried, probably a bit too loudly.
Comprehension dawned on her father’s face.
“I see. Well, to be perfectly honest, Alena, it would be very helpful for the business if you were to stay in the prefect’s good graces—”
“But this is what he does!” she hissed. “He finds ways to worm himself into my life and I just want to be rid of him.”
“Honey,” her mother said, “it’s only one lunch. Where’s the harm in that?”
“He’s just using this as an opportunity to try and convince me to marry him again.”
Her father and mother exchanged a look. Alena rolled her eyes. Why had she thought that would persuade them?
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go. But only to help the business.”
“Thank you, dear,” her father said, before returning to his work.
The woman, Fadia, escorted Alena to the wealthiest district, where the largest and most ornate building was located. The Prefecture Estate was a large stone building where most of the government work was done. It was tall, designed to loom over the surrounding buildings. An old, crumbling statue of a dragon sat on the roof, looking down menacingly at Alena as she was escorted inside.
Because the Prefecture Estate was also where the prefect lived, there was a fully furnished dining room. It was larger than any room Alena had been in before. She could fit two of her own house in there. The armed guards did nothing to ease her discomfort.
“Please sit,” Fadia instructed, pulling out a chair for her. Alena sat and Fadia continued, “I will go and collect the prefect.”
Once she was gone, Alena sighed and buried her head in her arms. This was not the first time she’d been brought here to meet with the bastard. No matter how many times Alena told him she wouldn’t marry him, the prefect simply would not take no as an answer.
At the sound of footsteps, Alena raised her head. The prefect, with his thick eyebrows, stepped into the room in an expensive suit. He smiled at Alena, and she sat up straight to glare at him.
“Hello, Torben,” she said as he sat down across from her.
“It would be more appropriate to use my title, Alena,” he reminded her, “but for you, I will make an exception.”
“How magnanimous,” she replied bitterly.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“Busy.”
Alena tried to focus on her meal as the first course was brought out. Torben watched her intently as she ate. She did her best to avoid looking at him. Seeing his face would just encourage her to punch him in that punchable face he had.
“Have you thought any further about my proposal?” Torben asked her.
“Proposal?” she asked, feigning ignorance. “Which one would that be?”
“Oh, you charming fox. My proposal that we marry.”
“Oh, that one,” she said, dropping her fork onto her plate and letting a servant replace it with a new course. “I had forgotten. You’ve only been asking me for… six years now?”
“Now that I’m prefect, I have the means to provide you with the kind of lifestyle that you truly deserve.”
Alena snorted. Somehow, he’d only grown more desperate since inheriting the Prefecture from his deceased father. It was sad when he was the son of a town official, but he still wasn’t over her.
“Why me?” she asked. She knew what the answer would be, but she still felt compelled to ask. “I’m sure you could have any woman you wanted.”
“There’s just something about you, Alena. You’ve got a fire in you that most women don’t have.”
She rolled her eyes. Torben never said the other part, that he wanted to quench that fire and turn her into a submissive wife. Alena had heard him talk about women quite a bit before he was in a position of power. There was no way he’d gotten better since then.
As the next course came, Alena’s gaze drifted over to Fadia, who was standing up against the wall. She hadn’t moved for the entire meal, instead just waiting for orders that hadn’t come yet. Alena felt sorry for her. That woman deserved better than working as Torben’s assistant.
“I’m very happy with my life,” Alena finally said. “I have a good job and a loving boyfriend whom I’m hoping to marry one day. I don’t need anything else.”
“Alena, don’t delude yourself,” Torben said. “I’m aware of the state of your home. You could be doing so much better for yourself.”
“I don’t need a large house for it to feel like home,” she replied, smirking. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with saving money. I might want to travel one day, maybe even establish a business in another town and grow my family’s company.”
She didn’t want to say it out loud, but Alena and Lukas had been saving money for quite a while. Torben wouldn’t rest until he’d convinced Alena to marry him. The only thing left to do was to take her boyfriend and leave to make a new life for herself in another town.
“You wouldn’t need a job at all if you accepted my hand in marriage.”
Alena stood up, saying, “I think I’m done here.”
Torben didn’t get up as she started walking away. Alena locked eyes with one of the guards by the door, a tall man with a stubby nose, who looked incredibly uncomfortable with this whole situation. He didn’t move to stop her as she walked out of the room.
***
Lukas had been an apprentice to a local locksmith for most of his life growing up. He just didn’t have the stomach to be a butcher like his parents were, much to his father’s disappointment. Since he and Alena were saving money to move away, Lukas didn’t have the money to invest in his own career and was still working for Marius. Most days, it was fine.
Today, Marius had asked Lukas to visit the lab of the town’s wizard and install some locks for him. Lukas had heard stories about Gunter, none of them good. He was not looking forward to meeting the man in person.
The building in question, sitting on the edge of the wealthy district, used to be a book shop before being shut down by the prefect and converted for Gunter to use as a lab. Lukas had never heard what happened to the original owners.
“Good, you’re here,” the wizard, a thin middle-aged man with graying facial hair said upon opening the door. “About time. Hurry up.”
The inside of the lab was dark and dingy, but somehow incredibly clean. There was no dust or grime anywhere. Various tools and utensils were scattered about seemingly at random, but the building had the air of organized chaos. Gunter, walking with a hunch, led Lukas into one of the rooms.
“I need you to fix the lock on this trunk,” Gunter said, kicking at the object in question and adjusting his spectacles. “And hurry up.”
Lukas got to work. This looked to be mostly a store room. There were several other trunks in there, as well as some cabinets and shelves lining the walls that were stuffed with miscellaneous objects. A big table occupied the center of the room, and it was piled high with things that Lukas didn’t recognize.
Gunter moved into another room to continue working, but Lukas could hear him speaking out loud to himself over the sounds of things being moved around. Lukas focused on his work. The sooner he got done, the sooner he could be out of there. Eventually, Gunter returned to the room that Lukas was in.
“Almost done? Good. I should have boiled the bastard who sold me this junk alive while I still had the chance. Now I have to redo all the enchantments on it. Is there nobody in this pathetic town who can handle simple tasks?!”
“Alright, I’m done,” Lukas declared, putting his tools back into his bag and standing up, only to hit the table as he did so.
There was a loud clatter as the piles of items on the table slid off and hit the floor. Metal and stone and bones hit the ground with a cacophony of noise. Lukas had to cover his ears. Gunter was fuming.
“You good-for-nothing piece of shit!” he cried, pointing a finger at the door. “Get out! Get out before I decide to hex your worthless ass!”
Lukas grabbed his bag and ran for the door, deciding not to test the wizard’s patience. As soon as he was outside, the door behind him slammed shut of its own accord and the lock clicked into place. It took a few moments for Lukas to be able to breathe again.
Hopefully, the rest of his day wouldn’t be so bad. It was a long walk back to the shop, which gave him time to recover and get his mind on other things. At least this would make an interesting story to tell people about later.
Marius’ shop was a small building in a busy part of the city. The streets were wide but always packed with people milling about their daily lives. The front room of the shop, where Marius and Lukas would meet with customers, was empty when Lukas arrived. He made his way into the back rooms, which were cluttered with tools and supplies.
“I’ve returned,” he told Marius.
“How did it go?”
“I hope you got payment up front, because he was not patient with me.”
“That I did, don’t you worry,” Marius said, turning to grin at Lukas.
Marius was covered in thick hair and had a small scar under his eye; the story of how he got it changed every time Lukas asked. He was getting on in years, and putting on a little bit of weight, but he still spoke and moved like a much younger man. Lukas was sure that he would live forever at this rate. At the very least, he would never retire.
Marius told Lukas, “Be sure to clean your supplies before putting them away.”
“I know. I’m not your apprentice anymore, Marius.”
“If I don’t remind you, you’ll forget.”
Lukas rolled his eyes, but grinned. He sat his bag on a table and grabbed a somewhat clean rag to start wiping down his tools, putting them away one at a time as he was finished. When he got to the end, though, there was something else in the bag.
“What’s this?” he asked, picking up the small spherical stone.
He turned it over in his hands. On one side was a small ring made of ruby. It made the stone almost look like an eye. Lukas stared at it for a moment, and then his vision blurred. When it cleared, he wasn’t holding anything at all.
“Dammit. Where’d it go?” he asked, looking around the floor for the eyeball.
“What did you lose this time?” Marius asked from the doorway.
“Something fell into my bag earlier and I can’t find it now,” Lukas replied, turning to face Marius.
Marius blinked in surprise, then walked closer to Lukas. Lukas took a step back, furling his brow in concern. What was Marius doing?
“Lukas, what happened to your eye?”
“My eye?”
“Your iris is red now.”
bloody wizards and rich boys
Nothing worse in this world than wizards, rich boys, and rich wizards. The worst!!
Starting out strong!
I like this so far
