"Fiona!" Avril stated impatiently as she stood in the doorway. "You're still in bed?! Why aren't you dressed yet? It's time to go!"

I pouted as I rolled over to face her, "Do I have to? It's just another boring meeting isn't it? You don't need your pet fox there for that. My yawning and fidgeting can't help with the negotiations."

The gorgeous druid was dressed in a pretty green dress and her blonde hair was pulled back into a long loose ponytail. She had some soft light-brown leather shoes on, and a simple cord belt around her waist was home to a dagger, a knife, and a couple little pouches.

Avril looked like she was holding back a smile as she insisted, "Of course we need our cute foxgirl girlfriend with us! Merchants always give us a better deal when you're there by our sides wagging your tail and making puppy eyes and looking adorable."

"Aww," I whined. "It's so warm and comfy in bed. Why'd you have to set up a meeting so early in the morning?"

"It's noon silly girl!" she replied. "Now let's go! We don't want to keep Herve waiting!"

I tried once more to get out of it, "Isn't he the creepy one who kept trying to grope my boobs? I don't want to meet with him."

Avril sighed, "No that was Hector, and we've already made it clear we won't work with him again."

"Oh right," I frowned. "Herve is the nice one. Hector's the creep."

"Correct cutie," she agreed.

Then she tried once more to get me to cooperate, "Anyways Fiona even if you don't want to meet with Herve, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss out on lunch at Emilou's restaurant?"

Suddenly my tail was wagging and my ears perked right up. I raised my head up off the pillow and asked, "That's where we're meeting Herve?"

"Yes," my beautiful blonde girlfriend replied with a grin. "That's where Clara and I are meeting him. So I guess we'll see you again after we're back?"

"Nooo!" I insisted as I scrambled out of bed. "I'll be ready in fifteen seconds!"

I rushed around our bedroom grabbing clothes as I got dressed in record time. First I stepped into a pair of simple sandals, then shimmied into my favourite skirt. It was made of light linen fabric dyed a pale red colour and came down to my knees, with a slit at the back for my tail. Then I pulled on one of my cute sleeveless tops, a loose off-white blouse with a scoop neck to show off some cleavage.

For the final step I gave my head and tail a good shake to get rid of any bed-head and puff out my floof, then I grabbed the long slender leash that was hanging next to the bed. It was made of leather, and dyed the same shade of red as my collar. There was a little metal clip on one end to attach to the ring on my collar, and a loop on the other end that could slip around one of my girlfriends' wrists.

I held it out to Avril and with my tail wagging I announced with a big happy grin, "I'm all ready for walkies now mistress!"

"Sorry cutie. No walkies today," she shook her head as she gave me a sad smile. "For this meeting we need Fiona the heroic adventurer, not Fiona the cute horny pet fox. Now c'mon, Clara's waiting downstairs."

"Aww!" I pouted as I put the leash back.

Even so, my tail kept wagging as I followed her down the steps to meet our other girlfriend who was waiting impatiently. Clara was dressed in some tight brown leather pants and tall black boots, and a loose white blouse. She was also wearing a belt with a couple daggers hanging from it, and some coin pouches incase we needed to do some shopping.

As soon as we joined her the three of us stepped out the front door of our comfy little home, then paused a moment while Avril locked the door behind her.

It was yet another aspect of this amazing new life of mine that almost seemed too good to be true. Back in my last life I could never have hoped to own a house. The best I ever managed in that life was renting a tiny basement apartment and living underneath someone else's home. But here in this life, Avril and Clara and I pooled some of our reward from defeating the Demon Queen and purchased a beautiful little place of our own.

Technically it would probably be called a townhouse back in my old world. It was one of a dozen small dwellings all connected together. The walls were whitewashed inside and out, with pretty red clay tile shingles on top. The ground floor was a large open space with some comfortable sofas and chairs, and a kitchen area towards the back that opened out to our own little private enclosed garden space.

The upstairs was divided into two spaces. A large bedroom at the back of the house contained a bed more than big enough for all three of us, which overlooked our small garden. And at the front we had a balcony that looked onto the street below. We even had a cosy bathroom up there, with running water supplied by magical enchantments that were beyond my ability to understand.

Most of our neighbours were adventurers like ourselves, and we all sort of looked out for each other's homes. When people were gone for days or weeks at a time we'd keep an eye on their place to make sure nobody tried to break in or steal anything. And they'd do the same for us when we were out in the wildlands.

Not that we did a lot of adventuring, we didn't exactly need the money. But Avril and Clara thought it was important that we keep our skills honed and our bodies toned and all that good stuff, so they decided we should go out at least once a month on small missions or quests. Which basically meant we'd gone twice in the two months since we arrived at Riverside and prayed to the Gods to receive our reward.

And now that we were on our way to meet with Herve, I could only assume our third trek into the wildlands was going to happen soon.

"Any idea what the mission will be this time?" I asked as the three of us made our way through the smaller side-streets towards the west end of town.

Clara shook her head, "That's what we're going to discuss over lunch. Since Herve offered to pay for our meal I can only guess it's going to be more challenging than just rounding up some rare herbs from the side of a mountain."

"Best you let me and Clara do most of the talking cutie," Avril added. "Herve has a reputation for being fair, but that doesn't mean he won't try and get the best deal he can. So you just look pretty and enjoy the food, while your girlfriends handle the negotiations."

"I can do that!" I grinned while my tail started wagging happily again.

Emilou's was one of my favourite restaurants in the whole town. In fact it probably made the top ten list of just about everyone around, or at least everyone who could afford to eat there. The food was excellent, the service was friendly, and it was just generally a really nice place to eat.

It was in a prime spot too, at the far west end. They had a big roof-top patio with an excellent view of the two main rivers that flowed on either side of the town, and where they converged just to the west. In the evenings it was very romantic, you could eat while the sun set behind the mountains at the end of the river valley.

When we arrived Clara spoke with one of the attractive catgirl waitresses. We found out Herve was already waiting for us, and the catgirl led us to his table.

That was another reason I liked the place, the staff were all beastkin, including the owners.

They were a married couple, two dog beastkin who built the restaurant up from scratch. Emile was the manager and acted as host, he spent most of his time making sure everyone was happy and well-fed and stuff like that. And Louis was the head chef, he was an absolute genius when it came to cooking.

I'd met the two of them a few times, they were both super nice and friendly. Back in my previous world they'd have been known as bears rather than dog-men, but they were both real sweeties. It was awesome seeing how much they loved each other, and inspiring to see how they'd become so successful doing something they both enjoyed and were really good at.

The catkin waitress led us to one of the nicer tables by the edge of the patio, it was on the south side near the west corner, with one of the best views. Herve was relaxing there in a large comfortable chair, but he stood up to greet us when we arrived.

He was well-dressed, his clothes appeared to be made of the finest materials and dyed in expensive colours. And while I thought of him as a merchant he described himself more as a broker. Basically he was kind of a middle-man. He knew quite a few of the travelling merchants and caravan owners, and he was friends with plenty of adventurers.

So when word came down from the north that someone was looking for some specific rare or exotic goods, Herve either knew who had it for sale or he'd know who to hire to go out and get it. All for a cut of the profit, of course.

"Clara! Avril! And Fiona!" the tall slim merchant exclaimed with a wide smile. "A pleasure as always to see you girls!"

We all smiled back, while Clara spoke for the three of us. "Hello again Herve, you're looking well."

A few more pleasantries were exchanged before we all sat down and got comfortable. There was a pitcher of wine on the table and the waitress poured all of us glasses, then took a few moments to tell us what Louis had going on in the kitchen today.

Instead of each of us ordering something for ourself Herve ordered a good selection for all of us to share, then the catgirl headed off while the four of us settled down to do some business.

Once again our tall strong sexy ranger did the talking, "So what's the big deal Herve? You wouldn't invite us out to lunch at Emilou's if this was just another simple herb-gathering request. I have a feeling you've got something a little more life-threatening in mind today."

"Not life-threatening," the merchant insisted. "Not for adventurers as skilled and careful as the three of you! But I do have a request that requires a degree of caution, and expertise. It's not for the faint of heart either. A request that I would not offer just anyone, certainly not someone who hadn't already proved their mettle."

The conversation paused for a few moments as our catgirl waitress returned with a tray full of food. The various dishes were set out and she topped up everyone's wine, then quietly left again so we could all enjoy the food and get back to our conversation.

There were skewers of grilled seasoned pork, a platter of shaved roast lamb, a bowl of fresh tossed salad, a basket of warm fresh flatbread, and a couple little bowls of sauces. One was a tangy yoghurt dip, the other a spicy peppery cream sauce.

In all it felt like what I'd consider a Mediterranean feast back in my previous life, the food here reminded me of the Aegean just as much as the climate and architecture. Not that I'd ever been there myself, but I'd seen it on TV. The only thing missing was the ocean, but we had a bunch of rivers which sort of made up for it.

I let everyone else dig in first before I helped myself to a flatbread, then I spread some of the yoghurt sauce on it before adding a scoop of the salad and a skewer's worth of grilled pork. Then I rolled the whole thing up and started quietly munching on it while I listened in on the conversation.

"So what is it exactly that you want us to do?" Clara asked after taking a gulp of her wine. "Enough buttering us up Herve, get to the point."

The tall slim merchant smiled, "You adventurers are always so direct, so impatient. You really must learn to savour the game of conversation, the way Fiona is savouring her meal."

That made me blush, but I couldn't deny I was enjoying my lunch. Everything was perfect as usual, Louis was both a genius and a wizard when it came to food.

Meanwhile Clara rolled her eyes and dipped a few slices of lamb in the spicy sauce before taking a good-sized bite of it. From the smile on her face she obviously enjoyed it, while we all waited for Herve to get to the point. Which he did, eventually.

"A client up in the civilized northern realms is looking for something rather rare and potentially dangerous to procure," he explained. "The request is for cockatrice feathers, and the offered rate is one platinum coin per intact undamaged feather. The minimum transaction is for ten feathers, but I know adventurers as accomplished as yourselves wouldn't bother taking a quest for a mere ten platinum."

Avril nodded in agreement, "I could see less-experienced folks taking it. Especially if they were already heading out into cockatrice territory anyways. There's always a chance they'd come across some stray feathers, without ever having to face the monster in person."

"You know we're not interested in this Herve," Clara took over, "Not for ten platinum. So why bring it up? There must be more, a lot more, for you to treat us to a fine meal such as this."

The merchant smiled, "Of course there is. As I said, ten feathers is the minimum. The request goes much further than that. The request is up to a maximum of one hundred feathers, for one hundred platinum. It doesn't stop there though. The request also mentions cockatrice blood, another hundred platinum coins for eight drams of pure undiluted blood. And a further hundred platinum for an intact cockatrice egg."

He paused a moment before summarizing, "That's a total of three hundred platinum on the table, for one hundred feathers, a flask of blood, and an egg."

Clara and Avril exchanged a look, then the ranger looked back at Herve and said "So basically you're looking for someone to hunt and kill a cockatrice, harvest its blood and feathers, and raid its nest."

The merchant nodded, "Not a quest for the faint hearted, or the foolhardy."

"Who in the world would want so many cockatrice feathers?" Avril asked. "And why? They're short scruffy ugly little things, and they smell bad too."

"My understanding is the request comes from a new alchemist who's made quite a name for herself," Herve replied. He added with a shrug, "As for what she does with these things, who can say? You magic types are always so secretive when it comes to your craft."

That made Avril smile, but she didn't seem to have any more questions.

Clara had another gulp of her wine to wash down a mouthful of grilled pork, then asked our host "So what's your cut? We're talking a maximum purse of three hundred platinum, how much are you claiming in brokerage fees?"

"The usual my dear Clara," Herve replied. "Ten percent off the top. If you can meet the request in full, that's thirty coins for me and two hundred and seventy for you three lovely ladies."

While Clara seemed to be thinking it over Avril spoke up again, "Are we exclusive on this? Or is this request being offered around to others? We don't want to go out there on the job for you only to come back to find out someone else has scooped it and taken the pay."

The merchant smiled, "Make it fifteen percent and I'll guarantee it's exclusive for ten days. If you aren't back with the goods by then I'll have to reach out to other adventurers to try and secure the goods."

"Twelve percent and we need two weeks," Clara countered.

Herve responded, "Fourteen percent and twelve days, that's the best I can do."

The range shook her head, "Two weeks is not negotiable, but we'll give you an extra percent. So fourteen days, thirteen percent. Final offer."

"Agreed," he stated with a grin. "We'll meet up again in a fortnight, and I anticipate listening to tall tales of your exciting adventures!"

The three of us all shook his hand to seal the deal, then with our business concluded we took the time to enjoy the rest of our delicious lunch.

PurpleCatGirl

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