Chapter 24: Chocolate Cake

When I got in, I found several different piles of paper in my inbox, as Six dropped the books on my desk. I took the stack from the bronze box attached to the door, where people could slip them in without having to enter my office, and placed them on the desk, quickly sorting through them into rough piles. Most of which seemed to be daily reports. I would read them later.

One letter was different. The parchment was a bit heavier as if it was made to last through heavy travel, and it bore a heavy wax seal that I didn't recognize from any of the royal houses. I suppose it could be something minor, but the way it was addressed to just Coulomb rather than anything else told me that it was somewhat important.

Six perched on my desk, leaning up against it as she watched me. I slipped my finger in and broke open the seal, wincing as the letter and envelope sliced my finger open slightly. A small drop of blood hit the corner of the page as I unfolded it at first.

The paper appeared to have a simple well-wishing and notice of a wedding invitation to someplace I'd never heard of. But as the blood seeped into the paper, it changed. It was a few quick sentences followed by a long list.

"The latest is that the Endless Empire has moved up its invasion timeline after a good crop of conscription. The last word we have of the gates is that we have less than a year to prepare now. Most countries are on board." And then it went on to list at most, "But we have several rulers that have not taken the warnings we have given them with enough seriousness. If you have any connections with it," listed another six countries, "please lean on them however you can to make sure that they take our warning seriously."

At the bottom was an embossed symbol of an octagon of towers, with a single white dot in the center. It looked familiar, and flipping back, I thought that was the seal as well. I couldn't fail to match the fact that this was eerily similar to the dreamscape, where there were eight towers surrounding a single white tower in the center where we went to have our meetings.

Inside the letter was a blank piece of paper and an envelope with what appeared to be some sort of magic in it. I couldn't exactly see what it was, but it appeared that this was meant for a response. I took out the fountain pen that King Gerald had given me and placed the paper on the writing desk. I flattened it out and bent over without even bothering to sit down before I penned a response requesting more information on the plans for the six recalcitrant nations, so I might be able to figure out how I might help better.

I was actually surprised they sent out a request for help without any more information, so perhaps this was foolhardy, but hopefully, it should delay any expectations they would have of me acting until they had given a piece of complete, updated information set to me. I put my still bleeding paper cut to the corner, then folded up the letter and applied the seal. I could feel the magic activate as my blood seeped into the paper, and the whole thing vanished in my hands in a puff of ash.

Six gasped. I looked up, and I knew I had just fucked up. She stared at the thing, open-mouthed. I had hoped it would just encode the letter, which would have been easy to hide, but this was a lot more flashy.

"What was that, Master?" She asked in a surprised tone.

"Urgent message," I said. "I don't think I can talk about it." 

She grimaced, her curiosity not sated, but she let it drop. Still, now she knew more than One did in some regards, and I hadn't yet decided to trust her. Honestly, I should probably let One in on the shadow organization, but there were just too many other things that we needed to talk about first.

I shifted the stack of books that Six had set on my desk off to the side before sitting down in the chair and putting the fountain pen down in front of me. I rolled it back and forth with two fingers as I looked at Six as she turned her face.

"Me?" I gestured to a chair, and she sat across the desk from me, crossing her legs elegantly and baring most of one of her calves to me. "So, Six, tell me the news. What has happened in the last few days that I've been gone?"

***

By the time Six was done telling me all the ins and outs of local politics in the small bits of news she had about the neighboring kingdoms that had come in over the last four days, I was starving. 

A lot of what she said didn't make sense, or I had no context for it, so I mostly just nodded along and occasionally would ask a question where I felt it would be appropriate. She never needed to repeat herself, and whenever I stopped and interrupted her, she was able to pick back up exactly where she left off, answering any question with ease. Clearly, she was very, very good at what she did, and she was very proud of it.

As she talked, she studied my face, and I made sure to give her nods of approval when she pointed out how difficult certain sources had been to get. I was nervous as hell the entire time. I couldn't help but worry that she would find out that I didn't know what I was doing. 

Eventually, when she got to the end, over an hour later, I said, "Let's find something to eat Six," 

"I thought you would never ask." Six said with a dazzling smile.

"I have a meal prepared and waiting for you," she said. "I figured there was a good chance you'd be back on my shift, and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect." 

The way she spoke was like she could set up a date for us. And I could tell with the smile she gave me that she very well might have intended it to be so. She seemed to be a lot more like One than Four or Nine.

"Good, but I'm going to need to create a few in-house contracts real quick before we go. When will the food be ready?"

"As soon as you wish, though. If I could send word ahead for ten minutes, that would be best."

I nodded. "Go send word. I'll be here." 

She nodded, and I picked up the fountain pen, unscrewing the cap slightly. I checked the ink, finding it mostly full. I really hoped that the quill ink would work here; otherwise, I might be having issues. It was a very lovely pen and so much more convenient than using a quill.

I found a few of the sheets of blank contracts and filled out some information. A local Duke of Ergas was causing some issues that I actually connected back to the trade war that Six had told me about was brewing, and that seemed to be the opponent was one of the ones on the list of reluctant neighbors. 

Perhaps removing that distraction would be enough to get them on board. I sent requests for blades to be issued out, found blackmail on all parties involved, and removed any actors that couldn't be forced into, um, behavior. This would be something that a couple blades would have to go for each time, and a handler would have to be dispatched as well.

By the time six came back, I handed her the orders and told her to see that they get posted tomorrow morning. She tucked them somewhere on her body that I had no idea where and took my hand to lead me to dinner.

I had feared that there would be a single seat like when Five had served me breakfast, but it seemed that Six wasn't intent on serving dinner herself, as there was a small table in the same room that I always ate at. The table had a couple candles on a long white tablecloth draped nearly to the ground. Two high-backed chairs faced each other over the table. A maid in the corner lifted the covering dish from our plates as we sat down.

Six picked up one of the many forks laid out and daintily took a bite of the small bit of seafood soaked in butter. Saw her close her eyes as she savored the flavor, and I mimicked her reaching for the same fork she picked up and tasted the dish as well. It was delicious, light, and flaky, but the buttery sense mixed perfectly with whatever spices and herbs were used.

"An excellent choice, Six." I complimented her.

"Oh, I know it's your favorite." She gave me a wink. 

I thoroughly enjoyed a quick conversation about the food as we went through our appetizer and waited for our main course. Six seemed to really like food. As much as she liked all the noble stuff, she could talk for endless amounts about food and the wine we were sipping. Letting me all know all sorts of facts and how she preferred it and whatever. I jumped in every once in a while to give my opinion or preference, but mostly just enjoyed her pleasant voice as she talked on.

I was trying to figure her out. One needed comfort. Nine was weird, and Four wanted some security, but Six didn't seem to want anything. She was kind of like Five but without the whole riding crop weirdness. She seemed content, not like she needed anything, and I wasn't sure why that struck me as odd. I suppose I didn't need to fix everyone, but if she was satisfied, well, I guess I was going to play my role.

By the time we shared a dessert, a single slice of cake with a large drop of chilled cream off to the side. Six had a certain fire in her eyes. The food clearly got her excited. She picked up the saucer of chocolate sauce off the side and grabbed my hand. The second I put down my dessert spoon and pulled me off to my room, I followed with a silly smile on my face. This might be really fun.