"Why should I take you into my confidence?"
Iustina Cabello put away dishes while she spoke with us, because she had to. The work of a lord's chambermaid is apparently never done, and while she was less a soldier and more a lieutenant in the war against dust and grime swallowing up the mansion, that didn't mean she didn't see a lot of direct action. So to speak.
"Because we are here on behalf of the Contessa," Alesha said, gauntleted hand over her heart. "To help your Lord, and your house."
Alesha had a way of saying things softly that still filled a room.
"With her mark in wax on your writs of passage, and your contract," she said. "And the King's mark on every ounce of gold and silver in your purses, too."
I sighed. "I know we offended you. We're sorry about that. If it please you, I'd like to know how, so we can -" I can't throw up my hands, so my fingers curl in my lap, my ears scan the horizon, my tails start to corkscrew. "So we can not do that?"
Sekhmet was, uncharacteristically, quiet. Their eyes were scanning the manor kitchen where our party had gathered to awkwardly sit, the crystal and ceramic and silver stored here, the hanging hams and pans and garlic. Their ears, too. Though they hid it well, I could see my roommate's tells; they were mortified, moreso than the rest of us.
Iustina had been examining us all, as she buffed a serving platter glazed in yellow and floral patterns. Her ears twitched.
"You do not know," she said - to Sekhmet - amazed. "You really did not know how your words could harm."
"I'm starting to put together a guess," Sekhmet says, not meeting her eyes. "I hope I'm not usually that stupid."
And that's how I realized how she took it. "You thought we were implying you were responsible," I said.
"I owe my lord much," she says, stiffening, "much he would forgive this year and more I can never hope to repay, save with my faith and honor."
"Much he would forgive... Then it's a jubilee year," Siobhan says. "When such talk can cause the most harm. I have to wonder if our griefers did it on purpose."
"Gods, the last thing I wanted was to threaten your job," Sekh said, grimacing. "I just thought you were, you know, good at it. Handling problems for the manor before the boss even knew something was wrong."
"My job?" she says, incredulous, imperious. "My boss? Is that what you think of my duty?"
I take a deep breath, before deploying my best raised eyebrows.
"Us fickle Adventurers, right?" I say, deadpan. "Always chasing the next dragon hoard. It's not like a bunch of disinherited bastard nobles who ran away from home to join a mercenary company know anything about loyalty or honor, right? It's not like finding patrons we trust and respect is a survival skill or anything."
Iustina reacted as if she had been splashed in the face with ice water.
"I'll gladly admit that we're fuckups that know less about the culture here than we like, but you've been making a lot of assumptions about what motivates us," I said. "We're sorry we chose our words poorly. Kindly stop imagining we did it on purpose, or that we're here to take the money and run."
Iustina, after a moment, nods. "Then I pray your forgiveness," she says, "for my being uncharitable."
Sekhmet barks out one brass laugh. "Gods, save us from putting our foot in it like that again. We're cool?"
Ace exhales. "Uh, she means, um,"
"As wellwater," Iustina says, the beginning of humor in her voice.
Has it actually been a full calendar month between updates, Aurora take the wheel. In my defense, I had to work out half a novel worth of mystery in advance.
More coming tomorrow if I can possibly help it. This scene isn't even over yet.
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