Chapter 63 – Seeing Eye to Eye

Wherein Bosra has a visitor, and Valentina has a giggle fit.

Bosra was at work at her stables, when a mahogany carriage drawn by four dappled grey horses stopped out front. One of the new half-greens called out to her, saying something about a shield. 

Bosra leaned against the opened door, watching the high and mighty Arch-Duke set foot on the freshly swept pavement. She crossed her arms and awaited his approach in silence. 

"Good morning, Bosra of the Golden Bow. Will you allow me entry to your demesne?"

Bosra snorted, only half amused. "Be welcome." She knew her etiquette. "Tea and a biscuit?" she offered the by-etiquette-required food and drink. 

The Arch-Duke waved her offer away. "An offered seat is what I will make use of."

"Out this way." Bosra headed through the main aisle, outback to the awning with its two chairs. She let the man have his choice and took the other for herself.  

Rhodum of Effyne fished a velvet pouch from his vest and set it down on the table between them with a hefty clink. By the sound of it there were about fifty crowns in there.  

She kept quiet, waiting for an explanation. 

"I want to thank you, properly, for all you have done for my daughter. I deducted from the pictures that you were present at her humiliation."

Bosra made an affirmative sound. She hardly had a choice. She couldn't bloody well have left her friends to go to that place alone. 

"I wished..." Grief was etched into his face.  

"Did what I could," Bosra stated, before this could get emotional. "Don't need you to pay me for that. You need a horse trained, or a goat, or any kind of monster, I'm yer gal."

Rhodum looked at her, grateful for the distraction of his emotional turmoil. "It might be that I am in need of your services. Are you equipped to train exotics at this place?"

"Will be soon. Maybe not if they can fly, but anything else, yeah."

The man looked out at the larger yard with its training pens. "It will be a small repay for what you have done." Keeping his daughter safe. After a stretching silence, he continued: "I have said my prayers to Sunfather for your presence in my daughter's life."

Now Bosra needed a moment of silence. Her friendship with Tina had merited that kind of gratitude. "She's good people."

Another silence hung between them. 

Rhodum rose from his seat. "Thank you for your hospitality."

Bosra stood too. "I'll see you out."

The coin pouch weighed on her. There was no way she could return it, but she didn’t want to keep it. There was no value to set on Tina’s life, their friendship. She reckoned her father didn’t want to do so either, but he was grateful, and what he had a lot of – money – he could share.

She did what she could.

She hid the money in the rafters of the loft, to save it for a rainy day. Maybe at some point in the future, she could pay it forward.

By the time Bosra arrived at Paragon’s Cup, the spilled milk had been cleaned up.

"What happened?" the Highlander asked, seeing the bruise on Valentina’s cheek. The collective way all customers seemed to hold their breath did not escape her notice. Her puzzlement grew when she was served a cup of strong black brew and a piece of chocolate cake before she could order. 

Rose, sitting next to Valentina, shrugged. Apparently, she didn’t know either.

Bosra stared at the barista, who self-consciously looked away. Looking around, more people had that same self-conscious furtiveness. 

"Tina…?" 

"Sit first, okay. It's... it is not so bad, ultimately." There was a slight lisp to her words.

"She was accosted by some son of a bitch, right here in the shop," Bob the Barista felt necessary to correct, rubbing down a freshly washed mug with a relatively clean towel. 

Bosra and Rose looked from the man to their friend.

"Is that true?" Rose asked, eyes wide.

Tina nodded. "But I am rid of him now." She breathed deeply. "He is no longer my problem." She grinned widely. "I am free." 

"Yeah, and the King is willing to declare war on the elves for it," Bob added. 

"W-what?" Rose looked between them again. 

Bosra merely stared down at Valentina, arms crossed over her chest.

Valentina giggled: "Lord Elvendale lost his temper at court, and the King – Peace of Heaven be upon his brow – was not amused."

"Uhm... Tina... Monarchs don't start a war over a small tantrum... do they?" Rose asked. The young woman’s question expressed Bosra’s uncertainty about the validity of this situation.

Tina's giggle turned into a belly laugh. "You are clearly not a student of history." 

Rose nor Bosra understood what was so funny.

Valentina, however, could not stop laughing. The other two watched her slip to the floor beneath their table and avidly tried to get back up without success. If Valentina hadn't so obviously been harmed earlier, Rose might have found it funny. 

"Leave her," Bosra said as Rose tried to get their friend up from the floor. "She’ll get up."

Rose felt uncomfortable, but did as she was told. "Was there something in the cake?" Bob’s evil stare rid her of that notion.

Bosra was right. Eventually, Valentina dragged herself up onto her seat again. She looked more tired than Rose had ever seen her.

Rose told her friends about her day. Bosra added to the conversation with throat-noises, staying silent on what had made her day special.

At the end of the afternoon, Valentina went up to the counter to pay for what they had used. Bob refused said payment, even when Valentina insisted. The shop ran well. He could suffer this expense. 

Valentina did the math on what she should have paid and put the cash in the tip jar. This earned her a nasty stare, but Bob didn't protest further. Feeling glum, Valentina left with her friends. 

She hopped onto a tube like a pro and enjoyed listening to the rumble of the machine, the obligatory shouting of other travellers and the smell of sweat, perfume and dust. It was intensely grounding. It was also something unique to Splendor. 

It may even be something she would miss when she left.  

~

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