Chapter narrated by Lira:
6/14/95
Something landed on my bed.
It was not heavy. It was insistent.
"Lira."
I was asleep. I was very much asleep. I had been asleep for what felt like an appropriate amount of time and intended to continue being asleep for some time more.
"Lira. Lira. Lira—"
"I am awake," I said.
This was not true but I wanted the sound to stop.
She did.
Yawn.
"Why do you wake me so early, Sera?"
I only heard a giggle in response.
"I hate you," I said.
She just laughed at me.
"I truly hate you right now."
"Nuh uh, you love me and I love you, new partner."
I sighed, it will be a long day.
The room was warm.
We arrived at this inn last night. If I remember correctly the name was "The Sleeping Bear Inn."
I could feel the warmth of the room. It was warmer on one of the walls, a window most likely. It felt good being able to feel my surroundings again.
One of the very few things on my list of "Good things about mornings" was being able to feel the world around me once again. I don't really like feeling that I depend on others and the warmth of mornings always gave me back my independence.
Still. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss Ali's way of making the warmth twist around me to say good morning. I will need to get used to her absence now....
"Good morning," I said to Sera.
"Good morning! It is your first official day as a registered adventurer so we must make it memorable," she said. "I have been awake for an hour already. Come on you need to get up and ready!"
"Why have you been awake for an hour?"
"I was excited."
"It is very early, Sera."
"The best contracts go early. Everyone knows this. The board fills up by mid-morning and the good rank ones are gone first so you need to get up fast."
"I am getting up," I said. "In five more minutes."
"Lira!!!!"
"Alright..." I felt sad. The bed was calling my name and begging me to stay.
I'm sorry bed. We will meet again!
"I found your boots last night and put them at the foot of your bed so you would not have to look for them."
I reached down. The boots were there, placed neatly.
"Thank you," I said.
"It is nothing. Are you hungry? I went down already and got bread from the kitchen — the innkeeper puts it out early, she is very efficient, I respect her enormously. It is on the table by the window. The small table. The one on the—"
"Sera."
"Yes?"
"Thank you. You didn't need to do so much."
She laughed.
"We are partners, of course I have to."
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The bread was good. It was still warm from the oven. I ate standing by the window while Sera explained the plan, which she had clearly been developing during her hour of being awake.
"Board first. Rank one appropriate — something clean and close, within the city if possible. You do not know the roads yet and I want our first completion to be a good one. Clean outcome, thorough report, solid record. We are a new party. The first few contracts are what the guild uses to start building a picture of what we are capable of."
"You have thought about this," I said.
"I have had eight months of watching how it works," she said. "Rank one is not complicated in terms of the work. The complicated part is building the record that gets you past it. That starts today."
I finished the bread. I found my jacket on the chair by the door, put it on. My bow and quiver were propped against the wall beside the bed head, where I had left them.
"Let's go," I said.
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We arrived at the guild. It was almost empty. There were few points where the warmth focused. I could only clearly feel two people. One in the reception and another one at one of the tables. The first one was probably one of the receptionists. The second one was taking more of my attention. When we came in I could feel it shift slightly like trying to take less space.
"Hello Mary, how have you been?" said Sera.
"I've been well, Sera, as early as always — and you dragged Lira too," Mary said. "Poor girl."
"The good contracts disappear before midday. Besides, I would obviously bring my PARTNER with me. Even if it's her first day, good habits don't appear alone. Am I right or am I right, Mary?"
Sera emphasized the word partner a lot. Touching my shoulders while saying it.
I could feel the other warmth in the guild shifting a bit.
I felt a bit awkward.
"Ahem, ahem. Should you not be looking at the contracts on the board, Sera?" Apparently Mary was also feeling the awkwardness.
For the first time, Sera went quiet. Then, after a while, with the same energy she always carries, she said:
"You are right as always, Mary. Let's see what we have today."
She went to look at the board and came back after checking the contracts.
"Alright, partner, we have three good ones. I will read them to you and then we decide which one we take."
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CONTRACT #4512-G
Required Rank: 1
Client: Elma's herb shop
Task: Gather 20 bundles of dried moonleaf from the forest trail north of town. The plant grows near shaded roots and is recognizable by its silver-edged leaves.
Reward: 12 silver coins.
Note: No combat expected. Boots recommended, the trail gets muddy.
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CONTRACT #4506-G
Required Rank: 1
Client: The Sleeping Bear Inn
Task: The inn's cellar has a rat problem. The owner requests someone to clear them out before the next supply delivery. Estimated 8 to 12 rats. No unusual activity reported.
Reward: 8 silver coins + one meal included.
Note: The innkeeper will provide a basic trap kit if needed.
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CONTRACT #4505-G
Required Rank: 1
Client: Old Torvain, retired merchant
Task: Deliver a small sealed package to a contact named Bren at the Miller's Cross village, half a day's walk east of town. No detours requested. Package must arrive unopened.
Reward: 12 silver coins.
Note: Client stresses punctuality. Delivery expected before sundown.
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"I would be lying if I said the payment was good. Do all rank one contracts pay around this amount?"
Sera tilted her head, thinking for a moment.
"More or less. Though once I landed one that paid 18 silver, that was exceptional."
"Sera." I stared at her. "How have you survived 8 months like this?"
"Not with that attitude, partner." She crossed her arms with a grin. "Two contracts a day keep the streets away. So which ones do you want, Lira?"
Let's see how about...
"The rats first, then the delivery in the afternoon. Do you think we'll have enough time?"
Sera was already walking toward the desk.
"If we leave right now? Absolutely. Mary!" She slapped both hands on the counter. "Register these two under our names, we'll be back tonight to claim the rewards."
Mary glanced at the contracts, then at the two of us, then back at the contracts.
"Registered. Try not to smell too much like rats when you come back."
"No promises," said Sera, already heading for the door.
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The innkeeper was a woman named Holta. Last night she had received us with a gentle voice and taken us to our room.
"Back so early girls?" Holta said.
"We are here for this Miss Holta." Sera moved her hand. I suppose she was showing Holta the paper.
She hummed and handed Sera a basic trap kit, then she led us downstairs.
"Six of them at least. Maybe more. They got into the grain sacks last night."
"Understood," said Sera. "We'll handle it."
Holta went back upstairs. The moment her steps faded I spoke.
"It smells terrible down here."
"Basements tend to do that." Sera crouched and examined the floor, already reading the small tracks in the dust. "Two came from that corner, more from behind those crates. They have a nest somewhere in the back."
I focused for a moment. I could feel them, small scattered warmth focuses on the wall. Eight, maybe nine. The nest was behind the large barrel on the left.
"There are eight, maybe nine of them. The nest is behind that large barrel." I pointed to the barrel on the left.
Sera looked at me. "That's useful."
"I have my moments."
We worked efficiently. Sera handled the traps with practiced ease, placing them along the routes the rats used while I kept track of the ones that moved, warning her before any of them could slip past. It took less than an hour. Nine rats, exactly as I had felt. Sera reset the two grain sacks that had been torn open and stacked them back properly.
"Done." She dusted off her hands. "See? Not so bad."
"Yeah, I totally see that it was not that bad."
"....Sorry, it was not intentional."
Holta came back down, inspected the work, and nodded with clear satisfaction. "Good job. The meal offer stands, the kitchen opens at noon."
"We'll take it when we return tonight," said Sera.
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The walk east was pleasant, or at least it would have been if the sealed package Old Torvain had given us wasn't the most suspicious looking thing I had ever held. It was small, wrapped in brown cloth, tied with a cord, and it made no sound when I tilted it slightly.
"Don't tilt it," said Sera, eyes on the road.
"I wasn't."
"You were thinking about it."
I put it back under my arm and said nothing.
She wasn't wrong.
The road to Miller's Cross was quiet, farmland on both sides, the occasional cart passing in the opposite direction. We reached the village with the sun still well above the horizon.
Bren turned out to be a young man running a small grain stall at the edge of the market. He took the package, checked the cord was uncut, and handed Sera a small token to prove delivery.
"Tell Torvain it arrived in good condition."
"We will," said Sera.
On the way back I finally asked.
"What do you think was in it?"
Sera shrugged. "Something that wasn't our business."
"That's not an answer."
"That's exactly the answer for a rank one delivery contract, partner." She smiled.
"It feels weird you know. This is not what I thought I would do as an adventurer."
"This is not the idea anyone has when becoming part of the guild."
"I know I'm only beginning but it feels so... empty we are just doing simple tasks and we can't even know things like what was in that package, it would have at least made that delivery less boring."
"Hey don't think like that. I've been doing it for eight months, yes it is repetitive but we are helping other people. Without a partner this would indeed be very boring but hey, you have me right? The best partner in all of Vareth!"
I laughed.
"Yes, I think you are right."
We continued for a while chatting while we walked back to the guild. Then I asked something that for the first time made Sera be silent.
"So have you had any partners before me?"
She stopped walking.
Complete silence for some seconds.
"Yes, I did," she said.
I did not press further, she clearly did not want to say more right now.
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The guild was busier when we returned than it had been in the morning. A few adventurers were gathered around tables, some eating, some arguing over maps, one was asleep with his face pressed against the wood. The atmosphere was warmer, louder, alive in a way it hadn't been at dawn.
I felt the same presence from before still sitting at one of the tables.
I didn't mention it.
"Mary!" Sera called out as we approached the desk, somehow still carrying the same energy she had at sunrise. "Two contracts completed, we are here to collect."
Mary looked up from whatever she was writing, took the delivery token Sera placed on the counter, checked it against her records and then looked at us for a moment longer than necessary.
"Rat extermination, confirmed by Holta earlier this afternoon," she said finally, pulling out a small pouch. "Delivery to Miller's Cross, token matches." A second pouch followed. "20 silver total. Sign here."
Sera signed without even reading and slid the paper toward me. She helped me find where to put my signature.
My first contract reward. Two of them actually.
It was a strange feeling. The coins were not much, I knew that, I had said it myself that morning. But they were mine in a way nothing had been before.
"How does it feel?" Sera asked, as if she already knew the answer.
"Honest," I said.
"Good. That feeling is important, hold onto it." She pocketed her share and stretched her arms above her head. "Now, I believe Holta owes us a meal and I intend to collect."
"You remember everything that benefits you."
"Selective memory is a survival skill partner, you will learn."
We turned to leave and that is when I felt it. The presence at the table shifted. Not much, just slightly.
I didn't turn to look. I didn't need to.
I followed Sera out into the evening air and said nothing.
There would be time to figure it out.