Chapter 58

Evanis’ tempest through the mansion led her next into a busy kitchen. From the kitchen, she invaded a dining room occupied by people in the midst of having breakfast. She glared at her predominantly adolescent audience and clasped her bedsheet-toga a little tighter to her chest.

“Good morning, my Lady Danjala,” Dolberd Bars’Wolma, the only adult at the breakfast table, greeted her. “You seem upset. Is something wrong?”

“You know the woman and she slept in our house?” Waldor, his son, was clearly impressed.

“Dat’s Evanis Danjala,” Mishok introduced. “She’s de daughter of de Queen ‘n a real famous mercenary.”

“Which queen?” Waldor asked.

“Her mom is Inandrey Danjala, the Queen of Whores,” Isabetta explained. “They’re all posh and pretty.”

Mishok returned his attention to Evanis. “Did’ya know yer eyes’re glowing?”

“Yes, I know,” Evanis hissed and the green light shining from her eyes intensified. “I need some clothes.”

“I’ll take care of it immediately,” Dolberd hastened to say and rang a little bell placed next to his plate. “I kept a lot of my late wife’s clothes. I am certain we’ll be able to find something fitting among them.”

“Your shiny eyes are really pretty,” Isabetta appraised. “Do you think Purdy-Man will make my eyes shine too when I’m his priestess?”

“I doubt that very much because I’m going to kill bunny boy,” Evanis replied. “This time for real.”

Mishok smirked at her. “Ye canna kill de Jabbit-Man, ye know dat, aight?”

“We’ll see about that!” Evanis hotly contested. “Now that I’ve an eternity to try, I’ll find a way to kill him.”

A servant intruded at this moment.

“You rang, Master Dolberd?” Moulster asked. “How can I be of service?”

“Lady Danjala is in need of clothes,” Bars’Wolma stated. “Please show her to the room with my wife’s dresses and see to it that two of the maids assist her.”

Moulster stiffened as he became aware of Evanis’ current apparel. “Ohh, my Lord,” he gasped before he a bit clumsily adjusted, “I mean, my Lady ... I mean, will you please follow me, my Lady.”

Evanis did follow the manservant out of the room. Moulster felt her fiery gaze burning his back and heard her muttered threats.

“I’ll gut the next one who calls me his lady.”

Jabbit awoke earlier than anyone else in the mansion. Washed and dressed, he left the estate without breakfast but with a clear destination in mind. A little later, as he was walking down a street lined with several craftsman workshops, he decided to postpone heading to his clear destination in favor of observing a charcoal maker at work. He was watching the charburner piling billets of wood on their ends to form a conical pile when two passersby interrupted his study. It was a young man and a slightly older woman, both apparently early risers as well. Holding each other by the hand, they gingerly approached Jabbit.

“Excuse me, Lord Jabbit,” the woman said. “My name is Elsana Nar’Kir and he is Arosh Kar’Vaross. We don’t want to disturb you, but do you mind if we follow you?”

“Good morning, Elsana, and a good morning to you as well, Arosh,” Jabbit greeted them and then looked at their tightly intertwined fingers. “Are you two afraid of something or are you a couple?”

“We are a bit nervous at the moment but we only act as a couple,” Arosh answered. “It’s a good disguise when you secretly follow someone. A couple, seemingly focused on each other, appears less suspicious.”

“Oh, I understand,” Jabbit replied. “That’s very clever. But why do you tell me you want to follow me if it’s a secret?”

“Usually, we try not to be noticed when we follow someone,” Elsana explained, “but last night the Lady Onessa told us to ask you for your permission.”

“That’s very nice of Lady Onessa,” Jabbit replied. “I don’t mind if you two want to follow me; I like company. Am I supposed to lead you somewhere special? I’m asking because usually people quickly become bored when they follow me around.”

A crow, circling the sky high above them, loudly screeched.

“Yes - some animals also get bored while they follow me,” Jabbit ruefully conceded.

Elsana paled. “No, Lord Jabbit! You don’t have to do anything special for us. Just forget we are around and do whatever you want to do.”

“Are you sure?” Jabbit asked. “I know myself; I probably will watch another craftsman at work before I leave this road.”

“Yes, we are very sure,” Arosh confirmed. “Lady Onessa has tasked us to report whatever you do and not to disturb you in any way.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Jabbit shrugged and returned his attention to the work of the charburner.

As Jabbit had suspected, he didn’t proceed very far after leaving the charcoal burner before he was distracted once more. Another workshop caught his attention, this time it was the smithy of a nailer. At the time, the nailsmith was busy forging pretty large nails.

“What are such big nails used for?” Jabbit asked the smith.

The nailer wiped the sweat off his brow and took a close look at the young man in his smithy. “These are spikes. They are used for building ships. A dockyard just ordered them. It seems some big trader wants to expand his cargo fleet.”

“I would like to have one of those nails,” Jabbit said.

“You want one spike?” The smith wondered. “What do you want to do with a single spike?”

“There is someone I like and I want to give her a present,” Jabbit answered.

“You want to give a spike as a gift to a woman?” The smith inquired incredulously. “Youngster, if you want this woman to like you, too, you better search for something more delicate and pricey than a nail.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Jabbit conceded, “but I gave all my gold coins to another woman I like. So I could not pay for a more delicate and pricey gift.”

The nailer convulsed in laughter. “Boy, you sure are a funny fellow. Just take a spike. I want to help you. You obviously need a lot of help when it comes to women.”

“Maybe it’s true and I could use a lot of help,” Jabbit mused as he took a nail from a half-full barrel, “Or maybe not. Women like my gifts. It’s me they have problems with.”

The smith grinned at the funny young man. “Maybe the women dislike you because you are wooing too many of them at the same time.”

“That’s not true,” Jabbit protested. “There are many women in this world and I only want a very few of them.”

The nailer was still laughing as Jabbit thanked him for the spike and left the smithy.

After Evanis was finally dressed, she left the mansion and encountered Rhaseris, Anjatta, and Isabetta standing at the gate to the estate.

“Aww; that’s a beautiful dress,” Isabetta gushed as Evanis came closer. “You look really pretty.”

“Were you waiting for me?” Evanis asked with squinted eyes and ignoring the girl.

“That really is a pretty dress,” Anjatta confirmed. “You look beautiful, Eva.”

“Yes,” Rhaseris answered Evanis’ question. “We were waiting for you because Anja thinks you need to be rescued.”

“Rescued from what?” Evanis turned to Anjatta.

“Look, Eva, I know you’re angry about something--” Anjatta started.

“I’m not angry about something,” Evanis interrupted. “I’m angry at someone!”

“I know,” Anjatta adjusted.

“Is it still because of his tryst with your mom?” Rhaseris asked. “I thought you resolved that last night. At least all the screaming and moaning sounded like it always does when you two reconcile.”

“It’s none of your business why I’m angry at him,” Evanis growled.

“That’s fine,” Rhaseris snootily replied. “I couldn’t care less about your reasons to be angry time and time again.”

“Why don’t you, First Priestess, and Isabetta go a bit ahead, while Evanis and I follow at a little distance,” Anjatta suggested with emphasis. “I would like to talk with Eva privately.”

“Fine!” Rhaseris agreed, grabbed Isabetta’s hand and marched off.

“Don’t mind her,” Anjatta whispered. “You know Rhaseris is just jealous of you.”

“You don’t need to comfort me,” Evanis coolly replied. “I’m not a little girl with heartache.”

“No, you are a warrioress in a pretty dress who wants to kill the god she’s spent the night with.” Anjatta sighed. “So what did Jabbit do this time to ignite your fury?”

“He fucked my mom,” Evanis muttered.

“Did he admit to it last night?” Anjatta asked.

“No, he denied it,” Evanis answered. “But I know he lied.”

“Why didn’t you kill him when he lied to you?” Anjatta patiently inquired.

“He was gone when I woke up,” Evanis mumbled.

“I guess last night you first were too busy to kill him and afterward too tired,” Anjatta surmised. “So you decided to kill him in the morning but he was gone when you woke up. Does that sound about right?”

“Yes,” Evanis curtly answered.

“At least now I know why you are angry,” Anjatta stated.

“I am angry because he fucked my mom,” Evanis insisted, “And also because he messed with my eyes.”

“You are angry because he messed with more than your eyes,” Anjatta opined. “Mainly you’re angry because you forgot about your anger.”

“I didn’t forget my anger,” Evanis ground out through her clenched teeth. “The bastard distracted me.”

“He seduced you,” Anjatta accused.

“The little shit even had the guts to brag about it in advance,” Evanis huffed.

“And still you couldn’t help yourself and succumbed to your desires,” Anjatta sympathized, “you poor thing.”

“Don’t you dare pity me,” Evanis growled. “No one seduces me. I decide if and when I want to fuck the bunny boy.”

“I’m sorry,” Anjatta apologized, “of course, it’s only you who decides what you like to do.”

“Damn right it’s only me who decides,” Evanis declared.

“Ohh, now I understand,” Anjatta suddenly realized. “Although you are angry at him, you decided to let Jabbit live just in case you may decide you want him again someday.”

“Yes,” Evanis cursed. “That’s exactly what I decided, you annoying smartass.”

“Rhaseris wants to buy new clothes for Isabetta, herself, and me,” Anjatta mentioned. “You should accompany us and buy something for you as well. Something very expensive because we’ll be spending Jabbit’s gold. That’ll teach him not to mess with you.”