9. Taldesa
Taldesa
“Avie, I swear to the gods, if someone’s murdered you, I will find them, kick their ass and then kick your ass, because the fuck?”
The words lit up and disappeared into the opal in Tala’s hand.
A moment later, the gem was cold. It had been more than two weeks since Tala had contact with her best friend.
It was difficult not to assume the worst. Maybe Avie had gotten into a fight with her dad?
Avie didn’t talk about him much—not that Tala talked about her family, either.
If anything, she was even more guarded than her friend was.
To say Tala was sick with worry was an understatement.
There was so much that could have gone wrong and not nearly enough time for Tala to fix any of it.
If she hadn’t lost her temper, if she hadn’t been summoned to the High Conservator’s room and tested, then maybe Tala would have been able to travel to Parandor Stronghold. Maybe she would have ran into Avie—
It wouldn’t matter because I don’t know where the fuck she is! Tala thought, groaning into the pillow on her bed.
She had been an official bodyguard for Face and Crop Top for three days, and all it had really amounted to was listening to their manager go over security detail.
All of it was standard—no different from some of the other low effort missions Tala had run in the past for both the Moon Maidens and Dauntless Verity.
Guarding a closed off area of the temple from the public or making sure the High Conservator made it to another temple in peace.
Bitch work, really.
Either way the mission was clear: protect Face and Crop Top from any and all threats.
Apparently being famous came with some less than stellar perks, but Seira hadn’t elaborated more than that.
Granted, the bed Tala had slept in the past few days would be worth the trouble—in her humble opinion, anyway.
The Valiant Circle wasn’t hurting for gold by any means—they had funding through donations and mission work.
But the rooms for the disciples were simple, the sheets adequate.
The bed Tala had now was pure luxury, and she wanted desperately to tell Avie about it. About everything.
Including those two blue bastards.
Tala and Avie’s experience with bards was limited to the local talent at the Tipsy Top Inn.
There were one or two bards that frequented the place.
One of them—a halfling man—played the flute while the other—an elf woman—sang sea shanties.
Face and Crop Top were apparently a big enough deal that they needed a trained warrior to keep an eye out for them.
That was another new thing—being around famous folk.
Tala’s background had been comfortable—at least prior to joining the Moon Maidens.
Avie’s life was similar, as her father was a paladin, which usually meant comfortable living, but that didn’t mean the pair was drowning in gold either.
Tala had seen the size of the money sack Seira had slipped Cercel before he left her.
That was the kind of gold that nobles had and it irritated Tala just a bit to know that she wouldn’t see a lick of it.
Hey, Avie, guess what? I gotta keep these two rich bard assholes alive for the next three or four months or else the Valiant Circle is gonna ship me to another temple. How many gods do you think I can cycle through before they run out of temples to send me to?
Tala groaned even louder into her pillow, grabbing the second one at her side to cover her head.
The only reason Tala tolerated the Valiant Circle was because of Avie.
If the High Conservator shipped her off to another temple, to another god, it meant Tala would never see Avie again.
At least her current assignment kept her in Eshorion, but if Avie was in trouble, how the fuck was Tala going to help her now?
The guilt weighed heavily in Tala’s stomach, to the point where she had dismissed the maid service when they knocked for dinner the night before.
Glancing toward the window where the early morning sun was shining through, Tala sighed.
She shoved herself off the bed and reached for her freshly laundered clothes.
It was weird having access to a personal laundry maid, given that was something else the temple disciples did.
At twenty-six, Tala had seen more of her fellow warriors’ underwear than she had seen of the people she had slept with thanks to wash day.
Tala donned her usual uniform, fastening her batons to her waist as the final step. She was still wearing the makeup she worn the night before, but based on the vanity mirror, Tala thought she still pulled it off fine.
Besides, it’s not like I wanna look nice for anyone—
She winced when Face and Crop Top flashed across her vision.
Irritated with herself, Tala hopped in place as she shook her wrists. That was the other thing she wished she could tell Avie over a couple of pints because Tala knew her friend would ask the question.
‘Yeah, they sound like assholes, but are they hot?’
Tala knew she would say no, just like she knew Avie would call her on her bullshit. After a shot or two, Tala would finally admit that they were okay to look at and Avie would tease. That’s how that routine would go until Tala dared Avie to do something reckless to distract from the moment.
What was frustrating was that they were hot. Not Tala’s type at all, but somebody’s type of hot for sure. There was a reason why she referred to them in her head as Face and Crop Top instead of Casimine and Ameriden.
Tala paused at the door of her room, hand clasping the opal tightly. Avie still hadn’t responded, despite Tala hoping she finally would.
“Avie, just be safe, okay?” Tala whispered to the opal, knowing the magic was spent for the day. “And message me. I need to tell you about these two weirdos.”
Exiting her room, Tala started her routine path.
Seira had ensured Tala’s room was right next to the boys, while her own was just down the hall.
The Golden Manor had two points of entry on the bottom floor.
The main entrance where the guests arrived through two large double doors made out of the finest wood.
The second was the servants entrance at the back of the building.
That’s where the workers all entered for the day and where merchant supplies like groceries were dropped off.
The Golden Manor had five rental floors, with the lower two having approximately twelve rooms on each floor, not including the shared washrooms at each end.
The top three floors had half as many rooms, but that was due to the massive size of each bedroom.
Unlike the bottom floors, the top three had private washrooms.
Tala had done her homework the moment Cercel had told her where they would be going.
That first night she had learned the ins and outs of the Golden Manor and was silently stalking the long hallway in the early morning.
The walk was boring as fuck, but the routine of it cut into the time she would have to spend sitting outside of their room.
Like some kind of creep, Tala thought as she reached the stairs.
“—you sure?”
Pausing, Tala’s hand hovered above the banister. She didn’t recognize the voice, but remembering details wasn’t her strong suit.
“Positive,” a second voice replied. “My sister works in the kitchens of the castle, and supposedly the cook is already planning a grand feast for the event.”
“I can’t believe the kingdom is throwing such a large party,” the first voice said. “I mean, I get that it’s the princess’s birthday but—”
“Her one hundredth and twenty first birthday!” the second voice exclaimed over the sound of metal—silverware, perhaps? “That means she’s officially an adult! That’s a big achievement for elves! The party is gonna be big! Like, the entire city will be celebrating!”
“Oh, can you imagine being that rich?”
“Ha! I sure can! If I was royalty, I would also invite the best storytellers in the world to sing happy birthday to me!”
They couldn’t be talking about those clowns…
“What was their name again?”
“Ah, Cashmere Fantasy! They’re so hot! Like, smoking!”
Tala rolled her eyes. Whoever picked that name needed to get their ass beaten. It sounded as pretentious and stuck up as the two actual men were. She supposed if people were to fawn over her like that, she’d be stuck up, too.
Squaring her shoulders, Tala silently descended the stairs to the fourth floor.
The hallway was long and the owner of the voices appeared to be the two maids carrying several baskets on their arms and silverware in their hands.
Human, by the looks of their ears, but relatively harmless in appearance.
One looked like Tala could lift her over her head with ease.
The monk was ready to descend to the next floor when the smell of the breakfast baskets hit her nose.
Baked goods.
Not just any baked goods, but banana bread by the smell of it.
Tala tried to ignore it, but her stomach grumbled loudly, drawing the attention of the two maids. The smaller one blushed, as if realizing how loudly they had been talking. The other, equally nervous, but much braver, cleared her throat.
“Good morning, miss, did you need breakfast?”
“Uh… sure?”
Nodding in satisfaction, the maid walked briskly to Tala and displayed the baskets near her wrists. “We have fresh pastries with fruit or potatoes and meat. Feel free to pick whichever you like.”
“Sweet,” Tala said, pulling the basket with fresh baked goods and fruit from the maid’s left arm.
“Very good, miss. Do you need anything else?”
“This is so fucking weird,” Tala murmured under her breath. She cleared her throat, “I’m good, thanks.”
The maid nodded and turned her back on Tala. A completely normal interaction with a completely normal maid who just happened to be aware that two famous bards were going to be performing at the castle for the princess’s birthday.
It was difficult not to be a bit suspicious of people given the work the Valiant Circle did.
Tala knew if Cercel had been there, he would have brushed off the encounter as completely coincidental but Tala had always been weary of strangers.
Doubling her pace, Tala descended the last few floors until she reached the tavern proper.
True enough, the scent of bacon and butter was much stronger there. Though, there were only a few patrons enjoying breakfast at the moment. The kitchen staff had readied the breakfast baskets for the upper floors, and even the barmaid was dressed in an apron that matched the two maids.
Okay, just normal trust issue stuff, I guess?
Still, Tala couldn’t shake something was weird as she made her way back up the stairs. She reached into the basket as she walked back up the third floor, revealing a banana bread muffin. Tala brought it to her nose, inhaling the scent and making her stomach gurgle in desperation.
Satisfied, Tala took a large bite, chewing lazily as she scanned the hall.
The lanterns were low thanks to the maids, but not a shadow moved along the hall but Tala.
By the time she reached the fifth floor, Tala had demolished the entire muffin.
Her stomach—still pissed from skipping dinner the night before—demanded another muffin.
Tala pulled another muffin out as she walked down the hall back toward her room. She tossed it in the air, caught it with her hand, then frowned as her gaze fell to something that definitely hadn’t been there when she left. Cautiously, Tala approached the door across from hers.
A bouquet of dark red roses had been left outside the boys’ door.