111
Click slammed to a halt.
The little spider golem twitched one leg, then raced down a pipe. As he whipped past one of the rooms, a young mage glanced up to the vent and shuddered.
“It’s doing it again! Hear that?”
Beside her, another female mage cocked her head. “What? I didn’t hear anything.”
“Are you deaf?”
Click didn’t pause. He had too much to do. Being the big chief of a bunch of spider golems wasn’t an easy job. He not only had to keep them on task, he had to finish his own. And, somewhere between all of that, he had to maintain the quality of his poetry.
Nothing was simple.
He would have sighed, but he didn’t have the components for it.
He’d spent the morning watching the Headmaster, who had a lot of meetings. And everything was about a war. Click didn’t really understand that too much.
But he did understand that it was important.
He skidded up to a small grille and peered inside.
Vesna Farringham was seated at a desk.
Behind her, Tania leaned on the chair and over her shoulder. “Alright. Now make it all official.”
Vesna did what she was told, stamping the document with her stamp.
“This could get me into a lot of trouble, you know.”
“I know,” Tania said, sounding unconcerned. “But it won’t.”
“You can’t know that.”
“But I do,” the golem said sweetly before patting Vesna on the head. “Ya trusted Milo, which means you’ve got some smarts. But now ain’t time to get too smart, see? So, just do what you’re told and it’ll all be just peachy.”
Vesna sighed.
Then she shook her head.
And kept writing despite the fact her hand hurt.
“Tch,” Tania said. “Use some bigger words.”
“What for?”
“Don’t cha use big words when ya write proper letters?”
“Not really.”
“Right. So, use big words.”
Vesna stared at her, then nodded. “I’ll try.”
Which earned her another pat on the head. “Good girl.”
Selma stood near the door. She was holding her sword. Now and then she pressed a button on it and electricity raced up the blade, crackling and hissing.
It might have unsettled Vesna, but it was clear Selma was just deeply fond of the weapon and was playing with it. To Vesna, it looked like Selma had discovered a new trick with her power and was training it.
It wasn’t unusual to see students doing that sort of thing.
“It’s a nice sword,” Vesna offered the tall golem as she wrote, trying to get some sort of rapport going.
The team was important to Milo. That much was clear.
It was also clear he was sleeping with them.
All of them.
At once, even.
That was a shocking thing to think about, and always made Vesna’s cheeks turn pink when she thought about it. How did they manage it?
What were their positions?
It seemed absurd in her mind.
Also, didn’t the girls all feel some kind of jealousy and resentment towards each other? It didn’t look like they did. Strangely, they all seemed very close.
Like a family, Vesna thought.
A deeply protective family.
“Thanks,” Selma said with a goofy grin. “Milo made it for me.”
“Made it?” Vesna looked up sharply. Making a sword was supposed to be no simple thing. She knew Milo was a clockmaker, but that shouldn’t mean he was also a weaponsmith. “Really?”
“Watch what you’re doing,” Tania scolded her. “Forget about the sword.”
“It’s hard when she’s waving it around like that.”
“Put it away, Selma.” Tania sighed. “You’ll poke your eye out with it if ya keep playing with it.”
“No I won’t,” Selma pouted, but slung it into a look across her back. “Meanie.”
“Meanie? Don’t be a ditz. There’s a time and place to play with your toys. This ain’t it.”
“Milo said I’m not a ditz,” Selma said, her pout growing as she stuck out her lips. “He said I’m smart in my own way.”
“That’s right,” Tania said sweetly. “You’re a ditz.”
“You’re just jealous of my boobs.”
“I am not.”
“Am so.”
“Not.”
“So.”
“Tch.” Tania put a hand across her eyes. “This is what I get for bringing ya with me.”
Vesna wasn’t fooled by their bickering. There was no heat at all in Tania’s words. No sharpness. And Selma didn’t seem to respond with any resentment either.
It felt more like a routine.
She signed her name at the bottom of the letter and held it up to Tania. “What about that?”
Tania gave it a quick read. “Seems fine,” she allowed. Then she reached for another blank sheet. “Here ya go. Next.”
“How many more?”
“Two, I reckon.”
Vesna rubbed at her hand. “My hand aches.”
Suddenly, the door was flung open and a little woman with blue hair stood with a livid stare on her face. “I told ya, ya skeevy tramp! I told ya! Stay outta my office!”
Vesna half rose in panic, but Tania dropped a hand onto her shoulder and pushed her back down. “Keep writing,” she said. She lifted a lazy gaze to Ket. “We ain’t finished, sister. Come back in an hour.”
“What do ya mean, come back in an hour? It’s my office!”
“Right now it’s mine,” Tania said.
“What kinda pushover do ya think I am?” Ket took a step inside, but was stopped by Selma’s arm. She squinted up at the taller golem. “What? You in on this nonsense, too?”
“We needed a desk,” Selma said with a shrug. “It won’t take long.”
“Plenty of desks in the library! Go there!”
“We needed somewhere private,” Tania said, not looking at her. “Ya mind closing the door?”
“I’m not-”
“Sister,” Tania cut through her words. “Ya called me a tramp. More than once. I let it slide because I know you’re old and emotional, see? But right now I ain’t in the mood to put up with all your shrieking. So, if ya wanna make a fuss, do it outside. I’m busy.”
Ket glared at her.
Then she dropped her gaze to Vesna.
Who gulped.
“Are they hurting you?”
Vesna looked up at Tania, who shrugged and said: “You can answer that.”
“No,” Vesna said honestly. “Only my feelings.”
“Tch,” Tania flicked Vesna’s ear. “Ain’t no need for that melodrama. Sister here’s a bit slow. She’ll take it the wrong way.”
“Slow?” Ket put her hands on her hips. “One of these days, ya lousy moll, I’ll show ya slow. Real slow.”
“Sure,” Tania said. “For now, don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.”
“Do you think just because-”
“Sister!” Tania hissed. “You wanna watch what ya say.”
Selma took hold of Ket’s arm and gently moved her back towards the door. “I think it’s best if you leave it, Ket,” she said kindly. “Tania’s in a real bad mood.”
“She’s in a bad mood?” Ket’s face contorted angrily. “How do ya think I feel? This is my office!”
Tania sighed. Then she looked up.
She held Ket’s gaze for a moment, then held up her hand to show two fingers. “I’ll tell ya two things, sister,” she said slowly. “One. War is coming.”
“I know that. I ain’t no blasted fool.”
“Two,” Tania’s eyes glinted. “Milo’s got a Personal Assistant.”
“Huh?” Ket blinked.
“A Personal Assistant?” Vesna perked up. “What does he need one of those for?”
Ket squinted. “Are you for real?”
“Ask him if ya like. Ya might see her around. Her name’s Fedwina.” Tania grinned. “There’s an application for her to be on the grounds approved by you right here, if your ditzy brain remembers signing it.”
“Sure,” Ket said, her voice calm. “Fedwina? Yeah, sure. I remember signing that.”
“Good.” Tania nodded, then looked down at Vesna, who was looking confused. “What cha doing? This is Ket’s office. She needs to use it too, ya know. So hurry up.”
Ket closed the door softly on her way out.
Vesna nibbled her lower lip. “What if she tells the Headmaster we’re here?”
“Relax,” Tania said. “She ain’t telling nobody a thing.”
“I don’t see what’s so amazing about having a Personal Assistant,” Vesna grumbled as she wrote what Tania had told her to write. “Are you sure you can trust them? I don’t know what kind of assistant he could afford. You know, if you want, I can help get someone very reliable and discreet.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Tania said.
“Why? Is he sleeping with her, too?”
“He should be by now,” Selma said easily, folding her arms. “If not, I’m gonna lose my bet. Tania will owe me ice cream.”
“I told ya there ain’t no bet,” Tania scowled.
“There’s always a bet, though.”
“Since when?”
“Since ever.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“It is now.”
“But we did with Mila.”
“That was different.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“It is. Ya ditz.”
“I’m not a ditz. I’m special.”
“Yeah.” Tania rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’re real special.”
Click turned away from the vent with a little purr of his gears and darted away. There was so much to do. He couldn’t waste time!
Vesna glanced up as she heard a light scratch in the pipes. “What was that?”
“Ain’t nothing,” Tania said.
“I heard some people think there’s ghosts in the walls,” Vesna said with a shudder.
“Well, they won’t bite.”
“How do you know?”
Tania closed her eyes and looked like she wanted to scream. “Some days,” she said slowly, “I think I’m just surrounded by special.”