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"Lady Elowyn? Lady Elowyn," came the imperious voice.
"Hurm?" Elo blinked and reluctantly dragged her thoughts back into the office, lit with later morning spring sunshine, and away from the dragon who, allegedly, was on patrol, but in reality was doing aerial acrobatics in that same warm spring sunshine.
"Are you listening to me, Lady Elowyn?"
"Ah, apologies Councillor. No, not really." Elo ignored the spluttering and outrage that came from the man as she stood. "I'm terribly sorry, Master Chandler, but we'll have to cut this short. I have received a Whisper from one of my officers that needs my immediate attention." The woodling came to stand beside the Councillor's chair, one arm extended as an unsubtle hint for the candle-maker to leave.
Blustering, the man stood. "I say, m'Lady, this is terribly-"
"Yes, it is rather abrupt, but such is the nature of crime," Elo cut in with the barest hint of civility. "As to your concern, however, Councillor, I am quite certain your neighbourly dispute does not fall within the remit of the SRU." The woodling adroitly steered the outraged old fellow to the door of her office, despite him being double her height, and paused there to usher him out.
"My Lady, I must protest-!"
"Yes, I'm sure you must. And it's 'Captain', if you please." Elo paused, as the man quietly fumed in the practised manner of the Gentry. When he didn't make to move from her threshold she once again pointedly gestured to the waiting area outside. "Now then," she said, tone brisk and unflinching, "if you'd like to take a seat for a moment, I'll have my assistant pass you the details of someone within your local Watch who will be more than capable of dealing with your problem. Rest assured, that if their investigation does, indeed, reveal your neighbour's over-loud parties are linked to the worship of some dark god, we will take the case back. But until that happens, I feel I must remind you, Master Chandler, that the Special Recondite Unit is not some exclusive police force only for those of a set wealth level. We have a very narrowly defined remit - to whit, the investigation of strange and unusual security threats - and I intend for my unit to remain by that restriction." The woodling paused again and sucked in a breath. "Now, kindly take a seat while my assistant gathers that information for you."
"Right this way, sir," Millie said cheerfully, taking the Councillor by the elbow and steering him, as one might an elderly relative, out of the Captain's office. A moment later, the gnome slipped past Elo and back into the office.
Elo closed the door and gave a lusty sigh.
"You didn't really get a call from Lieutenant Snotgrut, did you?" the blond gnome asked, looking over half-moon spectacles at her Captain.
"No, Millicent, I didn't," Captain O'Toreguarde said, walking back to her desk with a small twist of the lips. "I merely wanted to get that drear man out of my office. Gods." She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a breath. "Let's see. The
fandan
lives over in Goldneedle, right? That puts him in Precinct Two..." she looked up. "Do we know if Gingerbread still works there?"
"You mean Sargent Grierson?" Millie asked, with some doubt. "I believe so, yes."
"Excellent. After you've given the Master of Chandlery the requisites, please write up the case notes, then send them over to Gingerbread with a couple of bottles of Killartas and a note to say it's a code eighty-six, with my apologies."
"Will that be all, Captain?" Millie asked, glancing up from where she was furiously scribbling on a slate. Elo leant against her desk and frowned in thought. A golden dragon, glittering in the sunlight, flickered through her mind's eye again.
"You know what? No. I need-" the Captain paused. "Go see to the
fandan
first, then come back. I want him out of my 'House with all haste."
"Ma'am," Millie said, dropping a curtsy. The gnome maid gave her captain a bright smile and practically flounced out the door. Elo watched her go with a fond smile, then shook her head. "Gnomes!" she muttered, turning to her desk and a small stack of paperwork. Chirpy, fastidious and endlessly energetic as they all seemed to be, she wondered why it felt the Gods sent her the more rambunctious specimens.
Because you need to be reminded what you're fighting for. And to smile,
came Aurianna's amused retort.
I like her. She's good for you.
You're good for me,
sálfug
. Besides, I didn't say I didn't like her.
Millie had been Elo's assistant for nearly four months. She worked hard, followed every directive with verve and an obsessive attention to detail. Her handwriting was perfect, and she collated all these skills in a bubby, good-natured mien. She fit perfectly in Elo's little team, and everyone loved her. Even Snotgrut had to admit he could find no flaws in her work, and he'd been just itching for an excuse to start looking at Elo's paperwork again.
She's perfect at her job
, Elo thought to Aurianna. The Captain stared at a form in her hands.
You know this probably means she worships Kaloth, right?
Don't be such a cynic,
the dragon rejoined.
Elo gave a tight mental smile and went back to her form, the dragon's acrobatics shimmering through her mind.
"Captain?"
Elo looked at the timekeeper standing against the wall. Less than a quarter-hour to get rid of Councilor Chandler. Impressive. Elo smiled.
"Yes, Millie."
The maid came into her office and closed the door. "You had further instruction for me?"
"Yes." Elo dropped the form - the same one she'd been staring at when Millie left - happy to let the pretence at concentrated work go. The Captain came around the desk and resumed where she'd been leant. "Yes. I said about sending Gingerbread in Watchhouse Two some apology beer right? Along with the case notes?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Good." Elo paused, thinking. "Please tell Agresta I need her to attend that meeting with the Treasury at One - all the required notes are in this book." The captain tapped a blue-bound tome, smirking. "She's been bugging me for weeks about more responsibility, that ought to quiet her for a bit. What else? Ah... Ask Farren if he'll step in for my Two Thirty? That thing with the Broderers... I don't even know what that's about."
Millie shuffled her slates. "They want to talk to you about the end of the world," she said.
"Excuse me?" Elo stiffened.
"Apparently you are one of the few remaining in the city who dealt directly with stopping armageddon."
"Ah. That kind of talk. Tell them to go see Snotgrut."
"They already have, Captain."
"And?"
"He told them to talk to you."
Elo crossed her arms and thought about this. "Bastard," she said. Millie smiled.
"Specifically," the gnome continued, "they want to hear about that thing you did with killing the Harbinger of Doom. They want to make a tapestry of it."
"Must they?" Captain O'Toreguard said. She did not whine it, Millie thought, because she was a Paladin, and the Captain, and neither of those things whined.
"It is quite a popular story, Captain," Millie said. "Really fired the public imagination. They wrote a song about it and everything."
"Yes, I've heard it. Annoyingly catchy, given the subject matter was such a hap-dash stupid idea."
"You did, kind of, save the city by doing so," Millie pointed out, tugging on her earlobe. "And, you know, the rest of the world by extension."
"I broke my Aunt's tower, and I crushed my old Watchhouse."
Millie ducked her head in capitulation, and to hide the smile that crept over her lips. Her Captain's attitude always amused her, the fantastic seeming mundane, and the mundane conversely made fantastic ("I saved the world, yeah yeah. Oh! I got biscuits with my tea!"). Millie looked back up when Captain O'Toreguarde let out an exasperated sigh.
"Send Farren to meet with them anyway. After all, he was there, he did see what happened. If they want more detail they'll have to reschedule."
"And the signwriters at Three?"
Elo frowned, gave a consternated eyebrow twitch, closed her eyes and sighed. "Libra's Scales, we need a facilities manager. Ah... they're only re-touching what's already there." She opened her eyes and gave Millie a considering look. "D'you think you could manage that?" the Captain asked. "You don't need to keep an eye or anything - they're good folks. Just greet them, show them what they're painting and that's it."
Millie thought about it and nodded. "Yes, no problem," she said giving her Captain a perky smile.
Elo returned the smile and pulled away from the desk. "Right. That should be everything. I'm off." She started striding towards a small door in the corner of her office. "Oh, one last thing. If you finish up early, take the rest of the afternoon off," Elo added, pulling her cloak on.
"Th-thank you! But wait!" Millie called. "Where do I tell people you've gone?"
"I've stepped out, matter of urgency - anything you like!"
"No, but-!" Millie took a step forward, making her Captain pause again. "What do I tell Lieutenant Snotgrut."
The Captain grinned. "That I'm fine, don't scry on me, and I'll be home in time for tea!"
Millie blinked, and Captain O'Toreguarde had vanished up the tower stairs, the tail of her cloak flicking out as she ran.
Elo thundered up the stairs, calling Aurianna with her mind, knowing that the dragon would be near enough waiting for her at the top. She burst into the bright sunshine at the top of the turret and paused as the stiff breeze teased at her hair and clothes. She let out a breath, tension flowing out of her, carried away by the wind. Sometimes it was good to be the boss.
"Did you want to fly, or is the breeze enough?" asked the golden cat winding around Elo's legs. The woodling glanced down at it.
"Your father would be horrified to know how sassy I've let you become," Elo replied easily. The cat twitched an ear, and then they were both running, Aurianna slightly ahead. They leapt from the tower, Aurianna changing as they did. She swooped around, and elo landed easily on her back, head back and laughing in delight.
"Where shall we go?" Auri asked.
Elo shook her head - she didn't care. "Take us into the blue!" she cried, and with one powerful sweep of leathery snapping wings, they were off.
~ Fin ~