"Donavan! Where are the damn styluses!?"
I straightened up in surprise, resulting in a massive bump on my head courtesy of the shelf above where I had been searching for my uncle Salstone's styluses.
Rubbing my sore head, I took one last glance around the storehouse that I had been sifting through for the last 10 minutes. It was a fairly large space, with several boxes on the left side of the single door holding larger items such as glass lights, blow-stones, and a couple of mark-propelled carts called Whiskers. The right side of the door had only about seven or eight dozen square feet of floor space, but that space was efficiently used by stacking the smaller items that my uncle sold in his shop on five levels of shelves. The fifth level was too high for me to reach, so I had to use one of the two ladders available to get anything off of it. Everything in the warehouse was always pristine thanks to my uncle's employees, who he constantly had making sure there wasn't a stylus out of place… except for today, because I couldn't spy a single one of the damn things anywhere!
We had recently gotten a new employee, and I figured that the kid must have moved the styluses to the wrong place by mistake. I sighed to myself, mentally preparing for the verbal lashing that I was sure to get from my uncle as soon as he found out I hadn't found the styluses. As I walked towards the door I made one last-ditch scan of the shelves, but I knew it was no use. I'd been working in my uncle's shop since before I could talk, and I knew that the styluses weren't on any of the shelves. I made a mental note to have a chat with the new hire (Benson or Jenson or something) about the proper place to put the more popular items after I got past my uncle's pig-like pink face.
And low-and-behold, as soon as I stepped out of the warehouse I saw my uncle's short, thin form raging towards me, practically puffing smoke from his ears. I changed that mental note of mine to reflect the absurdly long time that my uncle was going to yell at me, and decided to talk to the new guy tomorrow.
"What the HELL have you been doing in there for the past thirty damn minutes!?!?" He spat.
Ignoring the gross over exaggeration, I replied, "I was looking for the styluses." with a straight face, counting the moles on my uncles face. Twelve.
"Are you trying to be smart with me?" Uncle Salstone asked suspiciously, glowering his eyes up at mine. Amazing how such a thin man could resemble a pig so closely, I thought to myself.
"No uncl- I mean, sir." I said, remembering his dislike of any extra reminder that we were related.
He decided that he didn't like that answer, and did what he normally did; he yelled at me for a little while, throwing a couple cuffs in every so often just to make sure I was paying attention, then apparently decided that he couldn't bother with me anymore today, and snorted, "I'll find the damn styluses myself. Don't know why I ask you to do anything in the first place. Now get back in the store and serve the customers."
As he began to stalk over to the store he suddenly spun back around and bellowed, "And put your hood back on! I don't people seeing that I have a damn Common working at my shop!" Then, once he was sure that I had gotten the message, I continued to walk towards the warehouse as if he was trying to balance an egg on his shoulder blades.
I didn't even bother complaining. After nineteen years of living with my uncle Salstone and aunt Meera, I had learned to never argue when it came to covering myself in public to conceal the fact that I was a Common. I just pulled my hood up to cover my head, then pulled the shade in the front lip of the hood so that my face was completely covered. It might make a few of our customers a little curious, but usually all it took to assuage their wonders was me telling them that I had a skin condition.
It wasn't a complete lie either. My skin was so pale that it almost looked like it was made of milk. That could be explained away though. The thing that my uncle really wanted me to hide were my eyes. The irises were a light pink, and that alone clearly marked me as a Common. If anyone saw my eyes, then they would know immediately what I was, and it could start rumors that would keep people away from the shop. Salstone Gregors may be a pig-like asshole, but he was still my uncle, and I would never do anything to intentionally damage his business.
Also, he would throw me out on my ear if anyone ever found out. I decided to pocket a couple of sweets that we sold near the counter.
Despite my petty theft, I was still grateful towards my aunt and uncle. After all, they took me in when I was just under a year old when my parents died in a fire. They were hardly mentioned, but I felt that was because it still hurt my uncle to think about. I got the impression that he and my mother had been very close siblings, and he still missed her. We went to my parents' grave every year on the ninth of Mesh'hin every year, the anniversary of the day they died. It was the only day that I was allowed out of the house or the store, though I still had to wear my hood. I don't remember my parents, and since my uncle and aunt never talk about them, I never knew much about them growing up.
There weren't too many customers in the store at this point. It was already over an hour past sunset, the new guy - whatever his name was - had already left for the day, and we were about to close. The only customers that were in the store were those who forgot to buy their kids or loved ones a present for Cline's day tomorrow.
Cline's day was a worldwide holiday that celebrated the anniversary of the end of the fifteen year war that Bartholomew Cline waged with the Aklian empire to end the system of oppressive dictatorship in favor of the representative democracy that we have now. It was customary to buy presents for those special to you, probably to signify some special event or another. Not that I would know, since the only Cline's day present I had ever gotten was the hood and gloves that were currently covering my skin and face. "Be grateful we let you use our roof you brat!" would be my uncle's typical response anytime that I attempted to get him to let me do… well, anything really. In fact, anytime I've ever been outside the gate around my aunt and uncle's house it was either to go to the shop and work, or because I snuck away.
I knew that the few customers who were left would most likely just buy something cheap from the front and toss a few stiks on the counter to pay for it, or else choose another store that sold whatever product we had for a better price. I started to drift off in my own imagination, which was a pretty common occurrence for me. Whenever things got too slow around the store (or if something grabbed at my thoughts) I usually started to imagine different scenarios that I knew would never happen in real life, but entertain me anyway. This time I thought about how cool it would be if someone tried to rob the store. They would walk up to the register and buy something small, like a stylus or some paper- wait that makes no sense, who buys a single stylus? Okay, so they buy a piece of candy, doesn't matter, because as soon as I open the money drawer, they draw a knife and lunge at me, but I'm too quick and I block it, no, deflect it (damn that's cool), and knock it out of his hands, then I grab the knife and hold him there till the guard comes, but he tries to make another move for the-
"Excuse me ma'am, but do you have any stone-paper sheets and styluses?"
I started a bit at this unexpected intrusion on my intensely imagined fight scene and looked up, taking in the woman before me. She had walked in while I was distracted, and was standing very stiffly in front of me. She seemed to be around twenty, and quite tall for a woman. Only a couple inches shorter than me and quite slim under her clothes. She was wearing a set of bright yellow and blue decorated shirt and pants, with a bird design on one shoulder. I felt like the symbol was a bit familiar, but I couldn't place it so I dismissed the thought. I looked back up at her, switching easily into my polite employee persona.
"Yes ma'am we do. The stone-paper is on the isle directly behind you to the right, and the store owner is currently getting new styluses to stock the store. He should be back in a minute or so." I said, ignoring the confusion about my gender. It happened pretty often with my strange clothes and relatively higher voice, so it didn't really bother me. I just waited for the woman to grab the paper so that I could sell them to her and start to close up shop.
But the woman standing in front of me didn't move. She just stood there staring at me silently for several seconds, seemingly waiting for something. After about ten seconds of us just staring at each other, I figured I should probably say something to break the awkward silence. Besides, I wouldn't want my uncle come back in to find me have a staring contest with such a flamboyantly dressed girl.
"Ma'am? Did you need anything else?" I asked politely.
This prompted what seemed to be her first natural action since I had started talking to her.
"What?" she said, apparently confused at why I, an employee at a store, would ask her such a strange question. I was starting to think that maybe I should have my uncle contact the city guard to report a missing person when a short and portly man wearing clothes similar to the woman's came puffing through the doorway moving faster than I would have thought likely for a man of his stature. Luckily the store was now empty except for myself, the young woman, and the portly man, or else all of the noise he was making surely would have caused some sort of scene.
"My lady!" He cried while rushing up to the girl at the counter, nearly in tears of joy. Or possibly frustration. I couldn't say. "I finally found you! You can't simply run off like that, your father gave me very strict instructions-"
"Yes, Yes, I'm sure my father made it very clear just how little privacy I am allowed from you," She said haughtily, almost pouting. "But I am twenty one years old now and no longer a child. You can't simply-"
"We can, and will, do whatever it is your father has asked of us my lady." Said another man who had just entered the store. This man was much taller than the first, and wearing an obviously well made shirt of chain mail, along with a long sword with no sheathe at his hip that looked very sharp to me. What's with all these weirdos barging in here all of a sudden? I thought to myself, highly aware that my uncle would have a fit if he were to walk in and see this bizarre situation.
Which, of course, is exactly what happened.
"I finally found the damn things, how did they even get-" He stopped short as soon as he saw the group in front of him, mouth agape. Fantastic, I cursed to myself, trying to figure out some excuse or reason that my uncle shouldn't blame me for this, though I knew it was futile. It was always my fault. But contrary to my pessimistic train of thought, my uncle didn't even look at me and instead dove deep into salesman mode.
"Welcome!" He exclaimed brightly, jumping right up to the stiff girl, who gave a small start as there was now not just one, but two short men prancing about in front of her. "How are you doing this fine Diday evening? Could I interest you in our newly acquired Blow-stones? These are not your ordinary blow-stones, as this particular version has a dual Projection-Form Sight function that lets the stone emit not a simple blast of air, but in fact a cooling stream of wind to cool you down during the sweltering summer months! It may be winter still, but you wouldn't want to wait until the first summer rays to acquire the finest in comfort products!" He seemed to say this all in one breath, and yet still maintained the absolute picture of polite professionalism. The young woman, who was pointedly ignoring the portly-short man who was still fussing about her, grinning delightedly and clapped her hands like a child who was receiving a Cline's day present.
"Oh, that sounds delightful! I'm going to get one of those too!" She said to my uncle while she kicked at the short man in front of her..
My uncle didn't even hesitate. He immediately snatched two of the new blow-stones from the shelf behind the counter where we kept our more valuable merchandise and brought them both forward.
"An excellent choice if I may say so my lady, you have a keen eye," he said, as if she had chosen them herself. "And what might I ask were the other items that you mentioned you would like to purchase?"
She adopted a concerned expression, "Oh yes, I asked this young woman if you had any stone-paper and styluses here. She seemed to indicate that you did carry such items, but failed to procure them, so I wasn't sure if there was some sort of problem?" She asked innocently, virtually pushing the short man away from her now.
I gaped my mouth at her behind my cowl. Was she being serious? The paper was two feet behind her! Did she really expect me to walk all the way around the front counter to grab them for her when all she had to do was turn around? Suddenly I felt a burning sensation behind my head as my uncle grabbed the back of my hood and forced me down into a bow.
"I am so sorry! Please forgive this poor fool, he- she's not right in her head. An accident at birth I'm afraid. I'm just trying my best to give her an opportunity to give her a job, but if you wish it I could dismiss her immediately for her rudeness." He said, sounding almost afraid.
At this point I realized that something was going on. My uncle, greedy as he was, had too much pride to ever bow to a customer like this, and he only used his Projection Sight when he was seriously agitated or if a customer was trying to shoplift. Since it obviously wasn't the latter, I tried to figure out what was wrong. I took another glance at the young woman in front of me, and I once again saw that bird-like symbol on her shoulder. On closer inspection, I could see that it was actually a swan. It was then I suddenly realized where I had seen it before. On one of the times I had snuck out of the house, there had been a large procession passing in the street up to the central part of the city. This swan had been emblazoned on the side of the carriage, as well as the breastplates of the guards surrounding it. I swallowed hard as I realized that this must be one of the nobles.
There has been no royalty on the continent of Celsee since the fall of King Matthias at the beginning of the 15 year war, but most people still referred to the descendants of the former rulers as nobles since they since had so much wealth and power, even in our democracy. People like this have been known to bring harsh punishments on regular citizens wielding their vast wealth for even small slights. Suddenly I felt a cold sweat start forming on the back of my neck.
"I am extremely sorry my lady," I said, putting as much sincerity into my voice as I could muster, "I was simply dazzled by your beauty and forgot myself. I can retrieve the items you asked for at once if it pleases you." I figured some flattery wouldn't hurt. Besides, she was fairly attractive, though not really my type. The burning sensation on my head stopped as my uncle released his grip on my hood.
"Oh, I see. Well, it's no problem as long as you know better now." She said smiling, as if she had said something truly kind and merciful. I was starting to really dislike that smile.
As I went to collect the requested stone-paper, my uncle pulled out a variety of styluses from the box that he had carried in. "These all come in an assortment of-" he started to say.
"My lady." the tall swordsman interrupted firmly. "We really must leave. Your father is worried for you, and is expecting Foster and I to have you back before long. If you come with us outside to use the Shift box, I promise I will send a servant to collect the items that you wanted." He said this in a tone that was not unkind or forceful, but also made it clear that she would be coming whether she liked it or not. I was amazed that anyone would dare to speak to a noble like that.
"Oh, alright," sighed the young woman, "I was just planning on returning anyway." She began to walk outside without another glance at me or my uncle. "But I do detest that box."
She signaled something to the short man who had finally given up his fussing, and the man immediately waddled up to me and held out his arms. I glanced at my uncle who vigorously signaled for me to hand over the sheets of stone-paper to him. I did so, and he held them all with surprising ease. I figured he must be using a Strength sight. The man then barked some orders to a couple of people whom I assumed were servants. They came into the store and began discussing the price and quantity of the items that the young woman wished to buy with my uncle, who kept them busy with his well-practiced haggling skills.
Since my uncle wasn't focused on me at the moment, I decided to sneak a peek at the noble and her entourage as they left. I had never seen a Shift box before, and I was curious as to how it worked.
The swordsman, short man, and the noble stepped into the empty street where there was a carriage parked. The swordsman pulled out what looked like a stone cube, about half a foot on each side. He placed it down on the street, placed his foot on top of it, then held out his hand to the young woman. Once she took his hand and the other man put his own foot on the cube, the swordsman closed his eyes and seemed to focus for a moment…
Then suddenly, they were gone. No flash of light, no loud bang, nothing. They were simply there one moment, gone the next. I stood mesmerized for a moment until my uncle shouted at me to get my ass back in the store.
After one last look at the empty street, I turned back into the store to face the extra work I had suddenly been assigned. As I worked to get all of the stone-paper, styluses, and blow-stones into a cart for the servants of the noble to take to their villa, I wondered if I would end up seeing that strange girl again. I hoped not. She seemed too much trouble.
If only I knew.