Marcus was watching the houses move by slowly as he stared out the window of the bumpy carriage. Sylvia was silently sleeping with her head resting on his lap, they were on their way back to the villa. The cool night breeze blew in from the window, causing Sylvia to subconsciously move in closer to Marcus to get warmer. Seeing this, Marcus closed the window and tilted his head back, resting it on the headrest.
After the incident with Riley and Lord Lear coming to apologize, everything went very smoothly. Dinner was served, they offered up many different fine dishes. There was orc steak to deep sea lobster tails, at least a lobster like creature, it was close enough. Marcus tried almost everything that was offered, taking a particular liking to a type of pastry made with the fat of a wild beast called a land leviathan, then spiced with rare spices shipped all the way from the Empire.
Once dinner was over, Marcus and Sylvia both drank and socialized for several hours. They both made many new friends and acquaintances, expanding both of their networks. As the night wore on, people started to leave one by one, eventually the party ended. Sylvia had plenty to drink, so she was drunk as well as exhausted. Marcus on the other hand probably had more to drink then anyone present, but it was hard for him to get drunk anymore, his body processed the alcohol almost as fast as he could drink.
After Marcus helped Sylvia into the carriage, it wasn't two minutes before she was asleep. Marcus told the driver to go slowly and to try to avoid any obvious bumps in the road. The return trip took almost twice as long, but they managed to arrive without waking her up.
A guard opened the carriage door, but his greeting caught in his throat when he saw that the Lady he served was fast asleep in Marcus's lap. Marcus put his finger to his lips, then moved gently and slowly, lifting the sleeping beauty up into a princess carry. Being careful not to bang her head on any door frame, he brought her into the villa and up the stairs to her room.
He placed her tenderly in her bed, pulling the covers up and over her. He then let Kelly and Maria take over the task of tending to Sylvia. He closed her door behind him, then went to his own room. He took off his ruined suit, placing it by the door for the maid to discard it. It was late, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day. They had to prepare for their five day trip out into the wilderness, so they had much to do.
He sat on the edge of his bed, nudging Sif until she woke up. Sif leisurely lifted her head up, her eyelids opening slowly, her deep golden eyes setting themselves onto him.
"Get enough rest? Should have, you've been asleep for about a day and a half." Marcus asked her while petting her head.
Sif opened her maw wide, yawning. This made Marcus yawn as well, they really were contagious. She looked out the window, seeing it was night, started to stretch her body and her wings, almost knocking Marcus off the bed. After getting a good stretch in, she laid her head in Marcus's lap and waited for him to speak, looking up at him.
"Feel better now? I think you should head back to Jakarta soon, it's better to leave while it's dark to avoid any unnecessary trouble." Marcus explained, stroking her soft, cool scales.
"The letter I wrote earlier is in the pouch, I've added another letter as well explaining a few other things. Remember to keep an eye on her, though you shouldn't have to stay right next to her, just be close by in case she needs you, ok?"
Sif nodded her large head, her antler like horns scratching against his skin.
Looking over Sif with a smile, Marcus couldn't help but compliment her. "You've gotten so big during the time we've been apart. I can't wait to see how much you'll grow. Remember to be careful ok. I'm not around to help if anyone tries anything funny, so you'll have to take care of yourself then."
She nodded again, dropped off the bed and took the pouch into her mouth. Marcus opened the door that led out to the balcony for her. After saying goodbye one last time, Sif spread her magnificent wings and shot up into the starry night sky. Marcus watched her become smaller and smaller until he lost sight of her. He walked back into his room and in a despondent mood, laid down to sleep.
................
"Well, have you made your decision?" Sir Allister asked Clair.
He was sitting in his office looking over some paperwork when he heard a knock on his door. It had been three days since he cornered her at dinner, she hadn't spoken to him since. He didn't really mind, she had nowhere to go so he wasn't worried about giving her some space to think, she didn't have very many options as it was. He put down the letters he was reading and granted her permission to enter.
"I have." Clair stated with conviction in her voice.
Sir Allister didn't reply, he just waited for her to continue. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his knuckles, waiting. Clair took a deep breath, she had thought long and hard on what she wanted to do, she just had to say it. Looking at Sir Allister had made her conviction waiver ever so slightly, she had to brace herself momentarily.
"I know that I'm indebted to you a great amount, and I have every intention to settle that debt. But I can't in good conscience sell you any of my recipes. I'm sure you're well aware that they are what makes my potions unique and highly sought after, so I can't just sell them. As far as entering into an agreement to rebuild the apothecary, I don't wish for that either." She paused again, taking a breath.
"Although you have paid for my treatment, and I'm very grateful for that, rebuilding is something that I must do on my own. I just hope that you will be lenient on the time frame that I have to repay the money used for my treatment." She stopped talking, looking at Sir Allister, waiting for him to say something back.
This was a little outside of what he had expected, but was still within the margin for error. She was still on the hook for two-thousand gold pieces that she had to pay back. Even if he couldn't hitch his wagon to her horse he would still come out with a hefty profit. He just had to think of a way to increase it, after mulling over his options he spoke.
"One year, I'll give you one year to pay back the debt in full." Sir Allister plainly said.
"That's not enough time, maybe five…"
"One year, that's it, no more, no less. If after one year the debt is not paid then I shall report it to the city lord. You will then be indentured to me to pay off the debt, with interest."
Clair's face was pale and she felt sick to her stomach. She was hoping that he would be reasonable and give her a fair amount of time to pay back the debt. Five years was the bare minimum she thought she would be able to do so, but one year was impossible. There was no way she could think of that she would be able to pay it back, her slavery was all but set in stone.
Seeing her not put up a fight, Sir Allister smiled on the inside. He just thought up indentured servitude on the spot, it was the more heavy handed of his options, but got the results he wanted. When she failed to pay him back on time, she would be basically enslaved to him until she worked the debt off. The catch was that he could come up with any interest rate he wanted, as long as it wasn't over one-hundred and fifty percent. This would ensure that Clair was forever a money maker for him.
"Now, I'm very busy. If there is nothing else you may excuse yourself." He said, not changing expressions at all.
Clair stood still for a few seconds, everything that happened slowly settled in. She mechanically made for the door, she was about to leave when Sir Allister's voice came from behind her.
"I hear that you've almost recovered, so in two days I'll begin charging you rent to stay here. It won't be much, and I'll just add it on to the amount you already owe, no need to pay it right away." He said with a shark-like smile.
Clair glared at him, then slammed the door, the loud bang echoing down the hallway. Clair fought her tears back, she couldn't let him hear her crying right outside his door. She didn't know what to do, she didn't have very many connections in the city. Her husband did, but after he died many of his connections went to Rosevalley to expand their own businesses. She decided to stay in Jakarta because she was familiar with it and felt comfortable there. Now she had no one to turn to, she couldn't ask for a loan, who would give her that amount of money with no collateral?
She looked up at the ceiling, she wished Marcus was there with her. She felt safe with him, like she didn't have to worry about anything at all, but he wasn't, she was all alone. She longed to be held by him again, he'd been gone for well over a month and wouldn't return for a few more. A single tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the floor.
...............….
"Make sure to secure that to the top. No, not like that!" Nathan was giving orders to the other guards, making sure everything was prepared for tomorrow's expedition.
Marcus was in the courtyard exercising, watching the guards run about. His duties were done for the day, so he was taking some personal time. He'd almost forgotten that he was Sylvia's personal guard, not in charge of everything else, so the responsibility of preparing everything was on Nathan's shoulders.
Sylvia was up on her balcony drinking tea, silently watching Marcus. Of course Marcus noticed this, but just ignored it and continued with his workout. He was using improvised weights, large metal containers filled with dirt and rocks. It wasn't as good as what he had a blacksmith made at his house, but was good enough. After he finished his last set, he dropped the container on the ground causing a loud thud. He wiped the sweat off his body and walked up to Nathan to see if they needed a hand.
Nathan was much more respectful once he learned that Marcus received an honorary title of knight. He didn't do it on purpose, but after being around nobles so much it was a natural reaction. Marcus repeatedly told him that he should just treat him like he had before, but it was no use. Marcus would just have to learn to deal with people treating him even more differently than they already did because of his intimidating size.
After Nathan told him they didn't need any help Marcus was at a loss, they had no plans to go to the city today so he had nothing to do. There wasn't much to do for entertainment, you could play card games, there were some board games as well, most of the time people would do these things. Reading books was a rare pastime, they were very expensive to produce, so there weren't many books floating around. The villa did have a library though, so Marcus made up his mind to see what kind of books were in this world.
Marcus strolled into the room they dedicated as the library, he wasn't overly impressed. The boasted a collection of a couple hundred books, but Marcus was used to seeing a couple thousand in the libraries he was used to. There was a small table in the center of the room and a few cushioned chairs here and there for lounging on while reading. He browsed the books on the shelves, looking for something to read.
There were many different books to choose from, unfortunately many of them were non-fiction. History of the Empire was a topic many of the books covered, but he wasn't interested in any of those. There were also books on magical beasts, architecture, farming techniques, some were even on magic, but only one or two. Marcus finally found one that was fiction, it was a love story involving a commoner and noble who fell in love. It was a run of the mill story, but Marcus just wanted to kill time, so he took the book and sat down to read it.
He flipped through the pages of the book, beginning to be engrossed in the story. It was a little different than what he expected, the commoner was a man and the noble was the wife of a powerful man. She was forced into the marriage and hated her husband, she couldn't stand the man. She met the commoner one day when she decided to go to the market herself, bumping into him on accident, falling in love at first sight. He thought it was a little cliche, but was well written.
"What are you reading?" A clear voice rang out, forcing him to look up from the pages of the book.
Sylvia was standing in front of him wearing a light blue sundress, she had her hand behind her back. Her hair was let down, brushing against her shoulders. She had a smile on her face and a curious look in her eyes.
Marcus flipped the book closed, looking at the cover. "It's called Noble Sacrifice. Huh, I didn't look at the name before I picked it up, sounds a little foreboding." Marcus said.
"I've read that one, I won't ruin it for you." She said nodding her head.
"I didn't think you liked stories like that."
"Well, there's not really much to choose from." Marcus said, waving his hand, looking at the size of the room.
"I'm sure I can get some more books for you if you want. It wouldn't be a problem."
"No, that's alright, after today we won't have enough time to read much." Marcus said.
"That's true." She replied.
Sylvia took a step forward, closer to Marcus. She was fiddling with her hands behind her back, like she wanted to say something, but didn't have the courage. Marcus patiently waited for her to find the strength to continue.
"Marcus, I have something to tell you." Sylvia said with hesitation, her fair skin gaining a rosy hue.
He took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the inevitable. Of course he had a good idea what she was going to say, the only problem was how he would respond. He knew that Sylvia liked him, he liked her as well, but was with Clair. Before, he wouldn't think too much about it, but he and Clair had gotten more serious than he expected to. Although this world's views on polygymy was welcoming, he didn't know how Clair thought about it.
"You don't have to say anything, I just wanted to let you know." She paused to take a breath.
"I like you, I like you more than just a good friend. I hope that you feel the same way, but I know it's hard for you since my father employed you, so I won't make it hard on you and force you to answer. I just hope that after this adventure is over you'll consider what I've said." She belted out in one breath, like if she stopped to breathe she wouldn't finish her words.
Marcus took her advice and didn't say one way or the other, from what she said she wouldn't pressure him until they were back in Jakarta. He just nodded his head, conveying that he understood.
"I'll leave you to your book then." She said, hesitated, then quickly stepped forward and kissed Marcus on the lips.
Sylvia then smiled wide, biting her bottom lip, then bolted out of the library, as red as a tomato. Marcus was shocked, he didn't expect her to do something like that. That could have been her first kiss as far as he knew. It touched the spot she kissed with his finger, then shook his head. He let out a sigh, then dove back into his book, letting tomorrow him take care of tomorrow's problems.