All negotiations were to be finalized between Jewell and L?Vanis directly. With Jewell not taking a trip up to the cruiser, that meant L?Vanis would travel planetside. Lirssa almost felt sorry for the man to face the Empress directly. He had no hope.
But it was a formality. Lirssa had conveyed Jewell?s thoughts on each step of the negotiations. Five meetings in total. She had thought there were to be at least seven. With the ship taking a short run out on a trip to a nearby sector, the negotiations had been put on hold. Rehearsals for Rent had taken up some of Lirssa?s flying time. And then the legal department had stepped in on the fifth, that morning?s, meeting. It was now early afternoon by RhyDin city proper time.
Lirssa felt she had earned a drink and a good meal. It was extremely rare that she indulged in wine, preferring to keep that to winter when mulled wine was readily available. Winter would soon be on its way. Samhain was coming. It was Lirssa?s favorite time of the year. And her day with Raza, on her chosen birthday, was coming up soon, too.
Yes, that convinced her. She would have one glass of red, steak dinner, and maybe even some indulgent sort of dessert would be her reward.
There were seven different restaurants on the Dionysus, but Lirssa picked one of the twenty different bars placed strategically on each deck. Each and every deck had a bar. Even the one that held the control station. That was saying something.
She knew one of the tenders at this particular lower deck bar, and his shift would have started an hour or so ago. When she stepped past the sliding wooden panel doors, Ortiz called out with a grin that set his jowls shaking, ?Lulu!? And then he added a catcalling whistle.
If it had been just anyone, she would have glared. But she knew Ortiz meant it as a compliment. They were friends. At least as much friends as you could be when you saw and spoke little more than six times a year. And she was wearing one of her business dresses that had a little slink to it. She would accept the whistle as it was intended.
?Hey, Ortiz. Looks like the place is already starting to hum.? Lirssa sidled up on the barstool, looking over the patrons. Several clusters of two to five people were around the tall tables, drinks in hand, noshing on appetizers.
?It is. Surprised to see you, though.? He already poured a glass of juice, set on one of the napkins printed to look like mother of pearl.
?Just finished up my part of negotiations, and so I?m going to put you to work as a reward to myself.?
Ortiz smirked, ?Hey, not that I would have complained six months ago, but married you know.?
Fist curled up, Lirssa punched knuckles into his shoulder. ?That wouldn?t be work.?
There was an actor?s sense of timing in Ortiz. After he rubbed his arm, he sighed and batted his lashes. But one of his coworkers jabbed an elbow into his back ruining the effect. ?Yeah, yeah, okay. And you will be having??
?The Pelsian red wine, that wonderful six ounce steak with shrimp, medium please.?
?Hoping you?ll get it medium rare and not bloody? I don?t know why Felman can?t get it right, but yeah, medium. And wine? Really? You flying??
?Funny.? Lirssa rolled her eyes. ?Yes, I?m flying. Got to make sure the Empress gets set up for company?s arrival tomorrow and give her the latest of today?s meeting.?
?Somebody has to make sure you don?t hit our landing bay on the way out.? With the wine served, Ortiz mimicked a slurringly drunken pilot swaying the ship back and forth, then jerked as if he hit something. ?Oh, whaz thah a whalll?? This earned him another elbow in the gut by the same passing co-worker. Ortiz was funny, but far too often picked on by his company. He couldn?t help it that customers liked him better. Well, maybe he could, but Lirssa liked him as he was.
?Steak?? Lirssa encouraged him so he wouldn?t get another thumping.
?Right,? he turned to put the order in with a punch to a screen on the back bar.
When he was called away to tend another customer, a pair of men moved from a table, bringing their drinks and their plate of egg rolls to settle in the barstools on Lirssa?s left. They looked to the busy staff, bottles empty, needing refills.
Lirssa watched as one rolled the bottle between fingers, back and forth. Nails were clean, trimmed, with callouses at the edge of the thumb and around the undersides of the joints. ?Celebrating?? He smiled to her.
He was nondescript. Everything about his features was guileless, unremarkable, not to say unhandsome, but just -- no scars, or facial hair, or lines. Eyes were a simple blue, brown hair kept neat. No piercings. He was a person to see on the street. Or a cruiser.
?Yes, I am. You?? With a nod to the food, glancing to the empty bottle Lirssa was confirming the same. Only, they did not have the air of celebration around them. She looked to his companion who had the same talent of nondescript with the art of different coloring. The smiles were small, sculpted. Lirssa knew those types of smiles well enough.
?Will be. Soon enough.? He grinned. There. That was a smile with some heart in it. It tightened Lirssa?s shoulders. It took her half a thought to relax them again and pick up playing her part.
His companion piped up, ?We overheard you mention House of Summer. We used to have dealings with them as well.?
Except she hadn?t said House of Summer. She?d said Empress. It was the title Jewell had given herself and the term Lirssa used out loud ever since that evening and the child. The evening when Jewell became less dear friend and more unreliable friend/employer.
Still, Lirssa shouldn?t have said that much either. No one knew just yet the deals being made with the House of Summer. But these guys knew the company Jewell ran by Lirssa saying her title. They knew her, and they knew her relation to Jewell. That was something to investigate. ?Used to?? To maintain her sense of ease, Lirssa sipped the wine. Shifting one foot, she tested how easy it would be to pull the shoes off. Pumps. Dress. Not the most convenient clothes to be wearing. Should have changed into her cargo pants.
?We had a deal, or more our Temple did. A good trade, too. But as things go, minds changed, needs changed. The Fae are tricky to deal with.?
Temple? That was a little more than unexpected. This entire conversation was slipping further that way. Lirssa was trying to figure out why just them mentioning, knowing, House of Summer by way of Jewell?s self proclaimed title made her nervous. Jewell dealt with many people. She had a long history in her dealings. But a temple? It was timing, of course. Damn convenient them being right here, in this bar, this day, right when she was.
Looking over their faces again, Lirssa tried to recall if she had seen them anywhere before. There was nothing that stirred a memory, or even a hint of past connection. The anxiety about them remained all the same.
?Some can be,? she admitted. There was no sense in giving them more than they already knew, and the unease she felt was growing, still elusive, like a mosquito in a dark room just making its presence known by the drone.
The companion smirked. ?They are all the same. No sense of loyalty to anyone but themselves. And that magic?? His shoulders trembled a little before he took a big gulp of his newly arrived drink.
He said the word as if it stung his tongue. Lirssa shifted to the edge of her seat. ?Nobody says you have to deal with them.?
?But once you do,? the first man hissed a little as he turned to face her, ?then they?ve got their claws in you. You don?t know what?s true and what?s real. Deals broken and people suffer. People die. Time to turn the tide.? Those last words spoken like a mantra, a chant. It did not hold experience. It held belief.
?Look, you go about your day. I?ll go about mine--?
He grabbed her wrist. ?Time to turn the tide.? He repeated. ?The Divine Mother wants to send a message.?
But it was a formality. Lirssa had conveyed Jewell?s thoughts on each step of the negotiations. Five meetings in total. She had thought there were to be at least seven. With the ship taking a short run out on a trip to a nearby sector, the negotiations had been put on hold. Rehearsals for Rent had taken up some of Lirssa?s flying time. And then the legal department had stepped in on the fifth, that morning?s, meeting. It was now early afternoon by RhyDin city proper time.
Lirssa felt she had earned a drink and a good meal. It was extremely rare that she indulged in wine, preferring to keep that to winter when mulled wine was readily available. Winter would soon be on its way. Samhain was coming. It was Lirssa?s favorite time of the year. And her day with Raza, on her chosen birthday, was coming up soon, too.
Yes, that convinced her. She would have one glass of red, steak dinner, and maybe even some indulgent sort of dessert would be her reward.
There were seven different restaurants on the Dionysus, but Lirssa picked one of the twenty different bars placed strategically on each deck. Each and every deck had a bar. Even the one that held the control station. That was saying something.
She knew one of the tenders at this particular lower deck bar, and his shift would have started an hour or so ago. When she stepped past the sliding wooden panel doors, Ortiz called out with a grin that set his jowls shaking, ?Lulu!? And then he added a catcalling whistle.
If it had been just anyone, she would have glared. But she knew Ortiz meant it as a compliment. They were friends. At least as much friends as you could be when you saw and spoke little more than six times a year. And she was wearing one of her business dresses that had a little slink to it. She would accept the whistle as it was intended.
?Hey, Ortiz. Looks like the place is already starting to hum.? Lirssa sidled up on the barstool, looking over the patrons. Several clusters of two to five people were around the tall tables, drinks in hand, noshing on appetizers.
?It is. Surprised to see you, though.? He already poured a glass of juice, set on one of the napkins printed to look like mother of pearl.
?Just finished up my part of negotiations, and so I?m going to put you to work as a reward to myself.?
Ortiz smirked, ?Hey, not that I would have complained six months ago, but married you know.?
Fist curled up, Lirssa punched knuckles into his shoulder. ?That wouldn?t be work.?
There was an actor?s sense of timing in Ortiz. After he rubbed his arm, he sighed and batted his lashes. But one of his coworkers jabbed an elbow into his back ruining the effect. ?Yeah, yeah, okay. And you will be having??
?The Pelsian red wine, that wonderful six ounce steak with shrimp, medium please.?
?Hoping you?ll get it medium rare and not bloody? I don?t know why Felman can?t get it right, but yeah, medium. And wine? Really? You flying??
?Funny.? Lirssa rolled her eyes. ?Yes, I?m flying. Got to make sure the Empress gets set up for company?s arrival tomorrow and give her the latest of today?s meeting.?
?Somebody has to make sure you don?t hit our landing bay on the way out.? With the wine served, Ortiz mimicked a slurringly drunken pilot swaying the ship back and forth, then jerked as if he hit something. ?Oh, whaz thah a whalll?? This earned him another elbow in the gut by the same passing co-worker. Ortiz was funny, but far too often picked on by his company. He couldn?t help it that customers liked him better. Well, maybe he could, but Lirssa liked him as he was.
?Steak?? Lirssa encouraged him so he wouldn?t get another thumping.
?Right,? he turned to put the order in with a punch to a screen on the back bar.
When he was called away to tend another customer, a pair of men moved from a table, bringing their drinks and their plate of egg rolls to settle in the barstools on Lirssa?s left. They looked to the busy staff, bottles empty, needing refills.
Lirssa watched as one rolled the bottle between fingers, back and forth. Nails were clean, trimmed, with callouses at the edge of the thumb and around the undersides of the joints. ?Celebrating?? He smiled to her.
He was nondescript. Everything about his features was guileless, unremarkable, not to say unhandsome, but just -- no scars, or facial hair, or lines. Eyes were a simple blue, brown hair kept neat. No piercings. He was a person to see on the street. Or a cruiser.
?Yes, I am. You?? With a nod to the food, glancing to the empty bottle Lirssa was confirming the same. Only, they did not have the air of celebration around them. She looked to his companion who had the same talent of nondescript with the art of different coloring. The smiles were small, sculpted. Lirssa knew those types of smiles well enough.
?Will be. Soon enough.? He grinned. There. That was a smile with some heart in it. It tightened Lirssa?s shoulders. It took her half a thought to relax them again and pick up playing her part.
His companion piped up, ?We overheard you mention House of Summer. We used to have dealings with them as well.?
Except she hadn?t said House of Summer. She?d said Empress. It was the title Jewell had given herself and the term Lirssa used out loud ever since that evening and the child. The evening when Jewell became less dear friend and more unreliable friend/employer.
Still, Lirssa shouldn?t have said that much either. No one knew just yet the deals being made with the House of Summer. But these guys knew the company Jewell ran by Lirssa saying her title. They knew her, and they knew her relation to Jewell. That was something to investigate. ?Used to?? To maintain her sense of ease, Lirssa sipped the wine. Shifting one foot, she tested how easy it would be to pull the shoes off. Pumps. Dress. Not the most convenient clothes to be wearing. Should have changed into her cargo pants.
?We had a deal, or more our Temple did. A good trade, too. But as things go, minds changed, needs changed. The Fae are tricky to deal with.?
Temple? That was a little more than unexpected. This entire conversation was slipping further that way. Lirssa was trying to figure out why just them mentioning, knowing, House of Summer by way of Jewell?s self proclaimed title made her nervous. Jewell dealt with many people. She had a long history in her dealings. But a temple? It was timing, of course. Damn convenient them being right here, in this bar, this day, right when she was.
Looking over their faces again, Lirssa tried to recall if she had seen them anywhere before. There was nothing that stirred a memory, or even a hint of past connection. The anxiety about them remained all the same.
?Some can be,? she admitted. There was no sense in giving them more than they already knew, and the unease she felt was growing, still elusive, like a mosquito in a dark room just making its presence known by the drone.
The companion smirked. ?They are all the same. No sense of loyalty to anyone but themselves. And that magic?? His shoulders trembled a little before he took a big gulp of his newly arrived drink.
He said the word as if it stung his tongue. Lirssa shifted to the edge of her seat. ?Nobody says you have to deal with them.?
?But once you do,? the first man hissed a little as he turned to face her, ?then they?ve got their claws in you. You don?t know what?s true and what?s real. Deals broken and people suffer. People die. Time to turn the tide.? Those last words spoken like a mantra, a chant. It did not hold experience. It held belief.
?Look, you go about your day. I?ll go about mine--?
He grabbed her wrist. ?Time to turn the tide.? He repeated. ?The Divine Mother wants to send a message.?