“What if I am?” he responded, his voice harsh and low. He pulled her face forward and gave her a quick kiss, but his eyes remained open and he watched her face carefully.
She pushed herself away. “Well, you wouldn’t be the first rough man to put hands on me,” she said without emotion. “I was taken young and it’s all the same to me. Getting poked by one man is much like getting poked by another.” She stepped back and removed her vest. Then she unbuttoned her tunic and removed it along with her boots and trousers.
De Loungville turned to the door where Erik and Roo waited and motioned for them to move away. He studied the girl a moment. She had a lithe body, small breasts, and slender hips, but there was a nice balance to her. She had a long neck and large eyes, and he said, “Yes, you’re pretty enough.” Turning away, he told her, “Now, get dressed and I’ll have some food sent to you. Rest awhile and we’ll talk some more later in the day. And think on this: you now work for me, and if I need to, I’ll as happily cut your throat as take you to my bed.”
He didn’t look back as he left the cell, closed the door behind him, and locked it. He then moved to where the others were waiting for him. To Erik and Jadow he said, “Go back to your quarters and get some sleep. I’ll need you alert in a couple of hours. With the Sagacious Man fleeing and this Tannerson murdered, we may find things getting lively in the city soon.”
As they left, he turned to Duncan and Roo. “What about you two?”
Roo looked at Duncan, who shrugged. “I guess we also need to find jobs,” said Roo.
De Loungville said, “You can still work for me.”
“Thanks, but if I let this one setback stop me, what sort of merchant would I be?”
“True,” said Robert. “Well, you can find your own way out. If you want to, grab a bite at the commons before you do; have a hot meal on the Prince with my compliments.”
He walked away and as he left, he said, “But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Duncan waited until de Loungville was out of earshot and said, “Just what are we going to do?”
Roo sighed, long and loud. “I have no idea.” He walked toward the soldiers’ commons. “But if we’re going to be out looking for work, we at least can do it on a full stomach.”
6
Barret’s
Roo jumped.
The waiters coming out the door swerved expertly to avoid Roo as he came into the kitchen at Barret’s Coffee House, and Roo put down his tray as he called out his order. The chaos in the kitchen stood in direct contrast to the calm evidenced in the common room and the private areas on the second floor of Barret’s. The large oak double doors kept the sound away from those merchants and traders negotiating in hushed voices throughout the coffee house.
Roo had sought employment for almost a week before he thought of Barret’s. Several merchant concerns had looked upon the poorly dressed former soldier with little civility, and no one seemed interested in taking on even the most junior of partners without receiving a large sum of capital as an incentive. Promises of hard work, diligence, perspicacity, and loyalty were less important than gold to these men.
Most merchants either had sons or apprentices, and any work available save as guards or menials. Roo felt close to defeat before he remembered the young waiter at Barret’s named Jason who had directed Erik and Roo to the horse trader by the city gate.
Roo had returned to Barret’s, found the man in charge of the waiters, mentioned Jason by name, and after a short consultation with Sebastian Lender, the manager of Barret’s—a man named Hoen—offered Roo a tryout as a waiter.
Roo quickly learned his way around the floor, with Jason acting as his tutor. Roo had come to like Jason, the youngest son of a merchant in another part of town. McKeller, the headwaiter, had told Jason to “show the new boy the ropes.” Roo disliked being referred to as a “boy,” but given McKeller’s age, he supposed it was reasonable. Duke James would appear a boy next to McKeller.
Jason had proven an easygoing teacher, one who didn’t presume Roo was stupid because he didn’t know his way around the coffee house. Roo’s years of growing up around Erik’s family at the Inn of the Pintail helped, as he wasn’t completely ignorant of what went on in a kitchen or in a common room.