Heir of Beasts

Ch. 4.6- Godspeed

NOTE: THIS CHAPTER IS RETROACTIVE. Long story short I started part three and realized this chapter belonged in part two so I'm adding it now. I'm sorry for any confusion this may cause. This is a work in progress and a VERY rough draft so I appreciate everyone bearing with me while I try to make it better. Part three will start in earnest next update

- Swpoet

"This is your office," Tyro says, throwing open a heavy door and revealing a cramped little room two-thirds filled up by a huge wooden desk. The rest of the room is taken up in two utilitarian chairs and a small bookshelf, empty. The walls are bare save for one that's broken up by a large window. There are no curtains.

"My office?" I ask, perplexed. "I get an office?" It's the day after Xalzan and my strange offer of employment and my head is still a little fuzzy from all the Y'chora I drank.

"Yes," he answers. "You get an office. All the aides have one and the Ambassador was clear you're to be treated no different from the rest of them. I mean besides them working in the council building and you working here in the manor."

"And the small fact that the High Council knows they exist," I add.

"Yes, and that," Tyro assents with a chuckle. "But still, the office is yours. It was a bit dusty because it hasn't been used in years but Galia fixed it up pretty nicely, I think. It's clean, at least, and there's space for work."

"It's nice," I say, really meaning it. I never expected to be given an office, to be taken so seriously.

I walk through the door and sit down behind the desk, putting my arms up on the arm rests. The wooden chair creaks beneath me, but overall the desk is comfortable. I imagine working here with ease.

Then something sitting on the window sill catches my eye. It's a shock of orange against the wood and white of the room, a bright faced desert lily infusing the otherwise Spartan space with color and life. I smile in delight, reaching forward from my chair to stroke its delicate petals.

"What is this doing here?" I ask. "Did you bring it in?"

Tyro shakes his head. "No, not me. The ambassador asked Avamir to pot it and bring it inside this morning."

"The ambassador?" I ask, shocked. "He thought of this?"

Tyro nods. "I know you wouldn't expect it first meeting him, but he's a considerate man. I figure he wanted to brighten up the space."

"Well, it certainly does that," I say, dropping my hand. "It's beautiful. If you see him before I do please thank him for me."

"Of course," Tyro says. I smile again, filled with warmth by the jaunty little flower.

"But enough about that plant," Tyro says. "There's work to do."

He sits down opposite me and begins to explain the details of my new job. Thankfully, none of it is very complex work. Just a lot of transcribing and filing, with some proofreading thrown in. My desk is well stocked with quills and knives for trimming them, with inkwells and parchment and blotting paper. I finger the implements covetously, finding myself more and more enamored with the prospect of work.

"For your first act as aide, sort and file all of these," he says, picking up a large box filled to the brim with papers and placing it on my desk with a loud thud. "Good luck."

It's five hours before I'm finished. It's not the most interesting work I've ever done, but it keeps my hands and mind busy. Besides, I'm used to boring tasks. I grew up attending state meetings and listening to my great aunts argue about silk prices for hours on end.