Tales of Aranth: The Girl and The General

Chapter 11

The book is on hiatus, not abandoned, it will be back after His Witch is finished.

It’s late afternoon when Alarana finally comes. Her clothes are all dusted and she looks tired.

“Mia!” she exclaims happily. “You are all right, I’m so happy. Daria!” They embrace.

“Come on, I saved a portion for you,” Daria says. After she is finished, we bid farewell to Daria and go to her house.

“Do you want to stay with me,” she asks as we approach a cottage more appropriate for some rural surroundings. But as I said, the Fourth probably couldn’t exist in the real world, so Copper Street isn’t a street of workshops, but of cottages with small front gardens.

“I can be your first tenant,” I say and she happily nods.

“It isn’t much and it needs a little renovation.”

“I can help,” I say.

“And I won’t charge you for the first week.” We both burst into a laugh that fades quickly when Alarana opens the door. “Yep, I won’t definitely charge you.”

The house is dirty, the garbage is piled in each room, furniture is broken and the stove in the kitchen doesn’t have a door.

“Well, I got it from my aunt. She distanced herself from the rest of the family years ago. We lived just a quarter from her and didn’t know that the house was in such a bad state.”

“You weren’t here before you enlisted?” I ask her.

“No… I didn’t have time. The news of her passing was delayed and I had to enlist immediately to avoid paying the tax that was due in three days.”

“The term starts counting from the day when the testator dies, not from the day you get to know that you inherited something?”

“Yes.” The laws in Aranth seem to be stupid and unfair. I’m starting to understand Evor’s point of view. “The problem is that I already paid the tax. That was almost all my pay.”

“Well, then we’ll have to put this place in order. We need to find some broomsticks and buckets. At least it looks like there is no organic garbage and no animals.”

We spend the whole afternoon cleaning and throwing away things, but we manage to deal only with the kitchen and we still don’t have a place to sleep tonight.

“Pity we had to leave our blankets and tents.”

“Yeah, we could use them now,” I say looking at the clean and empty floor in the kitchen. We still have to go through two rooms and the attic.

“I’ll go to Daria and ask her if we can sleepover. Tomorrow I need to buy some basic furniture. It won’t be easy as I have very little money left.” She looks so sad and broken. I can relate to these feelings when I recall what happened to me. I was supposed to start a new life. And I started, but not the way I imagined it. Just as she now. She went through hell because she believed there will be a brighter future for her and she found herself almost penniless in a hovel that needs many investments. Not to mention I feel guilty, I messed the plotline already. I must find a way to put her and Gravian together and somehow I will, but until that time, I need to help her.

“I will invest in this place,” I say. I take out my purse and take some minor coins and hand the rest to Alarana. “Thake this and buy whatever is needed. Maybe hire someone to help.”

“I can’t,” she says.

“You can, you will let me live here for free for some time and when you’ll have other tenants, we will talk about the shares. Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to find a job.”

“Thank you,” she says with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how I will repay you.”

“You can show me where they hire women.”

***

We sleep at Daria’s house, on the benches in the kitchen. In the evening I looked into my backpack, to see if I have an outfit suitable for a job search. I assume that trousers and a grayish shirt aren’t the right ones. I didn’t have any other clothes, but I found out that there were some letters in Karina’s stuff. They weren’t addressed, so I put them away without opening them. I will think about them later.

I borrow a dress from Daria. It’s light blue and very modest, I should make a good first impression, especially when I take off the bandages and style my hair so that the eschar on my head isn’t visible.

First, Alarana gets some kids to help drag the garbage outside the house and we go to the market in the Third. Alarana quickly finds decent furniture and I’m amazed to see how she bargains for the price.

“You don’t look like a bargaining person,” I say when we’re finished and the seller can’t hear us.

“I’m not. The point is I paid for the furniture with your money, so I wanted to get as much as I could for them. Now, tell me, what job are you looking.”

Well, that’s the hole in my plan. I’ve got only the modern skills. I can’t sew, weave or cook. I could be a waitress, but the inns in King’s City have a rather bad reputation. I can count, do logistics and manage things.

“I thought about a bank or a shop,” I say. Alarana looks at me doubtfully.

“There are no woman clerks.”

“I can be the first one,” I say confidently. “Where is the nearest bank?”

Alaran shows me the way. It’s in the Second. I may seem very confident, but I’m chickening out inside as we walk. But I said an A, so I have to say a B. There is an advertising pole outside the bank with a note ‘the bank hires clerks” and my heart rises.

We enter the stately building of red brick. The doorman gazes upon my dress and asks:

“What do you need, Miss.” His tone doesn’t leave much to interpretation. He treats me like an intruder.

“I’m here for a job,” I say gathering all my confidence.

“We don’t need a cleaning lady. Better ask in some mansions,” he almost huffs on me.

“Do I look like a cleaning lady?” I’m annoyed, otherwise, I wouldn’t say such a thing. I respect all kinds of professions. “I’m here about the note on the pool. The bank is looking for a clerk.”

“Are you joking? A clerk?” He laughs in my face. “Just go away and don’t waste my time.”

“I want to speak with the manager,” I say. It’s stupid, but nothing else comes to my mind.

“Well, wait here,” he says with a mean smile. He comes back with an enormously obese man. He doesn’t look pleased.

“What is your problem, lady?” He grunts at me.

“That man says I’m not fit to be a clerk,” I say still maintaining my confidence.

“You see, sir, I told you,” the doorman says in an ingratiating tone.

“You are a woman,” the man looks even more displeased.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not fit for the job. That is discriminating!”

“Girl, you are wasting my time,” he points at the doorman. “Get rid of her.”

“With pleasure, sir.”

Before I can protest or do anything, the doorman brutally pushes me out of the building. I lose my balance and fall from the steps at the entrance. I feel my back hit on something soft and we both land on the ground. I hear an unbelievably high woman cry.

“Madam Voran!” Somebody pushes me to the side and then captures my hands and holds me firmly. I can see that I hit a blonde woman dressed in a fancy light pink wavy and lacy dress, now covered with mud and dust. Her beautiful face, almost as beautiful as Alarana’s, is contorted by anger. And she continues screaming.

“Arrest her!”

And they arrest me.