Rowan
"Anything. Labor. Hauling. Building." I t her gaze. "I’m strong. I learn fast, and I am good with animals too."
Aris’ eyes slid to Violet. Her eyes always softened whenever she looked at her. "And you?"
Violet straightened slightly. "Whatever needs doing. I can work."
The old lady stared at her for a mont too long.
She then cleared her throat. "The difference between the lower levels and up here isn’t so vast. If anything, I’d say the lower levels are more successful than up here. You must have passed a route through the tunnels leading directly here."
Cery nodded. "Work is work. You’ll find it in the markets mostly. So wolves hire day workers for all sorts of tasks, and even offer lodging too if you are well skilled. If not, you can still get find work as undocunted wolves."
"Undocunted?" I asked, surprised.
"You clearly aren’t docunted," Aris added dryly.
What need was there for docuntation when I could access every single wolf in my territory through mind link?
"I... didn’t know that was a thing," Violet ntioned, looking at them with surprise.
The old woman chuckled. "Clearly."
"Even undocunted, you can still find sothing," Cery spoke up. "Worst case, you might get so low paying tasks, but it’s steady as long as you show up."
"Thank you. That’s all we need," I said. "Sowhere to start."
"And sowhere to stay, I imagine." Aris’ voice was dry.
I hesitated, stunned.
The house was large. I had seen the corridors branching off, the multiple rooms. But there were also seven children tearing through the space like a storm, their mother managing them alone while her husband was away on a hunt like she had ntioned earlier.
We had already imposed enough just by coming in to eat.
I had no intentions of remaining here.
"I know how we might seem," I started, my words firm. "But we really have no intentions of staying here at all. I apologise if any of my words implied it."
Cery looked surprised and her grandmother’s lips tilted up in a faint acknowledging smile.
"He is right." Violet added. "We are grateful for your hospitality, but we didn’t plan on staying with anyone. We will be fine."
One of the children tugged at Cery’s sleeve, whining about wanting more food, and the woman absently handed over a plate without looking.
She sighed with a smile. "There’s a boarding house three streets over. Just outside the house, you’ll see the nearest tower on the right in the far distance. A large house beside it caters to travellers. Tell them Aris sent you. They’ll give you a fair rate... or let you work off the cost if your coin situation is as bad as you say."
Aris nodded slowly. "You’ll do fine. Both of you." Her gaze lingered on Violet again. "Especially if you work as hard as you carry yourselves."
Violet and I thanked them for the food again and for the recomndation. This was a start. Though we wouldn’t stay here for long, so change would be nice.
I would also try to find a way to switch so of the currencies I had if possible.
There had to be wolves down here, or an illegal market that handled such transactions. Surely so wolves usually went to the surface. I doubted it was possible for there to be a civilisation without a number leaving and coming.
And I intend to convert the currencies hopefully without getting tracked.
We ate in relative silence after that. The children filled the gaps with their noise, arguing over portions, laughing at sothing only they understood, and one of them cried briefly before being soothed by Cery’s sharp words that sohow still sounded gentle.
I watched Violet from the corner of my eye.
She was watching them too and she looked almost sad and happy at the sa ti.
I looked away before she could catch staring.
The old lady’s voice cut through the noise.
"You."
I looked up. She was pointing her spoon directly at my face.
"I thought you were siblings initially, but stop staring at the girl like she’s going to disappear." Her tone was flat, blunt, and even a bit annoyed. "It’s unsettling. Either claim her or stop mooning."
I froze.
Beside , Violet choked on her water.
Cery closed her eyes like she was asking the ancestors for strength. "Ma."
"You staring at her so much is starting to irritate ," the old woman snapped. "Snap out of it!"
Violet’s face had gone completely red. She opened her mouth but nothing ca out.
I wanted to laugh the woman’s words off and make so kind of excuse, but my mind was blank.
I really hadn’t been staring at Violet that much.
I don’t think I was.
Strangely enough this very mont made think of Mira who we had left behind in Orpal.
Cery stood abruptly. "Ma, let get you so more water."
She fled toward the kitchen.
Aris snorted and returned to her food, utterly unbothered by the chaos she had caused.
Violet was staring at her plate like she wanted to disappear into it, and I was left feeling uncomfortable.
I wasn’t aware I had been staring at her so much. But if that was the case, I’d have to apologise to her later. Maybe she felt uncomfortable about it.
[ - ]
We had gathered our things and made our way out the door.
Cery had returned to wrangling the children, but Aris followed us out into the open.
The door had closed behind us when the old woman reached out and caught Violet’s arm.
"A mont," she said quietly.
Violet looked surprised but let herself be pulled aside.
I stepped away from them to give them more privacy, but my hearing was sharp enough to catch every word.
To my surprise, she handed Violet a small pouch and from the sound it made, I could only deduce it was money.
Violet was just as surprised and tried to refuse it but Aris insisted, stating it was paynt for helping. Before I knew it, they were hugging each other in a gentle embrace.
They let go of each other and I offered a small bow in the old woman’s direction when she turned to look at .
Aris waved her hand dismissively and turned back inside, the door closing behind her with a solid thunk.
Violet walked up to and we stood still for a mont, the noise of the underground city humming around us.
Violet clutched the small pouch of coins in her hand, staring at it like she wasn’t sure it was real.
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