Page 17 of The Shadow of Breninsol
Calla’s smile was mischievous as she dipped a finger into the bag.
With a sharp gasp from Lauressa, Eleanor's head snapped upwards, instantly aware of the imminent danger. But, noticingthe glint of gold on Calla’s finger, Eleanor immediately realized Calla’s pouch, heavy with the golden soil, was from the previous night’s lavish party. The soil glistened in the dim light.
“Where’d you get that?” Lauressa asked.
“It’s who you know,” Calla replied in a sing-song voice, pleased with herself, and licked the golden fragments off her finger. “It’s divine,” she purred.
Eleanor was close enough to see the golden substance clearly in the daylight, and she realised why she’d mistaken it for soil. It clumped together like sand or fine soil, and Calla had confirmed her inner questions about the substance. It could be ingested. Overcome by curiosity at being so close to the mysterious substance, Eleanor couldn’t resist a deep inhale, hoping to glean some information—a refreshing salty scent of a water witch, a pure breath of an air witch, a warm crackle of a fire witch, or even, a sturdy loam of an earth witch. But without her magic, unless the item was deeply imbued with magic, she wouldn’t know. Regardless, Eleanor’s feelings for this golden soil remained unchanged from last night. She wanted nothing to do with it, whatever it was. Something about it didn’t feel…right.
Calla poured a sprinkling of the golden soil into her palm and moved it around with her finger.
“Are you sure that stuff is safe?” Eleanor asked. She didn’t know why she was getting involved, yet she was getting involved, nonetheless.
“Course it is. The king wouldn’t be letting his courtiers have it if it wasn’t,” Calla replied, somewhat defensively.
Eleanor wanted to reply that the king doesn’t give a rat’s arse what his courtiers get up to as long as his taxes get paid, but she bit her tongue knowing a combative nature when she saw one.
What do you care?
Don’t get involved, remember.
Eleanor remembered what happened when she was involved in people’s lives, now she kept that number as low as possible. If anything, she desired less company; her existing relationships already felt burdensome.
Eleanor shook her head and returned her attention to braiding Lauressa’s fawn brown hair. As Eleanor gathered the small group of plaits together and wrapped the group of strands around the loose hair, she kept an eye on Calla and her golden finger.
Once more, Calla dipped her finger into the golden soil, so it sparkled in the sunbeam coming through the grimy window, and offered it to Lauressa, who licked it up quickly. As if Eleanor were an overbearing mother trying to stop her.
“Hmm…” Lauressa hummed in glee at the taste of it.
“See,” Calla said, with a self-satisfied tone.
“It’s amazing,” Lauressa said in awe.
As Eleanor began pinning Lauressa’s hair in a low bun at the nape with some bent pins, the floorboards outside the door let out a loud groan. Calla snatched up her pouch and slipped it back into her pocket, while licking her fingers clean.
“Having fun,flower?” Iris smirked at Eleanor from the doorway.
Iris knew full well Eleanor wasn’t having any fun. Eleanor ignored her and checked Lauressa’s hair to make sure it wouldn’t fall loose.
“Loads,” Lauressa replied in a humming voice.
“What do you think?” Iris asked, plucking at her vivid violet dress, which brought out a golden glow in her complexion.
“They’ve arrived!” Calla shrieked as she pushed up off the floor, forgetting all about the golden soil, and barged her way past Iris, making the woman chuckle with an indulgent smile.
Stars, she needed more coffee to deal with this today…or wine.
“New dresses?” Eleanor asked, as she refined Lauressa’s hair style.
“They feel lovely and soft. The tight old bat must have pushed the boat out and paid for fancier fabric,” Iris replied.
Judging by Iris’s dress, they seemed to be identical, featuring revealing sheer designs with plunging necklines down to the midriff, albeit in brighter colours.
“All done Lauressa,” Eleanor declared. “You might get away with charging triple tonight.”
Lauressa jumped up and gave her hair a quick pat and look in her broken mirror with a wide smile. “Yeah, I reckon so.”
Someone called Lauressa’s name from somewhere further away in the house, making her dash past Iris and throw a “thanks” over her shoulder. No doubt to admire the new dresses, to use it as added motivation to be a courtesan for the next court season, or toborrowa dress for her clients to match her fine new hair style.
