Lucky Rabbit

Luca was almost comically relieved when Pandy showed up at the entrance to Falconet. He glared at the uniformed man who had been blocking the door, gesturing in Pandy’s direction. “See? Here she is. Now let me through.”

The servant glanced toward Pandy as well, his face going carefully blank as he bowed and stepped back, though he didn’t quite move enough to allow Luca through. “Ms. Wellington, are you expecting this…person?”

Pandy flinched. Had she done something wrong in having her clothes delivered here? She just needed some more dresses, since she was going through hers at a ridiculous pace. It wasn’t like people in this world could pop down to the thrift store on the corner and just buy whatever was in the dollar section, so she’d assumed this was how they went about it. Still, she lifted her chin and did her best to look down Ms. Wellington’s nose.

“I am, though I thought he wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.” She glanced around, not seeing the packages the girl had mentioned. “Where are my things?”

Now the servant looked uncertain, and Luca drew himself up to his full maybe-five-and-a-half feet. Half-turning, he motioned toward a rather shabby cart that sat in front of the school, looking as out of place as a jello salad at a five-star restaurant. “He made me put them back. Said nobody who worked here would have ordered anything from us.”

Luca was definitely insulted, and Pandy felt terrible for him, even as her cheeks threatened to burn. She should have realized that no one with real money would buy second-hand goods, or clothing from a shop that didn’t even have its own proper storefront. It probably would have been barely-acceptable if she’d purchased dresses from one of the fancy little stores surrounding Lanthorne Court, but no, she’d gone straight for the kind of place that she would have felt comfortable going to in her first life.

She felt her chin hitch even higher, and this time her lip curled as well. She gave the man in Falconet’s livery a stony glare. “Are you questioning my choices? How dare you?” Pandy had always wanted to say this phrase, even though it was typically the villain who did so. Still, here she was the villain, and it was kind of fun to watch the servant recoil. Even if she had any power to follow through on the threat implied in her tone, she wouldn’t have, but just for a moment, she enjoyed being able to remind him what it felt like to have someone look down on you.

Waving at the man, Pandy said, “What are you waiting for? Help Luca bring in my packages. I’ll be up in my room.” With that, she swept away…or tried to, except that her toe caught on the carpet and she nearly fell on her face. Fortunately, Luca and the servant had already stepped outside, and didn’t see her.

But of course Augustus did. He was standing beside the steps leading up to his office, a bemused expression on his face. That look was becoming quite familiar to her by now, so she just gathered her dignity as best she could, brushed her skirts back into place, and said, “Can I help you?” in the frostiest tone she could muster. She was playing the part of Wicked Wellington now, and it was remarkable how being rude helped get past awkward moments. That…might actually explain quite a bit about her childhood.

One of Augustus’ straight brows lifted above the rim of his glasses, and he said, “Is this something I should be aware of?” The tone was so mild it was almost insulting, and Pandy hoped he was just responding to her own play-acting.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “I needed new clothes.” She plucked at her skirt, pulling out another tried-and-true villainess line. “These are so last season.”

This time she was certain he was teasing her, because the corners of his eyes crinkled even as the corners of his mouth went down. “I do not believe in offering advances on staff salary, so I hope you have remained within your budget.”

“What I do or do not do with my money is none of your business,” she replied, barely able to resist placing her fists on her hips as she spoke. If something didn’t happen to break this up soon, she might be forced to slap him just to remain in character.

Fortunately, at that moment Luca came in through the door, boxes and neatly-wrapped parcels piled up so high in his arms that he was trying to peer over them with one partially-blocked eye. Somehow, he managed not to see Pandy, who still stood in the entryway, and ran right into her. Normally, that would be enough to send her tumbling, but in this case Luca was the one who stumbled back. Before she could think better of it, Pandy whipped around, bracing the teetering tower until she could take the top two. Offering him a grimace of apology, she stepped back, still holding a small box and a floppy bag.

“Obviously, you can’t be depended upon to carry everything, so I shall do it for you,” she sniffed. She had a feeling it wasn’t very convincing, since Ms. Wellington probably would have just allowed both boy and parcels to tumble to the floor. Pandy just couldn’t do that, though, so instead she gave Augustus a look and said, “As the dining room is occupied at the moment, I shall need to go through your office. I trust you don’t mind.”

Without waiting for a response, Pandy finally managed to sweep past the chancellor, up the stairs, hearing several sets of muffled footsteps following behind her. She refused to look back to see who all was following her, but before she could reach for the door of the chancellor’s office, a hand reached around her, Augustus’s breath tickling her ear as he said, “Let me get that,” and the lock snicked open.

This time her cheeks did start to burn. Of course the door was locked. How ridiculous would she have looked when she tried to turn an unresponsive doorknob, then had to go back down the stairs, trailed by not only Luca and the doorman, but two other men wearing Falconet livery? Thanks to Augustus, she was able to sail confidently through the office, and out into the upstairs hall as he held the second door wide. Someday, she was going to save him for a change, and she was looking forward to seeing the expression on his face when she did.

Down the hall they went: Pandy, her four ducklings, and Augustus. All of the other doors were closed, as the teachers got ready for dinner, and the now-familiar sound of dishes and silverware clattering below told her that the servants were almost finished preparing the dining hall. Obviously, Pandy wouldn’t be eating dinner tonight, at least not unless she somehow snuck in as Bunny after Luca left, but surely Augustus had better things to do than hover?

It was with great relief that she reached ‘her’ office and opened the door, allowing all four men inside. The three servants quickly divested themselves of their packages, gave small bows, and vacated more quickly than Pandy would have thought humanly possible. That left Luca and a very amused-looking Augustus, and now Pandy did set her fists on her hips, giving him what she hoped was a Chastising Glare.

“Do you intend to stay while I try them on, too?” she demanded, and he released a very small snort. Was that surprise or laughter? With a deeper bow than any of the actual servants had offered, the chancellor left, but not without giving Luca a rather sharp glance. Whatever the young man saw in it made him take half a step back, but Augustus was gone before Pandy could pin down what the exchange was about, leaving the door wide open behind him.

Luca cleared his throat, looking down as he shuffled his feet. “Ah, Ms. Wellington, I’m sorry about all of that. That man just made me so angry, and I-”

Pandy took a step toward the boy, extending a hand to pat him comfortingly on the arm, and he danced backward quickly. Shooting a look toward the open door, he hurriedly added, “Aunt Saskia wanted to come herself, but she said with so many elementals and, um, volkhentar here, it wasn’t a good idea. She said you should return to our booth, though. When you have more time.”

A little chill ran down Pandy’s back. More time? Did this Saskia know about Shifting Faces? How could she? But if she didn’t, what did she mean by ‘more time’? Pandy puffed a breath. No, she was jumping to conclusions. There was no way someone from this world could know about Shifting Faces or Pandy’s limited time in human form. Saskia simply noticed that Pandy was in a hurry, and wanted her to come back when she could talk. Pandy wasn’t at all sure she wanted to do that, but she definitely did want whatever was in the bundles scattered around her office.

Pasting a smile on her face, Pandy nodded. “Of course. I’d like that. Do you, um, have a regular store?” Seeing his expression, she hurried on, “Not that there’s anything wrong with not having a real shop. And not that the cart isn’t a shop. In fact, it’s a lovely shop. Saves on overhead, and, um, rent, and-”

Thankfully, he interrupted, smiling ruefully as he shook his head. “It’s just me, my mother, and my aunt. Mother got sick several years ago, and she can’t leave the house, so we just work from home. Aunt Saskia and I go to Lanthorne Court whenever we start to run low on work. She’s amazingly talented, and Mother makes beautiful lace, and does the embroidery, so we’re not there often, actually. Most people just come to our house to order more clothes.”

Quickly, he waved his hands, as if shooing away his last sentence. “Not that I’d expect a lady like you to do that. We don’t live in the best- That is, you wouldn’t feel comfortable…”

He trailed off, and Pandy almost laughed. It was nice not being the only one who felt out of place for once. “I’m sure it’s fine,” she told him gently. “As for your mother…the priests and healers can’t do anything for her?”

Luca shook his head glumly. “None of the potions we can afford do much except make her feel better for a day or so. I’ve prayed, but there aren’t any Light priests at our church, and the elemental healers are far beyond our means.”

Pandy’s eyes widened. “Oh! I need to pay you! Wait here a moment.”

“But you haven’t even looked at-” the boy started to protest, but Pandy waved off his words. Hurrying to her apartment door, she opened it, then disappeared inside so she could remove the large bag of coins from her inventory without Luca wondering where it had come from.

Pouring out a good portion of the contents onto the small table, she counted out one hundred gold coins and looked around for something to put them in. There really wasn’t anything, so she carefully made a pouch from her skirt, somehow managing to hang onto it and also turn the knob.

Luca’s eyes grew huge when he saw the heaping mound, and rather than coming forward to help her with them, he actually took a step back. “Aunt Saskia said fifty gold-” he said, but Pandy cut him off.

“Which was obviously too little.” She looked pointedly around at her small office. The desk and chair were covered in packages, and there were a few more on the floor. At a guess, there had to be twenty or twenty-five, and they weren’t small. When Luca still looked reluctant, Pandy closed the distance and began pouring coins out of her makeshift pouch. The boy had to accept them or watch them fall to the floor, which he was obviously unwilling to do.

Once Pandy had transferred all of the coins – internally chortling at the thought that this was the fastest bank transfer of her lives – she returned to her desk. Picking up the smallest package, she opened it and dropped the contents rather unceremoniously back onto the desk. This left a good amount of brown paper already conveniently formed into a bundley shape, and Luca gratefully dropped his burden into it. He looked almost reluctant to accept the resultant extremely expensive parcel, grunting slightly when she placed it firmly into his arms.

Oh. Yes, one hundred gold coins was probably pretty heavy, wasn’t it? Pandy hadn’t really noticed, but Luca looked distinctly awkward as he shifted it around until he had it fully supported along one forearm. He was used to carrying things, though, so while it was awkward, he didn’t look like he was really struggling, which was good enough.

When it seemed like he might protest once more, Pandy held up a finger. “I’ll need more clothes in the future, and I’d like you and your family to make them for me. You can’t do that if your mother gets sicker, or if you can’t afford to buy more fabric and, um, whatever you use to make clothes.” She flushed a little, turning the conversation around before he could argue. “Where can I find you, if you’re not at Lanthorne Court often, and you don’t want me to come to your home?”

“Um, that’s… You can send a message to my cousin, Gwen. She works at the Needle and Tread, just off Lanthorne. My mother used to work there, before-” He stopped abruptly, and Pandy wondered what he didn’t want to say. Had the owner fired his mother because she was housebound? It seemed like she could still work, though, so why get rid of a good employee just because they couldn’t go to the store? The same sort of thing happened on Earth, though, and people here weren’t all that different.

“In any case,” Luca hurried on, “have the messenger ask for Gwen. If she’s not there, don’t leave a message. She works most days, though.”

Pandy’s eyes narrowed. A shop that fired good workers just because of something that didn’t limit their ability to work, leaving them without an income when they needed it most, and made the remaining employees work almost every day? She’d worked for more than one boss like that, since they were the ones who were usually willing to put up with her bad luck, mostly because everyone else found other employment as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to judge this person sight unseen, but she had a bad feeling about this. Still, it wasn’t like she could do anything about it, so she just nodded.

“That will work, then. As long as I won’t get Gwen in trouble.”

Luca shrugged. “She’s a good worker. Someone asking to speak with her for a moment won’t matter. Just don’t mention Aunt Saskia.” He snapped his mouth shut, looking like he hadn’t meant to say that last part, and Pandy had a sudden thought.

“Your aunt isn’t from West Altheric, is she?” she asked, and Luca flinched.

“She…isn’t.” His jaw set. “You met her – that should have been obvious. Why does it matter?”

It didn’t, except that Pandy had a sudden suspicion that the reason his mother had been let go might be more complicated than she’d initially believed. She smiled, trying to reassure him that she didn’t care. “I just wondered what vrazhul means.” She couldn’t give the word the same guttural intonation the older woman had, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Luca shrugged again, a little less convincingly this time. “She says things like that all the time. They’re just normal words in…in her language. I don’t know what they mean. Well, except durakha. I couldn’t help but figure that one out.” He rubbed his ear, grimacing slightly, and Pandy guessed the word wasn’t particularly complimentary. The dinner bell rang, and the boy stopped, looking around for the source of the noise. “What’s that?”

“Probably a good sign that it’s time for you to go,” Pandy said, motioning toward the door. He turned willingly enough and headed in that direction, carefully balancing his new burden. As they stepped out into the hall, Pandy was about to thank him again, when she saw Augustus, lounging against the wall in an entirely un-chancellorlike way. He quickly straightened, adjusting his jacket back into its tidy lines, and smiled at both of them.

“The dining hall is now even more occupied,” he said, “so I thought I might show…Luca?” Luca nodded, and Augustus finished, “Show Luca out.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be making sure small children don’t throw food at each other?” Pandy asked, wondering if he’d actually been right outside during their entire conversation.

“Medium-sized ones, too,” he agreed easily, leading the way back toward his office. “Perhaps you would go down and do it for me? One of your glares and even the most recalcitrant child will sit up and eat their broccoli.”

“Too bad they don’t work on you,” she muttered, then clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized she’d spoken out loud. Something very close to a grin crossed Augustus’s face before he managed to tamp it down.

“It is, isn’t it? You’ll have to try harder,” he said, and with that, ushered them through the office, down the stairs, and to the front door, where Luca almost ran to his rickety cart.