Free Web NovelChapter 77: Chapter 77: Dana and Sillia
Silia stepped off the carriage and immediately gripped her bag a little too hard.
"Calm down." freeweɓnøvel.com
She had come this far on the back of Gloria’s words. But now that she was here, standing on the street with the house in front of her, the courage that had carried her out of the shop felt considerably thinner than it had ten minutes ago.
She walked forward until the house was directly in front of her.
Inhaled. Exhaled. Deep and deliberate.
She approached the door and stopped.
"What do I even say?"
She ran through the options.
"Hey, I’m here. Too vague."
"It’s been a while , since you shot that robber. Absolutely not."
"I came because I’ve been missing you and I think I have feelings for you. Better to drag myself across the road , biting onto a zebra’s tail."
"I’ll figure it out once he opens the door," she decided, and raised her hand before she could talk herself out of it.
Knock knock.
She stood very still and listened to her own heartbeat. Footsteps came from inside at roughly the same pace, which did not help.
The door creaked open, and Dana looked out at her....
"Is there something you need, miss?"
Silia felt her chest go numb. Her eyes became red and teary before she could stop them.
"Is Percy home?" she managed, her voice coming out quieter than intended.
Dana’s expression shifted into confusion, but attentive. "No. Brother is at work, I think."
"B-Brother?"
"Yes." Dana studied her for a moment, taking in the expression.
"But isn’t Percy an orphan ?"
Dana pulled the door fully open.
"Come in."
-----
Percy shifted to his right as Craig settled into the carriage beside him.
"Marco Street," Craig told the driver. The man flicked the reins without a word and they rolled forward.
Percy turned to Craig. "Are we the only ones going?"
"No. Lyro and Gareth will be investigating Luken Street."
Percy recalled the map from the office. "But there wasn’t much reported activity there."
Craig smiled. "Good observation for a rookie. They’re going as precaution. They’ll move to Marco Street eventually."
"So we’ll be covering Marco Street and looking for signs of activity."
"No," Craig said.
Percy turned to him. "I thought that was the mission."
Craig adjusted his coat. "I need to fulfill my Oath first."
Percy blinked. "Your Oath?"
"Yes. Undying Purpose. At Second Oath it becomes the Oath of Refusal." Craig glanced at him. "Would you like to know?"
Percy nodded, stealing a quick glance at the driver first.
"Tell me both. Your First and your current."
Craig leaned back slightly. "My First Oath was the Oath of Purpose. I had to state a purpose each day and fulfill it. Vague as it sounds, the purpose couldn’t be weak or meaningless. Something like helping a person each day would qualify , but I couldn’t repeat the same purpose twice. I had to find something new and meaningful every single day." He paused. "That took considerable thought and time."
Percy quietly felt relief about his own Oath being rather easy.
"And now at Second Oath," Craig continued, "the Oath of Refusal , as the name suggests I must refuse an order. Fortunately it only requires fulfillment every three days, which helps. But it has complicated my work considerably. Nobody can manufacture a trivial order for me to refuse either , the refusal has to carry weight, something significant must follow from it."
He glanced at Percy. "Which is why we are not going to investigate Marco Street today."
Percy looked at him.
"Instead we’re going to the shoe store. To deal with the Echo you reported."
Percy knitted his brows "That’s quite a complicated Oath."
Craig laughed ha ha ha , warm and short. "It is. And I only hope nothing significant occurs today because of what I’ve refused."
He looked out the window as the street moved past.
"Why is it that whenever I’m about to do something, I have to go along with the Oath for someone instead,"
---
Sellia sat with her left leg nervously bouncing lightly against the chair leg. Dana came in from the kitchen carrying two cups, setting them down before pouring the tea.
She slid one cup toward Sellia.
"My name is Dana Fellia."
Sellia took the cup and smiled. "My name is Sellia. Your brother and I are ... colleagues. He works at my father’s shop."
"Oh." Dana blinked. "I’m his sister, but not by blood . We’re both orphans, raised at the same place."
She told the rest of the story briefly of why she was at Percy’s house , and Sellia’s posture eased as she listened, the tension in her shoulders settling.
"Ah, Miss Dana. I see. I was just surprised , I never knew Percy had a sister."
Dana smiled as she spoke . "Miss Sillia i would like to know something "
"What is it ?"
Dana tilted her head. "Did you guys hire someone else after my brother left?"
Sellia blinked. "What do you mean, hire someone else?"
"Didn’t the store hire someone else after brother resign from the tailor shop to join the Syndicate?"
Sellia’s eyes went wide. " Wait.. he joined the Syndicate?"
"He didn’t tell you?"
"No. Not at all."
Dana frowned. "When was the last time you talked to him?"
Sellia leaned back, thoughtful. "Did Percy tell you about the incident? Recently?"
Dana shook her head. "He hasn’t told me anything besides joining the Syndicate."
Sellia took a breath and told her everything — the robbery, the gunshot, all of it.
Dana’s eyes stayed wide the whole time, sipping her tea faster and faster as the story went on.
"Brother shot someone? Him? Of all people?"
She pictured it , Percy ruthlessly shooting someone . A small shiver ran through her.
"That would be so interesting to watch," she thought, then caught herself.
"No. A proper lady shouldn’t be interested in something that bloody."
Sellia watched the girl fidget through her own imagination with quiet amusement. "So. What was it you wanted to ask me about?"
Dana snapped back to attention. "Oh right." She cleared her throat. "I’d like to take my brother’s spot at the shop."
Sellia studied her for a moment. "You want to work at Beningham Styles?"
"Yes. I’d love to."
"Did Percy tell you to ask?"
"No. I decided on my own."
"Would he agree to it?"
"He already knows."
Sellia thought it over, sipping her tea slowly. Then she looked up.
"Alright. I agree."
"Agree to what?" Dana asked.
"To you working at the shop."
Dana’s face lit up immediately. Sellia raised a hand before she could say anything further.
"On one condition."
"A condition?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"You’ll need to prove you can actually do tailoring work. And even after you do, I’ll be tutoring you to improve further." Sellia paused. "I tutored Percy too, if that means anything to you."
"That’s the condition?" Dana asked.
"That’s the condition."
"That sounds more like help than a condition."
Sellia glanced around the room, a touch nervous, before her gaze landed on the tea in her hands.
"I like your tea," she said. "A lot. So.. in exchange for tutoring you and getting you the position, you’ll make me tea every time."
She added, almost as an afterthought, "And since I can’t very well drink your tea unless I’m actually here, I suppose I’ll have to keep coming by. For the tutoring. And the tea."
She leaned forward slightly. "Do we agree?"
Dana turned it over for a moment, found no real flaw in the logic, and nodded. "Alright."
Sellia stood. "Where’s the bathroom?"
Dana pointed her toward it. Sellia walked off, and the moment she was out of sight her expression shifted into something far more satisfied.
"So easy to fool a child," she smirked. "Now I’ll have plenty of reason to keep talking to Percy, shop or no shop."
