These Hungry Dogs [sample]

03

ROSE DEN was just at the entrance of the east burrow. Leon went inside the quaint red-brick building though the interior was extravagant for his taste. Its walls were plastered with velvet blue, even the small balcony towering over the foyer. The place was poorly lit, and it took a while to adjust his eyes.

It was unexpected, unexpected to see Mistress Niebuhr in the foyer, her hair in a loose bun. Her eyes were ever the sharpened blade, she found him. "Leon, a word?"

That was until Tizian nudged his side. He looked at Leon, worry crept in his eyes.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

Leon smiled. "I'll be fine."

He followed her upstairs. The metallic scent filled the office, it was something Niebuhr always carried with her though by now, he had grown used to it.

"You've been absent since morning."

Leon stood up straighter to say, "I was at the manor, Mistress, as you ordered me to."

As he stood in the center of the room, she closed the door. With a sigh, she walked to her desk, sliding onto the chair. "And you went months without giving a word about the progress," she spoke, her chin resting on her clasped hands.

His heart went cold, numbing to his feet. "You're gone for weeks on end. How am I supposed to reach you when you're not even here?"

Niebuhr smiled wistfully while she adjusted her bodice. "Didn't I leave everything to Vanessza?"

"It hasn't left my memory."

"How was it?"

"She's a terror, I'll say."

At that, the Mistress grinned.

"Why can't you pick Helge?" Leon asked out of genuine interest. "He worked here longer than Vanessza."

"Are you telling me how to run my business?"

"I just thought—"

"Silly child," she leaned forward, there's humor in her eyes. "I'm not here to lecture you."

Leon thought for a while. "So you're not angry?"

"No, no, of course not," she laughed, waving a hand. "Anyway, it was a business trip I had to make. That's why I was gone for a while. I'm losing my customers, with the increased levy and liability costs. Bless the gods for this forsaken plague, filling your bellies is already hard enough."

Leon shifted his weight, it still didn't feel right Niebuhr was telling him all of this. "So how did it go?"

"Ah, right. I wanted to ask for a loan from Herr Olesky but Helena explained that his bank account sums were now being shared with Chiara Mair. That's why I went to Sarcherin."