“That’s right,” Rose goes on, leaning against Thandi. “He fucked me. And I bet he’ll do it again.”

“His cock is amazing,” Larissa says on her other side. “Ten inches at least.”

The two women nod sagely as Thandi hugs herself. Charlie really is a rake. All these people… all these people say that he’s been with them! She struggles to get a smile on her face. “That sure sounds nice.”

“It is. And now you’re his personal maid. So that makes you his personal fucktoy.” Larissa licks her lips, giving Thandi a smile with too much teeth. “Enjoy, newbie.”

Thandi is shoved out of the group and she plods back to work. She tidies. Neatens. Organizes. And… wonders. Is her master really at meetings right now? Or are they meetings of the other sort?

She had always heard of him being a rake, but it seems so incongruent with his personality. He doesn’t even like to touch people!

Maybe… maybe she should simply… ask him? 

Tonight. 

Yes.

Her master arrives during the dinner bell and she scrambles for food. Little things she knows he will eat. Nothing too greasy. Nothing too rich. He likes meat but he seems to have a disdain for the cooking that Roseview has…

He sits to start reading reports as she sets up her cart beside him, beginning to feed him dutifully. He leans to take a bite of pasta, brow crimping as he glances at her.

“You are making the face. I told you to ask me anything, Dandelion. You are so worried over your visions that you forget everything else. Like the fact that I abhor tomatoes.”

“Ah! You ate some, though!!!” 

“Mm. Disregard. What is it?”

“Do you know… Rose and Larissa? Maids…”

“I don’t know that I do. I don’t really interact with them.” 

Thandi studies his face. He looks so utterly bored, eyes sliding back to his papers. She takes a deep breath. “They say they’ve been with you.”

“And you believe them?”

“I don’t know!” Thandi pauses with the pasta, setting the fork down so she can fuss with the ring on her finger, a self-soothing motion. “I see you for so little of the day. I meet so many people who tell me things and then they give me details…”

Charlie sets down his papers, his expression growing stormy. “So you do believe them. What sorts of details have they given you, Dandelion? Enlighten me.” He turns his chair to face her, and Thandi suddenly recalls what she was told. You’re his personal fucktoy.

Her visions are filled with him, always him, and she had… had one. That she pushed away. She didn’t want to think about.

But now. Now the vision swims in the back of her mind. His face close to hers, sweaty and red and half-lidded, pupils blown wide. The sensation of heat. 

Thandi is trembling now.

Charlie’s brow twitches. “Well? Did you forget I am right in front of you?”

“N-no!”

“So tell me. What details did they give you?”

“Bedroom habits, sir!”

His eyes widen. “Sir? Sir? How many times have I asked you not to call me sir? Are we frightened again, Dandelion? You’re shaking.”

“I’m sorry!” Thandi nearly sobs, but she stifles it with a deep breath. “I’m sorry. They. They won’t stop talking about it. They. They all…”

“You absolutely believe them.”

“I…”

“You think I’ve been slutting it up. Sowing my wild oats. You think I’ve been fucking around. What else do you think of me? Hm?”

Shoot. A tear rolls down her cheek and he reaches out to brush it away. Thandi flinches from his hand and he pulls back, letting the tear drop.

“Why don’t I have the right to cry in this situation?” He mumbles, standing. Thandi tries not to look directly at him. The vision is taking up a lot of her mind. “Dandelion. Thandi. I am no rake. I don’t have the heart for it.” He pauses, and she finally looks up to see his dark expression directed elsewhere. “You don’t need to sleep on the palette if you don’t want to. If you’re so frightened of becoming one of my lovers. I’m sure there’s plenty of room in the servant’s wing. In the meanwhile, I’ll be going out.”

“Out?! But! Your food—”

“Well, how else am I going to get laid? By staying and getting cozy with you?” He spits it out, shaking his head. His fists are clenched. 

Thandi’s gaze drops. “…understood, master Vanderbee.”

She hears an offended grunt from him before he storms out of his rooms, slamming the door, making her flinch. She… she really messed this up.

What if the vision is wrong? What if she’s wrong?

She sniffles and lets herself cry at last, feeling helpless. He’s run off again. She should have trusted him. 

But trust… is so hard.

Charlie slaps down another book in front of Thandi. She grimaces as she looks up at him. “Is this how you were taught when you were being tutored?”

“Yes. Memorize it and then we will discuss the finer points of Sippari trade routes and the current trading companies.” He taps the cover of the book. “We only have three months until the next edition comes out and we need to review new routes. There are usually only a few small changes each year, so if you memorize this, then we don’t need to worry about memorizing a large amount afterwards.”

Thandi nods, stretching her fingers and readying her notepad as she opens the book. It starts with a complex diagram spread that unfolds from the book, hundreds of lines criss-crossing the map. “This is all Sippari routes…?”

“Only the Sippari routes having to do with Istres. They go everywhere and it truly does make a difference when you need to say, get a message somewhere fast, or send something somewhere, or import something at a moment’s notice.”

“Charlie… most of these don’t affect Roseview… I understand knowing some of these, but… only three end here.”

“Yes, start with those three and radiate out. We manage the territory all along the Green Coast, so we have to know these thirty-seven specifically. But if you look here, see how there are twenty in this region of Boyoma alone? The Delta trades with them, so we’ll have to pay apt attention to what comes and goes.”

Thandi nods and gets to work. She does have a knack for memorizing from books, as much as she has a knack for forgetting things. The patches in her memory are slowly lessening, though, and she feels… useful. She’s happy to help. And Charlie seems to appreciate having someone willing to try to get to his level of understanding of the duchy. It makes her smile.

Thandi pours herself into it with a fervor she once stoked with her magic studies. Now, though, she has company, and a comrade. A rival, even, when a lively debate sparks between them.

“We need a road.” Thandi leans back in her seat, sighing.

“We have roads.”

“Real roads. These dirt and barely cobbled paths are a relic!”

“Certainly we can use more patrols…”

“Oh, come now, Charlie, you’ve walked them as well as I. They’re unkind. Look at these roads in Sippar.” 

“Sippar! Well, if I too had workers that would trade labor for schooling then we wouldn’t be having this conversation!” 

And so on. She enjoys it immensely, and she enjoys further that there’s something else she hadn’t… really gotten when she was with Vitani. Vutani praised her in one breath and then broke her down the next. Charlie… he at first was quite rough, and quite rude, but always constructive. Now it seems like he’s been doing little else but praising her. 

It’s refreshing. Very refreshing.

And… outside.

She can go outside whenever she wants. It doesn’t matter when. If the spirit moves her, she rises and stands out in the sun. She would even stand out in a light drizzle, eyes closed, taking in the sounds and the feeling of warm summer rain misting her skin. Charlie often goes with her, a silent partner there to keep her company.Yes… she does like this new life of hers. It’s truly hers now.

He’s pacing. How could this be happening?

He can’t believe it. Thandi would never betray him like this!

But it’s all right there. The evidence. The bracelet has been cut. Thandi admires a ring on her finger. She smiles and blushes as she talks about someone else. There’s no room for him here.

Why is she so happy about this? She knows she has a perfectly suited marriage candidate in him! And she…she…she cut it. She cut it off. And the look she gives him, one that once was walking the line between pity and tenderness, is simply cool indifference. 

It’s maddening.

He could see the bracelet writhe on the table before her, reflecting his inner turmoil. As much as he adores her, if she’s found true love…Charlie grinds his teeth and storms into the forest. 

He can’t stop her. No matter how in like they are. No matter the promise they made. No matter the circumstance. If she is happy then so is he. Eventually.