Village in the Mountains

Chapter Thirteen

"And do you have any plans?"

Neci glanced up at the Duke, pausing in her motions of putting away the baskets that had contained the Dimitrescu's order. She huffed under her breath and rolled her eyes, the Duke chuckling good naturedly next to her at her playful annoyance.

"I've got... I think I've got line room work with Heisenberg that day and before that I've got church. So, y'know," Neci swung her gun back over her shoulder, finally done unloading the Duke's empty packages, "A real special day. Very different for me."

A bag full of lei made its way into her hands, the girl immediately stuffing it into her pocket without looking twice. The Duke never shortchanged.

"Is that all? No special celebration for you at the church?"

Neci groaned at the thought of it, "They make you get up in front of everyone and thank Mother Miranda for the year of life you were granted. Which to be fair, I'm not saying it's bad," She rushed to assure, she wouldn't want Mother Miranda thinking that she was being dismissive of her or her powers, "I just don't like having everyone's eyes on me for that long. I wish I could thank Mother privately. Last year I tripped on the way up to the pulpit and afterwards I swear people were laughing at me in the churchyard."

"My, my," The Duke chuckled, "I've never heard you speak so... candidly about your fellow neighbors. Loosening up a bit, hm?"

Neci promptly shut her mouth, biting her lip. He was right, she didn't normally like speaking ill of others, but she always tended to get a little crabby around her birthday.

It was another reminder that she had spent one more year in the town and that nothing had changed very much since the last go around the sun. Often, she was doing a little worse than the last birthday, and this time was no exception. She'd started work for Heisenberg shortly after her 17th birthday, and lately the job was just getting worse and worse.

The teasing from the older man had not let up, not in the slightest, it seemed his every move was either intended to intimidate, scare or annoy her. The constant poking at her withdrawn nature had made her polite outside crack a bit, and she found herself speaking back to him more than she'd ever have felt comfortable talking back to... anybody. On top of that, his genuine frustration with her was mounting; she had stuck true to her initial decision to never reveal the workings of other lords, and every day she found less and less material to bring back to the man. More recently he'd started asking her to bring back kindling and things he could burn to keep the factory working, but even the random scrap was running out. She'd soon need to learn how to chop up a tree, and she didn't think she was going to have the strength to lug much back to the factory.

Her relationship with Donna had improved, though she was unsure if this was a good thing or a bad. The lord seemed to have a genuine fondness for her; this time she had stuck to her promise of calling upon the other girl to come visit. She'd come over a few times in order to have tea with the other woman, Angie sometimes showing her around the house to introduce her to new dolls or to play a game. Neci enjoyed the tea and didn't really mind seeing the dolls, they were very well made after all, but she didn't like to play with Angie. Chasing after the doll in a game of tag or hide and seek made the almost eighteen year old feel very awkward, especially since Donna usually searched with her. It felt the slightest bit like a sham, even though she knew Donna did not see it as such.

Things with Daniela were the same. Neci decided to count that as a win if nothing else.

"Oh, chin up, girlie," The Duke cooed, eyebrows moving downwards in sympathy, "You've earned the right to complain. You can't keep it locked up forever."

She didn't believe that for a second. Watch her.

"You never complain about anyone either."

The Duke reclined slightly in his carriage, "What have I to complain about?" He faltered a bit here before continuing, "No matter. You're turning eighteen tomorrow, girlie, it's high time for you to have some fun."