The Slums of Euridayl

10: If at First You Don't Succeed

(tw: violence, brothel work)

"Darling?"

The clinking of silverware and plates halted only slightly as Miss D turned her eyes towards her lover.

"Have you thought about what I asked?"

The woman paused, brows furrowing as she tried desperately to remember what her wife could be talking about. The furrow in her brow deepened as the pretty blonde woman blinked at her expectantly. What could she possibly be asking about?

"With Marian?"

Miss D's body flushed with relief as the conversation refreshed in her mind and she nodded. The woman's green eyes smoothed over with confidence and she smiled.

"I don't see why it'd be a problem. Marian's a nice girl, and Fynnyolf could probably use someone to talk with."

Fynn scrunched his nose from his spot at the dining room table but made no sound of protest. He knew it was important to Ysvelta, and that Ysvelta was important to his mother. Anyhow he hadn't been living with Miss D too long himself, being only nineteen.

Ysvelta shot a downright sunny smile at her wife and leaned over to kiss her cheek. Miss D's cheeks flushed lightly with a blush which she quickly recovered from and she scarfed down the rest of her breakfast quickly.

"Finn, dear."

His eyes shot up to her and he recognised pretty quickly the woman was in "boss" mode rather than "mom" mode.

"Yes, ma?"

"Today we're approaching a new deal. I'll need you to make two different reports by the time I get home this evening and then we'll need to get a carriage to Castle District."

"Reports on what? Also, Castle District?"

Fynn looked to his mother curiously, Ysvelta meeting his eyes with a mirrored expression. Neither of them knew of any business Miss D had in Castle District.

"One report on our business expenses and profits last year, under exaggerated preferably. Then another on the ways in which our process is ethical, brushing over the less ethical bits."

Miss D smiled a bit devilishly as she pulled one of the heavy coats off its rack. She looked to her family lovingly before making the announcement.

"We've got a meeting with the King."

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Finally, Miss D had exited the house and strolled to her stables to get on her horse on the way to the Slums. It was then that Lynet chose to strike. She slashed the hind legs of Miss D's horse with her dagger, causing the creature to wildly buck the woman off and scream in agony.

Miss D scrambled away from the horse's kicking legs wildly and hardly in time at all. The horse managed to clip her forearm just beside her face and the woman's heart was thumping so wildly that she hardly noticed the flaming redhead just beside her at all.

The creature galloped away awkwardly and in a pained manner and Miss D, being distracted and in some sort of shock, unintentionally let Lynet get just in front of her. The woman was pressed against the stable wall, sucking in huge breaths to calm herself when the full weight of another person pressed her harder against the stable. Miss D remained calm for the moment and locked eyes with the individual.

"Blimey- you almost had me trampled by my own horse. What in Azzan did you do that for, girl?"

The woman looked at the girl atop of her halfway curiously. She'd had plenty of assassination attempts, being that she was in a morally grey business. However she couldn't say she'd ever had someone attempt something so simplistic and yet be so close to success. Worse, she couldn't be more than twenty years old.