X: Valet

Chapter one: Letha

I liked Letha much more than the other guys. She was friendly, willingly explained to me all the subtleties of our work and, I would say, was very nice in her own right. I won't say that I fell in love with her at first sight – I don't know if it's true or not. But, again, I was just a kid then. And she didn't go far from me.

After Seth's story – which I will definitely tell you about later – it was Letha who began to work with me on all kinds of issues. Well, actually... It was Seth's direct order. And that doesn't mean that the others didn't teach me anything – it's just that everything usually went through Letha. It just so happened that Seth was always very busy, and Magic and Hunter were too big shots to waste their time on a beginner.

I was immediately confronted with the fact that I would be an errand man. Stand on guard, run unimportant errands. I will not hide it – it hurt my ego a lot. But the money promised good, and that, by and large, was all I was interested in. In fact, Seth tricked me with his sweet talk and made me a whipping boy. And I, as a real fool, didn't mind.

One of the basic rules was to keep your mouth shut. About what was going on in this estate. That I knew Lord Setter. And about what this very Lord Setter was doing. Later it dawned on me – in many circles this was already well known. Even the law enforcement officers suspected something. But to accuse Seth of anything, evidence was needed. And that's why I should have kept quiet.

In fact, it wasn't difficult at all, considering the fact that I spent almost all my time at the estate. And when I left him, I usually did it with Letha to work out some techniques. Magic discovered that I had little ability for magic and sometimes showed and told me something useful. Hunter made sure I didn't do anything wrong, and Seth seemed to have completely forgotten about my existence as soon as he took me in. It seemed to me that he was always walking around the estate unhappy, and he was constantly scolding Hunter or Letha – I was still invisible to him.

"What's his problem?"

I asked after another remark from Seth.

Letha thought about it, sorting through the lock picks and some flasks that Magic had given her.

"He just wants us to follow the plan. Do it clean. Know better. So that we don't make any mistakes. There's too much at stake. And the only reason he doesn't snap at you is because he doesn't take you seriously yet. He will make claims to me, and if I do something wrong, then the claims will fall on Hunter"

Letha clearly did not feel slighted – no wonder, because each of us signed up for this adventure.

"I've never heard him say anything to Magic"

"The main thing is, don't say that in front of him"

She smiled.

"We're Seth's backup, and Magic is his partner. We were privy to the plan, and I think she was one of those who drew it up. I don't know how long they've known each other, but they've known each other a lot longer than the rest of us. You won't see Seth chastising Magic unless they're arguing.

This information seemed extremely interesting to me at that time. I will not hide it, since then I have been trying to keep track of the interaction of these two. But they never made scenes in front of us, and anyway – when we were all in the same room, it was, to be honest, impossible to catch the difference in Seth's attitude towards us and Magic.

"Aren't you here to earn extra money?"

Letha deftly brought me out of my thoughts.

"Well... yes, why?"

"So are we"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, when you are on your own, you do not have to obey someone's orders, but here the stakes are much higher, and the profit is much greater. On top of everything else, we live in a huge mansion, sleep on the softest sheets and taste the best delicacies"