Chapter 10 – Moving Out

Wherein Bosra and Rose find more permanent accommodations.

Valentina made it to the Luminsday sitting with the girls at Paragon's Cup for a mug of milked-down, spiced-up coffee and the best, realest talk every week. She was brimming with excitement and could hardly wait to share her big news. 

Neither of the other women was there yet when she slipped into the shop and claimed a table towards the back. It was a little darker there, the ceiling a little lower; velveteen drapes covered the walls, giving the den the vibe of bedroom intimacy.

Usually they sat in the front, near the doors and windows, where the air was light and full of joy, with the quiet hiss and rattle of the steam-powered coffee machine in the background. But today was a day for quiet conference.

Ordering a first cup for herself, she was greeted with a pat on the shoulder and an arm around her waist as Rose sidled up to her.

"Order another for me?" Rose slipped coins into Valentina's hand.

"Of course. That table in the back is the one I chose for today." Valentina pointed to the table where she had set down her bag and coat. A small suitcase also stood there.

"Okay." Rose went over and took a seat. Leaving the biggest chair for Bosra, she plonked down, setting her violin case down next to her. Her frustration with today drained away with a heavy sigh. College was not at all what she had imagined it would be, even though the introductory course had been fair warning. Today's 'lesson' had been about the sounds of home; quite frankly, that had led to her feeling homesick for Pinnacle. The musical piece she'd improvised had been a devotion to the farm animals, but it had fallen on very, very critical ears. It had made her doubt if she should continue with this education-business at all. The promise of courses to come – like the one on magic, or heraldry, or instruments through the ages – was keeping her enrolled.

Valentina set two milky brews down on the table, stirring Rose from her melancholy ponderings. "How are you finding yourself?" 

"Frustrated," Rose sighed. She relayed her misgivings about the teachers and the curriculum to her friend. Valentina could not relate to Rose’s college experience, but she didn’t need to to sympathise.

"And you?" Rose asked, sipping the last of her latte.

Valentina smiled widely. "Good. Really good. As soon as Bosra arrives, I’ll tell you why."

"Oh?" Rose sat up straight, face and posture expressing curiosity.

"You’ll have to wait." Meanwhile, Valentina recounted the latest of the court-fringe misdeeds. As the daughter of the prolific Arch-Duke of Effyne she had front-row seats to all the drama. It sounded like a theatrical performance to Rose, who laughed and cringed with the telling.

Bosra’s arrival surprised them both. Somehow, she approached unnoticed. For a giantess of a woman, she could walk very quietly when she chose to.

"Pupper, Tina," Bosra grinned, sitting down on the chair that looked the sturdiest. "Going somewhere?" She eyed the dainty suitcase next to Valentina's chair that belied the more common-folk appearance Valentina was finally starting to master.

"Well..." Valentina blushed. "That is my big announcement today. I found a place to live!" She bounced on her chair with childlike excitement. She had been looking for an apartment to live in by herself, to leave behind the trappings of grandeur and the gilded cage of her family home.

"That's great!" Rose launched herself at Valentina for an exuberant hug. For weeks they’d talked about Valentina leaving her father’s home to make a life for herself. Rose knew Valentina did not want to become like the women she so freely gossiped about, always concerned with presentation and the perception of morality. Never with objective truth, beauty and goodness.

"Hmm." Bosra accepted the coffee the barista brought without having ordered. Concerned with Valentina’s news, she missed the love-struck gaze he threw her way. He lingered for a moment in her periphery, but she thought nothing of it.

"Enjoy," he said.

"Sure. Thanks." Only as he walked away did his tone strike her as odd. Briefly contemplating the matter, she wondered what prompted it. After all, he knew her. She always paid. She was his most intimidating customer, probably. Perhaps keeping her happy made him feel safer. She shrugged and let it go.

"You moving today?" Bosra asked Valentina.

"Yes. I've already moved some of my belongings there, but I have a question for both of you." Valentina smiled prettily. "Do you want to be my housemates?" She fluttered her lashes for added effect.

"Housemates? Really?" Bug-eyed, Rose stared at her friend.

Valentina nodded, looking to Bosra. The woman was quiet. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she learned. Bosra used words like they were expensive and she was a frugal spender.

"What’s it cost?" the half-giantess asked in her gravelly voice and down-to-earth manner.

"Weeeelll..." Valentina blushed, feeling a smidge guilty. Trying to obfuscate it, for herself more than for the girls, she blurted out: "It's really cheap. Only eighteen sesters a week. Because I know the landlord."

Bosra lifted a dark eyebrow. "Where is it?" Unless the building was in a rundown part of town, eighteen sesters was too cheap. 

"In the Seren Quarter." Valentina bit her lower lip and tried not to blurt out more information, whilst maintaining eye contact with Bosra. 

"If you're sure, then sure, I’m in. I would like to be able to stand up and stretch in my bedroom," was the final verdict. The grey-skinned giantess of a woman cracked her neck and stretched her arms to underscore her words. She didn’t know where the Seren Quarter was, but she knew where it wasn’t, and that was all she needed. 

Valentina’s smile split her face. So full of joy was she that Bosra reckoned she would burst open at the slightest touch. 

The smalls house wasn't too bad, and she had certainly slept in worse places while adventuring. At least the floor was decent here. There was a rug, and multiple mattresses pushed together made for an adequate bed. She used her own blankets, since nothing else was big enough. Having to bend over indoors was getting old faster than three-day-old stable bedding.

Still… she would move to the new location because it pleased the young woman who had become a friend. 

Valentina shared a ‘see you later’ with her friends and fidgeted with her suitcase handle as she watched them walk away.

There was one thing she hadn’t told her friends: Her father owned the house she was moving into.

He had insisted.

He had been less opposed to her wish of wanting her own household than she thought. He had talked of her finding a husband to do that with. He hadn’t insisted on marrying her off, as she feared he would, though he still might.

He had wanted to hire a decorator. The previous owners had fallen on hard times and had to sell their newly renovated home. It was preciously barren; a canvas devoid of paint. She could paint her own life against the backdrop of romantic Redemption Era architecture.

Valentina felt uncomfortable about lying to her father about the nature of her relationship with Bosra and Rose, but he wouldn't have understood. Like all the other courtiers and highborn stick-butts he would have protested to the idea of friendship with the lower caste, she was sure. She made him believe Bosra and Rose would be her live-in servants. A little kiss on his cheek and blushing smile had made Rhodum of Effyne the Fifth give in without further questioning.