Chapter 14: The Gold Digger Part 2
The salesgirl’s eyes glittered at the name of House Tsakani. It was a distinguished family, one of the Ramiz.
" Master Markus. I am called Saana. It is my great pleasure to meet a noble of House Tsakani. " She bowed as she said it, and the bow flaunted her chest and her curves in the most inviting way she could give it.
Kei came close and ran his fingers along her cheek and her lips. " Saana. I think you will make this Tsakani noble very happy today. Won’t you? We of Tsakani take care of the ones who please us. "
" Yes, Master Markus. " She answered at once. " I promise you will not be disappointed. Not at all. "
" Good. Then pack these clothes. I have other business to see to, and tonight I will meet you at the inn. "
She went downstairs readily, and Kei followed her.
An old female Rakshasa sat at the counter. The shop was otherwise empty. Saana went to her and whispered something in her ear and handed her the apparel, and the old woman’s eyes glittered too as she looked at Kei — who, pretending not to notice any of it, was looking idly around the shop.
" Master Markus. Your apparel is packed. With the discount, for a noble of House Tsakani, the total comes to eight thousand droqdo. "
She handed him a small yellow bead of bone, round.
Kei knew it for what it was, out of the inherited memory. A dimensional storage bead — for apparel, food, weapons, currency, whatever it was keyed to. They came in different colors and shapes, the color marking what they could hold, the shape marking how much. This one’s round form meant a small space, and its yellow color meant clothing and armor only; nothing else could be put inside it. Diamond-shaped beads held more, oval beads more still.
And in the price, he found the shape of the currency.
Not paper and metal, as on Earth, but pearls. Three of them. The droqdo, red pearls. The ditoso, black. The sigloi, blue. A thousand ditoso to one droqdo; ten thousand droqdo to one sigloi.
Kei took it in — and understood, at the same time, exactly how broke he was.
He looked at the round yellow bead in his hand, and said, easily, to the old woman, " Send the bill to my house. My servants will see to it. "
" But, Master Markus — the guild’s rules forbid us to — "
She stopped. Saana was staring at her, hard.
" Yes, Master Markus. " Saana’s smile came back seductive, her eyes turning over in an instant. " No worries at all. We shall take care of it. "
" Yes — my apologies, Master Markus. We shall collect from your house servants. I was a fool to ask. " The old woman forced the dry smile out.
" Then I will take my leave. I have a late appointment today. " Kei winked at Saana and left the shop in a new set of clothes.
The moment he was out, Saana’s smile fell off her face, and she struck the old woman across it.
" You stupid bitch. What were you thinking, asking him for payment? I seduced that young fool with everything I have — and if he had felt insulted by your nagging and walked out, I would have lost my one chance to climb out of this hole. "
Her beautiful face twisted with the greed and the anger of it.
" I am sick of this life. Working myself to the bone, day after day, for scraps. I want to live rich, like them, and I will do whatever it takes to get there — I will use my own body as a weapon if I have to. "
The old female Rakshasa wiped the trace of blood from her lip, and a tear from her eye, and looked at Saana.
Her daughter.
