Chapter 18: Chapter 17

The night was long and passionate, and Estaria woke with hickies in a lot of places, and better memories than she had had since...ever. Her darling Madam was out cold, the day more exhausting for her than she let on, and would probably be sleeping in today. So getting up and stretching, Es spared one glance for the dishrived maid in the mirror - the paint having flecked and her wig now somewhere on the floor, so the maid was very distinctly her now - bit her lip at the sight and then got undressed and went to wash.

A Bath was quite a luxury, and after last night she was thinking to be a bit frugal. So she went to the community well and drew some water, heating it up and washing off the sweat and...other fluids of last night. She thought about cleaning the Maid uniform, but Elaine was well trained with it’s maintenance, and if Estaria made a mistake while fixing it, that wouldn’t be something a simple spanking would fix. So she left it hanging and got dressed in a simple set of trousers and tunic, brushing her hair back into some semblance of order so it didn’t look so bad.

She leaned against the wall for a short while, circling her fingers over her body, but eventually overcame the desire to stay indoors and do nothing all day, broaching out into the world. The first she came across, was Dawi, a dwarf who worked at the local smithy. Nobody knew his name, he was just Dawi. Hell, even the nameplate above his head called him Dawi. So maybe that really was his name. He was armed with an axe that looked older than her grandfather, a crossbow that had been well loved over the years, a shield with a similar appearance to the axe, and some leather armour.

“Closing up early, huh?” Es commented, walking over with a gentle smile.

“Boss has closed up for a week, he’s joining an expedition, and I am going with him. Nobody left to tend the forge, so I’m locking up” he replied, seeming to be vibrating with pride for finally going on an expedition after so long in the city. He was an Imperial Dwarf, but a Dwarf none the less.

“Hmm. So, this expedition. Is it Dwarf only?” Estaria asked. It would be rude to butt in if they weren’t taking anyone else, but she was always down to visit new places with her girl. New places to be taken out and teased and...gods, brain, stop that!

“Na, The Dawi want all the hands they can get, so even Umgi mercenaries are in on this. It’s a big thing, after all. There is talk of a new mining operation being built in the caves west of Black Water. It’s not quite the cursed Khark itself, but plumbing the depths for Gromril could make any Dwarf financially stable. We were told of it by one of the Karak merchants, and the city is abuzz with interest” Dawi finished locking up and then turned to Estaria proper. “Problem being, you gotta buy into the expedition and then you get a cut of any rewards found. Bigger buy in, the larger the cut. So we got a lot of merchants in the expedition, but not actually in the expedition. And enough cuts have been given out that nobody else is getting rich” He looked up at Estaria, and shrugged. “Still, all the Dawi in the slums are joining, pretty much. The cut isn’t as important as helping our kin. Though the money would be welcome. They are buying in as cheaply as a pint of ale, to get up there. The hope is that they will impress someone and get into one of the Throngs” He finished.

“Hmm. I’ll walk with you back to my house and talk to Elaine about it, but I am interested in this” Estaria gave a broad, confident grin, and Dawi led the way. While he did, he grumbled about what he was going to use as the buy in and how much he was going to buy in for. If he wanted to get a big buy and risk it, or little buy and just be present. If there was going to be any good Throngs up in the mountains, if he was going to meet anyone proper. Essentially, like the average dwarf, he grumbled about everything there was to grumble about. Eventually they arrived at her house and she was told the tavern to meet up at before Dawi departed and Es entered her place.

Making a basic breakfast and giving Elaine a light nudge, her far-too-early zombie girlfriend woke up and groaned. Playing into the dutiful maid, Estaria got the brush and combed Elaine’s beautiful blonde hair back into an orderly fashion, then guiding her over to the table and having breakfast with her. Or at least, eating breakfast at the same table that she was eating breakfast at. Elaine was not quite present yet.

Though, as she downed the milk and slumped back on the chair, she let out a sigh and finally spoke.

“I hope there is a great reason for waking me so early” she grumbled, in a very dwarven fashion. It made Estaria laugh to see the parallels.

“There is. Dawi, up at the blacksmith, told me there is an expedition being readied to go into the mountains in search of gold and glory. I’m not sure about finances…” Es paused a moment as Elaine gave a gruff ‘S’nuff’ and then she carried on. “But I am not a girl to sit around all day. So unless you are going to be Madam for the entire time I have off, I need something to do. And I was even thinking we could go together. Like a romantic getaway to the mountains”

Elaine was quiet for a few moments and then finally rolled up to look at Estaria.

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“Well, I did hear that fresh mountain air can do you good. Plus, if we do well there I can quit this lord and find a new one. He did sleep with one of his maids, if you are wondering. And if his wife finds out, there won’t be much of a lord left to work with” Elaine would then go back to resting her head on the back of the chair.

Estaria, for her part, stood up and walked over, planting a kiss on Elaine’s lips and grinning.

“Excellent. Plus, with you alone, there will be proper food. Nothing against trail rations but…..” she’d then laugh. “No, no. Everything against Trail Rations. They suck” Es would then head into the house to start preparing travel necessities.

“So I’m just food then?” Elaine asked, scowling with her voice.

“All great deeds in history have relied on food for their greatness. Nothing in this world ever succeeds without food” Es exclaimed vigorously, laughing with exaggerated passion and getting Elaine to giggle along with her.

Eventually the packs were made and they were ready to head out, but Es stopped at the door.

“Ohh, wanna try something” she said. It was a risk to do this, but she had enough evidence to be somewhat confident that it would work.

“If it is revenge for yesterday, you loved it~” Elaine cooed. Es, let out a laugh at that and shook her head.

“No, no. No revenge for that. It was...unique” Es replied, pulling out a barrel of Bugman’s from her inventory.

“Ale? Bit early for a drink, no?” Elaine asked, cocking her eyebrow.

“You are right, too early” Estaria would put in back in her inventory and open the door.

“Musta scrambled your brains more than I thought last night~” She’d kiss Estaria’s lips and then head out to the door, being led to the Tavern that the meetup was happening.

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