[coronatiger]

Thoughts on August 1st

I trudged back to the Red Mansion this morning, trying to think happy thoughts about tomorrow’s auction, after which I’d never stray from Olivia’s side again. I couldn’t break out of the gloom on my own, and I wasn’t very good company at breakfast, but Olivia took me aside and yanked me out of my misery.

Surveillance was business as usual. Plenty of people were coming and going. Olivia was starting to recognize some of the regular visitors, but didn’t mention seeing any suspicious-looking types. After work, we went to swim again.


Thoughts on August 2nd

I met the others for breakfast at the Red Mansion. We arranged for a switch of guards, as the auction was in the afternoon, when I usually was on surveillance duty. Subdued by guilt, it was hard for me to ask Olivia for money, but I needed all I could get, to make sure I got the leather armor I wanted. The money for the sale of the kusari would only be available after the auction.

When Lady Karita came down from her room, she took me aside and said she wanted me to buy the whip for Kine, who had been relieved of all the gear she had brought when she tried busting out the other slaves, including the weaponry. She gave me a heavy pouch full of gold.

I met Romus back at his inn and gave him a quick one before we left. At the auction, I gave him all my money, to deposit with the functionaries along with his own; he would be doing the bidding, after all. He won the bid on the ring he wanted, and said that he couldn’t afford armor as well, so he could bid on my behalf on all three sets of the leather armor, if necessary. The whip came up first, though. We had noticed most items sold for more than the listed price, often up to half again that cost. Romus asked how high I wanted to go on the whip, and I said he could go as high as he needed to get it; Lady Karita had supplied about twice as much as the list price, which was fifty gold pieces. We got the whip for sixty and a half.

The leather armor was among the last things to be auctioned off, and Romus and I had plenty of time to discuss strategy. I suggested we should take it easy in the first round, to gauge the interest of the other bidders, and try to get the second or third set if the bids started getting high. He cautioned against it, saying what if the other bidders thought so as well? I don’t have any sense at all when it comes to money, so I trusted him to know best. It quickly became obvious that the armor would be expensive, for there were many bidders, and the price rose quickly. The initial bid had been eighty gold, and the bids only slowed down around one hundred and twenty. Romus told me the price now was fifty percent over the initial bid, and asked if I wanted to go on. I pondered while the crowd’s focus shifted between the two other bidders who gold piece by gold piece pushed the price upwards. It was becoming a little too costly for me, so I remained silent. “One thirty-two, going once,” the auctioneer announced, “going twice…” My elbow, with a will of its own, poked Romus in the side. I got the swamp wurm leather armor for one hundred and thirty-three gold pieces. That was more money than Olivia and I had put in together, but fortunately, Lady Karita’s gold hadn’t run out yet. The armor was heavier than I had imagined, so I don’t think I’ll be wearing the leggings and sleeves on a regular basis.

I got a fair bit of gold back when the kusari was sold. Then I said goodbye to Romus, and went to see the others at the restaurant, where I split the money for the kusari with them. I gave back to Olivia what I owed her, and then Lady Karita said she wanted the remainder of her money back. I hadn’t thought to keep track of what money was hers, and was completely bewildered. She tried to help me calculate it, but I gave up, and just handed over the rest of my gold to her. It was probably too much, but as long as we’re helping with her investigation and surveilling Lord Karl, she’s paying for room and board for us, so I don’t have regular expenses for the moment, and I think I’ve made all the purchases I need for a while. I’ve even bought a ball of string, a few fishhooks and a bar of soap, all of which I wish I’d had on our last trip into the mines. If I need to, I can mooch off of Olivia; we settle bills for each other all the time, anyway. Lady Karita, after having done her own calculations, handed back most of the gold to me, however.

Olivia and I let the others go, and I started my practice session while she watched. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary behind me this evening.
When we got back to our little room in the attic of the Red Mansion, I made Olivia tie me to the bed and let her have her way with me. After a while, she fetched the blanket and curled up beside me, her head on my shoulder and one arm across my chest; it was just enough room for her between the wall and my still spread-eagled form.

When she falls asleep, I’m going to slip out of the bonds, at least on the side opposite from her. I long so much for holding her, for intertwining myself with her and drifting off to sleep with the feeling that everything is right in the world.


Thoughts on August 3rd
I woke to the sound of contented humming moving about the room, dispelling a vivid dream of Olivia kissing my right wrist and ankle. I started to get up, but as she turned towards me with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes, I noticed she had retied the knots.

We had breakfast at Karita-time, and then we left to have another swimming lesson. We relieved Va’lyndra and Kine for the evening watch. I borrowed pen and paper and started jotting down some thoughts. I didn’t do much acrobatics that evening, instead I wrote and wrote. I crumpled a lot of sheets today, but I was finally satisfied.

When Olivia was getting ready for bed, a poem fell out of her dress. Seeing my smug grin, she asked how I had managed to get it there. I coquettishly replied that I had ulterior motives for fondling her in the stairwell. She laughed when she read what I had written. Mirth wasn’t the emotion I had been aiming for, but as long as she’s happy, I’m happy.

Allow me to tell you a thing:
I love you with all of my being!
I'm bad, as a door nob to show it
But hope that you always know it.
That's why I have written these words
Reminding you although it hurts
You're heart that I'm losing my weigh
So often, but know that I prey
For you to again show forgiveness
And put up with my impulsiveness.
I'll never (for real) turn my back to you.
So know that I'll always come back to you.
Olivia, sweetheart, my love:
You're the one I always think of!
The 2 of us fits like a glove!

Thoughts on August 4th

Olivia and I went swimming again today. On our way to the surveillance, we stopped by the jeweler’s, where I could present her with a gold ring with the inscription “Yours forever”. It wouldn’t do for someone of her class to be seen with such an expensive piece of jewelry on her finger, so I had also ordered a silver chain, so she could wear it around her neck, hidden inside her dress. She put it on and gave me a hug, saying she knew why I was doing these things – the poem, the ring. While she thought it was romantic, she said there was no debt between us, and I should refrain from spending excessive amounts of gold to buy her forgiveness. All was forgiven, she declared, and everything was as it should be. To be safe from impulse buys, I gave her most of my coins.