The butler returned shortly thereafter.

  It did not stand.

  So I didn’t stand.

  But the butterflies in my stomach threatened to make me sick.

  To my surprise, the butler did not react.

  He bowed.

  “Welcome, Master It - forgive me, I did not realize who you were.”

  Gone was the disrespect.

  Gone was the arrogance.

  If I hadn’t resolved to keep my face schooled into indifference, my jaw would have fallen open.

  The elf stood tall.

  Then I saw the crack in his armor - his eyes giving the game away - the cold fury at having to bow to us just barely glinting through.

  I found I liked it more that way.

  No, I thought to myself. I will not become a horrible goblin maniac. You know better Beeg.

  I stood and gave a slight nod in return.

  Both the elf and It turned to look at me, surprised.

  It shrugged and stood up next to me.

  “Please, follow me - the Master will see you now,” the elf turned and glided away.

  It raised an eyebrow at me.

  I kept my face frozen, but nodded slightly.

  His face cracked into a feral grin - only for a second - and we followed.

  —-

  We walked down several hallways - each beautiful.

  It was torture not being able to look at them.

  But now I had a Mask to keep.

  I dutifully stared forward; looking neither left nor right.

  Inside, my heart wept.

  I wonder what deliveries with Stupid are like, I thought idly.

  The idea kind of excited me.

  I suspected the front door would have been assisted open with a sneeze though.

  A short walk later and we stopped before a giant mahogany door.

  It looked like it weighed a ton.

  Literally.

  The door was at least 20 feet high.

  I had no idea what purpose such a pointlessly overlarge door could have.

  I was interested to see how the willowy elf would open it though.

  Him turning to us and bowing before leaving was quite the let-down.

  As he floated away, the door swung inward on its own.

  Right. Magic.

  I sighed before hurriedly re-assuming my Mask.

  It and I stepped through.

  —-

  The inside of the room was…

  Gaudy.

  Tapestries of every color draped everywhere, seemingly chosen with the idea of clashing with each other. One wall had a giant bookshelf. All of the books looked brand new.

  It was the look of a room decorated by a moron with more money than brains.

  I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

  A rather heavyset man waddled forward.

  I had missed him before.

  He was dressed in such gaudy robes he blended into the gaudiness of the room.

  Like some kind of overgrown chameleon.

  “Welcome! Welcome!” he boomed. “Please! Forgive my butler!” he continued, sweeping toward us and placing a bejeweled hand on It’s shoulder.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  It raised an eyebrow and looked at the offending hand.

  The man did not remove his hand.

  It did not look away.

  The silence stretched on until the man coughed awkwardly, removing his hand.

  It’s eyes tracked the offending hand back to the man’s side.

  I may have smiled internally.

  “-I am sure you understand how it is,” the man continued. “Keeping our operation ‘clandestine’”.

  I snorted slightly.

  There was nothing clandestine about any of this.

  I did take this moment to study him.

  It was surprising to me, seeing he was human. I had expected an elven butler to serve an elven Lord.

  Maybe this man was more important than I first thought?

  But he doesn’t even have a floating island.

  “Can I offer you any refreshments? Would you like to sit down?” The man fumbled a bit at our continued silence.

  “We are simply here to deliver your items, Lord Tiqaro,” It monotoned.

  “Right, very good,” he responded, a bit of his earlier gusto fading.

  The man was huge. The robes looked like punishment.

  Why would you wear a tight robe? Wasn’t the point of a robe to be comfortable?

  “-Package, Beeg,” It’s voice pulled me from my train of thought.

  Both It and Tiqaro were staring at me.

  Oops.

  I reached out to hand the package to the Lord.

  He looked at the package a moment before looking at me.

  “Quite right,” he coughed slightly, reaching out to take it from me.

  “Thank you…Beeg?” He finished, looking at my name tag.

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  Huh.

  He actually read my name.

  Alright then.

  “I believe that concludes our business,” It responded, turning to go.

  “A - ahem, I hope you will pass on my - gratitude to Vaarg?” Tiqaro called out.

  He really was sweating so much.

  It ignored him. I followed.

  “Please. I meant no disrespect,” he called out.

  It made me uncomfortable to hear him so desperate.

  It shrugged. “You said it, so I am sure he now knows.”

  I watched as Tiqaro rapidly paled.

  That’s not mildly terrifying, I thought. Not the idea he might already know.

  The fact I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a bluff.

  I slowly turned to follow It.

  On one of the walls, I saw a tapestry with an intertwined triangle on it.

  I froze.

  I recognized that symbol.

  The earth mage who had left me for dead, buried under tons of rock, had worn the same.

  My eyes locked back to Tiqaro instantly, narrowing slightly.

  The smile he returned was more of a grimace, but I didn’t care.

  One thing was for sure, I would be coming back.

  —-

  It remained silent as we walked back through Uptown, and I did not break it.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if Vaarg had known.

  If I had been sent on this delivery deliberately.

  The more I learned about Vaarg, the less I understood.

  That terrified me. But not enough to leave.

  —

  Once we crossed the portal into the Human Quarter, It startled me out of my thoughts with a cackle.

  “Beeg!” He gasped, clapping my arm - “that was fantastic! You are a natural,” he continued cackling.

  I looked at him in confusion.

  “Oh, and the way you made him take the package from you! It must have turned him inside out, being forced to accept a package from a *delivery boy*!” It was practically doubled over at this point.

  “-I,” I started to respond.

  “And then you didn’t even answer him!” It stood and mimed raising a disdainful eyebrow, before breaking out cackling again.

  “And I thought I was good at making people uncomfortable!” he chuckled.

  That is not even remotely what happened, I thought in exasperation.

  Ok…maybe it did look that way, I realized, But it wasn’t deliberate!

  It straightened to wipe a tear from his eye.

  “I was a bit worried about taking you along, Beeg - but you did a great job,” he finished.

  It struck me—this was the first time I’d heard him sound… anything.

  Not bored.

  Not blank.

  Just… real?

  “…Thanks?” I responded, my head spinning.

  It nodded. “Let’s find an Inn to rest for the night and we can get back to work tomorrow.”

  “What if he gets angry?” I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

  It seemed nonchalant about all of this, but I wasn’t.

  It was late enough and there was no one on the streets.

  At least no one outside of the shadows.

  I wasn’t worried though - It was probably scarier than anything we would come across.

  He looked at me. “Who?”

  “Fatty Tiqaro?” I clarified.

  He blinked a moment.

  “Beeg, you fit in even better than I thought you would,” he deadpanned.

  “Besides, the only one who thinks Tiqaro is important is Tiqaro. Don’t worry Beeg.”

  It was my turn to blink.

  Just exactly what social strata did I exist on now, that we just ignored the social status of an obviously important man?

  I had a feeling this would be another one of those “I would find out when the time was right” things.

  —-

  That night in the Inn, just before we closed the doors to our respective rooms, I called to It.

  “Am I allowed to ask what was in the package?” I whispered.

  He glanced at me.

  “Soul Pickles.”

  That got a laugh out of me.

  “Right, no asking - got it,” I finished with a chuckle.

  It just raised an eyebrow at me.

  Just what exactly were soul pickles?