Completed Dust for the Soul

[Estrellir Konrath]

Fall 10-17, 514 AV


Fists at her hips, Estrellir stood facing the little house with the grey walls and magenta door. Ideas for renovation and overall improvement had been haunting her ever since the Lorak Magistrate had announced her seasonal rules. The bureau had been quiet for the last few days, so she took that as an opportunity to get down to work.

A bell later, Mell had finished making coffee for the day. Wrapping her fingers around a steaming cup, the Konti rose from the couch. “You know what I’ve planned today. There’s nothing else on our plate at the moment, so you better start early. Where did you put the gardening gear?”

The slave girl looked at her feet, auburn hair falling over her face. “Behind the house by the canal. I thought nobody would see it since the grass has grown so high.”

Estrellir’s lips curled just a tiny bit as her thoughts wandered towards the mess of weeds, reeds and summer grass. There was a beaten path leading up to her door, but only because of her own frequent comings and goings. She didn’t get enough customers, not by far, to warrant a decorative garden like some of the fancier shops did. “That’s alright. Get it out and get started now.”

“Mistress…”

The Konrath titled her head in question. Mell had been unusually quiet and meek last evening too. For a girl like her that meant something… Anyone other than Estrellir would’ve missed the signs though.

“I just felt the need to point out that I wasn’t trained as a field slave. I don’t know the first thing about gardening.”

It was in moments like this that Estrellir mentally patted herself on the back. She’d doubtlessly done well in teaching the girl manners and proper speech. What lay beneath, her spirit of obedience and dependence, was more difficult to shape. “I know, Mell, and I won’t call you out for less than perfect work. What I expect, however, is diligent and decent work. Now get started.”

The girl nodded and left the room without meeting her mistress’ gaze. Mell learned and grew in intelligence every day, but sometimes she still needed that last push.

When the front door closed, Estrellir took a sip of scalding coffee and went over to the bureau. Grimacing, she peeled a piece of parchment away from the mess on her desk. One side was filled with notes and thoughts, but the other still blank. Setting her cup down, she took a moment to scribble down a few points. Reading it over, she nodded to herself. That should be all. After one last sip, she shrugged on her worn coat and exited the building.

With the list firmly burned into her mind, she’d do the tour around the city proper and get all the things she needed for her little renovation. Some she’d borrow from acquainted shop keepers and allied Dynasts, others she’d buy. A few things she had requested to be brought from the Konrath estate just like the gardening tools.

As she walked along the beaten path towards the bridge, Estrellir noted the poor state it was in. Mell was about the cut away all the weeds, but it’d be a good idea to mark the path up to her door in some way so that it wouldn’t be swallowed by growing grass in the near future.

Yet another point on her list. Sighing, Estrellir got out her pipe, shook it out and refilled it with tobacco. Soon she was followed by a thin trail of scented smoke.

[Estrellir Konrath]

When she returned, arms full with packages and bundles instead of the pipe, Mell was working the scythe and sweating despite the slight chill in the air. After dumping the goods inside, Estrellir retrieved her cup of cold coffee and went to watch her progress.

The girl took her time and tried to be careful with the blade, but the scythe was obviously meant for someone bigger and stronger than herself. Some of her swings lacked force and did nothing but bend the tall tufts of grass. Then she grit her teeth, using the tool’s weight and momentum to succeed. Despite her earlier doubts about the work, she was doing a good enough job, Estrellir decided. At least she knew how to use the scythe and took care not to hurt herself.

Eventually Estrellir took a chair, parchment and ink outside. Sitting in a spot Mell had already mown down, she set to working on her plans while overseeing her slave out of the corner of violet eyes. That was exactly the position the Akvatari found her in when she arrived with the commission a day early.

After the strange creature had left, the Konti took the plaque inside and leaned it against a shelf in the storage room. If they kept making progress like that, it’d go up on the front in no time. With that out of the way, she returned to her chair, inhaling the scent of freshly cut grass, and continued to review her list of things to do. After a few chimes, it had grown considerably, but Estrellir was fairly certain she’d remembered all the necessary points.

• Cut and burn grass around house (Mell)
• Decorate pathway to door with stones
• Repaint outside walls, door and frames (Mell)
• Tidy up shelves in the bureau
• Tidy up desk, archive old reports (Mell)
• Clean kitchen (Mell)

Satisfied, she rolled up the parchment and carried her things back inside. In the meantime, Mell had disappeared behind the house to take care of the weeds between the building and canal. The space she had already cleared was covered in freshly cut grass, slowly drying in the lazy fall sun.

In the evening Mell raked all of it together into a large pile. They got ready for the bonfire behind the house. That way water would be available if it got out of control. The slave girl and the Konti prepared a flat hole for the grass to be burned in and lined it with stones. Later they’d be used to mark the path up to the bureau’s door, but for the moment they served a more practical purpose.

Shortly after Syna had sunk into the water to the west, Estrellir struck a spark. The grass and weeds, sufficiently dried in the meantime, flared up like a torch. It smelled of fire and ash. Black smoke rose up into the darkening sky, barely stirred by a breeze from the ocean. Estrellir breathed a sigh of relief and sat cross-legged in front of the fire.

“It feels really good. I didn’t know a bonfire radiates so much heat.” Mell seemed to have read her mind. There was nothing else left to say. After another day of working and improving her business, Estrellir allowed herself to lean back and enjoy a moment of quiet. The heat seeped all the way through her body into toes and fingertips. The flames were dancing in her eyes and cackling sounds filled the air.

[Estrellir Konrath]

The next step proved to be significantly less tedious and more entertaining. There was no way Estrellir would let Mell paint her bureau alone. Working together would take less time and produce a better result at the same time. The next day they unpacked the painting tools the Konti had procured: brushes, a few old blankets, a ladder and the paint itself.

In fact Estrellir had given the latter a lot of thought. The plaster was already coming off in several places, stained and worn in others, so a fresh paint was the perfect opportunity to change the colors around. She’d mulled over magenta walls and a grey door for the longest time.

As they carried the tools outside and spread the blankets in front of the door, Mell spoke up suddenly. “Mistress, weren’t you considering different colors?”

Estrellir bit her lip. Apparently she’d mentioned something about changing them, although she’d only considered switching the two colors she’d used in the beginning. “I was, but I changed my mind. Too much magenta would give the wrong impression. This isn’t a tea room, after all. I need to maintain a sense of repute.” Looking at the blankets, she nodded. Grey walls would look more serious.

She opened the first can of paint and dipped her brush in sideways as it was too big to fit otherwise. Mell did the same and they began painting the door. Only when the first splash of fresh paint came to rest on the frame did Estrellir realize how faded and worn the old coat was. It had been a good idea to repaint everything.

Soon the first wayward specks of magenta stained the Konti’s dress, but she didn’t mind, on the contrary. She’d borrowed an old dress from her sister while Mell was working in her usual simple attire.

When the girl spilled a large blob on her arm, however, she didn’t hesitate. “Are we getting cocky now?” With that she aimed and sent some drops in Mell’s direction.

The girl shied away, then saw the mischievous glimmer in her mistress’ eyes. With a shy smile, she moved to return the favor.

Laughter filled the air. Both the wall and the cropped grass got more magenta than planned by the time Estrellir gave up and composed herself. She still couldn’t comprehend why her slave was beating her at such a simple game. Mell was younger and more petite, true, but also taller than her mistress. With her brow furrowed just a bit, she returned to work. They both had paint in their hair and other strange places, but it took only another half bell to finish the door. Mell put the last touches on the frame standing on the latter secured by Estrellir.

Next they took the blankets and moved on to the windows, four in total. Since neither of them was very well-versed in painting, they messed up quite a few lines and borders. That was precisely why Estrellir had opted to start with the magenta. After that coat had dried, they could paint over the messy parts and correct mistakes.

They worked in silence most of the time. Estrellir came to enjoy the repetitive motions of dipping her brush into the can and running it down the wooden window frames. It reminded her of the deep quiet she’d experienced in meditation.

Although they worked carefully to get all the nooks and corners right, they finished two bells before sunset. Estrellir stopped to consider the next step only for a moment. “We’ll get started on the walls and work as long as there’s still some light. The sooner, the better.”

Mell nodded silently and they moved the blankets yet again. By the time the light grew too dim to see the grey paint before their eyes, the two cleaned up and retreated inside. Neither said a word, but Estrellir could tell from the girl’s body language that Mell was just as weary and tired of repetitive work as she was.

[Estrellir Konrath]

Several days and distractions later, all four walls were shining in a fresh grey coat. Together they had emptied nearly all buckets of paint, although Mell had done the bulk of painting with Estrellir keeping the bureau open for business throughout the renovation.

Naturally, the hanging of the plaque had been the sweet frosting on a rather bitter cake. Even Syna peered through the clouds on that occasion, gracing the city with pale rays. The silver plaque with the magenta letters shone briefly in its full glory before the clouds reclaimed their territory and spirits fell again.

Estrellir reluctantly closed for one day to get her desk and shelves in order, one of the last tasks she’d planned initially. The armchair in the corner had been adorned with stacks of parchment and notebooks for the longest time. A season or two ago she’d already attempted to sort through all the clutter, sorting it into two categories. Now she handed over one of the two stacks to Mell. The slave girl would add old reports to the archives using the established chronological system and store everything else separately. In fact Estrellir had half a suspicion that the girl knew the storage room better than she did, but investigating that would doubtlessly steal more time than she could afford.

Instead she attacked the other stack that consisted of papers she hadn’t dared to throw away, but also couldn’t add to any reports as they were disjointed notes, ideas and tidbits. As she went through them, glancing over some crude attempt at cryptography, her mind was going through various possibilities of categorization.

Sighing, she returned some sheets to the stack while dropping others to the floor. After having divided the stack like that, she turned to Mell as the girl exited the storage room. “Do you still have an empty corner in there? I’m starting a new folder for personal projects and the like.”

The girl cocked her head, contemplating. “Certainly, mistress. If I move some of the older reports around, we’ll have plenty of space.”

Estrellir nodded, telling Mell to do just that. In the meantime she tied the leftover stack with some rope, thus creating her new ‘folder’, and then moved it to the spot her assistant had designated. It was a back corner at the bottom of the shelf, but Estrellir didn’t complain. With business continuing as well as it had for the past year, she’d have little time to work on personal projects anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped in front of her desk. It had been taken over by clutter from the first day on, but the stacks of loose sheets, reports and open notebooks were simply too much. Naturally, the detective had a system by which she navigated her desk, but during the last season chaos had truly taken over.

Mell entered from the kitchen, carrying a steaming cup. “Thank you,” Estrellir muttered at the hot coffee. The girl had learned to read her moods well, she realized absentmindedly. Indeed, she was slipping into coffee mood. Without the hot liquid, she would hardly be able to tackle her next task.

[Estrellir Konrath]

“You know, reason dictates me to cut out your tongue.”

Despite the ponderous tone, Mell looked up with beginning panic in her big brown eyes. Estrellir gestured for her to calm down while blowing on her second cup of steaming coffee. “Don’t worry. It’s too late in any case. You’ve been quite good at holding your tongue ever since we opened.”

The girl looked down, busying her hands with scrubbing plates and pots again. She’d spent the last bells of the day cleaning and tidying up the kitchen after dusting off the shelves in the bureau. Doing that without breaking any of the assorted trinkets and cheap artifacts her mistress kept in them was a feat in itself.

Estrellir had taken over two bells to get her desk in order, insisting in doing everything herself. The notes she handled were far too delicate for Mell to touch. Although she knew the slave girl was absolutely loyal to her and the bureau, the Konti tried to keep her assistant away from the dangerous stuff. When clients visited her at the bureau, Mell served coffee, then hid in the kitchen until they left again. She did harmless research and composed parts of reports for her mistress. Other than that, she was the maid.

Returning her thoughts to the present, Estrellir observed the girl standing in front of the large basin. “Thus another year ends.”

Mell gave her mistress a short glance over one shoulder. “You’re right. It’s easy to forget how the seasons change when the weather doesn’t. Not a lot anyway.”

Estrellir’s lips curled in vague amusement. “It’s been a successful year too. You’ve been a valuable assistant and I… well, I’ve learned various things.” There had been setbacks too, of course. Stupid mistakes had been made, but she’d learned from every single one. Furthering her craft, extending her influence, those goals had definitely been achieved. Still, she was far from where she wished to be. Estrellir would continue to work hard and serve the Dynasties of Kenash in one way or other during the next year.

Thus she silently promised herself while taking another sip of coffee. “You’ve gotten even better at making coffee too.”

“Please, mistress. I only do what you ask me to.”

Estrellir smiled at the girl’s back. Mell knew when she was being mocked, but also that there was a grain of truth in those words. Her voice had been trembling just a little with hidden pride.

[Khida]

Estrellir Konrath

Skill	Points
Construction	+1
Endurance	+1
Leadership	+3
Organization	+3
Painting	+2
Planning	+5

• Construction: building a firepit
• Endurance: persevering through fatigue
• Leadership: delegating simple and tedious tasks
• Leadership: respecting limits of ability
• Leadership: supervising hands-off, but eyes-on
• Organization: separating out odds and ends
• Painting: laying a solid coat on walls
• Planning: dressing to suit the task
• Planning: expecting and accommodating mistakes
• Planning: listing out necessary tasks
• Planning: securing equipment in advance

Notes

I found this a fun little episode to read -- a quiet moment, but a personally important one for Estrellir and her business. Your writing is lovely, and this entire thread gave a nice glimpse into Estrellir's character and her relationship with Mell.

I think the awards here are pretty transparent, but let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade. Also, I have a couple of housekeeping notes: I believe you do need to assign a date for this thread's timestamp, even if it's a range of days. Also, I notice you haven't deducted expenses for Fall 514; please remember to do so!

Finally, please edit your request to show this thread has been graded.