Closed Beekeeper's Daughter

[Alija]

64th Spring 516

Alija rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, moving out of the back room to join Ciara in the main shop. It seemed like so long ago that she’d hired her - definitely not this season. She nodded in her direction, wondering what the girl was doodling while she waited for someone to arrive. Through the walls, she could hear the noises of Smaug working, but had no desire to join him. Strangely, she wasn’t in the mood to enter the forge.

The tingle of the bell made her jump, eyes swivelling to the young girl that pushed through the door almost nervously. But when she stepped through, her whole demeanor seemed to change. There was confidence in her step, something Alija only wished she could have, and a pleasant glint in her eyes seemed to suggest she had a deeper reason of being here, other than buying anything.

Ciara quickly looked up, shoving her notebook away and taking a deep breath. Alija could see her nostrils flare, almost sizing the girl up. Sinking back, she decided to watch, nothing better to do.

“Is Smay-smay here?” the girl smiled, tapping her fingers against the counter as if she expected everyone to know what she was talking about.

Ciara scowled a tad, “Have you come to browse or order?”

The girl rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. “Smaug, is he here?” she asked again, emphasising his name this time.

Ciara scowled even further, “He’s working. I’ll have to see if he can stop. And who should I tell him is here for him?”

The girl now smiled deeply, amused that she had annoyed Ciara. “Katy, we’re dating.”

At this, Ciara seemed to snap, forcefully shoving her pen onto the table. Alija frowned, not realising there was something going on between Smaug and Ciara. Then again, they flirted an awful lot… Moving out of the shadows, she came into sight of both girls. “Hello, Katy. I need to speak with Ciara for a second - I’ll fetch Smaug while we’re there.” She quickly added the last thought before the girl could protest, although it was clear her mood darkened.

Ciara hurried quickly behind her into the back room. She sighed heavily, looking between Alija and the door to the forge as if waiting for her to tell Smaug the news. Alija tilted her head, leaning back against the door she closed quietly. The last thing she heard from that direction was a rather unpleasant growl from Katy.

“That girl isn’t the most pleasant, is she? Don’t know what Smaug sees in her,” Alija sighed, watching Ciara closely. The girl twitched uncomfortably, fiddling with her skirt.

“Suppose so,” she murmured, glancing between doors again, “Aren’t you going to tell Smaug?”
“She can wait. I never knew you liked him.” Her statement came with a smile but it made Ciara twitch even more, almost embarrassed..

[Alija]

Date

“I do, and I thought he liked me too. Obviously,” she glared a hole in the wall, “That’s not true.” Turning back to Alija, she looked up, “How do you do it? Thegans is obviously madly in love with you and you don’t even do anything!”

“Madly in love?” she stuttered in reply, mirroring the twitching, “You can’t be serious.” Thegans and herself were just friends. What was Ciara talking about?

“Alright, maybe not madly in love. But you must do something,” she groaned, staring now longingly at the door to the forge, “How do I get him to like me?”

Alija shrugged, uncertain herself. Boys were not her expertise. “Just be yourself - no one could not like that.” Her advice was so general and vague, yet she stuck to it. Ciara was such a sweet girl. Sooner or later, Smaug would realise that. And then the Katy girl would be out of the picture.

Ciara nodded, “Alright. I’ll try.” She shifted, not moving. “Alright.” Nodding again, she moved out, with Alija following closely behind. Katy lay against the counter, examining her nails. She looked up expectantly, her face transforming to one of disappointment when she realised that Smaug wasn’t there.

“Where is he?” she almost demanded, straightening up. Alija smiled as professionally as she could, moving to block the door.

“He’s busy. Welding. Can’t just stop that. He’ll be busy all day. You’ll have to come back later.” Alija finished by biting her lip, uncertain whether Katy would buy it. Thankfully, the girl snarled in belief, and started to move away.

“Well, tell Smookums that I was here, then,” she tried to smile, but gave it up seconds later, turning and slamming the door behind her. As soon as she had disappeared, Ciara turned to Alija, almost dying with giggles. Her jealousy was almost gone.

“Smookums. Smookums! Can you believe that girl?! Who does she think she is? Next time she comes here, I plan to charge her for ever stupid thing she says!” the girl groaned, half furious, half giggling.

Alija nodded, partly serious, “You should. Charge anyone who comes here without a plan to buy something. In fact, if you get her to buy something the next time she comes here, you can get half the price, on top of the wages.”

Ciara’s face lit up with almost evil pleasure. “Make it all of it, and you have a deal.”

Alija extended her hand, Ciara seizing it quickly. “Deal.”

[Alija]

Date

The creaking of the floorboards behind them alerted them of Smaug’s presence, and both leapt to hide their schemes, tucking their hands behind their backs and attempting to look as innocent as possible. He tilted his head curiously, but didn’t ask, knowing that whatever the two girls did, he wasn’t going to find out. “I’m done, by the way. Thanks for the help,” he nodded at Alija, referring to her advice before he had even began, “See you tomorrow?”

Ciara glance over at Alija, waiting for her to reveal that his girlfriend had come to visit. Alija smiled back, shaking her head as slowly as possible to signal to the girl that she had no intent to. Of course, she wasn’t subtle enough, and Smaug caught her eye too, clearly noticing the movement. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Smaug shook his head, laughing, “I swear you girls are always plotting.” Alija rolled her eyes, pointing towards the door. Smaug left, still laughing, while Ciara hung around a little, gathering her possessions, and muttering a quick thanks, before she left as well.

Alija couldn’t wait to see what happened with the annoying little Katy and Smaug.

The next day, Alija made sure to send Smaug back into the forge, setting him on a long, arduous task to avoid having him accidentally bump into Katy before Ciara managed to make her buy something - hopefully something very expensive. She lingered at the side, pretending to be cleaning, her eyes constantly flitting to the door. It was clear Ciara was waiting eagerly too, mischievous smile on her face that only disappeared when an actual customer entered.

Thegans hurried down the stairs, moving to Alija’s side. “You’ve been polishing that spade for almost a bell now,” he smirked, noting that she wasn’t even polishing it, but just holding the cloth around it, “What’s up?”

Alija blushed, remembering Ciara’s words from yesterday. “Madly in love”, she had called him. Turning her head away in some sudden burst of shyness, she tried to hide her red cheeks. They were just friends, and didn’t want to be more. Didn’t they? Forcing her feelings away, she turned back, trying to find a smile. “You were watching me for almost a bell?” she teased, returning to her normal self.

He laughed, and Alija laughed at the sound, smiling to herself. “You were there a bell ago, was what I meant. Did you see me on the stairs?” he grinned, nudging her lightly, “I wasn’t there the whole time. Now, tell me why.”

Alija shook her head playfully, “If you weren’t there the whole time, how do you know I wasn’t just rotating? I could have only just got back to it.”

“Is that really true?” Thegans raised his eyebrow, unable to remove his mouth from a permanent grin.

Alija stuck her tongue out at him, whacking him with the cloth. “I’m waiting for Smaug’s girlfriend.”
Thegans’ eyebrow rose a little more. “Jealous, or something?” he asked, almost concerned, “He’s a little young, don’t you think?”

“I sound jealous? Must be talking to a mirror there. Although this spade is probably polished enough to be one,” both laughed, “Nah, it’s not that. Ciara’s the one with the eye for Smaug.” She leaned closer with the last bit, whispering it. She could feel Thegans move closer too, his breath against her face. “She was a spoiled little - Katy! Welcome back!”

[Alija]

Date

She turned, eyes lighting with excitement. The girl pulled a face, moving over to the counter and completely ignoring her. “So,” she began, drawing out her expressions, “Is he free now? Why didn’t you tell him I came?”

Ciara, desperate to hide her annoyance, looked towards Alija and mouthed “madly in love” with a wink at Thegans, before turning back to the girl. “He’ll be a little while. Until then, can I interest you in some wares?” Katy snarled, but Ciara continued, Alija turning back to Thegans and gesturing for him to step outside the shop with her.

She quickly explained the events of yesterday, pausing in the place of her conversation with Ciara. Did Thegans really like her in that way? She felt the question gnawing at her the more she waited, but didn’t want to ask. She wanted to be friends. Nothing more. What if he did want more? Eventually, she decided to flicker her eyes across him, then look away. She held her gaze on the floor for a second, before glancing back up, straight into his eyes. They met and linked, staring into each other. Thegans began to lean forward, his eyes closing, and Alija’s heart started pounding, her hands shaking. At the last moment, she tilted her head, moving to hug him, as a friend. She couldn’t meet his eyes after that.

“Thanks for being here for me,” she finally whispered, needing to say something. He didn’t reply, and she stepped back, turning back to the shop, “I want to see this play out.”

Thegans nodded, quickly moving to join her, “I want to see this too.”

They lingered at the entrance, watching Ciara move through item after item and pile them into Katy’s hands. Her face was one of utter disgust. “You’ll need this too, if you’re getting that,” Ciara added, placing a final item precariously on the top of the pile. Pausing, her face turned to one of concentration. “That’ll be…. 30 laats. Although for an extra 5, we can get it delivered for you, which from the quantity of items you look like you’ll need.”

“But Ciara,” Alija moved in, with a large, generous smile, “You forgot our best deal. You get one spade for the price of two.” She rolled the words out, hoping Katy wouldn’t even notice. Ciara did, however, grinning hard. “So it’ll be 40 laats for delivery, with the extra provisional charges added to it as well.”

“How is that meant to be a deal?” Katy finally realised, then she scowled even further, remembering she didn’t want any of this, “Stop trying to sell me things!” All at once, she dropped the pile, letting the items tumble to the floor with a big crash. Alija grinned all of a sudden, picking up the item with had cluttered to rest by her feet. A candle holder.

[Alija]

Date

“You dropped something. And now, this is considered damaged. You’ll have to pay for the damages, and buy the items at the very least.”

“What??” Katy yelled, folding her arms petulantly, “You idiots made me!”

“You dropped them, Katy, that was very clear. Look at this,” she lifted the candle holder to her face, pointing to a tiny dent. “This, this is damage! We can’t sell this now! We’ve just lost 30 laats of items!”

The girl snarled even further, pushing the candle holder out of Alija’s hand. “What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with you?” Ciara’s voice joined the argument, rising above the rest. Her voice was pure fury, no amusement like Alija’s and no annoyance like Katy’s. “You come in here, asking to disturb our worker, who’s busy trying to do work - unlike you who seems to be able to wander round random blacksmiths all the time - and make demands that aren’t yours to make. Then I try and interest you with some of our items - which are some of the finest- and you throw them to the ground! They were perfect quality, if you didn’t want them, you didn’t have to damage them!”

Alija stepped back, a little surprised by Ciara’s response to it all. She continued ranting for a little while, with Katy clearly only half listening, until Alija finally stepped in. “Katy, Katy what? Where do you live? If you don’t have the money to pay for it now, we can visit you on a later date.”

“I’m not telling you creeps where I live! That’s just… that’s just wrong. You’ll probably come and give me half a dozen axes or something else I don’t need. No, I’m not buying these items! Idiots!”

“Let’s just calm down, shall we?” Alija tried, “Ciara may have been a little over-excited, but she meant nothing wrong. If you didn’t want them, you should have just said, and you could have returned them all. I think I’ve made this clear. But you have damaged them, and you have to make it up somehow. That somehow is by purchasing all damaged goods.”

Katy snarled, the only noise she seemed capable of making. Suddenly, Smaug entered, and she melted, turning to a large innocent smiling and skipping over to him. She snagged her arms around his neck and hung there awkwardly, pecking his cheek. “Smookums, you won’t believe the atrocity of this woman!” she began, but Smaug shook her off.

“She’s my boss, and she’s a very good one at that. I don’t understand what she could have done,” he automatically defended, stepping forward. He froze when he saw the mess of scattered around, the dented spades and pans and other assorted items. Most of the basic ones were his creation, “Katy, what did you do?”

As his voice rose, Katy shrunk, eyes widening as she tried to show innocence. “They tried to force them all onto me, and now they’re trying to make me pay for it. Because I ‘damaged’ them.”

Smaug looked down at the candle holder that Alija had found, picking it up. “You really have. Look at this dent!” he pointed to the same one the shop owner had, actually caring rather than nitpicking. “Katy, you have to pay for all this. Do you know how long I worked to make these? I can’t believe you’d just drop them like that.”

Katy’s mouth widened as she realised he had been listening to their shouting before he entered. “Fine, I’ll pay for them Smay-Smay. How much, I don’t trust these two with their extreme prices.”

Smaug frowned, trying to assess the price of the items on the floor. Obviously, maths wasn’t his strong suit or he didn’t know the value of the things he made, as the figure he came up with was even more extreme. “50 laats seems about right.”

Ciara’s face fell, but she nodded anyway. “Much better,” she said, despite the giggles from the three onlookers. She emptied a heavy purse onto the counter, turning back to Smaug and pecking him on the shoulder again. “You free?”

“I’m working. I’ll visit you, okay?”

She nodded with a beam, strutting out with a sharp look of superiority towards Ciara.

Smaug sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “She’s so annoying. She seems to think she’s everyone’s boyfriend, or at least, the person she wants to date. I can’t seem to get her to leave me alone.”

Ciara’s eyes widened, “Who is she then?”

“Just the beekeeper’s daughter.”

[Faradae]

Alija
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E X P E R I E N C E

• Socialization +4
• Persuasion +2
• Stealth +1
• Cleaning +1
• Flirting +1
• Negotiation +1
• Business +1
• Rhetoric +1

L O R E S

• Ciara: Has a crush on Smaug
( • Alija and Thegans: Something in the air )
• Alija: Little experience with boys
• Persuasion: Convincing someone to leave
• Business: Damaged items need to be paid for
• Smaug: Can't do maths
• Katy: The beekeeper's anoying daughter

N O T E S

Did I just witness Alija's first accidental attempt at flirting?
What a sweet thread. The flustered blacksmith is cute!

I'll keep the Alija and Thegans lore optional - There is definitely something in the air, but since Alija is ultimately pushing him away, you might not want it.

On a side note: I found some cleaning again. What are you trying to tell me?

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