Read Online Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) by P.S. Power - Free Book Online Page B

made sense, they shook,
without engaging in combat even a little.
    Pran got the idea, he was complimenting
her on making a good deal. It was nice to hear, but things weren't finished
yet. The grasp was firm, but only that, and didn't linger or turn flirty. That
was nice really, being that she knew his wife a lot better than she did him,
and it could be awkward if he really did want to have sex with her. Unless it
was fine with Captain Mira. They didn't live together after all, and were apart
for months on end. Maybe that was just how they lived? It made sense to her,
but there was no way to ask, unless someone told her.
    Stopping in the cubby again, to
find Robest, she noticed the incriminating plate was gone, which got her to
wink.
    "I... Need to find the High
Judge. Is that on this floor?" It made sense to her, since it had to be a
very important group of people. There was a bit of a shock when the chubby kid
shook his head. "Naw, they're at the back, up on two. No one really wants
them around much, since they know when you're doing something wrong, and will
tell everyone about it. About half back, on the outer left. The floor boy there
will get you to the right door. I should know which one it is, but I don't, so
I'd have to ask too. Tims. That's the boy up there." He didn't seem rude,
or bored, in particular, but he also didn't seem too impressed with her. Not as
a girl near his own age. He looked away a lot, but it was conversational, not
shy. Men did that when they talked. Women looked at your face, men looked away,
or at what you did with your hands. It had been in her stagecraft lessons.
    "That should work. Make sure
to stay ready. If I need to call on you for something, I expect you to
hop-to." She didn't mention the cake, since it was kind of silly sounding.
Still, it got the boy to nod, glumly.
    He didn't say anything, so she
left, heading for the stairs, off to the right. The floor was a bit slick
feeling under her feet, the stone smooth and probably cold. It looked like it
would be. Not that the wood on the upper levels was going to be warm. That
reminded her to go and make sure the fire was being tended in Clarice's office
when she got a chance. Otherwise it would go out and she'd have to waste a match
doing it over again.
    They were probably going to be
there most of the night, she guessed, since the High Councilor didn't seem to
take appointments before noon, most days. Those were normal Bard hours,
however. They tended to live in a slightly different time than everyone else
being that entertainments happened when everyone else was finished with work
for the day.
    The little cubby on the second
floor didn't have a boy in it, meaning he was probably busy at the moment.
Unlike the one on the floor below, this one had several notebooks on the little
desk, and a map on the wall to the right. It was of the whole world, and had
markers in several places on it. What they were for, she couldn't really tell,
at a glance. They were pieces of paper, tacked down with pins. There was
writing on them, but it looked like random letters and numbers to her. The
whole feel of the place was a lot more like a real working office than what the
boy below had presented. He'd just been sitting there, munching cake and being
a bit bored looking. Clearly the boy for this floor had plans in the works.
    A real map too, which would be a
good thing for her to make a copy of, if she got a chance. Clearly, knowing
where things were could come up for a Bard. It hadn't been covered in classes
much, but here she was, on her first day, making shipping arrangements.
    No one came, so after a while she
shrugged and headed to the far left of the large space, hoping she was at least
getting close. It would be a bit daunting to simply stick her head in different
offices and ask for directions, but part of her current job was about meeting
people. That was one way to do it, and as long as she smiled a lot, wouldn't
seem too out of place.
    Luckily, she