Emray was awoken the next morning by a series of rapid knocks on her door. As she dragged herself to a seated position she looked out the window to find that the sun was barely risen.

“What did I get myself into?” Emray pondered as she pulled on the fresh set of clothes that Zeerxa had provided for her, a simple linen shirt and some sturdy working pants along with a pair of firm leather boots.

She shuffled her way over and opened to door just as Zeerxa was preparing to knock again.

“Good, you do have a sense of urgency,” Zeerxa commented, motioning for Emray to follow. She stumbled along behind him, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Zeerxa continued talking.

“Now, let it not be said that I am some sort of cruel taskmaster. I understand that you may have certain other activities you need to undertake while here, so I feel that starting early would be the best way to accommodate both of our needs.”

Emray murmured a grunt of acknowledgement, which Zeerxa took as permission to keep talking as he led her downstairs.

“Today you will be working on the furnishings, particularly the chairs, bar-top, and the railings and banisters. The chairs need to be oiled, the bar-top has a few chips that need to be patched up, and the banisters need to re-brassed. We open at ten in the morning, which gives you four hours to complete these tasks before the morning customers come in. Think you can manage?”

Emray nodded sleepily, still blinking the soap bubbles away from her face.

“Do you need some coffee, because I have some prepared,” Zeerxa asked. “Honestly girl, you look like death.”

“Thank you for the frank appraisal of my looks, sir,” Emray answered as Zeerxa handed her a steaming cup from the bar. The coffee was bold and flavorful, with a hint of nutmeg, and she drained the cup as quickly as she could.

“You have Brartag to thank for that,” Zeerxa commented as Emray handed the cup back to him. “He sold the recipe to me, says it’s an old family blend from Northern Phothaf. It’s what convinced me to hire him.”

“He sells you an amazing coffee recipe, and you hire him as a bouncer?” Emray asked. “Seems like a waste of talent to me.”

“He’s the one that wanted to be a bouncer, so take it up with him when he shows up. Now off you get, you have work to do.”

Emray gave a quick salute, took up the supplies that he had set out for her, and got to work.

The oiling of the chairs was easily the most relaxing of her tasks, using a small scrubbing pad and some specialized wood oil to rub the scuffs and cracks out. She ran through each chair twice, and after an hour had passed each one was lustrous and pristine.

The marble bar-top proved quite tricky, especially with the materials Emray had been given to repair the chips. In essence Zeerxa had provided her with some clay with roughly the same color as the bar-top and a trowel to level it with. She had to improvise with what little transmutation magic she knew to make sure the clay would seal properly, and even then it was likely a stop-gap measure at best. Zeerxa would likely need to replace it at some point.

The brassing of the banisters was were Emray felt most in her element. With a few large pads of brass wire and a generous application of her fire and ice spells, she would heat the metal of the banister, scrub it with the brass to adhere it to the surface, and then cool it down to set it in properly. It was a slow-going process, and one that was particularly taxing due to the strain on her body that the constant and precise magic was taking, but by the end of it she was satisfied with the job she’d done.

Emray had just handed off her tools to Zeerxa when her first customer came in, and the sight of her sent a pit like lead sinking into Emray’s gut.

She was in the regalia of an Enclave Elementalist, a black bodysuit with light silver armor on the chest and shoulders. The blue armband she wore on her left bicep indicated that she was an ice Elementalist, which was even more off-putting since she was an infernal.

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” Zeerxa greeted, his hands clasped together in a deferential bow. “Would you like your usual?”

“Yes please, and quickly, I’m late for a meeting,” the Lieutenant answered, taking a seat at the bar. She picked at one of the freshly repaired cracks, her thin tail swishing back and forth, the looked in Emray’s direction.

“Did you fix this?” the Lieutenant asked, her voice sounding like someone trying to be nice but utterly failing to do so.

“Yes, ma’am, I did,” Emray answered. “How did you know?”

“I can see the tools in your hands,” the Lieutenant answered. “I can also see traces of transmutation magic to bind the clay. Impressive.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Emray replied as she moved out from behind the bar and made her way back upstairs as swiftly as she could.

“Hey, girl,” the Lieutenant called, causing Emray to freeze in place.

“Yes?” Emray asked without turning around.

“Do you live here now?”

“For the time being,” Emray answered.

“Good. If I need something of mine fixed I’ll know where to find you.”

Emray slowly turned to face the Lieutenant, only to find the Lieutenant was staring right at her. Her eyes were a deep, all-encompassing blue, blue like the soldier’s had been but all throughout her eyes, and right now Emray felt that she was staring into her soul.

“Will that be all, ma’am?” Emray asked, utterly petrified.

“Yes, it will, and my name is Cidruax. You’d do well to remember that.”

Cidruax the turned back just as Zeerxa was coming out from the kitchen with a small bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee. Emray didn’t stick around long enough to see how she ate.