“Good Morning, Lady Thea. You’re early today.” Ginaveve unpinned her hat from her head and removed her long, wool coat, exposing her auburn hair that was only half pulled up while the rest cascaded in waves over her shoulders. Her cream and green striped blouse and matching green skirt made the young woman look more put together than Thea. But it wasn’t a big deal since they both knew Thea didn’t have the same interest in fashion that Ginaveve did. Ginaveve was only eighteen years old, but due to her being so well put together, gave the impression of being Thea’s peer. 

“Good morning, Gina. I ended up waking up earlier than normal. And, well, I hate to be asking a favor of you this early, but I’m in a bit of a tight spot.” As Thea was beginning her explanation, Ginaveve had hung up her coat and hat and walked to the circulation desk.

“Oh, who’s this?” Ginaveve asked, spotting Luin sitting on the stool. Thea could already tell from the pursed look Ginaveve was giving Luin, that his current outfit was bothering her.

“This is Luin, he’s the son of a merchant family that my family works closely with.” Thea took a breath and forced herself to slow down her speaking so that it sounded more normal. “His family has had some trouble, so we offered to look after him, and since he likes books so much, I suggested I could keep an eye on him for a while. But the poor boy had to arrive quite suddenly, just last night, so we haven’t had a moment to get him some clothing to tide him over until his things arrive.” Thea took slow breaths, waiting for Ginaveve’s response. Please believe me, please believe me! She chanted mentally, though a pang of guilt ran through her.

Luin simply glanced at Thea and then back at Ginvaveve, his head tilted a bit to the side. A normal child might have tried to offer a greeting, but he only gazed back at Ginaveve as she looked at him as well.

“Is that why he’s wrapped up in an old coat of yours?” Ginaveve knew exactly what Thea had done without further explanation. “He can’t stay in that all day. You must go and get him some clothes right away.”

“You’ll watch the library for a bit, then?” Thea breathed a sigh of relief. “That would help so much. I could at least get him a few sets of ready-made clothes. The place down the street has some that might fit him.”

Ginaveve was still looking Luin over while nodding seriously. “Yes, they may have his size. He’s quite small though. How old?”

“Ah, well, I believe they told me he was ten, perhaps already eleven?”

“But he is so cute though. Just promise me you won’t buy anything in the gown style. He’s pretty enough that people may mistake him for a girl.” Since Thea almost did just that the night before, she only nodded at Ginaveve’s advice. “And don’t forget you’ll likely need a pair of suspenders as well since he’s so thin. Oh dear, This whole thing makes me anxious with you doing the shopping, but you’ll have to go since you’re his guardian now. At least be sure to let the shop attendants pick out the colors.”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to do that. Shall I hurry there?” Thea began to feel nervous with Ginaveve’s thorough observation of Luin. “If I hurry there, I can come back and watch the Library for you while you go out for lunch today? How about that?”

Ginaveve finally turned to Thea and smiled. “That does sound nice. I’ve been wanting to try that new cafe two streets over, but taking something to go is always such a bother.” But as Thea gestured to Luin to hop off the stool and follow her to the door, Ginaveve’s eyes narrowed a bit once again.

Thea didn’t miss the critical expression on her coworker’s face, so she hurriedly waved, thanked Ginaveve again, and dashed outside. They walked quickly down the sidewalk, stopping at the corner to let a few carriages pass.

“Well, I suppose that went fairly well. We’ll get some clothes for you at the boutique down the next street.” Thea looked down at Luin who also looked up at her. “I hope Ginaveve didn’t startle you. She can be quite critical when it comes to how people dress, but she’s never mean about it.”

“No, she didn’t startle me,” said Luin. “But I think she didn’t believe you–at least not completely.”

“No?” Thea asked, and Luin shook his head.

Thea swallowed, her stomach suddenly feeling a bit tight. She thought of the look she’d seen on Ginaveve’s face right before they left the library. She sighed. “I suppose you may be right. I’m not really good at lying, but at least she didn’t ask about it yet.”

Thea led Luin across the street and walked as fast she could without making him uncomfortable. I’ll just have to hurry and give Gina a lot of time at the new Cafe, and then maybe she will overlook this a bit longer.

***

Three bells later, Thea and Luin were finally on their way back to the library. Luin was now dressed in a gray wool cap; a button-down, white shirt; gray, linen breeches with suspenders; white, woolen stockings; and proper, black leather shoes. The old coat and another two sets of ready-made clothes were folded in a sack cloth bag, which she carried on her left arm while her right hand still held onto Luin’s.

That took much longer than I expected, she thought, but she was very glad that Luin had proper clothes now. She even thought that the time spent would be worth it since she was pretty sure even Ginaveve would approve of the outfits. They were far from top of the line, but the attendants in the store did a good job of matching the gray tones and picking something that complemented Luin’s dark black-blue hair and eyes. They’d even helped to tie back Luin’s hair at the nape of his neck, which helped distinguish him as a boy even more, though it was still down to his waist. And she had been able to get his measurements taken and grab a catalog to order from later.

“Are you sure your feet don’t hurt?” Thea asked Luin. He’d only had those thin slippers of his earlier, but they hadn’t really had a choice about the walk to the clothing store and back.

“I’m sure. These shoes are much better. But, Thea…”

“Yes?” Thea glanced down at Luin as they waited to cross the street once more.

Luin looked up at her and smiled. “Thank you.”

Thea was a bit stunned, by both Luin’s smile and his words of thanks, so she didn’t answer right away, but a warm feeling blossomed in her chest.

“Did I say that right?” Luin asked, his smile faltering. “I thought this is what I should do if I am grateful to someone.”

Thea chuckled. “Yes, you said it right. And I’m very glad that you like the clothes and food we’ve gotten today. Now, you’ll be able to read whatever you want for the rest of the day while I mind the library.”

It came their turn to cross, so they hurried to the other corner and found themselves in front of the library once more. Gina must be wondering what happened to us. With that thought, Thea opened the door and ushered Luin inside, hearing Ginaveve’s voice say, “Ah, there she is,” as they came in. She was so focused on what to tell Ginaveve and to hurry and let her go on lunch, that she nearly bumped into two men standing in front of the circulation desk.

Thea managed to stop herself just a hand’s breadth away from the nearest man’s back. “Excuse me. I…” she began, but her words faded out as she recognized the military coat of the City Knights accompanied by a head of short-cut, dusky green hair the same shade as her father’s. “Tim?”

The two men turned towards her. One was certainly her brother Timetheo, the second oldest and the one she’d nearly ran into, but her surprise at seeing her brother in the library turned to utter shock when she recognized the man that stood beside him. Though he wore nice quality, plain clothes–a gray silk, button-down shirt; black wool slacks and a matching waistcoat; and a long, charcoal gray duster jacket–there was no mistaking his face. It was the same face that often stared back at her from the newspaper illustrations when she read about the empire’s most talented investigator.

Thea stood frozen.

Timetheo gave a wry smile and gestured to his companion. “Well, it seems you may already know of him, but I’ll introduce him anyway. This is Commander Cyris Hollendale of the Third Order of Royal Knights.” He gestured to Thea. “Commander, this is my younger sister, Thea Cronwright.”