I looked in the library’s direction as I entered the foyer, when Archie showed up a moment later.

  “Excuse me, sir, if I could have a moment?” he said.

  “Just Trevor, and sure,” I responded, as Lily vanished from behind me.

  “It’s about the other staff, s—Trevor sir. Well, how to put this? They are not cut out for the job…” he said, struggling to find the words.

  “They have quit, sir. All except Cameron and your guards have quit. The arrival of the dragon—although in illusion form, as she said, I believe—was too much, along with other events.”

  I felt bad. I didn’t want them to think they couldn’t do the job, and it would be a hassle to get new staff, I thought, but I really didn’t know what to do.

  “So what do we do now?” I asked.

  “I wanted to seek your permission in hiring more, and if there was a particular budget?” Archie asked.

  “I really don’t know. As far as I know, the royal family was paying for all the staff,” I said, trying to think of the king’s exact words in this regard.

  “That makes it simpler. If it were possible, Trevor, sir, would I be able to walk potential candidates past Lily to see if they can handle it?” Archie asked.

  “I don’t know. You’ll probably need to ask her if it’s okay. She doesn’t follow my orders.” I shrugged.

  “As… ask her?” Archie stammered.

  “Yeah, she’s not that bad. Just ask—Lily, are you listening? Is it okay?” I said, looking around but not seeing her.

  “She’s probably gone to sleep. Just ask tomorrow; it should be fine. Or you could ask Sylverith; she’s scarier than Lily.” I chuckled.

  “I see. Well, I will select some candidates for tomorrow morning and organise a short list for the afternoon,” Archie said, bowing slightly.

  “Thank you, Archie. Oh, before you go, I’m very sorry, but I’ve never been in a house like this. Are the staff fed dinner here? Or…” I said, but Archie interrupted with a laugh.

  “No, we can sort ourselves out, though if you have leftovers you wish to share, just let me know and I will collect them from the kitchen,” he responded.

  “One last thing—if I wanted to get a large butchery room, would that be possible?” Now was as good a time as any.

  “We could possibly repurp…” Archie began to say.

  “Oh, I mean a very large butchery room. I have some creatures I need to break down that are very large, and I will need some privacy when I do it, so outside is not an option,” I explained, remembering the drake, but also the titan boar.

  “I see. I don’t see why not. This land is yours from my understanding, so you can do with it what you will,” Archie said.

  “Thanks, Archie. I will talk to you tomorrow then. Have a good night,” I said, heading towards the stairs that led up to the master bedroom.

  “Good night, si—Trevor,” Archie called.

  Heading into the room, Lily was spread out across the bed. It was impressive—even though the bed was close to three times larger than anything I’d had before, she still took up the entire thing. Who sleeps from corner to corner anyway?

  ***

  The next morning I woke up late, which was to be expected. I needed to sleep diagonally on the bed to fit, but luckily the bed was large enough that I still had room despite Lily’s best efforts.

  Getting dressed and heading downstairs, I was surprised by how busy it was, with so many people I didn’t know.

  I didn’t even register the effect of Lily walking behind me as four people collapsed immediately as we came down the stairs, catching me off guard.

  “Well, that solves the problem of asking,” Archie said, coming to the front. Then he announced to the crowd,

  “This is Master Trevor, owner of this house and the individual you will work for. That pressure you feel is from his companion. If you’re unable to function under this, you won’t be able to succeed today.”

  “Hey Lily, want to test them a little? And just up the pressure a tiny bit?” I whispered down to her as she looked over the crowd.

  The look I received was incredibly hard to describe—like happiness and challenge.

  This got me slightly worried as she vanished from my side and appeared in front of everyone, right next to Archie. As she sat down, even I felt the pressure slightly shift as all but six people collapsed in only seconds.

  I could see the strain on Archie’s face, along with the people left standing as they tried to stay upright.

  “That’s enough, Lily. I think Archie has his candidates now,” I said, and a moment later Lily had returned to my side.

  “Thank you, sir.” Archie bowed.

  “For all those standing, you’ve made the short list. Help me move those who have passed out. For all those who collapsed and are conscious, I thank you for your time; however, you’ll be unsuccessful today. I wish you the best of luck.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  While this was happening, Lily, flaring her presence, clearly caught the attention of others as several people started appearing from the halls.

  With Milo and Sylverith coming from the library.

  “What happened?” Milo asked as I came downstairs next to them.

  “Screening for the new staff. All but one quit after last night,” I said, watching as several individuals were moved to the living room while dozens shuffled their way out the front door, disappointed.

  “That tall one looks more like a warrior than a servant,” Milo said as he pointed to a large man looking like he was in his early twenties, with short brown hair and dark eyes, and a warrior’s body.

  “Yes, he has the class of one too,” Sylverith chuckled.

  “You there,” she called, pointing to him, catching his attention immediately, but also every other eye in the room as the soft ethereal voice sounded in both our heads and out loud.

  He pointed to himself, staring at us.

  “Yes, ma’am?” he said, bowing.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, the room going quiet as all eyes moved between the two.

  “Me? Um… I am here hopefully to serve, ma’am,” he answered, his voice trembling slightly.

  “And yet you have a warrior’s class, and not steward, attendant, or scholar as the others. What is your name?” she asked, stepping closer.

  “My name is Tony Fairmont, and yes, ma’am, that’s correct. I was told by my father to get a job and work here, that it would be good to understand the world,” he said, fear on his face now.

  “And who is your father?” Milo asked, stepping into the conversation now.

  Archie’s eyes were wide, watching it unfold, as the other five shortlisted were no longer carrying people, but watching too.

  “Nicolas Fairmont,” he said.

  Archie found his voice, at least for the moment. “Why is the son of a major house applying to be a house servant!”

  Archie then seemed to realise where he was and who he was surrounded by, because he hung his head and went silent.

  “I’d like to know the same,” came a new voice.

  Turning, I saw Princess Kathrine now, standing in the open doorway.

  “Yo… your Highness, I was just doing as I was told,” he responded, now with fear in his eyes as he looked between everyone.

  “Ah, another of the ancestors’ phoenix descendants, I see. A powerful mage as well, impressive,” Sylverith said, now turning to the new arrival.

  This assessment appeared to catch Kathrine off guard but she quickly composed herself, hiding the look of shock.

  “I… I don’t think we’ve been introduced, Lady…?” Kathrine asked.

  “Sylverith, dear, and no need for the lady, I’m hardly one. If you insist on a title, Protector of the Dark Forest will suffice,” Sylverith responded with a chuckle.

  “The dragon, so… so my brother was not making up stories,” Kathrine said, her eyes now wide.

  “I think we need to figure out why a warrior is posing as a house servant,” Milo said, drawing Sylverith’s attention back to the warrior, who wilted under her gaze.

  “Did you ask why you’d work here as a servant? Not find that kind of suspicious?” Milo asked him.

  “Truthfully, no. My father has always been eccentric. He made my brother work as a carpenter for years before allowing him back. I just assumed this is one of his tests. I apologise if I have insulted anyone, especially the royal family,” Tony said, now bowing deeply, clearly concerned.

  “How curious. He does not appear to be lying,” Sylverith chuckled.

  “I’ll leave it up to you, Archie, but I would like it to be known that I don’t want people repeating what they learn here,” I said,

  looking at Kathrine as I said it. I wasn’t overly pleased with Luis running off and telling everyone about Sylverith’s arrival.

  “Thank you, sir. I will make sure all hires undertake an oath. Please follow me; we’ll continue the conversation in the living room,” Archie rushed forward, helping the six carry the few remaining unconscious individuals and disappearing into the living room, closing the door behind them.

  “Well, that was an interesting scene to walk in on, rather unexpected,” Kathrine said with a laugh.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked, not even sure why Kathrine was here at all.

  “No, I was here for two reasons. The first has already been confirmed, and for the second, I was here to see if you’d like to have a tour of the shop you were provided. The king pointed out that if someone of the royal family is giving you a tour, it’s likely your business will gain a lot of attention. It could be useful,” Kathrine said.

  “No, thank you, Your Highness. It’s probably better we had a quiet opening; it’ll make life easier for Micca. She’s still fairly new to Merchant, after all,” Milo said.

  With that, Sylverith decided to change the subject.

  “It’s good you’re here, young phoenix mage. I had a question for you and your family. Perhaps you’d be able to answer, or let your father know I will come visit, but I was hoping to get access to your library.”

  The way she was addressed clearly set Kathrine on the back foot, but she quickly composed herself again.

  “I would need to speak to my father. Perhaps I could organise a meeting for you both. I don’t think the guards would allow you to just visit without an invitation,” Kathrine said seriously.

  The laugh Sylverith let out was soft, but unmistakable. “Child, I could enter the library without any guard noticing my presence, but I felt it would be impolite not to ask first.”

  Again, Kathrine’s eyes went wide.

  “I will go ask him straightaway.” Kathrine quickly turned around, heading back out the entrance to her awaiting carriage.

  I just stood there watching as the chaos finally ended.

  “Well, that was interesting. You wouldn’t just let yourself into their library uninvited, would you?” I asked, looking at Sylverith.

  She laughed again. “Of course I would. I have already been there. I just figured I’d be polite and ask for permission.”

  “Oh, Trev, we’ll head to the phoenix smith later this afternoon and work out what armour to get you. Jen wants to come along, but she’s with Hari at the guild,” Milo said.

  “I would very much like to come along and see this smith if you’d allow it. What were you hoping to have made?” Sylverith asked.

  I shrugged, honestly not knowing what Milo wanted me to wear.

  “We’re probably looking at getting some drake or drag… erm, drake scale armour made for him,” Milo said, turning red.

  “Don’t be embarrassed; dragon scales make excellent armour. Throughout history, it has been a rare gift for a dragon to grant someone a scale or two; however, I will assume these are scales from the tail I brought you?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I answered honestly.

  “Smart to use them. They will provide you excellent protection against lightning and fire. I’d offer my own, but I believe you’re already immune to poisons,” she laughed.

  A moment later she turned and headed back towards the library.

  “I will come get you when it’s time,” Milo said, before following her into the room.

  I was left in the foyer now with everyone gone except Lily and Crisplet.

  When yet another voice came from nowhere.

  “That was a lot of fun to watch.”

  I looked up to see Liane sitting on the railing of the stairs, watching from above with a giant grin on her face, before vanishing and reappearing next to me.

  “Are you about to cook something? Because I’m starving,” she said, rubbing her belly.

  This question caused Lily to look at me as well.

  Sighing, I made my way towards the kitchen. “Yes, I’ll make breakfast.”

  “It’s lunchtime though, so better make both,” Liane said with a laugh, walking alongside me.