Finally beating off Jenna and convincing her he would be singing for them today, Damian turned towards the stairs as Amelia came back down them from her room and smiled, walking over to meet her half way. “
Well, what do you think? It’s a nice room right?” He rested a hand on one of his revolvers out of habit. “
I’m sure you’ll be fine while I’m gone, but, as agreed, if things seem to take a turn for the worst, what do you do?”
“
I go to Guildmaster Jenna or some of the other guildmates for help.” Amelia said, looking up at Damian. She wasn’t smiling now and looked more nervous than anything as she looked around the room and all the people around them. Where did she even start? Who should she approach and talk to? Would they even take her seriously if she worked up the courage to do so? Or would she just be a bother, someone getting in the way of something important? These questions kept popping up and bouncing through her head, paralyzing her with fear at the prospect of approaching these strangers.
Sensing his daughter’s impending panic attack, he kneels down and pulls her into a hug, holding her close. “
Easy, Ame, I’m with you still. Just focus on me here and now for the moment.”
“
But you’ll be gone soon and I don’t know when you’ll be back.” She said, hugging him back. “
I understand that these people are going to, hopefully, be my friends but… I’ve been at the house, just you and me for years. I don’t… I don’t know how to approach people. I’m not sure I really can. Can’t you help me? Just a little more before you leave?”
The Lord of Steel and Fire nodded into his daughter’s shoulder, standing up and smiling at her. “
It would be my absolute pleasure to. How about we start with the Job board? That’s gonna be pretty important to your ability to sustain yourself here.”
“T
hat makes sense.” Amelia said, her lack of refusal being her way of saying ‘Sure.’ She understood the basics of jobs. She also understood the risks that came with them, especially with her magic. But, she would have to work through those risks if she hoped to earn her place here at the guild, so she would follow her father over to job board and let him say what he wanted to say, all the while glancing at the people around them and the board.
Damian was quiet for a time, looking over the jobs on the board but only seeing two of note. Seeing as these seemed to be requests directly from both a noble and the guards themselves, the payouts were good, reducing her need to worry about money further.
Now the trick is to make sure someone can go with her. I don’t see the caravan escort job up here, meaning someone already took it, hopefully at least, which means I need to hurry and get to the garrison. Still, the two jobs offered required significant thought, however, he decided to suggest the escort mission. “
How about the escort? It’s simple, requires you just keep an eye on this guy’s daughter and if it all goes without a hitch, that’s good rep with the nobles.”
“
What if they ask me to do some magic though? I might be able to do something with souls, make it seem like colored fire, but if they ask for other tricks, there’s very little I can do.” Amelia said, looking at the job. “
Do we even know how old the daughter is?”
Damian frowned and then gave it some thought. If he ran it based on the escort jobs he had done…”
I’m thinking it should be fine. These kids are usually teens who just want someone to talk to. Just, uh, keep your last encounter with Aryl unmentioned and it should be fine.” The War Mage hadn’t held a grudge against him or Amelia after their last encounter with him and Ardem’s leadership and guardsmen, he’d even apologized for it to Damian eventually, but Ardem was still an unknown and the Lord of Steel and Fire didn’t want to chance it. “
So, how about it?”
“
I’m not sure. If they’re teenagers, they’re likely older than me. They might not find me interesting or they might just try to pick on me. Age can make a lot of difference in those scenarios if what I’ve read was telling the truth.” Amelia replied. “
But… I’m willing to give it a shot. Going to have to do something like this eventually, right?”
“
Aye, you are, but I doubt they’ll even interact with you. Besides, it’s not like you’ll be going alone. So le-” As he reached for the flyer, Damian realized that it was gone and as he looked around, heard Ky mention an escort and Akemi’s name. “
Ah, seems someone else was also eyeballing it. So, there you go, and they’re all around your age…except for the guy with the cloud, he’s probably older and…did she just change magics? Damn.” He shook himself to focus back up. “
But yeah, the two who would be going with you are, Ky and Akemi.”
“
... Okay.” Amelia said in a low, nervous tone. She didn’t know these Ky and Akemi people and she hoped that if she did find them, they would be friendly enough. She would give her father one last hug before going to try and find the other two mages, trying to keep calm the entire time.
Returning his daughter’s hug, Damian stood and watched her approach the group, quietly thankful that Jenna was there to help her if she needed it before smiling softly to himself.
She’ll be fine, there’s plenty of good souls here. Waving to Amelia one more time when she turned to look at him, he headed out for the garrison, needing to get there before the caravan left.
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