So, while I thought I was done with SI:7 and Matthias Shaw, apparently he is not done with me.
I was minding my own business in the Laughing Jester Tavern in the Stormwind Park, as they had a fiddler playing and while I love music, my singing voice sterilizes Murlocs at 500 yards. The fiddle player was named Abby Atwater. Light ginger hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few stray wisps framing her face. Mirthful, dove grey eyes peered out at the crowd with a cheeky grin on her freckle-dabbled face. She was dressed in thick cloth, a green and red tunic, with dull red pants and old brown boots. The instrument she carried was an oddity to her ragtag appearance; finely crafted and well-tended. The violin hardly looked like it could belong to her but the way she played proved otherwise. (https://abighail-atwater.tumblr.com/ )
So I was there, reading a book - I know, but I love to read, especially steamy romances - and tapping my toe to the music when a woman enters the tavern and approaches me. She had long, shoulder-length hair the color of burned honey and large hazel eyes that were filled with mischief. She was slender, in the way that a rapier blade is slender but strong enough to cut you to ribbons without a moment's notice. She was clad in a long blue skirt and a white blouse - ordinary clothes on a graceful form that almost danced as she walked.
"Jon Chess?" she asked, approaching my table.
"Yeah, that's me," I said. "How may I help you?" She had a voice that sounded like whiskey coated in honey, and twice as intoxicating.
"I have a message from Mathias Shaw, and this," she said, tossing a small purse that clinked delightedly as it landed on the table. "He has some work for you."
"Indeed? What makes him think I want to do anything for him?" I asked. I knew Shaw by word on the street - he'd pay pretty well for some work some might call criminal, and claim it was for the good of Stormwind, but if you got caught, everyone knew that he would disavow your actions and sell you out in a heartbeat.
"Well, I think that is why he sent the money: half the fee upfront, probably." She smiled, her eyes bright. "Matty knows he puts people off - he's not a fool. He just... has a lot on his mind."
"Well, then I think I'll head over there to see what I need to do to get the rest... " Mathias Shaw might be a supercilious prick, but the supercilious prick had money, and money had its own charm.
"At least make him wait... don't let him think you are too easy," she said, laughing.
"Good idea... I tell you what, Miss... what was your name again?" I said.
"My name is Sara, Mister Chess," she replied. "Sara Law. I am a seamstress."
"And messenger for Shaw?"
"Matty and I are childhood friends."
"Shaw was a child? I thought he grew fully-grown from the head of a split Stormwind guardsman," I said, chuckling.
"I was visiting, and it needed doing..." she shrugged.
"Well, Miss Law... I will take your advice and make him wait if you will join me and have a drink." I pushed my own tankard of Dwarven Stout over to her as she sat, and went to order a fresh one, talking the opportunity to toss a silver at the violinist's feet in tribute to her playing. She winked at me.
I returned to the table, and Sara and I chatted for a bit. After the fiddler finished her set, she came over to the table and thanked me for the tip, and whispered in my ear "If you don't like the way Shaw runs things, try Theramore..." and winked before working the tavern crowd.
Eventually, Sara finished her drink, and naturally, I asked her if I could walk her home.
"No, I'm fine, and you have an appointment. I think you've made him wait long enough," she said, rising to go."
"Fair enough. Maybe you will let me after our second date," I said.
"Second date? You mean, this counts as a first date?" she said, grinning.
"Any time a beautiful lady sits with me and allows me to buy her a drink, it should be counted as a date," I replied. "It's not every day when a street rat like me gets to buy a lady a drink."
"Well, if you can find me again, maybe we'll have that second date," she said with a smirk.
I watched her sashay out the tavern door, wondering if her hips always swung so enticingly, or if she had added a little spice, knowing I was watching her leave.
Challenge accepted, Miss Sara Law. Challenge accepted.
I was minding my own business in the Laughing Jester Tavern in the Stormwind Park, as they had a fiddler playing and while I love music, my singing voice sterilizes Murlocs at 500 yards. The fiddle player was named Abby Atwater. Light ginger hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few stray wisps framing her face. Mirthful, dove grey eyes peered out at the crowd with a cheeky grin on her freckle-dabbled face. She was dressed in thick cloth, a green and red tunic, with dull red pants and old brown boots. The instrument she carried was an oddity to her ragtag appearance; finely crafted and well-tended. The violin hardly looked like it could belong to her but the way she played proved otherwise. (https://abighail-atwater.tumblr.com/ )
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| Sara Law |
"Jon Chess?" she asked, approaching my table.
"Yeah, that's me," I said. "How may I help you?" She had a voice that sounded like whiskey coated in honey, and twice as intoxicating.
"I have a message from Mathias Shaw, and this," she said, tossing a small purse that clinked delightedly as it landed on the table. "He has some work for you."
"Indeed? What makes him think I want to do anything for him?" I asked. I knew Shaw by word on the street - he'd pay pretty well for some work some might call criminal, and claim it was for the good of Stormwind, but if you got caught, everyone knew that he would disavow your actions and sell you out in a heartbeat.
"Well, I think that is why he sent the money: half the fee upfront, probably." She smiled, her eyes bright. "Matty knows he puts people off - he's not a fool. He just... has a lot on his mind."
"Well, then I think I'll head over there to see what I need to do to get the rest... " Mathias Shaw might be a supercilious prick, but the supercilious prick had money, and money had its own charm.
"At least make him wait... don't let him think you are too easy," she said, laughing.
"Good idea... I tell you what, Miss... what was your name again?" I said.
"My name is Sara, Mister Chess," she replied. "Sara Law. I am a seamstress."
"And messenger for Shaw?"
"Matty and I are childhood friends."
"Shaw was a child? I thought he grew fully-grown from the head of a split Stormwind guardsman," I said, chuckling.
"I was visiting, and it needed doing..." she shrugged.
"Well, Miss Law... I will take your advice and make him wait if you will join me and have a drink." I pushed my own tankard of Dwarven Stout over to her as she sat, and went to order a fresh one, talking the opportunity to toss a silver at the violinist's feet in tribute to her playing. She winked at me.
I returned to the table, and Sara and I chatted for a bit. After the fiddler finished her set, she came over to the table and thanked me for the tip, and whispered in my ear "If you don't like the way Shaw runs things, try Theramore..." and winked before working the tavern crowd.
Eventually, Sara finished her drink, and naturally, I asked her if I could walk her home.
"No, I'm fine, and you have an appointment. I think you've made him wait long enough," she said, rising to go."
"Fair enough. Maybe you will let me after our second date," I said.
"Second date? You mean, this counts as a first date?" she said, grinning.
"Any time a beautiful lady sits with me and allows me to buy her a drink, it should be counted as a date," I replied. "It's not every day when a street rat like me gets to buy a lady a drink."
"Well, if you can find me again, maybe we'll have that second date," she said with a smirk.
I watched her sashay out the tavern door, wondering if her hips always swung so enticingly, or if she had added a little spice, knowing I was watching her leave.
Challenge accepted, Miss Sara Law. Challenge accepted.
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