Fable 1. Chapter 1

"Oh my goodness, that poor man. Shot! Four times!"

The workers began to file back inside after the 'incident' outside the factory was over. As they entered they were buzzing and chattering about what they had just witnessed, namely the shooting of one of their colleagues by Reaver

"It was terrible"

"Awful"

"Just horrible"

"If only there were other jobs I could do, I'd be out of here in a minute"

The little group looked across in the direction of a female co worker who was perched on one of the machines that produced the boxes and waited for her to add her condolences to theirs. None came. She was busy eating a cheese sandwich and appeared not to be listening to them

A little irritated at the lack of indignation on the sandwich eaters part the woman who had spoken first addressed the girl "Where were you? We were all outside _supporting _Bill"

"I was in here" replied the girl talking with her mouth full

A general murmur of discontent with her answer went around the small group but nothing too forceful.

The woman tutted. She was a brisk motherly sort, motherly in the way that she liked to order people about as though she were their mother

"Well you missed it you know, you missed everything!"

"I heard it" replied the girl still with a mouthful of sandwich and feeling that listening to what had happened should at least go halfway towards actually being there

The woman, however, felt differently

"You heard it? How ridiculous! We were all_ out_ there being..."she paused, flustered, trying to think of another word than 'supportive' as she had just said that

"Supportive?" offered the girl still perched

"Well yes actually. We were being supportive. Unlike you, sat in here eating. Eating! Of all the things to be doing, when poor Bill was out there trying to make our working conditions better"

"It was my lunch break!" interrupted the girl, genuinely indignant at being expected to give up her lunch break to take visible part in a strike "and anyway it didn't seem to do him much good you all being out there did it?"

A little chuckle escaped her lips as she said this, an action which wasn't very well received by the other workers. They stared at her stonily and she hastily straightened her face

"Yes well anyway, sorry about that. Its nerves I expect" she said brushing her hands together to remove any crumbs from her now finished cheese sandwich. She got down from her perch and smoothed her workers apron standing on tip toe as she did so

"Right, well back to work for me. I suppose we shan't be getting proper lunch breaks anymore thanks to Bill? Well not ones longer than three seconds anyway. I can't really eat a whole sandwich in just three seconds. Nothing against Bill of course or anything. Just saying. Good old Bill" she finished her ramble with an honest smile.

The others all looked at each other. They hadn't thought about that. Maybe Bill hadn't done such a good thing after all. Maybe Bill should have just shut up! Now everything was worse than before.

The girl, who's name was Tallinn Beckett, studied their faces wondering what the silence was about.

Not bothering to find out she peered down the centre of the factory which opened out onto the yard where poor Bill's lifeless body was still lying and then back at her co workers

"Um, I suppose someone is going to move the body at some point are they? Not just leave it there? I mean its not very nice to look at. After all Reaver did shoot him _four_ times as you said, I mean its a bit...well...messy" she gave a little shudder and wandered off to carry out her duties.

They watched her go. It was as though she was either very heartless, sitting inside eating a sandwich not caring too much that outside some poor fellow was being shot multiple times over or it was simply a scene that she had witnessed many times before and the shock factor had somewhat dissipated. Either way, her colleagues weren't too sure if they liked her.


	2. Chapter 2

At precisely 6 pm the factory clock chimed loudly and just as precisely and swiftly Tallinn Beckett put the box she was carrying down, grabbed her shabby bag off a nail in the wall where it was hung and began to march towards the door.

One of the people in the group that had been talking to her earlier nodded his head in her direction to another worker drawing attention to the fact that she was leaving before everyone else and rolled his eyes. The foreman unfortunately noticed this and, leaving his own work, he hurried over in front of her intending on stopping her to get an explanation.

Tallinn looked up through the strands of mousey blonde hair that usually hung down framing her face and simply side stepped him and carried on. He spun around since she really was walking quite quickly and reached out, grabbing her arm to halt her rapid exit

"Hang on, where do you think you're going, Miss? Its only 6 and we don't finish until 8" he said in his best authoritative voice, thrusting his chest out to appear bigger

Tallinn looked indignantly at his hand holding her arm as if she couldn't see what the fuss was about and replied clearly "I'm going to the Riveter's Rest"

The foreman chuckled and again trying to sound authoritative said "Oh? And what makes you think I'm going to let you decide when you finish?"

"I'm not deciding. Reaver said I could" she replied staring at him with her usual candid expression.

The foreman shifted around in his uniform uncomfortably.

He had faced this problem before and the problem was this, Tallinn was often coming up with statements such as these along the lines of 'Reaver told me to', 'Reaver said I could', 'Reaver won't mind' etcetera.

The validity of these statements was of course dubious at best but her habitual almost bizarre proximity to him and anything he was associated with was enough to plant the necessary tiny seed of doubt in most peoples minds. Such as the worry that maybe she was telling the truth and if she wasn't allowed to do what she was doing or go where she was going then some heinous fete would overcome the person doing the preventing.

Tallinn naturally did very little if anything to stop them thinking this, probably even encouraging it on occasion, and was unfortunately now well into the habit of using such erroneous reasoning's to her advantage.

It was strange because it wasn't as though she was overtly 'with Reaver' all the time just 'about' or 'in the area', and most people weren't sure what to do with this reality. Probably the best thing they could have done with it is nothing. That is, ignored it and treated her like anyone else but most people are not that clear minded and have a tendency to read things into situations that aren't there.

That was what the poor foreman was doing at exactly that minute

"Well" he mumbled from underneath his bushy moustache, releasing her arm "I'll have to talk it over with Master Reaver but I suppose you can go this once"

Tallinn knew he had no intention of 'talking it over' with Reaver or how he would go about doing so and she also knew that it certainly wasn't the first time she had pulled this little stunt and got away with it. However she smiled brightly and re slung her bag on her shoulder

"Thank you" she said turning and trotting out of the factory onto the dark lamp lit streets of Bowerstone Industrial.

The Riveter's Rest was full to the brim of people who had also finished their working day and were looking for refreshment of the alcoholic kind. Some of them were trying to be virtuous by at least having some cheese or an apple with their drink but most were just drinking.

It was into this environment that Tallinn arrived, the door swinging shut behind her. She had arranged to meet someone there and her brown eyes scanned the room eventually finding who it was she was looking for. It was a woman standing up at the bar. Tallinn walked over to her being careful not to make too much noise and hoping her friend wouldn't notice although there was enough noise in the pub that night to drown out anyone's footsteps. Once she'd got right up to her she rummaged in her bag and produced something small and white then all in a flurry she unveiled the object, wafting it in front of her friends face.

It might seem an odd thing to do, waft material in your friends face however Tallinn's friend seemingly couldn't have been more thrilled. She snatched it out of her hand and spun around

"Its a handkerchief. For you!" Tallinn said grinning as her friend squealed "It was laundry day, I stole it on the way out. It is clean though"

"Oh you're the best friend. I love these little bits and bobs you surprise me with" her friend said excitedly, tucking the handkerchief into the pocket of her dress. It was small and white with the letter 'R' embroidered on one corner. "Lets get a table, I hate standing at the bar with all these lecherous types fawning over you all the time"

As far as Tallinn could see the lecherous types were fawning over their glasses of alcohol and not her friend Benjamina but she wanted to sit down after her day at work so she followed her friend over to the nearest available table and sat down.

"I bought you a drink while I was waiting for you" Benjamina said brightly pushing a glass full of some dubious looking alcoholic liquid towards Tallinn. She took it and smiled.

After the beverage had been handed over Benjamina continued to stare almost devotedly at her friend.

Tallinn took a sip from the glass and looked around the room nonchalantly, trying to ignore the staring. Eventually though she had to look at her

"What?" she asked

"Oh nothing. I was just wondering..."

"Mmm?"

"Well I know I've asked lots before but I was just wondering if you'd had a little re think about that favour..."

"Oh Benjamina no" Tallinn made a face as if she was undergoing something painful and her friend interrupted "Oh but it wouldn't take you any time at all, you could just nip in and nip out again"

"Benjamina I know you and I are good friends and everything but I don't _want _to go hunting around for his underwear"

Tallinn sounded pathetic with her drawling begging tone but her friend wasn't dissuaded

"But you won't have to go 'hunting', I know exactly where you can find some" Benjamina continued in her usual bright manner and Tallinn let out a groan and slumped back in her seat, her fingers playing on the rim of her glass like a petulant child feeling pestered

"I don't want to go in there"

"Oh come on its not a big deal, you'll just pop in, pick them up and pop back out again. Its not like you have to hang around and admire the decor or anything"

Benjamina paused and added under her breathe "Or use it"

That comment brought forth a fresh slightly unnecessarily loud groan from her friend and she frowned

"I don't want to"

"Oh Tallinn you're such a bore!"

"I know. Really. You have no idea how many times I've been told that"

Benjamina looked at Tallinn's moping face trying to will her into agreement with her own enthusiasm. It didn't work.

With a generous helping of self pity and a screwed up face Tallinn shook her head in a laboured manner

"No Benjamina I really don't want to" she said "you'll have to get someone else for that one. I'm not doing it"

Benjamina sighed realising it was pointless

"Oh ok. I just thought I'd ask. Again. You know you're so lucky to actually live there and not have a pesky restraining order against you" she twittered dreamily, resting her elbow on the table and her head in her hand

"That's only because I haven't done anything to merit one" Tallinn replied, the self pity draining from her face and being replaced with a complacent grin, and chuckling into her glass. Benjamina giggled too

"Well that is true"

Their giggles were interrupted by a voice coming suddenly from above them "Mind if we sit at your table?"

The girls looked up to see Ben Finn stood by the table with Page standing a little way behind him.

Tallinn swiftly patted the wooden seat of the chair next to her and smiled "Of course not"

"I didn't think you would mind, after all who wouldn't want someone as dashingly handsome as me sat with them?" Ben replied breezily, motioning over to Page and sitting down.

Tallinn laughed at his random cockiness and Page sat down opposite her

"I really don't like being out like this you know, its better if we stay underground" Page said addressing Ben and seemingly ignoring the other two as she looked around warily

"Ah it'll be fine, its not as if you make a habit of it and besides there's no one of any importance in Industrial anyway" Ben replied

"Except me of course" Tallinn added cheekily

Ben looked at her and then back at Page "Like I said no one of importance" he said and Tallinn laughed again

Page didn't join in the laughter. She seemed on edge and not able to settle

Tallinn and Benjamina hadn't met her before whereas Ben and Tallinn were friends already. Tallinn had heard of her from Ben and had seen her around Industrial a bit but had never actually met her in person to speak to.

Where Tallinn wasn't overly concerned with the whole revolution 'thing' as she called it she didn't feel she had much in common with the woman but since Page was a friend of Ben's and sitting opposite her at her table Tallinn felt she should make at least a bit of an effort. So she did

"So er still in the revolutioney way are you?" she asked Page who looked over at her with a rather grim look

"That's not a word" replied the revolutionary leader seriously and Ben tutted

"You'll have to get Reaver to give you elocution lessons" he grinned "can't have his staff using words that aren't real words. You'll let the side down something awful"

Page's head jerked back to Tallinn at hearing that and her stare turned into more of a glare as she regarded her

"You work for Reaver?" her tone sounding venomous

"Doesn't everybody?" Tallinn quipped sipping her drink "especially in Industrial. Which is where we are"

"Don't try and be funny. You know what I mean"

Tallinn's forehead creased slightly at the unfairness of being told she couldn't try and be funny and Benjamina answered before she could open her mouth

"Yes she does. She works in Lakeview Manor, she even _lives_ there. I mean she works in the factories too but she lives in Lakeview Manor when she's working there. I'm so envious but she brings me things from there because I'm not allowed to go. She's such a good friend"

She offered all this information in one go without stopping for breath genuinely envious of her friends employment

The look on Pages face couldn't possibly be described accurately, suffice to say she looked 'displeased' at being in Tallinn's presence. She turned to Ben bristling with anger ready to off load an earful on him

"Not only do you get me to leave the one place in Albion that's safe for me but you bring me here to sit in a pub with her! One of Reaver's lackeys who's probably a spy and is going run back and tell him _everything__"_she ranted

"Whoa hold on" Ben said calmly to the raging Page "Look this is Tallinn we're talking about, she's no spy"

Tallinn shook her head innocently to affirm this and Ben continued

"She's far too lazy to be a spy and Reaver wouldn't listen to anything she said anyway because even _he_ knows she'd be a rubbish spy"

Looking a little indignant at being described as a rubbish spy but wanting to help calm the situation Tallinn spoke to back up what Ben was saying

"And on top of him not listening to me, which incidentally is quite true not that I try and talk to him all that much, you haven't said anything that I _could_ run back and tell him. You've only said 'do I work for Reaver' and that 'revolutioney isn't a word', both of which he already knows and neither of which would interest him at all. So don't worry"

Benjamina was sitting mousey quiet during this after her last sentence had unleashed such fury.

Page said nothing but her heavy breathing indicated she was still extremely agitated

"She has a point you've got to admit" said Ben with his eyebrows raised nodding his head towards Tallinn who's candid expression was back and planted firmly on her face.

Seeming to feel uneasy Page nodded "Fine. But I don't like this"

"That's ok. You don't have to" replied Ben cheerily earning him a glare from Page


	3. Chapter 3

Tallinn awoke the next morning to a loud knocking on the door of her room at Lakeview Manor. It was the head housekeeper Geraldine.

"Time for work, get downstairs. Busy day, big party tonight" she bellowed through the door.

Poking her face out from under her covers Tallinn sighed. Not another party, loud, annoying people and lots of work. She was unimpressed. Mind you there was the option of siphoning a bit of the alcohol. That usually made the evening pass quicker and more enjoyably.

"Are you in there? Did you hear me?" Geraldine persisted, not getting the response she wanted, or any response really as Tallinn mulled over the these thoughts.

"I'm coming" Tallinn's voice was muffled by the covers she had retreated back underneath

"Pardon? I said can you hear me? Are you even in there?" Geraldine sounded frustrated and began to knock again much to Tallinn's annoyance. She threw the covers off and bellowed back to the housekeeper "I said I'M COMING. I will be there PRESENTLY!"

Hearing the loud yelling Geraldine indignantly stopped knocking and went away muttering about Tallinn's rudeness under her breath.

Tallinn got up, did her hair in her usual style with four strands hanging down either side of her face and the rest piled up on top of her head and sauntered downstairs to the kitchen.

Geraldine was in there with the rest of the kitchen staff and some of the house staff discussing the days jobs lists and delegating tasks. As Tallinn walked in she flashed her a glare and the talking subsided.

"Nice of you to join us. May I remind you that you do _work_ here. This isn't a hotel" she said reprovingly to a rather disinterested recipient.

Taking an apple out of one of the crates on one of the tables, much to the irritation of the chef, Tallinn proceeded to perch on said table and began to noisily eat the apple.

Geraldine and the chef were frowning at her and the rest of the assembled staff were also watching silently to see what was going to transpire, hoping for an argument.

Tallinn eventually raised her eyebrows nonchalantly to the housekeeper and the chef and waved her apple in a random gesture

"Carry on" she said in a vaguely authoritative tone, still eating the apple.

Bristling with irritation at her audacity, Geraldine shook her head to the chef. She had never been able to get along very well with Tallinn ever since she had come to work at Lakeview Manor. Tallinn was already there when Geraldine had first arrived and she had always found her lackadaisical in her tasks and not particularly grateful for her job. She was very friendly with Reaver's butler Barry Hatch and they were often together lounging and drinking when she was supposed to be working serving drinks at the parties thrown at the manor but as Barry out ranked her there wasn't much she could do about it other than say her piece and leave it at that. Sometimes she did stop lounging and do some work when Reaver showed up but even that was minimal and it wasn't very long before she was back lounging with Barry or, on occasion, with Reaver himself. This Geraldine didn't agree with; fraternizing with your boss or your employee's but she was willing to give Tallinn the benefit of the doubt and presume she couldn't do anything about that; if Reaver wanted to sit with her then she didn't expect Tallinn to argue.

"Anyway," Geraldine said, controlling her irritation with Tallinn and handing her a list "here are your jobs for the day. I would be grateful if you could get them done early as I have a few more things I'd like you to do before the party"

Tallinn eyed the jobs on the list in Geraldine's outstretched hand and sighed

"I don't know if I'll have the time to do all of them" she said sounding as though she was trying to be accommodating but really was going to be too busy. She didn't take the list out of the housekeepers hand but went back to eating her apple.

Letting out an exasperated sigh Geraldine thrust the list onto Tallinn's knee

"I'm not negotiating with you what jobs you will and won't do. You're doing all the jobs on that list now get on with it" she turned away and began to hand out everyone else's job lists.

Tallinn picked up her list and slid down off the table looking at the list with disdain

She thought these lists were a stupid idea. Something always happened to them, she either lost them or they fell in a bucket when she was cleaning the floor and got too soggy to read or fell out the window if she was cleaning the windows, blew away if she was in the grounds. They just never stayed put.

Shrugging to herself she tucked this list into the pocket of the knee length trousers she was wearing.

Tallinn spent the rest of the day doing one or two of the jobs on the list before it fell out of the top pocket of her apron and into the toilet bowl and that was the end of it.

After that she was roped into helping out in the kitchen and taking deliveries of alcohol for the party that night.

By the time the evening came and the party was in full swing Tallinn had skulked back up to her room and was sat up to her small ornate desk. It was strewn with old maps, journals and books of varying ages and types.

Her dishevelled head was bent over them as she studied and made little notes on a separate piece of paper. The party going on downstairs was so loud that during the course of the evening she had taken some small pieces of cotton wool and stuck them in her ears to try and drown out the noise. It had half worked, eliminating at least some of the music and singing that was going on.

The only problem with her idea had been that when Barry Hatch had come to find her she didn't hear him knocking on her on door, and had nearly jumped out of her skin not to mention let out a shriek when he'd let himself in her room and alerted her to his presence by tapping her on the shoulder

"Calm down Miss its only me" he said as she pulled the cotton wool out of her ears and tried to steady her breathing

"What in Avo's name Barry, don't you knock?" she said half in shock and half crossly

"I was knocking Miss but you were ignoring me" he replied cheerfully and Tallinn sighed

"I wasn't ignoring you, I had these in my ears. I can't study with that ridiculous noise going on" she pointed to the two sorry looking pieces of ejected cotton wool sitting on her desk. Barry nodded in receipt of this information and looked over her shoulder

"Still looking for that diamond?" he asked.

She nodded pensively

"Master Reaver did express to me recently his concerns that perhaps you had already found it and were withholding such information" Barry went on testing to see her reaction to the news "but of course I told him that was rubbish and you wouldn't do that!"

Finishing his sentence with a triumphant smile he looked at Tallinn for some seconds waiting for a response.

Tallinn had to admit to herself that it wasn't as though that idea hadn't occurred to her already; to find the diamond, sneak off to get it and then keep it for herself. But she was painfully unsure how much success she would have with that plan and whether or not Reaver would just find her or get someone else to find her shoot her, or worse, and take it. However seeing as she hadn't found it yet she had no need to give the plan any real thought.

So she shook her head "Nope, haven't found it"

"Ah okay then. Well what I am actually here for is to tell you that your serving services are needed downstairs to well _serve_ drinks. A few extra people turned up tonight and there aren't enough persons down there to provide the drinks" he smiled at her and gestured towards the door of her room.

"Oh Barry no! I'm busy, I don't..."

"Yes yes Miss I know 'you don't want to'" he said still cheerfully evidently having had had the pleasure of hearing Tallinn's favourite sentence on many previous occasions "but the problem we have is that you _have_ to. It'll only be for a bit. Once you've done the rounds a couple of times and left them a few bottles on the tables they won't even notice you're not serving them any more. So get changed and we'll go"

Tallinn reluctantly got up off her chair and moved over to where her house uniform, a ridiculous multicoloured off the shoulder dress, was hanging on her wardrobe and reached out to take it down. As she did so she turned to Barry

"Can you wait outside please while I get changed?" she said grinning at the fact that she knew he would try and stay while she did this and Barry looked shocked

"Oh you want me to leave Miss? Oh I didn't realise sorry, I thought we were friends and everything" he said backing away to the door as if he was genuinely hurt "I'll just wait out in the corridor for you"

He went out closing the door behind him and Tallinn giggled

Finally downstairs and dressed in her 'ridiculous' uniform Tallinn was stood right next to the door to the kitchen, not really near any of the guests, and pathetically holding a little silver tray with three glasses of some dark alcoholic liquid in them.

She had spied Reaver over the opposite end of the room mingling with his guests. He had gestured to her a few times denoting his wish for her to circulate with the drinks but she had steadfastly ignored him and stayed where she was, pretending she hadn't seen. Tallinn wasn't sure if this would have repercussions later but she didn't care at that moment because she hated serving drinks and she hated the uniform and unfortunately her face betrayed this by looking petulant and cross.

What was also unfortunate for her was the fact that Reaver was there which meant that Barry was otherwise engaged and so she actually had to do something instead of just lounging with her friend as she often did.

The thing was was that she wasn't a big fan of Reaver's parties and so hated being present at them either for work or anything else. This was in part due to the fact that she wasn't a big fan of Reaver and so many of the things he did irritated her.

As she stood pointlessly against the wall holding the tray her mind wandered onto her situation.

It was like this: at least 100 years ago Tallinn's father had been the pirate king of Albion residing in Bloodstone in the manor there together with her. Everything had been fine until, to cut a long story short, Reaver had shown up and annoyed Tallinn's father Captain Dread sparking a feud between the two and Captain Dread coming off the worse, namely having his face melted off by Reaver with the aid of an oil lamp. Reaver had then taken over as pirate king and had commandeered all of the former captains belongings, including the few who were left of his crew and the manor and treasure at Bloodstone.

Obviously Tallinn hadn't been overly thrilled at this turn of events and had initially set out to kill Reaver however she had realised fairly quickly that unfortunately that wasn't going to happen.

To make matters worse for her she simply didn't possess the qualities needed to captain her own ship. Please don't mistakenly think she was a useless pirate because she wasn't She was a very capable sailor and a good shooter and swordswoman she just wasn't a leader. So when nobody wanted to sign up with her on a new crew partly due to her lack of leadership skills and partly due to them not really wanting to suffer the same fate of the Marianne, Dread's former ship, she had needed to make a decision about what she was going to do; spend the rest of her life fretting over losing her father and her home and treasure, some of which she had help amass, or adopt the 'if you can't beat them join them' stance. She took the latter and joined Reaver's crew.

Over the course of time Reaver had found out about a diamond that Dread had acquired and hidden while alive, the Diamond of Sorrows. It was an Old Kingdom diamond with the miraculous ability to give the owner of it eternal youth. Of course Reaver wanted it and had from then on employed the unwilling services of Tallinn to find it, keeping her alive by making rather sizeable donations to the Temple of Light on her behalf. So that was why she was reluctantly still in his employ, unable to locate the elusive diamond and there she would remain until she did. After that she wasn't sure what would happen. She doubted Reaver would continue to donate to the Temple for her out of sheer generosity and supposed she had some gruesome end awaiting her

"Probably melt _my_ face off with a strategically placed oil lamp too" she muttered to herself under her breath

"Pardon? What did you say about your face?" came a bright voice next to her. It was one of the new staff, a girl called Lucy. She was wearing a similar dress to Tallinn's and was also carrying a tray of drinks evidently on service duty too. Tallinn had met her briefly earlier in the day while performing her tasks and before she had dropped her list in the toilet. She was short and wasn't very pretty but she had been nice enough from what Tallinn had seen of her.

In answer to Lucy's question though Tallinn just shook her head dismissively

"Oh nothing"

Lucy nodded not pressing the subject and looked around the room from behind a fringe of mousey hair

She giggled "He's nice isn't he?" she said referring to Reaver and Tallinn stared down at her blankly

"No. Not really" she replied. She picked up one of the glasses on her tray and took a sip hastily putting it back down before anyone saw.

Lucy tittered again

"Well not _nice_, maybe that's the wrong word"

"Its very much the wrong word"

"He's good looking though isn't he?" said Lucy staring over fixedly at Reaver

Tallinn glanced over with a distinctly dreary look on her face and shrugged neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"You must be so proud to work here. I used to work in Industrial but this is so much better, its great!" Lucy continued

"Its like nothing else. Ever" replied Tallinn taking another sip of the alcohol and feeling as though Lucy reminded her of someone. Eventually she turned to look at the girl who had gone back to staring across the room at Reaver

"I must introduce you to a friend of mine who lives in Industrial. I think you and her would really get on" Tallinn said a faintly wry expression flickering across her face "her names Benjamina. Remind me sometime"

Lucy broke off her stare to look back at Tallinn

"Oh I will thanks. I haven't got many friends" she said genuinely pleased at the attention "I'm so looking forward to working here"

Tallinn smiled at her in response to her comment, well it was more of a grin, and rested her head against the wall.

She was blankly staring up the light fittings when a rather inebriated portly gentleman approached. He had a silly moustache and a red nose from too much alcohol consumption

He bowed in some drunken gesture of politeness and eyed her up

"You know, you haven't been around by my table tonight, I almost hadn't noticed you tucked away over here" he slurred, swaying ever so slightly, glancing between her face and the tray of drinks in her hand

Tallinn looked down from the ceiling and as her eyes fell on the person talking her face wrinkled as if she could smell a bad smell

"I thought maybe you would like to join me and my friends over there" he continued, pointing an unsteady finger in the general direction of some other people. Tallinn couldn't tell which group of people were supposed to be his friends and she really didn't care.

"Go. Away" was Tallinn's reply. She continued to regard the less than sober gentleman with her wrinkled face and unfriendly expression which didn't seem to be dissuading him.

He placed his unsteady arm on hers and chuckled "Oh do come and sit with us, we could have such fun. Come on"

"I'd rather go and drown myself in Bower Lake" Tallinn said crossly and she shook her arm free.

"Well we could go and do that...later" replied the gentleman smirking evidently being so sloshed that he wasn't actually listening to what she was saying and mistakenly thinking she was suggesting something fun

She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Oh come on you little tease" he tried again, pulling at her arm.

Tallinn glared at him and was so annoyed with the constant pawing that she shook her arm away again only this time employing more strength in the pull hoping he would get the point.

It is an understatement at this point to say that it was unfortunate for Tallinn that as she did this she had forgotten to let go of the tray with the offending arm so as she yanked she proceeded to practically throw the tray full of drinks off of the tray and onto the floor resulting in a loud smash and alcohol and glass flying everywhere.

Practically the entire room full of people looked over while Tallinn, still with the tray in her hand, simply stared at the smashed glasses and seeping alcohol on the floor.

The gentleman looked startled and hastily sidled away as Geraldine came flying out of the kitchen upon hearing the smash

"What have you done?" she cried to Tallinn who was still staring at the broken glasses and spilled beverages.

Geraldine called through to the kitchen for some towels to clean up the mess with and got down on her hands and knees to pick up some of the bits of glass

Eventually Tallinn spoke "Whoops"

Geraldine's head shot up and looked at Tallinn squarely

"Whoops? That's it? Whoops?" she shook her head "get down here and help clean this up"

Tallinn meekly complied taking the cloths that had been brought in a bucket and mopping up the spilt drink.

"Get a brush and pan for the glass and take these cloths to the kitchen to be washed" Geraldine continued to fire orders at Tallinn who did actually do what she was being asked.

The head of housekeeping noticed Reaver looking over with an ever so slight frown on his face, probably at the commotion being caused over the other end of the room not only by the accidental throwing of the glasses but by the overly vigorous efforts to clean up the mess

"It'll all be cleaned up in a second Sir" she called over in a sprightly voice and Tallinn dropped her sodden cloths into the bucket.

"I'll just go and..." she began to say but Geraldine interrupted her

"Yes yes you go and take those to the kitchen, no need to talk about it just do it"

Sighing, Tallinn got up off the floor and walked into the kitchen deftly not meeting the eyes of the guests who were still tipsily watching the clean up proceedings like it was an event meant for their entertainment.

Inside the kitchen a little group of the other waitress girls were all in a corner giggling as she came in. Lucy was the only one who wasn't laughing

"Oh my, you're going to be in _so_ much trouble" tittered one of the girls

"Shut up" replied Tallinn crossly tipping her bucket of cloths into the sink and dunking them under the water

"Those were some of the best crystal glasses too" said another in a sly tone

"Just thrown on the floor" another of the girls said

They dissolved into giggles again enjoying taking the jibes at the longest serving member of staff.

Tallinn turned around from the sink and glared at them her hands dripping with alcoholic soapy water

"I didn't just _throw_ them on the floor, it was an accident" she grumbled gesturing so that lots of drops of water and foam spattered the immediate area

This made them laugh all the more and Tallinn sighed having lost patience with the whole thing. She turned back to the sink and recommenced sloshing the cloths around in an agitated manner.

"Where's that brush and pan I asked for?" Geraldine called through in a loud voice "have you gone to Bowerstone Market to buy one?"

Without a word Tallinn went from the sink to where the desired objects were kept and picked them up sharply, covering them with more soap and marching back out to the scene of the mess. There she dropped them on the floor beside Geraldine and turned to go back into the kitchen

Geraldine however was having none of it and she looked exasperated

"There's no need to be so rude you caused this you know. Such an attitude. I've a good mind to tell Master Reaver about all of this"

"You don't need to. He's over there. He can see" replied Tallinn her face the very picture of scorn and her tone not much better.

Geraldine paused in her vigorous scrubbing of the offending area and looked up at Tallinn astounded at her rudeness. She was about to say something reprimanding to Tallinn but because of the shock at the rudeness she waited too long and Tallinn was off again back into the kitchen talking out loud to herself

"Oh no don't tell _Master_ Reaver that I dropped some glasses on the floor he might melt my face off! Oh no how awful please don't tell him" she ranted to herself

The others who were in the kitchen looked at her strangely

"Melt your face off?" asked one of them frowning at her "Honestly you're so weird Tallinn what are you talking about now?" one said

"Oh be quiet it really doesn't matter" Tallinn replied scathingly.

Geraldine re entered with the remnants of the glasses in the pan. She threw them into the rubbish bin and turned to face Tallinn who had her back to her as she was now rinsing out the cloths

"Well you'll be staying late to make sure those get washed properly" she said drying her hands on her apron. Tallinn just shrugged evidently feeling that she'd ranted enough and was now more in the mood for sullen silence "And I think it would be fair for you to do some of the cleaning up around the kitchen in general too seeing as you've done nothing all evening except cause problems"

Tallinn shrugged again disinterestedly.

"Right well then that's decided" said Geraldine

That was indeed what happened. the rest of the staff having finished their duties went off up to bed. Reaver and some of the guests had gone off to another part of the manor and the people who were left were mainly unconscious so there was no longer any need for the staffs services. Only Tallinn remained in the kitchen cleaning up after the nights revelries. She could never understand how the streamers and silly party nik naks found their way into the kitchen but they invariably did.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Lucy came down for her second day at work to find Tallinn already up and dressed and sitting at the top of the stairs that lead down to the entrance hall.

She was eating an apple again and had her nose in a book. It looked worn, it must have been at least 50 years old if not older, and by the state of the pages it looked as though it had been very well read.

"Morning" said Lucy walking up and sitting down next to her

Tallinn visibly jumped and slammed the book shut

"What is wrong with you creeping up on me like that?" Tallinn cried crossly, glaring at poor Lucy "everyone's creeping up on me recently!"

Lucy looked shocked "Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't meaning to creep up on you" she assured Tallinn who's glare softened into a frown. Tallinn shifted around uncomfortably and placed the now closed book on her knee

"Its ok I'm just tired, it makes me jumpy" she said scratching her head and gazing around

Lucy nodded and wrapped her arms around her knees. She glanced at the book on Tallinn's knee and she looked a little surprised

"The Art of Seduction?" she inquired curiously, remarking on the title of the book "why are you reading that?"

Tallinn's frown became a glare again and she snapped her head around to look at Lucy tucking the book down between her thigh and the banister

"Its for a friend" she shot defensively "I was just flickingthrough it I'm not _reading_ it. Its a load of rubbish anyway I don't know why anyone would want it but they do so I got it to bring it to them and I was just flicking not _reading_!" Tallinn's eyes flitted angrily around the entrance hall from her elevated position and eventually settled on the ornate double doors. She let out a small sigh "Its not _mine"_

Wide eyed Lucy stared at her not understanding how her simple question had caused such an outburst but she was a mellow sort and so waited for the obligatory few minutes for Tallinn's breathing to calm down and then ventured to talk to her again

"It looks old" she said smiling attempting to will the same from her new friend "I like old books"

Tallinn shrugged

"Yeah it is" she said glancing down at the book.

As she spoke her voice was laced with a hint of forlorn innocence that made her appear slightly vulnerable for a second. All in a trice however it was over and her usual expression of candid seriousness was back

Lucy decided to leave off talking about the book and go on to something else. She leaned in closer to Tallinn and whispered in a low voice

"The girls are saying you got into trouble last night because of the glasses? Did you? I hope you didn't"

Tallinn shifted her gaze from the doors to Lucy and back again and shook her head

"No not really" her tone was light and airy now and she began to recommence crunching on her apple "not over the glasses anyway just because I ignored him"

Tallinn's mouth turned up in a small smirk as she said this, showing her neat white teeth. Evidently the fact that she'd annoyed Reaver by openly refusing to do what he was asking amused her. Lucy raised her eyebrows, not sure if she felt Tallinn ought be so blasé. She expressed her worry

"But Tallinn you ought to be careful, you might lose your job"

Tallinn snorted loudly

"Fat chance" was her immediate reply and Lucy frowned. Seeing this Tallinn paused to rethink her comment

"I mean well yes there is that worry, of course, but I think I got away with it. Phew eh?" she pretended to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand in a gesture far too nonchalant to betray any real concern.

"So you haven't lost your job?" Lucy continued genuinely worried

"Nope"

"And you don't think you will?"

"Nope"

"Good. We've only just become friends, I'd be so sad if you had to leave"

Tallinn smiled one of those smiles people do out of rote, when their mouth turns up but their eyes stay blank.

"It must have been awful for you, was it very awful? I'd have just about died if I'd got in trouble with Reaver"

"It was awful. Dreadful in fact" replied Tallinn absent mindedly chewing on the apple.

Lucy looked distressed and she put her arm around Tallinn

"Dreadful?" she repeated "Oh no what happened"

Tallinn immediately felt she'd gone a bit over board with the word 'dreadful' and hastened to rectify it into something a bit more believable, not that Lucy wasn't taking seriously all she was saying

"Well not 'dreadful' just well you know" she nodded her head knowingly as if she need not say anymore and Lucy patted her gently on her shoulder.

"Where did he take you?" Lucy asked innocently concerned

Tallinn took a sharp intake of breath and she choked rather violently on one of the inhaled apple seeds

"Pardon!?" Tallinn spluttered as she struggled to stop coughing saliva everywhere. Her immediate thoughts were 'Why on earth would she ask such a question._'_ It seemed an atrociously rude thing to ask so casually like that.

"I mean where were you when he told you off?" replied Lucy as if it the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh right yeah um that" Tallinn quickly gathered herself and realised her mistake. Lucy hadn't meant anything dirty by her question it was just that Tallinn had lived in the proximity of Reaver for too long and now many things that were completely innocent were somewhat tainted in her mind and she often saw the wrong side of any double meaning that presented itself.

She looked around vacantly before pointing randomly somewhere in the general direction of behind them "There. Somewhere"

Lucy turned around to see where Tallinn was pointing and for the first time a small hint of confusion came over her face

"In the dining room?" she asked curiously "That's an odd place to discipline an employee"

Tallinn just nodded faintly in agreement trying her best to ignore the connotations in that comment.

She was wishing the conversation would end but she couldn't think how to stop it without being rude so she continued to crunch on her apple and stare across the open space.

Her problem was was that she wasn't very articulate. She had trouble expressing herself clearly and wasn't a terribly good communicator, one of the reasons that she wasn't a good leader, meaning that when she did try and say something it often came out rude or blunt or incoherent which is why she didn't tend to talk much and in this instance she didn't want to be any of those things with Lucy since Lucy was genuinely being concerned.

"Oh dear" said Lucy shaking her head "what did he do?"

"What did he _do_?" Tallinn repeated uncomfortably and Lucy nodded

"Yes, what happened? Was he very cross?"

Tallinn's face relaxed a little

"Oh like what did he _say _you mean? Because if that'swhat you meant you should really say that and not 'what did he _do_' because obviously they are two very different things" she said awkwardly popping the last bit of apple core in her mouth and chewing it

Lucy looked at her friend crunching the apple and her brow furrowed

"Why?" she asked confused "What would he do to you anyway?"

Tallinn simply stared back at her blankly.

There was a pause.

Tallinn shrugged

An oversensitive "Nothing" was the best reply that she could eventually come up with.

As we've said articulation wasn't her strong point, and Lucy just nodded pretending to understand but her confusion was still fairly plain to see.


	5. Chapter 5

Tallinn yawned loudly.

Her and Barry Hatch were stood at the end of Bowerstone Castle's gardens looking out over Industrial as the sun went down. Reaver was at court with Logan and had been inside for some time prompting the other two to take a walk to alleviate the boredom.

"Romantic eh?" Barry smirked referring to them watching the sun go down together.

Tallinn tutted but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly clearly finding the comment amusing.

"They're taking ages" she complained as she turned around to face the castle "can't we just go home?"

Barry copied, turning around to view the castle

"If you don't mind walking to Millfields" he replied

Tallinn looked at him "We'd take the carriage. I'm not walking all the way back there" she said in an obvious tone

Barry nodded to her "And what will Master Reaver go back in?"

Tallinn stared at him for a few minutes as her brain slowly thought over all the options before replying "Well he'll take a _different _carriage"

"Took you all that time to think of that miss?" Barry grinned and Tallinn turned her back on him frowning

"I'm so bored" she grumbled, ignoring Barry's derogatory comment. She looked around the grounds and her eye fell on a rather sleazy looking gentleman who was hovering nearby. She had seen him quite a few times that afternoon and evening and she was sure he was following them.

Leaning in closer to Barry she whispered "Look at that weirdo. He's been hanging around us for ages. Eugh" She shuddered and nodded her head in the odd mans direction.

Barry looked over

"Yes he does look, how can I put it, well, like someone you'd find at one of Master Reaver's parties actually miss" replied Barry fairly brightly

Tallinn's forehead creased into a frown as the man, seeing them both looking at him and taking this as an invitation to come over set off in their direction and before long was in front of them.

"Lord Humphrey Fanshaw-Flint at your service" he leered bowing "how do you do?"

The crease in Tallinn's forehead deepened but Barry reciprocated the gesture

"How do we do what, Sir?" he quipped back cheerfully making the gentleman pause for a second. Lord Humphrey took a few seconds to think the quip through before getting the joke and chuckling, an action which caused his ample belly to jiggle up and down like jelly.

Barry chuckled along with him. He was used to amusing upper class idiots as he encountered so many of them at Lake View Manor.

As Lord Humphrey caught his breath from laughing at the silly joke and not even noticing that Barry hadn't introduced himself, he turned his attention to Tallinn who was standing silently by still with a frown on her face.

She looked wonderfully unapproachable but that didn't seem to be dissuading this person for looking her up and down in a rather leering manner

"And you my dear? Who are you, might I venture to ask? You work at Lakeview Manor for Reaver don't you?"

By his tone it was obvious that he thought that by working at the manor in Millfields Tallinn must condone what went on there. Participate even. In short this Lord Humphrey had concluded that considering her employment Tallinn must be somewhat of a hussy and so his advances would be most welcomed, encouraged even.

Unfortunately he couldn't have got it more wrong.

Now, it is worth mentioning that Tallinn wasn't especially prudish, although in this instance it wouldn't have mattered either way since Lord Humphrey certainly wasn't going to get anywhere with her, no it was more that she didn't like to make a fool of herself. As we all know things pertaining and eventually leading to amorous adventures require a certain amount of finesse; the right words being spoken in the right way, actions being discharged in an attractive manner, flirting and the like and Tallinn had trouble executing any of these things correctly.

Her lack of good communication skills meant that in the past when she had made clumsy attempts to come on to someone they either hadn't understood what she meant due to what she was saying being overly complicated or vague or they'd thought she was being sarcastic, neither situation resulting in a happy outcome

It was generally the same when people flirted or were suggestive to her, she usually took too long to figure out when they were meaning if it was something was witty and laughed at her or they took as she was being ignorant and got fed up of her.

But she really hated it when people made fun of her. For instance there had been an occasion back when she was a pirate serving on her father's crew. They had anchored the ship and were spending the night drinking in some dank tavern somewhere in Albion. The men by late evening were all completely drunk and one of them had jovially and it has to be said totally inebriated put his arm on Tallinn's shoulder and got the attention of the whole room before declaring his interest in sleeping with her by shouting "The jolly roger isn't the only thing I plan on raising tonight and I intend to have a jolly good rogering!"

The men had found it hilarious but Tallinn hadn't understood. It had taken her a few minutes to think about what he meant by which time the men had all dissolved into guffaws of laughter and were yelling things like "she's thinking about it" or "now you've confused her" and draw her a picture to show her where it goes" none of which had helped the situation. Once the penny had dropped of course she was furious not to mention embarrassed and to cut a long story short she 'accidentally' shot him in the calf, something she used to do since it taught the person a lesson without inflicting any real harm.

When she met Reaver and after her first shall we say personal encounter with him she bought herself the aforementioned book The Art of Seduction. She bought it because she couldn't think of anything worse, even after all her bad experiences, than appearing incompetent in front of him and him making fun of her and as far as she was concerned taking into account his considerable experience and her considerable lack of experience that fact was a distinct possibility.

Lord Humphrey was waiting for her answer.

Tallinn continued to frown at the man and eventually Barry interposed with "She does, Sir, and a very good little worker she is too"

Lord Humphrey nodded licentiously and rubbed his hands together

"Well well, a good little worker eh?" he winked at her "why don't you come and be a good little worker with me eh? We could have such fun" he had begun to stroke her arm with two outstretched fingers while Barry simply regarded the goings on complacently and occasionally looking back out at the view.

"Such a shy little thing aren't you?" he heard him say "I could teach you a thing or two, bring you out of your shell you know! I like to think I'm quite an attractive man and you could do a lot worse..."

Bang.

Barry turned around not exactly abruptly but slightly quicker than slowly and regarded Lord Humphrey rolling around on the floor holding his leg and howling with pain. Tallinn had produced a pistol from somewhere about her person and having been getting annoyed at his ramblings and instead of telling him so she had done her usual and shot him in his leg.

She was looking down at the lord with an expression of slight shock as if she'd surprised her self mingled with impassiveness.

"Well miss" said Barry also looking down while Lord Humphrey continued to howl "you've shot him"

"Only in the leg"

"That is true miss" replied Barry "only in the leg. But even so I am going to suggest that we move inside and wait for Master Reaver in there" he pointed to the castle.

Lord Humphreys howls were beginning to catch the attention of others in the gardens and several guards were already beginning to run over to their spot.

Tallinn tucked her pistol away and nodded to Barry

"I think that's probably best" she said and after glancing once more down at Lord Humphrey this time looking as though she was regarding someone else's disagreeable handiwork and not her own they both strolled briskly but casually back towards the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Geraldine was overseeing a rather vigorous cleaning of the kitchen by the staff and this for once included Tallinn. She had for one thing been unable to think up a good enough excuse to get out of helping and for another thing, and perhaps more importantly, she had figured that it might be for the best anyway, keeping out of the way after her little trigger happy episode the evening before. The last thing she wanted was Reaver finding out and being annoyed.

As Geraldine was barking out orders to the younger girls Barry arrived in the kitchen.

Smiling brightly round to everyone he spoke

"Good afternoon. Everybody working hard?"

Geraldine snapped around to face him, her face red from all the chattering and grumbling she'd been doing.

"Mister Hatch I just can't get these girls to do an honest days work, it just appalling, I mean they..." Geraldine began, wiping her hands on the large apron that hung around her large waist.

Barry cut in, ignoring what she was saying

"Is Tallinn in here by any chance? I know its a bit of a long shot madam" he chuckled slightly at the irony of him looking for her in the kitchen where she might actually be working "but I can't find her anywhere"

Frowning slightly at being interrupted in such a cheerful unapologetic manner Geraldine just stood on the spot a bit dazed. She looked around herself and then back to Barry

"Yes, she's over there"

She pointed to the corner where Tallinn was quietly cleaning out the coals from the large range stove.

"Ah, brilliant" said Barry turning to face the direction Tallinn was in

"Tallinn. Miss. Miss Becket" Barry called trying to get Tallinn's attention. Finally she turned around and looking up with raised eyebrows

"Master Reaver wants to see you"

The girls in the kitchen who had been cleaning also stopped what they were doing and looked at Tallinn. Some of the colour had visibly drained from her face as she stared at Barry's cheerful face.

"Why? What does he want?" she asked still with her cloth in hand

Barry shrugged "I don't know"

Tallinn stared at him for a few seconds more before turning back to the stove, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at her, and starting to clean again mumbling "Well I'm busy"

"I can see that Miss but I have been looking for you for a very long time and Master Reaver is probably quite cross that its taken me this long to find you so if I were you I would go now in case he gets even crosser"

Tallinn stopped cleaning and thought over her options. She came to the conclusion fairly quickly that she didn't have any and so she dropped the cloth on the floor and stood up from the floor where she had been kneeling.

She walked over to Barry

"Fine" she said, her characteristic frown developing on her forehead. It was a frown that successfully mingled worry with irritation.

She followed Barry to Reaver's study and he knocked on the door. After hearing a 'come in' he opened the door for Tallinn to go in and followed behind, closing the door.

"Found her Master Reaver" Barry announced to Reaver who was sifting through some paperwork on his desk but who looked up upon Barry speaking "She was in the kitchen cleaning"

The statement brought forth an expression of mild surprise from Reaver and Barry nodded to it

"Yes I know, I was quite surprised myself. That's why it took me so long. Didn't think to look in there"

"Indeed. Well very good Barry, you can go now" Reaver replied and Barry nodded again and exited the study leaving Tallinn standing opposite the desk with a slightly sulky look on her face.

Reaver briefly rearranged some more papers before finally looking up at her.

"Now then Tallinn, what's this I hear about you shooting someone in the leg?"

"I didn't!" was her lightening fast reply.

This was always Tallinn's first line of defence, to flatly deny that she had done anything. She couldn't seem to get out of the habit of doing it even though it never worked, it was like a knee jerk reaction to any questioning.

Reaver raised one disbelieving eyebrow to her answer

"Dear me Tallinn" he replied shaking his head "is that the best you can come up with?"

"Well I didn't!" she replied again. In her head she was wondering why she kept spouting this ridiculous line. She was well aware that he knew that she'd done it but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

He shifted around in the large chair behind the desk and Tallinn's eyes followed every movement he made half worried that she was going to see one of his prized Dragonstomper 48's produced from its holster and aimed at her head. However much to Tallinn's temporary relief the gun remained by his side and in its holster.

"Now look Tallinn, I'm afraid you _did_ shoot that gentleman in the leg and I _know_ that you did. What I now want to know is _why_ did you shoot him because you can't just go about shooting people" he said in his usual jaunty tone and Tallinn continued to stare at him

"Why not?" she said eventually "You do"

This comment brought forth a small chuckle of genuine amusement at her answer which seemed to erroneously imply that they were similar in some way.

"Yes yes my dear but I'm _me_ and you're _you_. You see, _you _are my employee" he explained, pronouncing each syllable of the word 'employee' precisely "and _I_ employ you which means that you do what I tell you to do and I say you can't go around shooting people whenever you get the urge to do so"

Tallinn sighed deeply and her eyes flitted around the room looking at different bits of furniture before finally settling back on Reaver while he continued to explain to her, politely but firmly, why she couldn't shoot people in the leg if they annoyed her.

During the 'lecture', as she felt it was, she casually mentally noted that he wasn't wearing his 'ridiculous', as she called it, top hat or 'over the top', another of her phrases, coat but as he was at home and in his study he was just wearing his black boots and white trousers with the black shirt and brown waistcoat.

Tallinn thought he looked better like that. In fact she thought he looked quite good like that. Attractive even. And his hair, she noted to herself that his hair looked nice. Also quite attractive. His face? Yes, she thought that too was quite attractive in fact, thinking about it, she came to the conclusion that she thought _he _was quite attractive.

Now the very millisecond _that_ thought reached her brain and was acknowledged by it her eyes widened and she swallowed quietly, almost indiscernibly.

The frown that had earlier given way to a sulky expression had returned, the little crease between her eyebrows deeper than ever. She was ostensibly glaring at him.

"Tallinn are you listening to me?" Reaver questioned eventually, seeing her slightly glazed and glaring expression which was a product of the internal feelings she was experiencing

"Yes" she replied

"What did I just say?"

"That I shouldn't shoot people"

The tone of her voice was completely flat and she continued to glare at him.

It really was one of the finest examples of Tallinn's lack of articulation; she was glaring at him because she liked him.

"And what words did I use to make that point clear?"

She obviously couldn't answer that question because she hadn't been listening. No she had been thinking about his hair and what he was wearing. The frown became half directed at herself for thinking those things and not paying attention although of course on the outside it was directed totally at Reaver.

She struggled desperately to think of something to say but as usual she couldn't think of anything.

We have noted previously that Tallinn was not the most clear or coherent person at the best of times but occasions like these were far worse, when she liked someone or thought someone was attractive.

Now you may wonder that if she liked him, or at least thought he looked good, why didn't she behave like that all the time and the answer is that she never thought about it. Generally speaking she tried to ignore him and what she thought about him, good or bad, and usually that worked, it was only times like these when she was being absent minded that it became an issue and she forgot to ignore him.

"I don't know" Tallinn finally said in answer to his question, still glaring.

Reaver regarded her curiously, wondering why she was looking so hatefully at him. It was fairly common for her to look cross or sad or even worried if she was being told off but not often did she look hateful.

Of course it didn't take long for him to twig or for the curious expression to morph into a smirking one.

"Ah I've seen that look before" he drawled, lacing his fingers together as he rested them on the desk "I know why you're looking at me like that"

"No you don't" was Tallinn's response as she shook her head "I'm not looking at you like anything, I'm just looking at you. Normally"

"How can I not know what your expression means if you're not making one?" Reaver replied still smirking at her. He sat back to wait the obligatory few moments that he knew it would take for Tallinn to decipher his comment.

As she thought the frown wore off but the minute she got the point it was back again. She glared over at him

"Don't be smart" she said pointing her forefinger in his general direction but lacking the courage to actually point rudely at him.

He chuckled

"Can't help it my dear. Anyway I'm sure you get the point of our little 'conversation' that we had today but I shall reiterate it for you: _don__'__t shoot people unless I tell you to_ or at least come and ask before you do. Ok?"

Tallinn mumbled something in the affirmative which seemed to suffice.

"Excellent. Now run along I'm busy."

Tallinn looked down at her feet and then over to the door as if mentally telling them to begin walking to it. She was almost at the door when Reaver called over

"Oh and Tallinn"

She looked around at him

"Don't be too concerned, my little sweet, I'm sure you'll see me later"

Still chuckling to himself he turned his self satisfied attention back to what he had been doing previously before she had come in.

Her previous furious expression returned in a trice and was very much directed at him. She stood by the door for a few seconds really wanting to answer him back with something clever but naturally she couldn't think of anything. A witless silent exit seemed to be her only option so begrudgingly she acquiesced and left the room crossly.


	7. Chapter 7

She badly wanted to slam the door behind her but thought better of it. After all Reaver wasn't exactly well known for being the most tolerant of people.

As she was just closing the door, quietly we might add, one of the housekeeping staff bumped into her looking flustered.

"Oh Tallinn, Geraldine wants _everyone_ down in the kitchen for an emergency staff meeting" she blurted out, her arms full of towels and bedding some of which was trailing along the floor behind her.

Tallinn looked disinterested

"Everyone?" she inquired and the girl nodded "Everyone. Barry's only just let us know that there are a group of investors travelling here from Samarkand. They're staying here and Master Reaver's putting on this big 'do' for them"

"But its Monday" said Tallinn pointedly "nothing happens on a Monday"

She was almost saying this to herself in protest to the information she was receiving and the girl nodded in agreement, still looking flustered

"I know. That's what I thought but there you go. Geraldine wants everyone down there to allocate jobs and get this ready"

The girl nodded encouragingly to Tallinn and disappeared down the corridor with her bundle of linen. Tallinn watched her go, her hand still on the door handle to Reaver's study and she suddenly became aware that she'd been holding it the entire time. Frowning, she removed her hand and began to slowly walk down towards the kitchen.

As it happened the girl was absolutely right. There was to be an impromptu, impromptu for the staff at least, party that evening and lots needed to be done. Tallinn managed quite expertly to avoid doing anywhere near the amount of work that the rest of the staff had done by sneaking off into the gardens where she sat in the sun with her feet up reading a book, her special book, for most of the afternoon.

Eventually she'd been found by Barry who suggested quite strongly that she come in and get her uniform on to help with drinks. She complied and soon enough she was back in the house serving drinks from little silver trays to people that she didn't like.

It became apparent half way through the evening that more people had been invited that Geraldine had anticipated and they were suffering from a shortage of glasses, several of them having been smashed by Tallinn on another night.

As she was wandering into the kitchen in the middle of the party she fiddled with her dress.

"Stupid uniform, doesn't fit" she grumbled placing her tray down on the large table for more glasses of drink to be placed on it.

"Oh stop complaining we've got more important things to be worrying about than your uniform" flapped Geraldine.

Lucy leaned over to Tallinn "Wasn't your other one too big?" she asked concerned and Tallinn nodded huffily

"Yeah and this ones too small" she replied fiddling with the top half of the dress. While being fairly slim and average height Tallinn was, to put it politely, relatively well endowed in the chest area and the new uniforms had clearly been designed with someone of smaller proportions in mind.

Lucy looked at her friend objectively and could help but acknowledge that it really didn't leave much to the imagination.

"You look nice in it though" she said encouragingly and Tallinn managed a feint smile and a murmur of disbelief.

"Its no good" suddenly came Geraldine's flustered voice breaking in their conversation "we're going to have to get more glasses"

Hearing the word 'glasses' and nothing more because she always switched off when Geraldine was speaking, Tallinn looked down at her own still empty silver tray.

"I need some more glasses" she piped up unhelpfully.

Fuming, Geraldine whirled around to face her and planted on her such a look of fury that even Tallinn was a little taken aback

"I know you need more glasses but we haven't got any up here" she almost shouted "THAT is what I was just saying. Honestly Tallinn to are incorrigible sometimes!"

Everyone in the room was silent while Geraldine thought about what to do.

Eventually she looked at Tallinn with an entirely different expression on her face.

Tallinn looked at her.

They both knew where the extra glasses were kept.

In a box, in a cupboard, in a room that neither of them wanted to go in.

Not all the staff knew about this particular room. In fact only a handful did and it was up to this handful to maintain, clean and generally keep the place tidy.

As Geraldine was looking at her Tallinn's head began to shake ever so slightly as if refusing an instruction before it was even made.

Geraldine walked over to her drying her hands on her apron and Tallinn's shakes of the head were getting bigger the closer she got.

Leaning in to Tallinn Geraldine spoke in a low voice "Now don't make a scene. We don't want the staff to think there's anything odd. Just go and get the glasses. You'll be absolutely fine"

"I don't want to"

"I know that but you have to"

"Where's Reaver?"

"In his study with the gentlemen from Samarkand. Like I said you'll be fine"

She withdrew from Talli's immediate proximity and raised her eyebrows to the girl in an expression of encouragement and authority.

She actually felt sorry for the girl as she never saw Tallinn as genuinely uncomfortable and alarmed as she did when this room was factored in to something. Geraldine was aware that her employer had some rather unorthodox tastes in life that she didn't necessarily agree with and of course that was none of her business, each to their own and all that, and she was also aware that Talli had found herself included in these. It undoubtedly had an effect on the girl and that was why Geraldine felt sorry for her since her options were vastly limited in the way that she didn't have any.

Tallinn stared at Geraldine before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen.

She wandered through the house silently, eventually coming to a set of double doors at the bottom of a red carpeted staircase. She stood in front of them for a few minutes doing nothing, psyching herself up to go in. From an outside perspective it would have looked quite comical her standing there in front of some doors but Tallinn didn't feel very comical at that point.

Eventually she tried the door handle. She was hoping it would be locked and, as she didn't have a key, she wouldn't be able to get in but unfortunately for her it wasn't.

No, the door swung amiably open for her giving her a lovely view of the dimly lit room inside.

"_Stop being a baby and get on with it_" she thought crossly to herself and marched inside confidently. So confidently in fact that she marched accidentally into some wrist irons that were hanging from the ceiling. She let out a shriek similar to the one you might hear a simpering housewife make when she spies a mouse.

Tallinn batted the offending objects vigorously away from her with both hands and with such force that they came flying back and hit her in the head.

"Ow!" she exclaimed loudly and to nobody in particular, rubbing her head. Backing away from the hanging chains she bumped into one of the wooden stocks causing it to fall rather heavily and noisily against the wall.

Tallinn shot around to look at what she'd knocked over and then stood there for some time looking at it with a worried expression on her face as though she thought it was going to chastise her for knocking it over so unceremoniously.

She knew she should stand it back up again but she didn't really want to touch it. Eventually her hands reached for the wooden object and she hauled it upright in one swift motion and then rubbed her hands on the back of her dress trying to remove any trace of it from off her.

"Right, ok. Lets get these glasses and get out of here, creepy room" she said out loud but to herself.

She surveyed the room for the piece of furniture that she needed and there it was, at the back of the room directly next to one of the racks, less than friendly pieces of wooden furniture with two reels at either end of them.

Walking over to the cupboard she stopped in front of it with one eye still on the device.

After casting a glance around the rest of the room and at the door behind her she looked down at it with her head on one side and her eyebrows raised with an apprehensive expression on her face, the little furrow in her brow deepening, and poking the wood with her index finger.

She placed her hand on the narrow wooden pieces on the reel and moved them around slightly making the machine make a cranking noise.

"Weirdo" she mumbled to herself kicking one of the legs of the thing with her boot clad foot for no good reason.

"I hope you're not referring to me, that would be rude, especially in my own house" came Reaver's airy voice from some way behind her.

Instantly Tallinn dropped to her knees and began to rummage rather over enthusiastically in the cupboard in front of her.

"No I wasn't" she replied trying to sound nonchalant but knew that she probably wasn't.

"Really? And who were you referring to?" he replied.

She could hear him walking over to her. The 'stupid' sound of the 'stupid' metal bit on his 'stupid' cane on the 'stupid' floor of the 'stupid' room.

Tallinn was aware that she'd thought the word 'stupid' one too many times in that last sentence to herself but dismissed it.

She shuffled around on the floor only to be faced with his black boots in front of her. Sighing and standing up with two crystal glasses in her hands which she was holding not very delicately, she answered "I wasn't talking to anyone. I said 'I thought the glasses were in the other cupboard but they're _here though. _Why? What did you think I'd said?"

Her blue eyes stared up at him knowing full well that he wasn't going to buy her explanation but hoping that the effort she'd made to make something up on the spot would make a difference.

He raised one eyebrow and Tallinn remained quite impressively steadfast although you could tell she was dying to get out of the situation.

"Well well, and there was me thinking that you were calling me a weirdo" he said slowly and deliberately, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he knew exactly what she'd said but at the same time wasn't going to pursue it any further.

With a slightly birdlike twitch Tallinn shook her head


	8. Chapter 8

She badly wanted to slam the door behind her but thought better of it. After all Reaver wasn't exactly well known for being the most tolerant of people.

As she was just closing the door, quietly we might add, one of the housekeeping staff bumped into her looking flustered.

"Oh Tallinn, Geraldine wants _everyone_ down in the kitchen for an emergency staff meeting" she blurted out, her arms full of towels and bedding some of which was trailing along the floor behind her.

Tallinn looked disinterested

"Everyone?" she inquired and the girl nodded "Everyone. Barry's only just let us know that there are a group of investors travelling here from Samarkand. They're staying here and Master Reaver's putting on this big 'do' for them"

"But its Monday" said Tallinn pointedly "nothing happens on a Monday"

She was almost saying this to herself in protest to the information she was receiving and the girl nodded in agreement, still looking flustered

"I know. That's what I thought but there you go. Geraldine wants everyone down there to allocate jobs and get this ready"

The girl nodded encouragingly to Tallinn and disappeared down the corridor with her bundle of linen. Tallinn watched her go, her hand still on the door handle to Reaver's study and she suddenly became aware that she'd been holding it the entire time. Frowning, she removed her hand and began to slowly walk down towards the kitchen.

As it happened the girl was absolutely right. There was to be an impromptu, impromptu for the staff at least, party that evening and lots needed to be done. Tallinn managed quite expertly to avoid doing anywhere near the amount of work that the rest of the staff had done by sneaking off into the gardens where she sat in the sun with her feet up reading a book, her special book, for most of the afternoon.

Eventually she'd been found by Barry who suggested quite strongly that she come in and get her uniform on to help with drinks. She complied and soon enough she was back in the house serving drinks from little silver trays to people that she didn't like.

It became apparent half way through the evening that more people had been invited that Geraldine had anticipated and they were suffering from a shortage of glasses, several of them having been smashed by Tallinn on another night.

As she was wandering into the kitchen in the middle of the party she fiddled with her dress.

"Stupid uniform, doesn't fit" she grumbled placing her tray down on the large table for more glasses of drink to be placed on it.

"Oh stop complaining we've got more important things to be worrying about than your uniform" flapped Geraldine.

Lucy leaned over to Tallinn "Wasn't your other one too big?" she asked concerned and Tallinn nodded huffily

"Yeah and this ones too small" she replied fiddling with the top half of the dress. While being fairly slim and average height Tallinn was, to put it politely, relatively well endowed in the chest area and the new uniforms had clearly been designed with someone of smaller proportions in mind.

Lucy looked at her friend objectively and could help but acknowledge that it really didn't leave much to the imagination.

"You look nice in it though" she said encouragingly and Tallinn managed a feint smile and a murmur of disbelief.

"Its no good" suddenly came Geraldine's flustered voice breaking in their conversation "we're going to have to get more glasses"

Hearing the word 'glasses' and nothing more because she always switched off when Geraldine was speaking, Tallinn looked down at her own still empty silver tray.

"I need some more glasses" she piped up unhelpfully.

Fuming, Geraldine whirled around to face her and planted on her such a look of fury that even Tallinn was a little taken aback

"I know you need more glasses but we haven't got any up here" she almost shouted "THAT is what I was just saying. Honestly Tallinn to are incorrigible sometimes!"

Everyone in the room was silent while Geraldine thought about what to do.

Eventually she looked at Tallinn with an entirely different expression on her face.

Tallinn looked at her.

They both knew where the extra glasses were kept.

In a box, in a cupboard, in a room that neither of them wanted to go in.

Not all the staff knew about this particular room. In fact only a handful did and it was up to this handful to maintain, clean and generally keep the place tidy.

As Geraldine was looking at her Tallinn's head began to shake ever so slightly as if refusing an instruction before it was even made.

Geraldine walked over to her drying her hands on her apron and Tallinn's shakes of the head were getting bigger the closer she got.

Leaning in to Tallinn Geraldine spoke in a low voice "Now don't make a scene. We don't want the staff to think there's anything odd. Just go and get the glasses. You'll be absolutely fine"

"I don't want to"

"I know that but you have to"

"Where's Reaver?"

"In his study with the gentlemen from Samarkand. Like I said you'll be fine"

She withdrew from Talli's immediate proximity and raised her eyebrows to the girl in an expression of encouragement and authority.

She actually felt sorry for the girl as she never saw Tallinn as genuinely uncomfortable and alarmed as she did when this room was factored in to something. Geraldine was aware that her employer had some rather unorthodox tastes in life that she didn't necessarily agree with and of course that was none of her business, each to their own and all that, and she was also aware that Talli had found herself included in these. It undoubtedly had an effect on the girl and that was why Geraldine felt sorry for her since her options were vastly limited in the way that she didn't have any.

Tallinn stared at Geraldine before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen.

She wandered through the house silently, eventually coming to a set of double doors at the bottom of a red carpeted staircase. She stood in front of them for a few minutes doing nothing, psyching herself up to go in. From an outside perspective it would have looked quite comical her standing there in front of some doors but Tallinn didn't feel very comical at that point.

Eventually she tried the door handle. She was hoping it would be locked and, as she didn't have a key, she wouldn't be able to get in but unfortunately for her it wasn't.

No, the door swung amiably open for her giving her a lovely view of the dimly lit room inside.

"_Stop being a baby and get on with it_" she thought crossly to herself and marched inside confidently. So confidently in fact that she marched accidentally into some wrist irons that were hanging from the ceiling. She let out a shriek similar to the one you might hear a simpering housewife make when she spies a mouse.

Tallinn batted the offending objects vigorously away from her with both hands and with such force that they came flying back and hit her in the head.

"Ow!" she exclaimed loudly and to nobody in particular, rubbing her head. Backing away from the hanging chains she bumped into one of the wooden stocks causing it to fall rather heavily and noisily against the wall.

Tallinn shot around to look at what she'd knocked over and then stood there for some time looking at it with a worried expression on her face as though she thought it was going to chastise her for knocking it over so unceremoniously.

She knew she should stand it back up again but she didn't really want to touch it. Eventually her hands reached for the wooden object and she hauled it upright in one swift motion and then rubbed her hands on the back of her dress trying to remove any trace of it from off her.

"Right, ok. Lets get these glasses and get out of here, creepy room" she said out loud but to herself.

She surveyed the room for the piece of furniture that she needed and there it was, at the back of the room directly next to one of the racks, less than friendly pieces of wooden furniture with two reels at either end of them.

Walking over to the cupboard she stopped in front of it with one eye still on the device.

After casting a glance around the rest of the room and at the door behind her she looked down at it with her head on one side and her eyebrows raised with an apprehensive expression on her face, the little furrow in her brow deepening, and poking the wood with her index finger.

She placed her hand on the narrow wooden pieces on the reel and moved them around slightly making the machine make a cranking noise.

"Weirdo" she mumbled to herself kicking one of the legs of the thing with her boot clad foot for no good reason.

"I hope you're not referring to me, that would be rude, especially in my own house" came Reaver's airy voice from some way behind her.

Instantly Tallinn dropped to her knees and began to rummage rather over enthusiastically in the cupboard in front of her.

"No I wasn't" she replied trying to sound nonchalant but knew that she probably wasn't.

"Really? And who were you referring to?" he replied.

She could hear him walking over to her. The 'stupid' sound of the 'stupid' metal bit on his 'stupid' cane on the 'stupid' floor of the 'stupid' room.

Tallinn was aware that she'd thought the word 'stupid' one too many times in that last sentence to herself but dismissed it.

She shuffled around on the floor only to be faced with his black boots in front of her. Sighing and standing up with two crystal glasses in her hands which she was holding not very delicately, she answered "I wasn't talking to anyone. I said 'I thought the glasses were in the other cupboard but they're _here though. _Why? What did you think I'd said?"

Her blue eyes stared up at him knowing full well that he wasn't going to buy her explanation but hoping that the effort she'd made to make something up on the spot would make a difference.

He raised one eyebrow and Tallinn remained quite impressively steadfast although you could tell she was dying to get out of the situation.

"Well well, and there was me thinking that you were calling me a weirdo" he said slowly and deliberately, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he knew exactly what she'd said but at the same time wasn't going to pursue it any further.

With a slightly birdlike twitch Tallinn shook her head

Reaver leaned over her and ran his gloved finger over the top of the cupboard she had been searching for the glasses in

"Good to see my staff have been keeping this place spotless" he said to her checking the finger ends of the gloves for any traces of dust.

Tallinn just shrugged, still holding the two glasses close to her as though they were armour of some sort and would afford her some protection. Against what she wasn't sure.

He chuckled down at her passive expression. He always found it amusing how she attempted to look detached and nonchalant whenever she found herself in this particular room because he knew how much she hated it in there. The blanker her face became the more uncomfortable she was feeling and her expression at the moment was practically devoid of any feeling whatsoever.

"What are you doing down here anyway Tallinn?" he asked her eyeing the two crystal glasses

"These" she answered gesturing with the glasses "I'm getting these. For upstairs. They need some more"

"Have they run out upstairs?"

She nodded seriously

"How many have they run out of?"

She pondered this while looking up at the ceiling, squinting slightly, and genuinely trying to estimate how many were needed

"Don't know. About ten" she said eventually.

"And you are bringing them two? Party needs more glasses, send Tallinn to get some, Tallinn brings back two. Oh you are a sweet girl. A little useless at times but sweet"

He stroked her cheek with his forefinger in much the same way one would do to a cute baby or small child and Tallinn glared at him.

Without a word she shuffled out from between him and the cupboard and began to walk towards the door silently. She was cross at being treated like a child but couldn't think of anything witty to say. Or anything to say for that matter.

"Tallinn" Reaver called to her

She stopped walking and turned around.

"I've had a very boring meeting with some very boring people, my dear, so how about we stay down here and" he paused and the frown on Tallinn's forehead deepened "have a little '_play_'"

He smiled at her with his trademark self satisfied conceited smirk.

Tallinn felt like her stomach had just plummeted down through her body and was now in her rather shabby boots. Her arms went limp by her sides as if she'd just been told some devastating news and her face at this point couldn't have been more bereft of expression or feeling than if she had been a corpse.

Her blue eyes were fixed on him not because she wanted them to be but because she thought something awful might happen if she let him out of her sight.

He sauntered over to her, glancing around at the various items in the room as he did so, knowing that it was going to be far too tedious to get her to budge when she was like this

"I can see you're too excited for words" he said mockingly as he approached her and he chucked her under her chin "How splendid. Now put those glasses down and go and close the door"

Roughly an hour and a half later Reaver appeared at his own party, as usual making a long winded and fan fare like entrance.

Standing at the top of the stairs he gave everyone one a little speech about how happy he was they could come and how he was sorry he couldn't offer much but he hoped they all enjoyed themselves, all total nonsense and smothered in feigned humility, while Tallinn hovered behind him looking as if she'd rather be anywhere but there.

A couple of the girls who were waitressing scurried into the kitchen

"Tallinn's back" they announced to Geraldine who turned around hoping to see evidence of Tallinn's arrival and the glasses that should have come with her but she saw nothing

"Well where is she?" she demanded from the girls

"She's with Master Reaver, they just arrived"

"He's holding her hand" tittered another girl and Geraldine frowned.

It was true that as Reaver swaggered down the large staircase at the front of his manor he was indeed holding Tallinn's hand although from the look on her face and the vice like grip her hand was being held in it was more like she was being walked down death row than being affectionately escorted to a party, as the girls saw it to be.

As soon as he relinquished his grip on her hand Tallinn scuttled off to the kitchen. She didn't really want to go back in there and face everyone, especially having left the glasses behind, but she couldn't think of anywhere else to go where she would be largely unseen. She knew she couldn't leave, Reaver had told her to come to the party hence the hand holding, or 'dragging' as Tallinn saw it to be.

So she went into the kitchen and stood against the far wall looking sheepish

"Well aren't you helpful?" Geraldine gushed, rounding on her almost instantly "send you to get some glasses and an hour and a half later you turn up with _no_ glasses. I honestly don't know why you are still here. You don't _do_ anything"

Tallinn just looked at the floor and scuffed her boot against it.

Lucy sidled up to her. Her eyes looked a little red she thought, and she had red marks around her wrists

"Are you alright?" she asked Tallinn "What are those marks on your arms? Did you hurt yourself on the glasses?"

Tallinn's face turned an ever so slight shade of crimson and she placed her hands behind her back resting on them instead of the wall.

"I'm fine" she mumbled

Geraldine eyed her while the rest of the staff continued to bustle about

"What's wrong with you now?" she said as if she was talking to a small child, which to be fair, Tallinn mildly resembled at that moment

Tallinn looked up and her worried frown returned to her face

"You said he was in his study" she said accusingly to Geraldine, pointing her finger at her

"He was" returned Geraldine, not really wanting to go down this road with Tallinn

A few of the other girls were gathering around to listen

"What happened Tallinn?" one of them asked seeing her countenance and how it differed from her usual air

"Where you with Master Reaver? I'm so jealous, I wish he'd take me off somewhere" another giggled which set off the other three.

Tallinn rolled her eyes

"Well go and ask him to then" she replied disdainfully

"What's he like?" came another question agreed too after it was said by various inquisitive noises

"Yes, what does he do? Oh come on Tallinn, tell us, don't be a spoil sport"

"I don't know" she said irritably really really not wanting to be having this conversation. The other option however was to go out into the party and mingle with Reaver's already half cut guests and, perhaps more distasteful than that prospect, Reaver himself. That was something she defiantly didn't want to see, more of Reaver's conceited smirking face. It made her frown deepen just thinking about it.


	9. Chapter 9

"You don't know what he does?" giggled one of the girls when Geraldine interrupted

"Tallinn, Reaver's guests need drinks. Go and take them over" she ordered placing a tray full of drinks into Tallinn's hands

Tallinn looked at Geraldine almost imploringly

"I really don't want to" she whined but to no avail as Geraldine completely ignored her and walked off to deal with something else.

Standing still and looking at the drinks and then at Lucy, Tallinn eventually wandered off out into the main room and surveyed the mingling guests. She easily spotted the four men from Samarkand who had come in their national dress and "Oh good" she thought to herself sarcastically "they're of course with Reaver".

She rolled her eyes and shuffled unenthusiastically over to where they were all sat and placed the tray a little noisily down on the ornate table in front of the sofas.

She was hoping to put it down and then leave but no Reaver just had to pipe up didn't he?

"Ah gentlemen this is Tallinn Becket, one of my loyal staff" he said slightly mockingly and she looked pointedly over at the other side of the room trying to ignore him.

The visitors all looked up and smiled pleasantly if not slightly leeringly and she ignored them too.

"Tallinn could you hand me a glass of that lovely drink you so kindly brought over? Its just a little too far away for me to reach" Reaver continued annoyingly.

Tallinn frowned at him. It wasn't too far away at all but he knew she didn't want to really be around him at that point and was taking at least a small measure of delight in keeping her there. She looked at the glass and then at him, albeit fleetingly, before stomping around the table taking up the glass and brusquely handing it to Reaver.

He took it carefully and rather overtly slowly before bestowing on her his usual conceited smirk

"Thank you my dear" he drawled.

Reaver turned to the assembled businessmen

"You see what a good employee she is? So helpful, so useful, so willing to give" he went on, this time addressing Tallinn who was looking petulant "Why don't you come and sit here next to me?"

He patted the furnishing next to him on the sofa and Tallinn's frown turned into a glare.

"I" she began but stopped herself. She had wanted to say her own trademark phrase of 'I don't want to' but of course she couldn't be seen to be disagreeing with her employer especially at something official as this was.

So poor Tallinn had no choice, as was per usual, but to acquiesce. She walked around the table further and planted herself heavily on the sofa next to Reaver attempting by means of the look on her face to make it very clear to him that she didn't want to be there. He of course, ignored her cross expression and her pointed stares and casually draped his left arm over her shoulder and began to fiddle slightly with the straps of her dress

"Good girl" he said which brought forth another stony glare from Tallinn which he again cheerfully ignored.

The conversation then continued between them on a more business level and they discussed more of what they had been talking about in his study.

Tallinn made a point of sitting as rigidly as she could for the first half an hour of the conversation so that in no uncertain terms Reaver would at least know that she hated it. Unfortunately for her she began to find the things being talked about a little too interesting to keep that ruse up and she finished the evening, having procured a drink for herself at Reaver's suggestion, looking rather too comfortable and relaxed than Geraldine thought she should have been.

The next morning she was sat at the top of the stairs. She often sat there in the mornings. She had a clothes peg clipped to her finger and she was absent mindedly twirling it around.

Suddenly a voice spoke from upwards and behind her

"Last night's toy?"

She jumped and shot her head around

"What?" she spluttered

"Is that last night's toy"?

It was of course Barry Hatch, Reaver's rather unscrupulous butler.

"I...what?" Tallinn said again staring at him with the peg still clipped absurdly to her finger. She had that blank look on her face that she got when she was uncomfortable, even Barry was aware of it.

"Don't worry Miss" he said seeing her expression and walking down a couple of the stairs so as to be more level with her "I'm nothing if I'm not 'broadminded'"

He purposely accentuated the word 'broadminded' with such a comical expression on his face that Tallinn giggled.

"Each to their own I say, for instance as you know I happen to think Hobbes are quite sexy"

Tallinn's giggles got louder while Barry continued airily

"You, on the other hand, might be one of those types that find walls quite a turn on. But I wouldn't judge you for it. I'd bring my Hobbe to your wall and we could have a double date"

Tallinn was now helplessly laughing at his monologue.

It was quite rare for Tallinn to laugh so much and that was because she often didn't get what people were meaning because most people were quite reserved, especially when talking about things like this but with Barry Hatch it was difficult if not impossible to not understand what he meant and you certainly couldn't call him reserved.

"Now Master Reaver, well I don't think I've met a more broadminded individual in all my life. Quite an inspiration" Barry humorously stared into the distance presumably contemplating the inspirational factors of Reaver's perversities.

Tallinn was in fits at the thought of Reaver being inspirational because of those things. She could think of a few reasons why some people might find him motivational at a pinch but certainly not that. Anything but that.

As she was wiping away the tears from her eyes and Barry was staring 'inspirationally' into the distance Geraldine came bustling up behind them both.

"What in Albion is all this noise? What's so funny?" she demanded of Tallinn

"Hobbes and walls, Madame" Barry answered for Tallinn and she began to giggle ever so slightly again.

"Hobbes and walls?" Geraldine repeated looking cross

"Yes indeed Madame. I think you should get your hearing checked out. You might need one of those new fangled things in your ears"

Barry could be wonderfully rude sometimes without actually sounding rude. In fact he sounded like he was being genuinely thoughtful most of the time while actually either being sarcastic or downright rude as he was just then.

Geraldine looked at him surprised and reached up to feel her ears. Barry smiled pleasantly to her and then addressed Tallinn

"I'm going to Bowerstone Market to run a few errands. Would you like to join me Miss?"

Tallinn nodded and got up off the step and followed Barry leaving Geraldine fiddling with her ears.


End file.
