Enmity of Atlas

“Cool. Give me half an hour to bathe, and we can head over to see Staria,” Trenton finished, quickly heading up to his room to a steaming bath kept warm by a heating rune at the bottom of the basin. After thoroughly washing all of the dirt and grime out of his skin, Trenton headed downstairs and out the front door, where he found Leo waiting.

The two made their way down the driveway of the Boulreguard manor, where they saw Zsolt, the Boulreguards carriage driver, idling the hours away, absentmindedly grooming one of the horses. They grabbed his attention, and with only a single word spoken, the three set off to the local flower shop where Staria worked.

Along the way, Trenton and Leo made light conversation with the driver, taking time to gaze out across the passing city landscapes, marveling at the beautiful nobles' houses designed by great architects slowly passing them by as they made quite leisurely pace. Aria wasn’t particularly known for its architecture, but with so many people living in one place, it was bound to have some impressive design. And certainly, it did. It had a very famous tiered garden designed by some old architect, whose name building nerds love to bring up. Supposedly, Zerital also had a tiered garden designed by the same guy, but neither Trenton nor Leo had ever been able to leave the city to see it, so it was mostly rumor.

The cart rumbled slightly as it passed atop the uneven stones of a small bridge. Below, a river bubbled peacefully along, nobally carrying whatever stray trash or objects random denizens decided to entrust to it. However, the real attraction sat between the bridge and the river. Hanging from the underside of the bridge was a lovely little diner called The Hanged Man, which was built above the river with a marvelous glass floor to behold the natural site in all its glory.

“Hey Leo, how about we take Staria to the Hanged Man for some late lunch. We haven't been there in ages,” Trenton asked, tapping the ground to signify its location. Leo leaned out of the cart to look into the river, taking care not to fall out.

“That’s the really fancy one under the bridge, right?” Leo asked, with a mildly interested tone.

“Yeah!” Trenton said enthusiastically.

“Sure, why not?” Leo shrugged. Trenton and Leo had been close friends since they were little kids running around the city with their friend Kolas. And, they only grew closer when Kolas killed himself. So, their conversations often turned out quite like this–short and simple–enjoying the peace of the moment, rather than filling it up with pointless chatter. Almost as if their presence alone was more comforting to each other than words.

The carriage slowed to a stop outside of an extravagant building with large double doors blocking the entry in. Although technically it counted as a “local” flower shop, that title was rather misleading. After all, anything local to a nobleman's district was bound to be impressive. And in the case of Collies, the largest flower emporium in Aria, that happened to be undeniably true. The multitiered shopping center was visible even from some miles away, its high domed top a spectacle for all that passed.

“Just a moment Zsolt, we’ll be right back,” Trenton said over his shoulder as the two boys hopped out of the cart, pushing past the large doors to enter the building. They stepped onto a large open sales floor where dozens of groups of shoppers meandered about, gazing longingly at the impressive displays of flowers lining the walls and hanging from the 1st floor's ceiling in large round bottomed pots. Around the ground floor, intermittently dispersed, were marvelous marmoreal pillars keeping the place structurally sound despite the vast size of the room. Around these pillars, in little holders, sat magical lights, keeping the floor bright and lively in the spots that the sun couldn’t quite hit. And, across almost the entirety of the left hand wall, was the counter, where several workers sat waiting for customers to bring forth their requests.

Across the floor, a man in a tightly fitted silk suit made his way over to Trenton and Leo, a bright spark in his eyes. “Evening, boys! Fancy seeing you here at this hour, thought your folks would send a servant if they needed anything, especially today,” the man said, slightly bowing his head.

“Hey Juluvian. Thought I’d take a stroll around town before the ball. it’s not like I’ve anywhere to be for some hours anyway,” Trenton said, shaking hands with Juluvian.

“Is Staria working right now?” Leo chimed in, peeking out from behind Trenton.

“Oh course! I should have guessed. I believe she's on the top floor right now with a customer. Don’t let me stop you,” Juluvian responded, waving his hand towards the stairs leading to the higher floors.

With a nod of thanks, Trenton and Leo made their way up the stairs to the top floor. Unlike the bottom floors, this area was mostly decorative–a space to entertain guests of honor who were looking to make big purchases. Plush couches and fancy low tables adorned the room, with curtains hanging from the ceiling able to be drawn in case multiple deals were taking place at the same time. You didn’t even need strong runes to make the sound dampening effect work. A handful of weak ones were more than enough to make average conversation chatter fall completely silent.

In the center of the room, was Staria entertaining a guest, saucers with warm teacups in each of their hands. Without moving her head, she quickly glanced over at Trenton and Leo quietly standing at the top of the stairwell.

“Well sir, I believe we were in agreeance then?” She said, holding out her hand to shake.

“Of course, pleasure doing business,” he said, slightly standing up to shake her hand.

“Wonderful! I’ll have the contract drafted and sent to your address to be signed,” she finished, gesturing pleasantly to the stairwell, indicating his wellcome was over. As he turned around, Trenton recognized the man as one of the duke's advisers.

“Trenton, fancy seeing you here. Let me tell you, Teiv had been nearly head over heels waiting for the ball tonight. I suppose the man really loves his formal events, couldn’t figure why,” he said, grabbing a handkerchief from his waistband to stifle a burp, “excuse me. Anyway, a pleasure,” he finished absentmindedly, making sure not to touch Trenton or Leo as he passed them. When he'd fully and truly gone, the two boys took seats across from Staria, who had remained sitting this entire time.

“Gods, that man must just love the sound of his own voice. We’ve been talking for the last two hours trying to come to some sort of final deal, but he just kept going off on tangents. It was all I had to even keep him on the topic of flowers. Hell, my shift was supposed to end half an hour ago,” Staria relaxed into the couch, letting her perfect customer service demeanor slip, “hey, but you didn’t hear that from me, right?”

Leo threw his hands up, “Heard what from who, when, where, and why, exactly?”

“Don’t need to be so extra about it. Just say ok, and move on. I haven't eaten all day and I want to get some food. Walibeld threw me out of bed this morning at four saying, ‘you’ve been getting too much sleep. There’s light outside, let’s go,’” Trenton fibbed in a slightly mocking tone. “I’m not kidding either! He really said that!”

“Oh I’m sure. That’s so like him,” Staria laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Exactly, thank you,” Trenton said.

“Well since your shifts ended, do you want to go get a late lunch? Trenton said he wanted to go eat at the…that place under the bridge with the glass floor, and it was got those really cool balcony seats with th-”

“The Hanged Man,” Trenton interrupted, astonished. “I literally told you its name on the way here. How did you forget it?”

“It's been a while since I’ve been there,” Leo said, eyes downtrodden, clearly embarrassed.

“C’mon Trenton. Bullying is bad, and we don’t do that here,” Staria said, shaking her head in an exaggerated manner.

“I let him go for a while. I thought he’d get around to it eventually. Whatever, let’s go,” Trenton said, waving everyone up, and making his way towards the stairs, “Zsolt is waiting ever so patiently outside. It’d be rude to keep him waiting.”

Without waiting for further permission, the three of them quickly made their way outside and into the still parked cart, the workers giving them courteous “farewells” as they passed by. Once everyone was filed nicely inside, Zsolt took them back to the bridge, parking on a side road where a staircase parallel with the bridge led to a small walking path, which stopped just shy of the entryway to the quite impressive hanging restaurant.

Once inside, a server led them across the glass floor to a balcony table on the second floor which overlooked the river. The Hanged Man was known for its glass floor design, allowing one to see from the top floor all the way to the river, but Trenton had always preferred this balcony seat instead. It was far away from the usual rabble of the crowded restaurant, which gave Leo a nice break, and allowed for easier conversation to flow. After a couple minutes, a server came by to take their orders, sending it to the kitchen to be made.

The service here was usually excellent, with adept waiters and masterful cooks able to produce high end meals in less than 20 minutes. Despite this, it wasn’t often that Trenton got to eat here. The Boulreguards, and most nobles, in fact, had personal chefs to see to their every whim and desire. Some foods were more difficult to get than others, with imported goods being exceedingly rare, but that just meant the price tag was a bit higher. If you were willing to throw enough blank checks around, you could still get whatever you wanted.

Still though, it was no exaggeration to say that imported goods came at nearly exorbitant prices. Few companies were willing to risk traveling the plains with valuable goods, or even at all, really. The Eastern Trading Company notably cornered the market on most trading, but even their deliveries were few and far between to a small city hiding in the corner like Aria. Hell, even Dasellium–the biggest city on the continent–didn’t rely on trades. So, because of this, all of the cities had to be fully self-sufficient, with most imports just being luxury items for the nobles with deep enough pockets.

As they waited for their food, the three idled the hours away with some light hearted banter, taking a moment's peace in their own little slice of heaven to enjoy themselves. Truly, what a lovely day.

Before long, their meals even arrived, three masterfully crafted dishes, plated with the care of a delicate mothers touch, waiting to delight. As they ate, Trenton noticed the breeze from earlier picking back up, creating a pleasant draft against his back and drying off the sweat that had accumulated from the day's heat, making this moment even more divine.

When they were all finished, they sat and talked for a while, using any excuse they could to remain loitering in the peaceful restaurant, as opposed to the various duties they might have been tasked with should they deign to return to their respective homes. However, time was a luxury that so quickly passed by, and with the evening ever approaching, the lot eventually decided to leave, thinking better of a bit of labor done than a scolding for being late. But as they moved to get up, a man opened the glass doors to the balcony, a man robed in common silks–not the fine raiment of the employed staff.