Damian had a plan.
It was simple.
I was the bait.
Sigh.
"Is the tea bad, sir?" said the kitty maid, Molly.
Her attitude towards me had changed considerably over the last couple of days. When I first met her, she was distant and often hissed behind my back. I pretended to never hear that. But these days she stared my way and would sometimes even purr and swirl her tail when I praised her. Apparently, this was normal for the Feline people to show their trust and affection but I was astonished at the fact that she didn't have the bare minimum of sympathy for the old David.
I thought changing rapidly would be a problem and in some senses it was. People were getting suspicious but considering I was a child and often did the same stupid shit I did in the past (albeit willingly), they were just taking it as 'normal'. Or at least I thought that was case but only time could tell.
"No, this is pretty good actually," I said. Molly smiled and her tail wiggled from left to right, almost like a dog's but just slowly. "Can I-" I stopped.
No, that's inappropriate.
"Yes, my lord?" she stared down, concerned.
"No, it's nothing."
"If it's within my powers, you can ask for anything!" She nearly breathed on my neck, close…
"Can I touch… your tail?"
"M'kay," she swirled and her tail floated close to my face. I could probably catch a whiff I tried; I didn't.
Soft, kind of smooth like a cat's, but a little different in texture. Also, longer and thicker. Something else was also close to my vision but I ignored that. The tail was more interesting anyway.
"Do you have any sensation, here?"
"Yes," she said, and quite normally too. "It is similar to having a third arm but just not as useful or even, ow-" she groaned softly.
"Sorry," I said, letting the tail go. I might have grabbed it a bit too tightly.
"No worries," she flashed a smile and returned back to her usual position. "Are you feeling better?"
"I am… why?"
"You seemed so… distracted and sad."
"Sad? I looked sad?"
"Yes…"
"Don't worry, I'm not sad. If anything, I'm sort of overjoyed. I always wanted to touch your ta- ahem!"
Creepy, creepy, creepy, shut up!
She snickered. "I think you mean you were 'interested' in my tail. Yes?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now please finish your tea, we have a guest waiting for us in the guestroom."
"Guest?"
"Yes, did you forget already? Lord Damian told you-"
"Oh, right, sorry."
Okay, I might have gotten a bit too excited over her tail.
***
The man looked to be about forty. He wore a turban and a dress I hadn't seen in person before; a Salwar. I thought only women wore those in Asia but I suppose men wore them too? Dude actually looked good in that.
His thick mustache was kind of bare without a proper beard but who was I to judge? I had neither.
"Welcome, Mr. Alebn," I said. "I am David Galford, the third son of Dominic Galford, and Damian's brother. I'm sure you are already acquainted with my father and Damian."
He smiled. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, young man," he said. "Yes, I am familiar with your family. But I didn't expect you to be so…"
"Small?"
"Young," he laughed. "So tell me, sir David, what would you have me do?"
"I think you misunderstand Mr. Alebn. I didn't call you here to make you do something for me, but rather I need you to get me some things."
"That is making me do something you know but sure, sure."
I didn't know why but I liked this man. He seemed to be the type to get work done, at least so far that was the impression. "I need you to get me these books," I said. "And deliver them to this room."
"Hmm… why not order them through your library's network? Won't you get the copies cheaper?"
"Yes, but I have my reasons which I'm sure you won't be clueless enough to inquire."
The man broke into laughter. He really loved to laugh, huh? "Right, right. Everyone has their reasons for using my services and it's unprofessional of me to ask such questions…" he kept laughing. "Then let me ask a different question; why me? Surely you have other sources."
"Well, let's just say we might need to use some other service of yours while you're on the job."
"Ah, I see. Very well then Sir David, I, Alebn will take this job."
"We haven't even discussed your payment."
"I will leave that to your better judgement. I do not demand excess but if I think you are cheating me good sir, I will not return to offer you my services in the future."
"Duly noted."
"Pleasure doing business with you sir," he stood on his feet and offered me his hand.
I shook it and on good faith. Hopefully, this was good enough to set Damian's plans in motion and get me out of trouble.
And yes, trouble. Dude really wanted me to get tangled up in all sorts of shit. I was starting to think maybe he didn't really like me after all and was looking forward to ridding me of my meager existence.
Sigh.