Chapter 170: The Price of Shiny Things
Chapter 170: The Price of Shiny Things
Elyn’s POV
I smiled at Rin.
It wasn’t a big smile. It wasn’t warm or teasing or indulgent. It was the kind of smile that looked pleasant on the surface but carried a very clear message underneath it.
"You would like that, wouldn’t you?" I asked her, with that same smile plastered on my face.
She nodded. "Yes, my lady, very much."
"Too bad," I said to her as I let the smile drop instantly. "You are not getting any shiny jewel from me."
Rin’s reaction was immediate and dramatic.
She gasped loudly, one hand flying to her chest as if I had just stabbed her through the heart with an invisible blade.
"My lady, surely you didn’t say no, right?" she asked me.
"I did," I told her. "My answer to you requesting a shiny jewel is no."
"No?" she repeated, aghast. "Why would you say no, my lady? I gave you the answer to what you asked me."
Azerion snorted. "After an eternity," he said, and Aziren nodded, even though I was sure he had no idea what was going on right now.
"No one asked you, you snake," Rin told him.
"Bird."
"Snake."
"Bird."
"Snake."
I knew if I let this continue, they’d go at it for hours.
"Shut up, both of you," I said sternly, and they immediately went quiet.
I turned back to Rin. "Like I said, my answer is no."
Her mouth fell open.
She looked genuinely betrayed.
"But—" she sputtered. "My lady... this... this..."
She turned to Versha. "Is this when I say she’s playing with my feelings?"
Versha shook her head. "Emotional blackmail, I think," she told Rin, who nodded.
"My lady, this is emotional blackmail. You are playing with my feelings," she told me.
I didn’t reply. I just gave her a bored look.
Rin stared at me as if trying to determine whether I had been possessed by a crueler spirit than usual.
"My lady," she whined.
"Rin," I said, copying her tone.
"This is..." She turned to Versha again. "Is coercing the word?" she asked.
Versha shook her head. "I’m not sure it’s coercing. Perhaps manipulation?"
"Or injustice?"
"Oh, that might work too," Versha told her.
Rin nodded after consulting her oracle—which was Versha—then turned to me.
"This is coercive injustice, my lady," she told me.
I almost laughed at that. Manipulation was the more accurate word, considering what I was about to do, but this was Rin after all. She didn’t care; she was just asking Versha because Versha was here right now.
"The only way," I said evenly, "that you will actually get anything shiny is if you go and find Vaelory."
Silence.
Rin’s shoulders slumped slightly as realization dawned on her. Then she scowled.
"Why?" she asked, like the thought disgusted her. "It’s not my fault she wants Naviel. I even advised her not to go."
I raised an eyebrow.
"You did?" I asked mildly.
"Yes, my lady," she told me.
My senses tingled. She was lying.
"Really?" I asked again.
Rin hesitated this time.
She lifted a hand and began to play with a strand of her hair, twisting it around her finger in a way that immediately set off alarms in my head.
"Well," she muttered, eyes darting away, "I said it in my head."
I stared at her.
"But I didn’t think she wouldn’t hear me," Rin added defensively. "I mean, I thought about it very loudly."
I gave her an unimpressed look.
"...It’s really not my fault," she added weakly.
"I can imagine," I said dryly.
She cleared her throat and quickly changed tactics. "Well, if I’m supposed to go find her," she said, "then who’s going to inform Kethra about the picnic?"
Without hesitation, I lifted my hand and pointed at Versha.
Versha inclined her head immediately. "I will take care of it, Your Highness."
Rin whipped around to stare at her. "But Versha has duties!"
Versha blinked all eight of her eyes in unison.
"So do you," I said calmly. "And one of them is the duty I just gave you."
Rin looked back at me, her mouth opening to protest again, but I continued before she could.
"That duty," I added, "is to find Vaelory—especially before she does something she won’t be able to endure afterward."
Rin pouted.
It was an impressive pout, I had to give her that. Her lower lip jutted out just enough to look wounded, her brows furrowing as if she had been deeply wronged by the universe itself.
"...Fine," she muttered. "I’ll do it."
She said it, but she didn’t move.
Rin remained exactly where she was, making no sign of even moving.
I stared at her.
"Rin," I said slowly.
"Yes, my lady," she replied promptly.
"...Why are you still here?"
"I said I’d do it," she answered.
"I heard you," I said. "Now go."
She nodded. "I’m going."
She still didn’t move.
Azerion giggled quietly beside me.
Aziren tilted his head, watching Rin with open curiosity.
Rin turned to me again. "I’m really going now."
I nodded.
She stayed rooted to the spot.
"I’m really, really going," she insisted.
I exhaled slowly through my nose.
"Rin," I said, exasperated, "go."
I closed my eyes. Then I opened them and said, "If you go, I’ll give you a shiny jewel."
The change was instantaneous.
Rin beamed.
Her pout vanished, replaced by a radiant, delighted grin that practically lit up the room.
"I’ll go now!" she chirped.
Before I could respond, she shifted.
Dark feathers rippled across her form in a seamless blur, bones and flesh rearranging in a blink, until a raven stood where Rin had been moments ago.
The raven let out a pleased caw, then shot through the open window in a streak of black feathers.
I sighed.
The office felt quieter without her.
I turned toward Versha, but before I could speak, she spoke up.
"I’ll have the maids prepare the picnic immediately," she said. "And I’ll send a gargoyle to inform Kethra."
"No," I said quickly.
Versha paused.
"...No, Your Highness?"
"Don’t send a gargoyle," I clarified. "Send a different demon, if possible."
Versha tilted her head, her eight eyes blinking once, slowly.
"Why?"