Shipment from Haqs
Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:32 pm
Searing 82nd, 121. The Knob's End Nursery, Zaichaer
Jane leaned against the threshold of the door to the greenhouse, a wooden, folding fan in hand as she desperately attempted to cool herself. It was a particularly hot day, the sun blazing through the glass panes, creating an nigh intolerable heat within the humid nursery. Work was proving to be a challenge as it felt like her vitality was being drained from her body with each passing minute. She had always been particularly warm natured, preferring the cooler temperatures of Ash and Glade, so tolerating this condensed Searing heat was a new and thoroughly unpleasant experience. A large watering can sat next to her, filled to the brim and read to use, but the young woman simply could not find the strength to carry it.
That is, until the smell of noxious smoke wafted through the door, stirring Jane into a panic. She snapped her fan closed and tucked it into the pocket of her apron, attempting to seem like she was in the midst of work. She hefted up the heavy watering can just as Ma'am walked in wearing her usual bitter scowl. The haggard woman wrinkled her nose from behind her pipe, taking it in her hand to speak.
“Don't pretend, I know you weren't working”, she sneered contemptuously.
“I'm sorry! I—this heat, you see, it's just--”, Jane stuttered.
“This heat what? What about it? It's Searing, you'd think you'd be used to it by now”, Ma'am spat, looking around the nursery. Her scrunched her eyes.
“Only half of these plots have been watered. What have you been doing out here?”
Jane blinked, composing herself, “I was trying to say—I've been feeling—“
“I don't pay you to “feel”, I pay you to work, so work! If you don't “feel” like working I can just keep the gold for myself”, the woman spat, finishing with a deep draw on her pipe.
“No, no, no, I can do it, I can do it!”, With a grunt, Jane lifted the watering can over the loamy soil, straining as she tried to control the flow of the stream. Her arms shook and sweat rolled down her back.
“Soft girl....You wouldn't last a day below the Northlands,” Ma'am clicked her tongue, watching as her employee struggled.
Her patience thin, Jane sighed, easing the can onto the ground, “Then I suppose I should think to consider myself fortunate not to live there.”
“...What?”, Ma'am shook her head, confused, “Why the fuck do you talk like that? Just say you're lucky, plain and simple! I don't know who the hell you're pretending to be. Is that how people talk in those books you always read?”
“No”, Jane answered flatly, continuing to water the plants. Her delicate choice of words, while acceptable and expected among Bluebloods, was wholly disdained by the crass woman. Between here and the Hobbled Gobbler, she had to train herself to adapt a much more relaxed manner of speech, but tended to lapse under stress. As for her books, it wasn't worth trying to explain to Ma'am what she was reading. Even if she bothered to know she'd likely not understand, so Jane considered it easier to let her think she was indulging in vapid romance novels and fantasies like the trifling girl she considered her to be. It was moments like this where she felt like she truly loathed this woman and focused on her work to quell her temper.
Ma'am, as satisfied as she could be with her employee at that moment, turned to answer the sound of a bell as someone entered her store. She lingered before she exited the greenhouse.
“By the way, we're expecting a shipment of mulch from Haqs today, so be ready. I'll let you know when they get here.”
With that she disappeared and Jane was left alone, grateful to be rid of unpleasant woman. She sighed and again took out her fan, now attempting to cool her nerves. How such a person could continue to exist without succumbing to any number of enemies was beyond her. The fantasy of reporting her to the State for "questionable” behavior crossed her mind and she imagined a platoon of soldiers dragging Ma'am out of her store and into the back of some barred carriage. Jane knew it was within her right to do so, having plenty of evidence against the horrid woman, but by now she was almost as much of an accomplice. Perhaps that's how Ma'am kept her allies. What a truly miserable existence.
Jane leaned against the threshold of the door to the greenhouse, a wooden, folding fan in hand as she desperately attempted to cool herself. It was a particularly hot day, the sun blazing through the glass panes, creating an nigh intolerable heat within the humid nursery. Work was proving to be a challenge as it felt like her vitality was being drained from her body with each passing minute. She had always been particularly warm natured, preferring the cooler temperatures of Ash and Glade, so tolerating this condensed Searing heat was a new and thoroughly unpleasant experience. A large watering can sat next to her, filled to the brim and read to use, but the young woman simply could not find the strength to carry it.
That is, until the smell of noxious smoke wafted through the door, stirring Jane into a panic. She snapped her fan closed and tucked it into the pocket of her apron, attempting to seem like she was in the midst of work. She hefted up the heavy watering can just as Ma'am walked in wearing her usual bitter scowl. The haggard woman wrinkled her nose from behind her pipe, taking it in her hand to speak.
“Don't pretend, I know you weren't working”, she sneered contemptuously.
“I'm sorry! I—this heat, you see, it's just--”, Jane stuttered.
“This heat what? What about it? It's Searing, you'd think you'd be used to it by now”, Ma'am spat, looking around the nursery. Her scrunched her eyes.
“Only half of these plots have been watered. What have you been doing out here?”
Jane blinked, composing herself, “I was trying to say—I've been feeling—“
“I don't pay you to “feel”, I pay you to work, so work! If you don't “feel” like working I can just keep the gold for myself”, the woman spat, finishing with a deep draw on her pipe.
“No, no, no, I can do it, I can do it!”, With a grunt, Jane lifted the watering can over the loamy soil, straining as she tried to control the flow of the stream. Her arms shook and sweat rolled down her back.
“Soft girl....You wouldn't last a day below the Northlands,” Ma'am clicked her tongue, watching as her employee struggled.
Her patience thin, Jane sighed, easing the can onto the ground, “Then I suppose I should think to consider myself fortunate not to live there.”
“...What?”, Ma'am shook her head, confused, “Why the fuck do you talk like that? Just say you're lucky, plain and simple! I don't know who the hell you're pretending to be. Is that how people talk in those books you always read?”
“No”, Jane answered flatly, continuing to water the plants. Her delicate choice of words, while acceptable and expected among Bluebloods, was wholly disdained by the crass woman. Between here and the Hobbled Gobbler, she had to train herself to adapt a much more relaxed manner of speech, but tended to lapse under stress. As for her books, it wasn't worth trying to explain to Ma'am what she was reading. Even if she bothered to know she'd likely not understand, so Jane considered it easier to let her think she was indulging in vapid romance novels and fantasies like the trifling girl she considered her to be. It was moments like this where she felt like she truly loathed this woman and focused on her work to quell her temper.
Ma'am, as satisfied as she could be with her employee at that moment, turned to answer the sound of a bell as someone entered her store. She lingered before she exited the greenhouse.
“By the way, we're expecting a shipment of mulch from Haqs today, so be ready. I'll let you know when they get here.”
With that she disappeared and Jane was left alone, grateful to be rid of unpleasant woman. She sighed and again took out her fan, now attempting to cool her nerves. How such a person could continue to exist without succumbing to any number of enemies was beyond her. The fantasy of reporting her to the State for "questionable” behavior crossed her mind and she imagined a platoon of soldiers dragging Ma'am out of her store and into the back of some barred carriage. Jane knew it was within her right to do so, having plenty of evidence against the horrid woman, but by now she was almost as much of an accomplice. Perhaps that's how Ma'am kept her allies. What a truly miserable existence.