Robin Owens - Enchanted Ever After

What did that mean?

Jenni’s husband, Aric, came up and wrapped a hand over her shoulder. “Enough business talk.” He frowned. “Clouds have rolled in and I don’t like the feel of the wind. Let’s talk with Rafe and Amber.” He inclined his head to Kiri, blinked, then said, “Ah, I mean socialize.”

New game. Exclusive. Preliminary testing. Before Kiri could get even one of the questions swirling in her head to her mouth, Jenni had stood and she and Aric had moved away.

Then he stepped from the shadow of a tree near the front gate and Kiri’s heart began to pound. He moved with casual sophistication through the gathering. She’d been wary of him the night before—all right, she’d been a little scared of the man—doubted his claims that he was an Eight Corp rep. But here he was. He still evoked a buzz of fascination along her nerves.

The man nodded to Aric, inclined his head at Jenni, lifted his hand to the Davails, but Kiri got the idea that he wasn’t local.

Finally, he reached her and he made a half bow that Kiri had only seen in movies and at Ren Faires. Never had one aimed at her in real life. “Lathyr Tricurrent,” he said with an accent she couldn’t place. His hand dipped into his pocket and came out with another blue-green card. He held it to her. She just stared at the pasteboard.

After a few seconds, she took it and tried a tiny experiment. She let go and it fell to the table. The card landed faceup and she saw his name and Eight Corp engraved on it in dark blue.

“I believe Jenni spoke to you about our new project.” Again that fluid accent.

Somehow, as she’d watched him move to her, in that short amount of time, she’d forgotten the first dozen questions she’d wanted to ask. She took a sip of her drink. “Jenni said it was a new game.”

“We are doing preliminary work and hope to market it before the winter holidays.”

“Ah.”

“Stage one is a prelude to the game and mostly developed.” She met his eyes and couldn’t seem to look away. They were deep blue, and his pupils dilated when he looked at her. He liked what he saw? That was nice and she felt heat crawl along her neck and up into her face. So stupid to stare, but she couldn’t stop it.

His eyes were so pretty, blue and misty, and there seemed to be even more of a depth that sucked her down and she heard the rushing of air in her ears and the humidity of the day was pressing against her so she felt droplets on her skin and her breath was caught in her chest and reality seemed to fade and gray fog edged her vision....

* * *

Lathyr glanced aside and Kiri panted, sucking air. Her shirt was sticking to her. So not sophisticated. Could she be any more lame?

“Have some water,” he said. His voice seemed to fade, then amplify in her ears. Ebb, flow.

Get a grip!

“Thanks,” she managed weakly, but she couldn’t seem to reach for the bottle. She looked up to see his long fingers twist off the top and set another plastic bottle of carbonated raspberry water into her curved fingers. Her hand trembled, tightened on the bottle, squirted water.

Damn! Now her cheeks were hot from embarrassment.

“Lathyr,” said Jenni Weavers with a scold in her tone, walking up to them.

“My apologies,” he said.

Kiri managed to get the bottle to her lips and gulp down her drink. Thankfully, she didn’t choke. Her brain felt fuzzy, as if there was stuff going on around her that she didn’t see. Maybe like she was stuck in a sepia dimension and everyone else was colors.

Yoga breaths—three, then another sip of water, blink and smile and think! She wanted to know more about the job. She wanted the job, the career, and to accomplish that, she had to impress the man.

Jenni had moved away, but left the guy a beer. He was running his index finger down one of the drips of condensation. His eyes met hers briefly and his pale lips curved in a smile that seemed genuine. “Sorry I disconcerted you.”

Was that what he’d done? Kiri didn’t know. She wiped her hand across her eyes and shook her head. “No problem.” Another deep breath. “I lost track of the conversation. You were telling me about the, uh, new game?”

“The game is called Transformation and has a preliminary stage, almost a tutorial, like a few other games in the past.” He gestured with his beer. “The individual is ‘tested’ to determine what area they begin the game in.”

“I’ve heard of that.” Vaguely...she couldn’t snag the detail, though.

“Yes, we have lands of rivers and volcanoes and aeries and caverns.”

“Hmm.” She pummeled her memory. “And there was an old game that measured...um...qualities? Like loyalty and honor and compassion?”

“That’s right.” Again the smile. “Though the prelude of the game has tests which will actually determine your powers and attributes. A...player...does not choose them ahead of time as is usual in most games now.”

“Interesting twist.” Her water went down better this time. Her breath was steady now. Whatever stupid moment she’d had before had passed.

His eyes narrowed, the color intense, though he didn’t meet her gaze. “We believe you are an excellent candidate.”

Kiri blinked. “Yes?”

“To test through the prologue. Anyone who will be working on the new game will need to go through and clear that part, so you know the basis of the world building.”

“That makes sense.”

He leaned over the table. She looked into his eyes again, then he cut his gaze away, seemed to scan the party and flicked his glance back to meet hers. “I believe that you have great potential for this...employment. Can you start on stage one, the prologue of the game on Monday?”

Her heart thudded hard. She wanted this opportunity to break into game writing so much! She tried to look casual and swallowed another gulp of water. “I can after work is over. I’m downtown—it wouldn’t take me more than a few minutes to make it to Eight Corp’s offices.”

Lathyr frowned, his fingers slid back and forth on the table. “I would like to offer you employment, but I can’t until you finish going through the preliminary stage of the game. We would, of course, prefer you to be at your best when you work with us. Naturally the person with the highest score—who develops their character to the highest level and with a minimal amount of defeats—will be offered the position first.”

He was right. She’d be better fresh instead of struggling with a new game after a tiring day of being on a computer and handling complaints.

“I overheard. We do need to move on this fast.” Jenni sat down beside Kiri. “Do you have any vacation time coming?”

Kiri gritted her teeth. How much did she want the job? How much did she believe in herself? Enough to use her full two weeks of vacation?

Yes.

Gamble, roll the dice and hope. “I can take a full two weeks, but beginning on...Thursday?” A quick glance at their faces. Lathyr seemed attentive, but Jenni had twisted in her seat at the sound of metal sliding on metal. Rafe Davail and some of the unknowns were fighting...with swords. People from the Fencing Lyceum, then.

“You can ride with me to work on Thursday, if you don’t mind getting in early and waiting while we set up,” Jenni said.

Her husband was there, shaking his head, looking at Jenni, not Kiri. “No. I’ll be taking you to work, Jenni.”

Lathyr made an abrupt sound, maybe a curse in his own language.

“Eight Corp will send a car for you,” Jenni said. “We’ll pay you for your time, though I know it’s not the same as having vacation days. I’ll let Lathyr here close the deal, tell you more.”

Another dismissal, this one distracted. “That would be good,” Kiri said.