Page 22 of By Mistake
"Well, you vastly improved on that goal, even if it wasn't by design.I would love to see your work, the process by which you got from brownie to me, but that's for another day.For now, Master," Shimari replied, and it wasn't fair how he purred that word.Master.Like it was some endearment and not an awful reminder of enslavement."There is much work to be done.I tended to the matter of funding, the house, clothes, and I've got temporary staff hired on for the next two weeks, but I'll require your input for permanent staff."
Andrus gaped at him, then sputtered out, "Where did you get all this?What did youdoto get it?How long have I been asleep?I just want to know what is going on!When I passed out I was planning on moving with maybe a small cart worth of goods and food enough for a week.Now I have to selectstaff?I feel like I was dropped into the middle of a play, but nobody gave me even part of a script."
Shimari didn't reply, only turned and strode out of the office.Andrus blinked back tears.Had he really been so annoying that even a demon could only walk off in disgust?
It was hard to remember Shimari was a demon, really, with the whole looking and acting like a personal assistant.Andrus laughed, half-hysterical, half-cynical, as he scrubbed his face and stood.He was losing his damned mind.This entire situation had to be some sort of fever dream, and he was really sick and dying in the secret basement room where he'd failed miserably to summon a brownie.
He hadn't made it more than seven paces or so when Shimari returned bearing a tray laden with tea and food.The sort of food Andrus hadneverhad—delicate little tea sandwiches, fruit tarts, cream pastries.Frivolous nonsense, not substantial food that kept you sated for the whole day so you didn't feel hungry again until evening."What is that?"
"Surely you've seen a tea tray before."
"Not really, no," Andrus said quietly, staring at the floor."Sometimes for the Butterfly Festival, my mother could get food from the temples, usually old apples and such.She'd mush them up into a sort of paste that we'd spread on bread and have with whatever tea was left, and we'd call that our holiday teatime.She got pears one year.Those were my favorite.Another year there were berries—I don't know what kind.They had mold on them that we had to carefully wash off first."His heart pounded in his ears, shame turning his face hot, the memories leaving an ache.His mother had always tried her very best, even when life fought them every step of the way.
There was a thump and clinking of dishes as the tray was set down, and then warm, slender fingers were gently nudging his chin up.Eyes like sunstruck red glass stared at him with an intensity that made his face burn all the more."What?"
"You are a Bothwell.You are not meant to struggle so."
"Personally I think more nobles should be made to struggle so.It might teach them something about their soft and cozy lives free of real struggle."
"I agree, but the Bothwell line was never like that.They came from nothing, once upon a time, and took care to remember those roots.Sendrus was kind, almost to a fault, and he was famous for his generosity.He was good friends with a man who lived in the harbors.They smoked cigars together most evenings before Sendrus returned here to meet with Kolik in their little hideaway."
Andrus's mind spun with too many questions, but the one that escaped first was, "Why are you so nice?"
"Nice?Hardly.But you are a descendant of Sendrus Bothwell, whom I considered a friend.He dismissed me to save my life, and that is not a debt I will let go unpaid now I am returned here.You are much like him, though sharper and thornier than he could ever manage to be."Shimari let him go."Sit down.Eat.You slept for three days."
"Three days!"Andrus was so shocked, he went without protest when Shimari pushed him into a chair at the little table where he'd set the tray.A writing table, the kind used to attend correspondence, nearly a full job on its own for those in high society."Why was I asleep for so long?"
"Because you're lucky to be alive, that's why," Shimari replied sharply.He leaned against the edge of the writing desk, close enough Andrus could see the details in his fine breeches, smell the smoky, faintly sweet cologne he wore, like flowers and campfire on a cold winter night.
Cheeks hot, he focused on his food."This isn't even real food, it's nonsense."
"I'm pretty sure food is food, even when it's indulgent," Shimari replied."I wouldn't know, though.I don't require the same sustenance as humans.As most creatures."
"Oh.Right."
"Matter for later," Shimari said briskly, before Andrus could figure out how to ask if he needed blood yet."You are alive through a combination of impressive fortitude, your body frankly too in shock to know it shouldn't still be functioning, and good old fashioned dumb luck.It's a testament to that fortitude that you're not only awake already, but up and about."
"I just have a headache and feel sort of achy and tired.Couldn't have really been that bad."
"Most people who summon zero class demons, or even first class demons for that matter, have to prepare for the summons well ahead of time, strengthening their bodies, consuming a great deal of food, and so forth.Still many of them either fail to summon the demon, die from the strain of the summoning, or are promptly killed by said demon because they made a careless mistake."
"I think I win the prize for careless mistakes," Andrus muttered, and shoved another bite of sandwich in his mouth."What sort of sandwich is this?"
"I think the cook called it creamy tuna with pepper and dill."
"We have a cook?"
"You can't run a proper household without one."
"I shouldn't have a proper household at all!How did you manage all this?"
"I obtained money, I put it to good use.You'd be surprised how quickly people will work when you're paying them two to three times what they would normally charge."
Andrus felt sick."Where did you get that much money?"
"I took it from people who will never miss it and never deserved it in the first place.It's honestly quite disgusting to have so much wealth you aren't even capable of noticing when a large sum goes missing."
"Yes, it really is."Andrus finished his food only because he vehemently refused to waste it, even if he wasn't really hungry anymore."So you stole money from my so-called peers and have tarted me up like I'm a proper lord."
