Page 13 of Quest of Fools

"Is having clothes made always so exhausting?This is not how we do it in Low City."

Marian laughed as they headed out, once more threading his arm through Warf's."Haven't you learned yet?High City must be pretentious and excessive about everything.What shall we do now?"

"I think I'm content to head home and have dinner," Warf said."Unless you had something else in mind."

"Not at all.If you're content, so am I.This was a good day."

Warf matched his smile."It was.Thank you."

Marian scoffed, but pressed slightly closer as they walked home.High above, the sky was a mix of purples, blues, and pinks, turning swiftly to full night, a glowing crescent dominating, surrounded by faint glints of starlight that would soon be completely visible.

So very different from trudging home exhausted and sore after a long day full of difficult, dangerous work, ungrateful and overdemanding employers, and all the other challenges that came with life in Low City.

If this was what he'd fought so hard for in the Tournament, he was starting to think it hadn't been challenging enough."I never really thought I'd manage this."

"What?Winning the Tournament?I would imagine it feels incredibly surreal," Marian said."Which of your challenges was the most difficult?"

"The counting one, that was mentally and physically exhausting."They'd been taken to the docks, to several warehouses, and each assigned a section, told to count everything in it and report the numbers, and had just an hour to do it.The fewer mistakes made, the higher the score.He'd counted thousands of items, from boxes of nails to casks of wine and tens of items in between.

Exhausting and difficult as it had been, especially because he had to memorize every count since he couldn't write them down, he had come away with a perfect score, only one of three people to manage it.

That had been the second challenge.The first had knocked out fifteen competitors, which must have been a blow, to come so far only to be knocked out almost immediately.Warf had been focused on himself, though.He hadn't really allowed himself to start hoping until he'd won that first challenge, which had been a footrace.

The third challenge had also been at the warehouses, but that time sorting items into piles according to quality.On the surface, that was easy enough, but not when the items included precious stones, books, and other rich people nonsense.He hadn't been one of the best in that challenge, but he'd done well enough to keep going.

By the fourth challenge, his nerves had been taut.His wildest imaginings had not seen him making it so far, and if he'd lost then, he would have been distraught.That fourth challenge had been a scavenger hunt that'd taken him all over the city, High and Low.He'd been the second person to return.

The final challenge had been simple, but strange: answer three questions.They'd entered a room one by one, where a woman who'd turned out later to be a Duchess had asked the three questions.After answering, they'd gone out a separate door, into a room where they couldn't speak with the people still waiting their turn.

Warf had assumed that was the end of his run, that he'd come so close and failed at the last.

Now here he was.

"You got a perfect score on that challenge, if I recall," Marian said.

"One of three to do so, though I did well enough in the other challenges."

Marian laughed."More than well enough."He led the way up the steps to their home and inside, where one of the footmen greeted them as he continued assisting another with unpacking the new vases to replace the ones ruined the previous day."Thank you for doing that.I hope they're not proving troublesome."

The footman on the far side of the crate laughed."If we find ourselves struggling, I know somebody from the docks who can make it look like lifting feathers.You might know him, my lord."

Warf rolled his eyes as they all laughed, but dutifully stepped into the fray and swiftly got both vases into place.They were large, nearly to his hip, white with actual drawings in scarlet ink or paint, touches of gold, beautiful accents to the largely black and gold entryway.

Smiling, looking entirely too pleased over such a simple matter, Marian motioned for Warf to follow him.A short distance down the hall, they turned down another hallway, one Warf hadn't explored yet, and Marian opened a door about halfway down.

Inside, he swept his arms out."This is your private sitting room.To relax, host friends who deserve better than the formal parlors, hide from children, whatever you want."

Warf's brow drew down."I already have the bedroom, though.Why would I need an entire additional room just for sitting around."

Marian gave him an amused look."You can't invite friends to your bedroom, that wouldn't be proper.What if—" He stopped, gold-toned skin taking on flushed tones."Sorry, nevermind.Anyway, it's always nice to have your own spaces, and I obviously helped myself to the study."

"What in the world would I do with a room full of books?This is… nice, I admit, even if I've no idea what to do with it."

It was a small room, compared to most others he'd seen so far in the house, but by no means actually small.There was a fireplace, a blue sofa with gold stripes, two matching chairs, all arranged around a beautiful, ornate table that currently held only a vase of beautiful silk flowers.Like his bedroom, there wasn't much else to the room, as though it was waiting to be properly fixed up.

Warf didn't know why that silly thought made him so happy.

"Come on, then, I'll let Cook know to prepare us something simple we can enjoy in the study while we go through sample books to pick out everything for this and your bedroom."

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