Stolen Magic. Esri Rose

is hard.”

      We stared at each other a moment.

      “So what are your goals?” I asked. “Maybe I can steal one of them.”

      He gazed across the room. “To get my due—freedom, a mate, perhaps even children. To live without oppression.”

      “Wow.” My natural cynicism slunk away from the strength of Dagovar’s conviction. He was like a big, blond, elven superhero. “Well, I don’t know if we can stop human oppression in an afternoon, but I guess we can get started.”

      I took Dagovar through the Quicken tutorial, which helped me learn it a lot better, and then we started on the simple accounts Kutara had given me. Dagovar had a better head for the big picture than I did, and working with another person took all of the dread and most of the boredom out of the process.

      We’d gotten a good start on the stack of folders when Kutara asked for the spreadsheet of Fellseth’s commercial properties.

      “I already e-mailed it to you,” I said. “I knew that was important, so I did it first.”

      She almost smiled. “Good.”

      A few minutes later, I heard her heave one of her extra deep, someone has failed me sighs.

      I looked up. “The file name is PVC.xls. I sent it.”

      “Yes. I’m looking at it, and it doesn’t have the field for how long the property has been owned.”

      I found the original paper file and brought it around to her desk. “Look. Here’s the sheet you gave me, with the fields you wanted, and that’s not on here.”

      She flipped the stack of paper-clipped documents closed and stabbed her finger at a sticky note on the first page. “What does this say?”

      “Add a field for years the property has been owned,” I read. “Why didn’t you put it on the sheet?”

      “Because I ran out of room. I thought a bright-yellow note on the first page might be sufficient.” The look on her face was killing me. I’m angry, yes, it seemed to say. But mostly I’m disappointed that you are such an idiot.

      I flipped the file closed and picked it up. “I’ll add it. It won’t take that long.”

      “How long?”

      “I don’t know. Maybe an hour.”

      Another sigh. “I had hoped to sell the least productive of these properties to a Hong Kong buyer, but he’s leaving his office in half an hour. Let’s hope he doesn’t change his mind before I get back to him.”

      The guilt she was capable of generating was unbelievable. “I’m sorry, okay? Maybe you shouldn’t have left it until the last minute.”

      She glared at me. “There were equally important things I had to do until this moment, Adlia. I shouldn’t have to double-check every piece of your work.”

      “And I shouldn’t have to put up with this crap.” The horrible urge to throw something at her almost overcame me. I threw the file on my desk instead.

      “Adlia!” she barked, but I was already out the door. The night air pressed on me, warm and close, and for a brief moment I considered going home. At least Galan hadn’t been there, so he wouldn’t be coming outside to talk to me. I couldn’t take his pity.

      To my surprise, I saw Dagovar appear in the glass lobby. He pushed open the door and came out to join me.

      As he approached, I said, “Don’t you know better than to get involved in office politics on your first day?”

      He didn’t respond, just stood beside me, his head raised as if he were sniffing the air.

      “What was she doing when you left?” I asked.

      “Talking to her second-in-command.”

      “You mean Lenny? He’s not second-in-command. Galan is, even though we don’t have commands, or rules, or paychecks.” I shook my head in frustration. “We’re just making it up as we go along, and driving each other crazy in the process.”

      Dagovar sat on the concrete wall of the raised planter behind us. “You should never insult someone who has power over you.”

      “I didn’t insult her!”

      He gave me a pointed look.

      “Okay, maybe ‘this crap’ is obliquely insulting.” I sat down next to him.

      He looked away from me, toward the creek. “On the other hand, she should not have treated you in that condescending manner.”

      “Thank you!”

      “Perhaps she is not ka’chil, after all.”

      “Absolutely not,” I said with fervor. “A real leader would treat people with more respect. Mistakes are going to happen. You can’t go around making the mistake-makers feel even worse about their mistakes.”

      “She should be punished.” His brows lowered, hiding his eyes in a band of shadow.

      I gaped at him, unable to conceive of such a thing. In the world of spankers and spankees, Kutara would always be wielding the hairbrush. “You’re joking, right?”

      He turned to face me, his expression very serious. “Yes.”

      I gave a little huff of surprised laughter. “That’s good, Dagovar. You’re very funny.”

      He chuckled a little, then patted my knee. “You can call me Dag.”

      We sat in silence for a little longer, my mind running over phrases and crafting what I would say to Kutara. Finally I stood. “What was that goal of yours—to live without oppression? I’m going to give it a shot.”

      When I went back inside, Kutara glanced at me briefly, coldly, then turned back to her computer. If only the tips of her ears would turn pink—anything to show that she felt embarrassment or regret of any kind.

      I sat down, still seething. “Kutara, I’m sorry I lost my temper and said this crap, but you need to—”

      “I need to what? Tell you it’s all right and give you a cookie?” Her violet eyes blazed with anger. “Everything we do here is important, Adlia. You are important. Are you so sensitive that I’m not allowed to express disappointment when something I counted on doesn’t happen?”

      “If I’m sensitive, it’s only because you always seem disappointed.”

      “I have already said that this work makes me abrupt sometimes. I advised you not to take it personally. I am what I am, Adlia. No one is making you come here.”

      And she was right, of course. No one was making me come, yet I continued to show up. It was all I knew, and gave my life some sense of meaning. Still, that didn’t mean she could treat me like a doormat. I looked her straight in the eye. “I will try to do better, and I’ll try not to be bothered by what you are.” I pushed at the papers on my desk. “Where’s that folder? I’ll add the field.”

      “I gave it to Lenny when you left.”

      I extended my hand over the top of our grouped desks, toward Lenny. “Give me the folder. I’ve already worked with that stuff once. It’ll take you longer to figure it out.”

      Lenny glanced at Kutara.

      She passed him a stack of papers. “Work on these instead.”

      He took them and handed me my folder.

      Dag approached us, Fia trailing after him.

      She looked at Kutara and me, her face anxious. “Are you done being angry?”

      “We’re done for now.” I glanced at Dag, but his face was completely serious. “Are you hungry, Fia? Maybe Dag would like to take you out to get some energy from the creek.”