Elora shares stuff

We were on our fourth mug of ale already, yet I only now started to feel the **** a little. Strange, I thought it was supposed to have a quicker and stronger effect. Elora’s cheeks got a little pink and she was slightly tipsy. Although her speech and movement were as sharp as ever, she became uninhibited.

“I am telling you, I just don’t see the king and queen’s marriage can possibly work. I mean, the guy just refuses to interact with her more than necessary. Even I can see that, even though I am only a guest tutor in the palace,” she starts rambling. “And she is a gorgeous woman. If I was in his place, I wouldn’t let her out of my bad.”

Elora had the presence of mind not to speak of the king and queen as my parents here in public. What she was saying, however, was interesting. Not the part where Father doesn’t pay enough attention to Mom. That was a fact, the truth behind which I just recently found out. No, the interesting part was Elora talking about Mom in such a high regard. Was it simply admiration or an infatuation? I will leave the issue for now but will definitely come back to it at some point in the future.

Instead, I asked a question I was always curious about. “How come you don’t have at least a lover already?”

Elora frowns a little, but the **** keeps her talking. “Wouldn’t you like to know? But I guess I can tell you why since you told me your big secret. Ever since I turned 18, I was starting to feel extremely aroused. This arousal was one of the factors that pushed me to seek a relationship with someone. During the first few years, I had three long relationships with three different men. Not at the same time, obviously. They were nice people, but I just wasn’t satisfied with the sex. Since the relationships didn’t feel satisfying, I broke them off. I was also becoming more diligent with my magic training, so I had less time for them. Instead, I decided to try hooking up. I figured that if sex was such an important factor for me, I might as well enjoy just that for a little while. I have several casual relationships. At first, I tried it with men, but when they also felt unsatisfying, I tried with women, figuring that I might have been gay if sex with men didn’t feel good. Sex with women was no better. At some point, I just stopped. I am 37 now, so, if I remember correctly, it has been 16 years since I last had sex.”

That was a surprising revelation. “Wow, that is a long time. Aren’t you still feeling horny?”

Elora glumly nods. “I am. Taking care of it myself and drinking calming potions help just enough not to go insane. It’s a struggle.”

I was about to say something encouraging to her when Sayuri came to our table carrying two more mugs of ale. She looked pissed.

“What’s wrong, Sayuri?” I ask her. “Is someone causing problems again?”

She places the ale on the table and huffs with frustration. “You could say that. I had an agreement with a group of musicians to come play music today. They were supposed to arrive half an hour ago. The tavern is packed with people already and music is essential to help folks relax and have fun.”

“Maybe they are running late?” Elora says trying to sound supportive.

“I wish,” Sayuri replies with pursed lips. “I just received a letter from them saying that they were invited to some noble’s party to perform. What happened to keeping the word?”

“Is this the first time that happened?” I ask.

“Yes, but I wasn’t working together with them that long,” she says. “I have another music band that I work closely together, but they are away in a different city right now.”

“That’s not good,” Elora hums. “Is there anyone else you can ask to perform?”

“Probably not,” Sayuri says with an upset voice. “Anyone else I know is already busy tonight. I can’t find someone with such a short notice. Not someone good, at least. The closest one is my daughter, but I don’t think she is at a level where she can perform in front of the whole tavern.”

“Oh, your daughter plays an instrument?” Elora says. “I didn’t know. What kind?”

The next two words that Sayuri said felt like it was a sign from Lady Invia herself.

“A fiddle,” Sayuri says.

A fiddle. That has got to be a coincidence, right? It probably is, but it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.

“Know anyone who can play fiddle?” Sayuri asks Elora.

Elora hums but shakes her head.

I clear my throat and speak up. “I can play fiddle.”

Both women’s attention snaps to me.

“You can?” they ask in unison.

I nod. “I have been playing for seven years.”

“Are you any good?” Sayuri asks hopefully, grabbing my hands in hers.

“I think so,” I reply.

I picked the fiddle because I liked how it sounded. It wasn’t the most an instrument fit for nobility and royalty. My music teacher expressed this belief during our every lesson. He got more and more frustrated since I was actually good at playing fiddle. He outgrew his necessity at some point and I started practicing on my own. There were several people among the guards who knew how to play the fiddle. They taught me the songs they knew and I practiced and even improved and changed some of them. In my honest opinion, I was pretty good at it. Good enough to feel like I could perform in front of the whole tavern.

“Please, please, please,” Sayuri begs me with pleading eyes. “Would you play at least for a little while? An hour should be enough. It is 10 pm already, so an hour should be enough to create excitement to last till the closing time. I know I am asking for a lot and I will be interrupting your date, but I have no one else to ask.”

“D-date? W-we are not on a date,” Elora stammers. Don’t know what her problem is with calling this a date but it is cute.

I decided to tease Elora a little. “If Elora is okay with me interrupting our date a little, then I’m in,” I say with a smirk.

Elora huffs and pouts. “Do whatever you want, jerk.”

I know she isn’t really feeling annoyed.

“That settles it,” I say to Sayuri. “Bring the fiddle and I’ll see if I can make these people dance,” I say with a grin.

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