She accepts

“Very well, bring me to the person you serve. I’ll listen to what he or she has to say.” Jasmine declared as she reached a decision.

“Right away, lady Jasmine.” Ella bowed and suddenly their surroundings started to shift and blur. This lasted for only a few brief moments before everything returned to normal and the harper found herself in an unfamiliar garden. There was no sign of the girl.

“Welcome.” Said a melodic feminine voice from behind Jasmine and she turned around to face the unknown person. The woman that had welcomed her turned out to be an elf with long blonde hair wearing an expensive-looking white silk dress that was doing quite a poor job at hiding the curvaceous body underneath.

Between the two women was a small pond full of crystal-clear water, in which Jasmine could see herself. However it wasn’t a reflection, as one might expect, but instead seemed to be an image of her watched from above. But just as she saw the image it vanished and the water surface returned to looking completely calm and uninteresting.

“My name is Elveala.” The woman introduced herself. “I already know who you are, so no introduction is needed. As for the girl you spoke to – Ella is just an illusion I use when I want to have a conversation with someone without going to meet them in person. So you were actually speaking with me.”

“An illusion. I see.” Jasmine was quite surprised by this revelation. Ella had seemed completely real and the harper would have never guessed she might’ve been an illusion. “So, what do you want from me?”

“Like I said I want to hire a skilled harper. Therefore I’d like you to demonstrate your skill to me before we talk further. A short melody should be enough, I believe. You can leave your things on the ground for now.”

“Very well.” Jasmine agreed as she put down her things, took out Heavensong and chose a short melody that would fit the mood of the calm and quite garden around them. Elveala said nothing and just closed her eyes as she listened to the harper’s music.

When she was finished Jasmine looked at the elf expectantly. The woman returned her gaze and smiled approvingly. “Excellent. You’re precisely what I was looking for.”

“Thank you. So, what exactly do you need from me?”

“I’d like you to stay with me for a week and play for me and my guests whenever I want. For this I will pay you 100 gold coins per day.”

Jasmine whistled when she heard the sum. This was far more than anything she had ever been offered before. “A most generous offer, milady. But is that all, or is there anything else you want from me?”

“In addition to entertaining me I would like you to demonstrate your skills at a certain upcoming event a few days from now. For that I will pay you another 1000 gold coins – assuming that I am satisfied by your performance. I will tell you more about this later, and only if you accept my offer.”

“This ‘event’ must be pretty important to you if you are willing to give me such a generous reward, milady.” Jasmine noted.

“Indeed, it is important to me. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”

“I understand. Anything else?”

“Just one more. I’ll pay you 500 gold coins for it.”

“And what might that be, if I may ask?”