Day 35: ?

Eldwyn used a piece of cloth to wipe the sweat from her forehead, trying not to worry about the slightly stale smell that came off it. She never imagined that being a waitress could be this tiring. Of course, it didn't help that she'd never had to work a day in her life before now, but taking orders and moving around a bar had no right to be this tough.

Still, she was determined to prove to Audrey her trust had been warranted and didn't complain.

"Order for table four," Percy called.

"I got it," she replied. Her only other colleague shot her a thankful glance. She was Sofia, a Human woman a few years older than her. They'd both been run ragged for the past few hours, and she was obviously glad to be able to stay off her feet for a little longer.

Eldwyn hurried over to the table with the tray. The three men seated there were laborers, leather workers by the smell of them. As she approached, they turned to look at her in unison. For a second, Eldwyn felt their eyes roam all over her body.

She was no longer ashamed to admit that it gave her a little thrill to have men leering her like that—though only to herself. She smiled at them as she put the drinks on the table.

This was only her fifth shift, but during quiet times there was little to do but chat, and she'd gotten to know some of her fellow waitresses pretty well. At first, her aristocratic accent made them wary of her, but after a couple of nights of sharing the workload, they seemed to warm up to her. Naturally, they often discussed the patrons. Well, they complained about them, mostly, calling them unwashed louts, or drunken troublemakers, or any of a half dozen other insults.

And yet, those sentiments were never _quite _expressed with as much animosity as she might have expected. She had seen many of them walk away with a genuine smile and a spring in their step from even the crudest comments on their bodies. She suspected Audrey picked out future employees on that basis, at least partly. She'd have to ask about that sometime.

Inevitably, her musings brought her back to Lucas. She blushed as she remembered how roughly he had taken her, at the end of her first shift. She hadn't seen him since, she'd been busy with her new job and getting her life in order. She hoped he would come visit her soon.