Split up

Xabar decides Blake is probably right, and reluctantly bids him goodbye, assuring him that he’ll reconnect in a week.

“I have a small room in a women’s boarding house up the street,” she says. “We are not supposed to have men past the sitting room on the first floor, and even then, only until 9 o’clock. I will have to sneak you in.”

“A women’s boarding house?” says Xabar. “Is it the one on Vine Street?”

“Yes, that’s right. You are familiar with it?”

“I believe I may have casually noticed it as I was passing by,” says Xabar. “I couldn’t help but notice there is a window with a broken lock that leads into the laundry room. From there, you can climb up the laundry chutes to just about anywhere in the building.”

“My goodness, but you are observant!” says Gwendolyn. “I never noticed that, and I live there! But the laundry room is in the back of the house; you can’t see that unless you are in the fenced-in back yard. And how would you know about the laundry chutes unless you have been in the house?”

“It must have been a vision that came to me as I was dreaming of you,” he says, holding his hand to his forehead. “Yes, that’s it — I’m remembering it now.... The rooms are a pale yellow.... The bed coverings have purple flowers.... And I believe there are mirrors on the ceiling?”

Gwendolyn frowns. “My room is painted blue... With matching bed coverings. The only room I know of that is decorated that way is Svenga Scörgassen’s room.... But why would you have a vision of her room? She is a common slut!”

The darkness disguises Xabar’s smile as he thinks, “There’s nothing common about Svenga! She could tie braids in my pubic hair with her tongue, and the way those mammoth breasts defy gravity makes you wonder if she doesn’t use some kind of levitation spell!”

“Lord Xabar, did you hear me?” asked Gwendolyn.

“A slut, you say?” he responded, clucking his tongue in disapproval. “The vision must have been on of warning, telling me of danger that I should avoid. Tell me, is she still living in your boarding house? And did she ever happen to mention finding a brown cap that may have been left by someone who had to leave quickly?”

“A cap?” asked Gwendolyn. “I do not understand.”

“No matter,” said Xabar as they approached the boarding house. “Now, which room is yours?”

“I am the newest resident, so they gave me the smallest room, and it is on the third floor. Are you sure about sneaking in? It seems so unseemly for a Viscount.”

“Shh...” says Xabar, holding a finger to her lips. “Remember that I am on a mission. If the success of my mission means sneaking into a house of sleeping, unsuspecting, scantily-clad young women as they sleep, I shall do so. I shall endeavor not to tarnish the purity of my thoughts with pictures of their barely-covered bosoms, heaving softly as they sleep....”

Xabar shakes himself from the vision that is quickly forming in his mind. “Go ahead and go in to your room and wait for me. I will be along shortly. You don’t happen to have any whiskey in your room do you?”

“Whiskey? Of course not! The house mother keeps some in her office for medicinal purposes, of course. You don’t drink, do you, dear Viscount?”

“Drink? Me?” Xabar laughs. “Why, I’d be just as likely to let these lips touch those of a wanton woman as I would to let them come in contact with the devil’s brew! I was merely asking in case I were to need antiseptic if I cut myself on the sharp edges of the laundry chute.”

“Of course, my love! I shall hasten to my room. Be quick, but be careful!”

Xabar watches as Gwendolyn enters through the front door. After looking around, he makes his way to the stone fence surrounding the back yard. Looking around, he finds the protruding rock he used as a step the last time he was here. How long ago was it that he hooked up with Svenga? It couldn’t have been more than five or six months. He wasn’t entirely sure why he stopped seeing her; he vaguely remembered it had something to do with a stuffed bobcat and a very old bottle of cognac.... But there would be time enough to sort that through later. For now, he needed to remember how to get back into the house.

Pulling himself over the fence and dropping into the back yard, Xabar stopped to listen, thinking he heard a sound. When he heard nothing but silence, he made his way to the window to the laundry room. He pulled on it to open it, and felt his heart sink as he realized someone must have fixed the lock.

Looking around for other options, he spies a window on the first floor that is partially open. He also sees the back door to the house, and he wonders if it is unlocked.