 "Okay then, we'll head over to the mess when we're done here." It would be nice to be able to drink with someone other than Bernard who only ever seemed to talk about his ornery old donkey. The only time Flynn had shown any interest in the creature was the day Bernie had come into work with two black eyes. He'd looked like an old balding panda for months. Flynn fidgeted a little, thrown by the woman's extended eye contact; he was starting to feel a bit like a curiosity at a fair. Fortunately Denahi provided a distraction. As Cal began to scratch his chin, the husky's tail began to wag and tap a tattoo against the table leg.
"Just friends and parents?" Flynn repeated, with a half-smile "there's nothing just about that."
He was sure if he mentioned Cal's predicament to his sister, Renn would insist on inviting her around for dinner. The captain made a mental note to himself not to mention it quite yet. They'd start with the drink; it was easier to slip away from a drink than a dinner party.
"Do you have somewhere to stay?" Flynn wondered as he edged around Denahi and wandered towards the door. He pulled it open by the handle and leaned against its outside edge looking back into the room.
"If you get the job there's a spare bunk in the female barracks, and if not I can find you something in the basement with the kitchen maids for a couple of nights."
Taking another couple of steps backwards Flynn opened the door wide enough for Cal to walk through.
"I suppose you could call it an interview..." the captain mused, adopting a thoughtful expression, "they'll just want to talk to you, get a feel for the kind of person you are. I wouldn't worry, they're good people."
She really did ask a lot of questions.
"If your familiar wants to come he's more than welcome, but if he's happy where he is, it's not crucial." Mention of the spitter caused Flynn to pause again and he looked back at Cal with a wry smile,
"leave the spitter," he advised.
"You'll be provided with a livery," Flynn explained as they wandered along the corridor towards the great hall. The king wouldn't be in the hall itself but Flynn suspected her would be in the antechamber waiting for reports from the outlying patrols rather than sitting in his private study.
"You'll be given bed and board and we dine in the Great Hall with the king once a week. If you need armour we can organise some standard issue stuff, but most people prefer to buy their own eventually."
They turned left onto a wide corridor with a rich red carpet running down the middle, the walls lined with tapestries.
"Wait here a second," Flynn said, pausing outside a pair of large double doors. Cut from oak, they were tall and imposing, with grand spiralling hinges and huge hooped handles.
"I won't be long."
He disappeared around the corner, slipping into the antechamber through a much smaller door obscured from general view by a tapestry of a lion and unicorn.
Reappearing a few minutes later Flynn offered Cal an encouraging smile.
"He's happy to see you," he told her as he closed the door to behind him. "Have you got anymore questions before we go in?"
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