Herbs 'till Dusk, Secrets 'till Dawn

I R I S Iris watched the girl’s demeanor shift. Good. So she wasn’t completely artless. Maybe her inheritance wasn’t entirely wasted on her. Iris’ expression didn’t change except for a barely noticeable quiver of the lip betraying her amusement. She remained where she was, waiting. Of course there was something. The friendship between the two men had appeared heartfelt, even warm. Iris remembered feeling it was something out of the ordinary for her father. And in turn, the echoes of their fight remained thick in the air for a long time after the fact. Digging up those ghosts was bound to prove unpleasant. And while the broker went digging, Iris took a liking to a hood that hung in the back, almost out of sight. Its coloring was plain, Iris thought as she folded and stuffed it into her pack as casually as she would brush her hair, but the cut was attractive. By the time Ray came back Iris had once again taken her place by the counter. Iris made a show of feint amusement as she turned around and flipped through the pages with one hand. In truth, she was quite disappointed that they didn’t contain more information. Iris chuckled at the shopkeeper’s question, the sound as malicious as it was sympathetic, and laid the documents back on the table. ”I do wonder how you plan to collect.” It wasn’t a question. A lot could be said about Erasmus Acquarone, but he was neither foolish nor forgiving. And he surely had a few pieces of paper quite similar to those laid out between Ray and Iris that named the Lunarium girl the bearer of the debt. ”Do you even know how the debt was incurred?” Iris asked, both tone and countenance tinged with pity, her head leaning to the side in a subtle show of compassion.