"Of course, I'll give you your required items, but you must sign this contract before taking it." He said, waving his hand to produce a sheet of paper. The co tract was legally and magically binding so it would benefit both parties equally. Cypher also took out his checkbook and wrote a check twenty-five thousand dollars. "You will recieve the rest of the money once the two of them have joined me at the palace and have broken their bond completely with you."
Ladonia’s eyes sparkled with greed as she took the contract. She read through it quickly before signing it. “Here’s your contract,” she responded. “I can do the parting spell tomorrow then, and Beck and Eloise can pack their bags tonight.”
"They are welcome to stay in my hotel if they would like." He said, waving a hand a.d the contract burned into flames.
“Tonight?” Eloise asked, her eyebrows shooting up. It was the first time she’d spoken other than one on one conversation that night. Ladonia glanced at her with (clearly fake) motherly affection.
"Of course. I have the entire upper floor to myself and my guards. There are a few rooms empty there so you will each have your own and have as much privacy as you seem necessary. That is, if you accept." He said bowing slightly, glancing up sneakily at Ladonia and looking away before she noticed.
“Of course they don’t accept,” Ladonia snapped, before Eloise could say anything else. “I need to say my goodbyes, and they need to get their things.” Eloise pressed her lips together, her cheeks flushing slightly. She barely had any belongings, and what she did have was pretty ragtag. However, she knew that Beck might actually care about the few possessions that he had squirreled away.
"Apologies Mistress Ladonia but I am quite certain I was addressing the girl and not you." He said, looking at her intently. "If you choose to accept Eloise, you will be guaranteed protection under the Fae crown." His eyes didnt move away from Ladonia. He expected that she made quite a few decisions on behalf of the workers but as new master (which sounded quite awful to him), he would make sure they had a voice of their own.
“I don’t know…” Eloise mumbled, feeling Ladonia’s quiet rage beside her. The witch had always had a bit of a temper. “Beck might actually want to collect his things, and I don’t want to go without him…”
"It is your decision and according to the contract your old mistress signed. She cannot punish you for not following her orders because you have been signed over to me." He said
Eloise frowned, trying not to shudder at the mention of ownership by anyone. Just because she was made from a rabbit, why she treated as lesser? She still had the brain capacity of everyone else, whatever Ladonia and the others said. “Well, I’ve got to find Beck then,” she replied, looking around and then spotting him. She waved him over, and he strode over to their group.
"Tell me your decision by the end of the night and I will have a car pick you and your things up." Cypher smiled, looking from Eloise to Beck and back again before bowing lightly and walking off to mingle with a few friends.
“Holy shit!” Beck exclaimed, turning to Eloise. “What just happened?”
“Well, apparently—“ she began but was interrupted by Ladonia.
“Pack your bags, you’re no longer going to be working for me. You both belong to King Cypher now.”
Eloise felt like ants were crawling all over her skin at those words, but she forced a smile. “So, do you want to go pack? Oh, or, King Cypher offered for us to stay at a hotel!” she added.
(Yeesh, that makes Cypher sound like some sort of weirdo without context)
Cypher kept his ears trained onto the three figures behind him and smiled at the dignitary infront of him, nodding where he thought was right and laughing at appropriate moments.
(lol it totally does)
“So?” Eloise asked when Beck didn’t respond. Ladonia had wandered off in search of food, though she was never out of their sight.
“Does this seem a little weird to you?” Beck said, narrowing his eyes. “It’s so random. Everyone supposedly hates shifters or whatever, and now here out of the blue one of the highest ranking people here suddenly takes an interest in us?”
“When you put it like that, it does seem sketchy…” she agreed.
The dignitary wandered off to find a dance partner and Cypher.was left alone. He checked the time, 11:42 pm. He made his way back to the two workers, whispering together and stopped a good distance away from them. "So? Have you made up your mind?"
The two of them made eye contact, trying to have a conversation without actually speaking before agreeing. It was either lose the few belongings they had or spend another night with Ladonia (and Gale, who was super annoying).
“We’ll stay with you,” Beck replied, his arms still folded across his chest.
"Good choice. If you have anything to bring, you are welcome to grab it before we leave, although I suggest we leave quick, when the witching hours strikes, the hotel closes it door for the night." He said glancing at the time again, 11:46pm.
Beck thought for a moment. “I’m fine. Everything I actually care about is with me right now,” he said, digging his hands into his pockets. He cast a quick smile at Eloise, and she wondered if the comment wasn’t just about his trinkets.
“Me too,” Eloise agreed with a nod. “Let’s go.”
Cypher nodded and gestured to the door. "I already alerted the driver to wait for us and so we can go." He stated, walking out the door and opening the car door.
Once everyone was seated and the car started moving, Cypher studied his two new shifters with a curious gaze, what sort of relationship did they have?
Eloise shifted uncomfortably under Cypher’s gaze, unused to the attention. Beck, however, pretended not to notice. “Wow, this car is fancy,” he remarked, studying it in awe.
“Yeah, it’s really nice,” Eloise agreed softly. She smiled at Beck.
Cypher smiled at their awe and gestured around the small enclosure. "You are welcome to use it if you want to go somewhere. You are not being taken away as slaves, but as workers who can choose a certain job to apprentice in. You will be paid for your work, an amount can be discussed later, when you have settled I to your respective rooms."
Both of their eyebrows’ shot up. “Apprentices? Is this a dream or something?” Beck asked, eyes shining.
“Why did you suddenly decide that this was a good idea anyway?” Eloise added, looking at Cypher almost skeptically. “It’s not exactly common for someone of your standing to do this for us.”
“Shh, don’t remind him,” Beck whispered to her, looking almost comically worried. Eloise glanced at him and chuckled.
Cypher chuckled nervously and pointed out the window, changing the subject. "Look, we arrived at the hotel. the gateway will close in just a couple minutes. you will feel an odd sensation passing through your body, but that is only Fae magic examining you to make sure you are no threat." he explained
Eloise wasn’t fooled, but Beck grinned. “Wow, cool!” Beck gasped. Eloise rolled her eyes before glancing to Cypher nervously, hoping that her blatant skepticism wasn’t going to get her in trouble.
“So do we get out now?” she asked.
Cypher nodded as the car rolled around to the hotel entrance. The hotel was, as suspected, a fairly high end hotel with a beautiful entrance and classical music playing in the lobby. "Top floor, head in up there, I'm just going to register you in before coming up myself."