Yaelish couldn't help but wonder what the Blue Rose was up to. She had a feeling she had been planning something while they were heading to Pleonths, but now she was certain of it. However, what that 'something' was still was a mystery to her.
She supposed she could ask her about it, but if she did that, then she'd be revealing something that the Blue Rose might want kept secret. Or at least something that she didn't want others to know about, which Yaelish supposed that her coming to this realization would prevent.
Whether that was the case or not, she had a feeling that the Blue Rose had her own reasons for keeping this to herself. After all, it wasn't for her to question what the Blue Rose was doing going to various smithies in the city and asking questions about the kind of work they typically did.
If Yaelish didn't know any better, she'd think that the Blue Rose was shopping around. Something that felt so out of place that Yaelish felt that she had to be mistaken. That whatever it was that the Blue Rose was up to, that she was going about this in a manner that merely resembled shopping.
That was it.
Yet, the doubts still persisted.
The main reason she knew the Blue Rose wasn't shopping is because the Blue Rose could 'ask' any of her Silverthorns to get whatever she wanted in her place and it'd get done. Especially since all the Silverthorns with her knew that she was the Blue Rose.
Then when the Blue Rose entered another smithy, she started up on her questions again, though Yaelish had started ignoring them, as she knew there wasn't going to be anything of interest for her then. Besides, she was supposed to make sure that nothing happened to the Blue Rose, so it wasn't something she should focus on anyway.
What turned out to be different this time was that the Blue Rose had a completely different reaction to what the smith told her in response to her questions.
"You can?! Great! I'd like three of them, but I was hoping that you'd be able to make them different in a way that would only be apparent to those who were familiar with them."
Yaelish couldn't believe what she was hearing. It turned out that this was a shopping trip after all! She couldn't help but feel a little hurt that the Blue Rose couldn't trust this task to one of them, that she needed to handle it personally. Although, she supposed the detail of the… whatever it was she'd been asking about being different wouldn't be something that would be easy to convey to someone else, possibly making it necessary for her to go herself.
"So, you want different gemstones set in the hilts?" the smith asked, holding out a dagger and pointing to the hilt.
The Blue Rose shook her head. "No, if you use different gemstones, then it'd be apparent which ones were different. I'm looking for a design that you change something small in it that people who don't know what to look for wouldn't be able to tell them apart."
"Hmm. I think I understand. Something like if I had an eagle here, but in one it has a talon missing or was raising its leg, as if just landing. Something like that?"
The Blue Rose nodded, looking pleased. "Yeah. Something along those lines, thought it doesn't have to be an eagle. Just something that's different for each dagger."
The Smith rubbed her whiskered chin. "So, I assume all three won't be just for you?"
The Blue Rose shook her head. "No, I was going to give them as a surprise to some friends. Something I thought they'd be able to use to protect themselves if they needed to."
The smith nodded. "So, not just decorative pieces then. Something that can be used in actual combat." The smith paused as she considered something while the Blue Rose stayed quiet beside the woman. "I guess it'd take me a few days to make, as daggers aren't exactly difficult. Though, the engraving might take a little longer. That tends to get pricey too."
The Blue Rose smiled as she nodded. "I expected as much. Just let me know how much they'll cost and I'll be sure to pay you for them when I come to pick them up."
The smith nodded, looking into the distance for a minute. "For the daggers, probably one zik each, but the engraving will likely add on ten tists for each blade." Then the smith looked back at the Blue Rose. "And where are you staying?"
The Blue Rose gave the smith the name of their inn. "Just send the message to 'Jenn' and I'll be sure to get it."
The smith nodded again, holding her hand out for the Blue Rose to shake, which she did. "Looks like we have a deal. Though, give me a week. If I don't send for you by the end of the week it might be because I ran into other orders and forgot about letting you know. If there are problems with your order, then I can let you know about them then."
"Sounds good to me," the Blue Rose said, looking pleased.
Yaelish couldn't help but clench her fists as she listened to the Blue Rose's words. Words that should have been spoken to one of her Silverthorns when they reported completing this task that should have been theirs for her.
Why didn't you let us take care of this for you? Yaelish asked silently, feeling like the Blue Rose didn't have faith in them. That she was cruel in how she let them know about that lack of faith.
As the Blue Rose left, Yaelish followed, suffering in silence as she pondered what the problem with their performance that made the Blue Rose think that she couldn't trust them for such a simple errand like this.
"Is something wrong, Yaelish?" the Blue Rose asked after a few minutes.
"I'm sorry?" Yaeliash said as she was pulled from her thoughts, unsure what the Blue Rose meant.
"You've been distracted since we left the smithy. So, is something wrong?"
"No, my lady," Yaelish answered promptly.
The Blue Rose sighed. "I told you, call me Jenn when we're in public like this."
"Yes, I'm sorry, my- Jenn."
"That's better," the Blue Rose smiled. "Now, what's the problem?"
Yaelish wanted to say that there wasn't, but then that wouldn't be telling the Blue Rose the truth and she had a feeling that would only make her have less faith in her Silverthorns than she currently did.
"It's just that you could have had one of us tasked with dealing with that errand for you. That you didn't need to do any shopping yourself," Yaelish said, surprised to find tears falling from her eyes as she spoke.
The Blue Rose looked just as surprised, though Yaelish suspected that her surprise was for completely different reasons. "Why shouldn't I take care of personal matters myself?"
Yaelish blinked. She wasn't sure how shopping for daggers was personal, but at the same time, she couldn't just contradict the Blue Roes by saying so like that. Besides, that wasn't the important part. "It's still something that you could have sent one of us to take care of! You didn't have to do it yourself. Do you really have that little faith in us?"
Yealish quickly put a hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to let that last question out, but she couldn't take the words back now that they had been spoken.
The Blue Rose blinked, looking as if she was confused and trying to figure out what had been said. "How would me taking care of this mean that I don't have faith in any of you?"
Yaelish sighed. Of course she wouldn't say that outright. Besides, it wasn't like the Blue Rose had any reason to share her reasons with someone like her. Yaelish knew that already. Which was why she hadn't meant to let that question slip.
"Look, if you're upset that I took care of this on my own, then fine. I get that you think that I should have sent someone to handle it for me. It's just that some things I have to handle personally. Even if it means ruffling a few feathers."
Yaelish couldn't help but wonder what that meant, though she knew it wasn't her place to say so. Especially since she'd already pushed the boundaries of what she should say to the Blue Rose beyond what she should have.
The Blue Rose sighed, making Yaelish jump. She wasn't sure if she had been expected to give a response, it was just that nothing had come to her mind of what to say.
"Look. I'm guessing you want me to send one of you to pick up the daggers when they're finished, right?"
Yaelish felt immensely relieved that she understood what she was thinking right then. "Yes, exactly."
The Blue Rose nodded and Yaeilsh suddenly wondered if she'd walked into a trap of some sort. "Okay, so what would they ask when they pick them up? Would they know what to look for in regards to what I want? Or would they merely accept them and bring them to me?"
Yaelish blinked. She wasn't sure what the Blue Rose was getting at, but she knew that she wasn't able to come up with an answer to any of those questions. Or at least not the answer that she was certain the Blue Rose was looking for.
"Uh…"
"See? Even if I sent someone, I can't be sure that they'd know what to look for. That's why some things can't be left up to others. Some things I have to do by myself, regardless of what would be convenient for me and what you or any of the others would prefer I do," the Blue Rose continued gently, sounding like she wasn't trying to be mean, that that's just how things were.
Yaelish looked away from the Blue Rose. She felt like she should have thought of all that before, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that there should be some way that she should be able to work things so that both of them could be happy. Yet, nothing was coming to mind. Which just made the situation harder for her to bear.
"Look, I'm not saying there's nothing that I can't leave up to you guys, its just that this is one of the things that I need to do because I need to know that the job is done to my specifications. Just like how you feel that there's parts of my job that I should be doing a certain way."
Yaelish shook her head. While she understood what the Blue Rose was saying, that wasn't what she was getting at. She just didn't know how to explain it in a way that the Blue Rose would understand. And accept.
Acceptance of her point was important for her. Even if she couldn't quite explain it, she still wanted the Blue Rose to really understand why she felt hurt that the Blue Rose couldn't leave tasks like this up to them.
"Alright, fine. What questions would you ask the smith if I sent you to pick the daggers up?" the Blue Rose asked suddenly, sounding as if she was getting ready to make a point. "Convince me and I'll have you pick them up. Though, you'll need to make me convinced afterwards or I'll have to embarrass myself by taking them back to ensure that they'll be done properly."
Yaelish was stunned. She hadn't expected to be able to get this chance. All she could do for a moment was just stare at the Blue Rose.
"Come on, you heard what I ordered and the specifics that I wanted. So you should be able to figure out what it is that I wanted, right?"
Yaelish took a deep breath, hoping that the Blue Rose had actually understood more than she'd thought. Besides, a chance was all she had been silently asking for anyway and here was one being given to her without her having to ask for it. "You wanted the daggers to be similar but different, right? So I'd need to ask to have the differences pointed out since they're not supposed to be obvious to the casual observer, only to those who know what to look for."
The Blue Rose nodded, though she hardly looked happy about it. "Alright. You got that close enough to what I'd want, but next question. What would you do if you found that the daggers weren't up to what I had asked for?"
"I'd ask the smith to make the change\, whatever change is needed so that they match what you asked for," Yaelish replied, confident in her answer.
The Blue Rose sighed, again looking unhappy that Yaelish gave her the answer that Yaelish was confident was the correct one.
"Alright, fine. You can pick them up when it's time to get them," the Blue Rose said, her tone reflecting what her expression was telling Yaelish.
"Why don't you want me to pick them up?" Yaelish asked, feeling a little hurt by the fact that the Blue Rose was unhappy about it, even as she felt happy that she'd been entrusted with this task.
The Blue Rose sighed, looking away. "I guess it's just that in my life I've always tried to be self-reliant. That way I know things will be done as I want them and I don't have to worry about not getting what I wanted."
Yaelish could understand that sentiment, but she was determined to show the Blue Rose that she could trust her to take care of this task, which would leave her to deal with anything else the duchess might ask of them while they were here. After all, if she heard what the Blue Rose had been told correctly, that they'd be here for at least three days, likely longer.
"Well, I guess that's one complication taken care of," the Blue Rose remarked, though Yaelish wasn't sure who she was talking to. As she had a feeling it wasn't something that she was supposed to answer herself.
However, it wasn't something she could just leave unanswered, regardless. After all, it could affect the task she'd just been entrusted with, at least given the timing of when the Blue Rose had said that in regards to giving the task to Yaelish.
"What complication is that, my- Jenn?"
The Blue Rose laughed, making Yaelish blush a little, unsure if it was her near miss that she found so funny. "With the way you said that, it almost sounded like you considered me yours."
Yaelish stared at the Blue Rose. She certainly hadn't meant to make it sound like that, but she did understand why the Blue Rose found it funny. After all, Yaelish wasn't interested in the Blue Rose in that way, nor did she think that the Blue Rose thought she was.
Yaelish though was only able to manage a weak chuckle as she tried to share in the Blue Rose's mirth. Which she hoped didn't come off as awkward.
"Anyway, the complication is that I don't want Saelea to learn about the daggers until we get back to the settlement. I want to keep them a secret."
Yaelish felt surprised. She thought that the Blue Rose didn't keep any secrets from her stand-ins. That they were the ones she trusted the most and shared everything with them.
"But why keep it a secret from her?" Yaelish blurted as they started continuing to walk, presumably in the direction of the inn. "I thought you shared everything with your stand-ins."
The Blue Rose chuckled again, not slowing down, though she did put her arm around Yaelish's shoulders companionably. "I would tell her, but then that'd ruin the surprise. Imagine how surprised she'll be when I give her one of the daggers."
Yaelish nodded, starting to understand why the Blue Rose wanted three daggers to have been crafted. As well as why she wanted them to be different, but not so different that they'd be easily noticed as being different. As that was one piece of the puzzle that she hadn't been able to figure out up to that point.
After all, she couldn't think of why the Blue Rose had needed three daggers in the first place, but if they were a gift for others, then it made sense why she'd need more than one.
"Well, it's a good thing you mentioned that, otherwise I might have shown you the daggers in front of Saelea and been unable to keep them a secret from her."
The Blue Rose stopped walking, looking like she was surprised herself. "I never thought about that," she said quietly, her words almost lost in the ambient noise of the city around them.
"Well, then that's good thing, right? I wouldn't want to ruin a surprise you're going to such lengths to prepare, so cheer up. If you don't, I'm sure Saelea will want to know what that's about and you might have a harder time keeping the surprise a secret."
The Blue Rose looked startled, as if Yaelish had surprised her again, which made her want to laugh, but she kept it in because she didn't want to upset the Blue Rose. As it was something she was confident the Blue Rose wouldn't be happy about. At least not in public, like this.
"Please stop mentioning it," the Blue Rose said simply. "I'd rather not think about it right now."
"As you wish, m- Jenn," Yaelish replied, though she was pretty sure her voice was full of amusement, despite her best efforts to keep from letting the Blue Rose know just how amused she was about the whole situation.
The Blue Rose sighed, looking a little annoyed. "I'll come up with something that I'll tell Saelea, so if she asks you can just repeat my cover story. That way she won't be surprised if you leave when I get word that the daggers are ready."
Yaelish nodded, satisfied with what the Blue Rose said. As well as happy that she was able to play a part in it and help the Blue Rose out in this task.