"I will not speak of this unto one whose ear does not incline to me as a lover," Luna gave the customary response. After the spell had been removed from the oath, it had become a more normal thing to say, and after being integrated into society, there had been one glaring problem.
It forbid not only sharing the secret with one's own self, but also with one's partner. And that, the ancestors had decided, was completely unacceptable. Hence the wording.
"We are at the mercy of your honor, Mistress," one of them said. "If Master Lukas were to find out that we disturbed you when he had told us to allow you rest, he would likely not forgive us, even given the circumstances. We apologize for underestimating you."
The last sentence had been quickly added after. Hurried speech, slight fidgeting. They were uncomfortable with the fact that Luna had spoken as if escaping an artifact's space was nothing.
Though technically, to be fair, it had been nothing to her, because she hadn't even had to work for it.
And of course they were uncomfortable. Although the Gnome sort were generally weaker but still classified as artifacts because of their complexity and precise manipulation of power, this didn't look like a Gnome design. Too simple, and too artful. The bell was elegant, with swooping copper sides formed smooth, and a pattern set into the metal of the upper part of it, while around the widening mouth there ran a circular design a few layers deep, with repeating shapes or symbols around the whole thing and lines that went all the way until they met themselves again between each row of them, hence the layers. Many of them were likely runes, but Luna's head generally ached when she looked at runes for too long, even if she wasn't trying to understand them, so she decided now was not a good time to push her luck.
After all, she wasn't even sure if she was having a series of very good luck or very, very bad luck, so she would attempt to sort at least that much out before she went gambling.
Merely the thought of the practice triggered revulsion in her. It was a ridiculous concept, really. For the house, it didn't make any sense, basing your profits off whether or not your patrons were lucky. And for a gambler, why would you even choose to put your money into it? It was just stupid. They were the ones in charge, and aside from the fact that all large merchant groups were scumbags, as well as almost all individual merchants, it was just chance. Then again, there was a high chance that the games would never even work out in your favor. The reason places that supported it could remain open was because they also made a good profit on beer, alcohol, and food, and because the people who spent money often lost it. By that logic, the nicer and better-kept the place was, the more likely you were to lose your money. But people were attracted by nice facilities, there was really no helping that.
It was a strange and intriguing social experiment, admittedly. And it revealed the base pride incarnate in nearly every sentient creature. They believed that they would be the one who got the massive payout promised by every place, and that no one else would get it before or over them.
Nobody ever keeps winning.
As these thoughts were running through Luna's mind, the door opened again, forcefully.
Lukas.
She immediately recognized him, as soon as she heard the door slam against the wall. Some of the more aggressive maids would shove it open, but no one slammed it against the wall like that. No one other than the owner.
As soon as she realized that, she looked up. The movement seemed to take forever. During that time, she could feel the air of his movements, smell the musk wafting off of him and into the new room, practically a vacuum of masculine scent, being completely empty of it until that moment. She could nearly even taste his skin, feel the salty, sharp sweat that shone slightly on his powerful arms. Her hands twitched as images of him, progressive!y less clothed, flew through her mind.
Then their eyes met.