Private conversations

The uniforms that the receptionists wore reminded Dreufey of trips to London that she'd made with Adolf back when she lived with him in Munich. The Lufthansa flight attendants wore uniforms very much in the same style. Only the colours were different. Instead of blue, Ivaldi's uniforms were purple.

Dreufey was relieved to discover that the uniform Sunniva had found for her was a perfect fit despite her being a good deal more voluptuous than the average receptionist. In fact, she looked rather smashing in her uniform.

Dressed like everybody else, Dreufey soon became accepted as one of the girls. Her unusual entry into the group was soon forgotten. So far so good, Dreufey thought to herself. Freyr and his sister had arranged perfectly for her entry into Ivaldi's organization. But her next step was far from clear. She would have to play it by ear.

As it happened, Sagnar provided Dreufey with her first opportunity to inch a little closer to the top folks at Ivaldi & Sons. He came into the reception area about a week after he had first been there together with his colleagues and bosses. His attire was changed from Jotun fashion to Dark Elf style. Had it not been for his relatively pale skin and brown eyes with round pupils, he could easily have been mistaken for one of them.

Sagnar went from one desk to another, telling each pair of receptionists about the importance of extra diligence in light of the sensitive nature of the Jotun sponsored project.

"Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If you see anybody behave oddly, or looking out of place, let me know. The only foreigners allowed are Jotuns, as you know. Aesirs and Vanirs are not allowed anywhere on Nidavellir, and certainly not inside this building."

Then he booked a meeting with each of the receptionists in turn. Sunniva was booked for eleven o'clock the following Wednesday and Dreufey for eleven thirty, immediately after his meeting with Sunniva.

Sagnar noted this down in his agenda. Then proceeded to the next desk.

"He's curious about you, isn't he?" Sunniva said, once Sagnar was out of hearing distance.
"We're both from out of town. That's probably why."
"There's more to it than that, I think. But a Jotun. It's not exactly ideal."
"What do you mean?"
"They're a rough bunch. I would keep away from him if I were you."

Dreufey said nothing in reply. She couldn't very well reveal that Sagnar's interest in her was precisely the sort of opportunity she was looking for.

On Wednesday morning, Dreufey made an addition to her morning routine. She put Freya's love potion on a stool next to her bath tub where she had her daily soak to keep her hair and complexion dark. After drying herself off, she applied a few drops of the perfume in the little red flask to her wrists and her neck. Once fully dressed, she put a drop of Freya's perfume onto a finely embroidered handkerchief which she put into the pocket of her uniform. That way, she could spread the scent around, given an opportunity to do so.

Dreufey had been careful not to apply too much perfume, but evidently not so careful as to escape detection because Sunniva noticed it immediately on teaming up with Dreufey at their desk.

"That's a nice smelling perfume," she said. "Where did you get it?"
"Sindri's market," Dreufey replied.
"Oh, really? You've been to Sindri's market. Why would you do such a thing?"

Dreufey realized that her mention of the black market was probably a bad idea. But the cat was out of the bag, so she had to come up with some sort of excuse.

"I like the place. Reminds me of home."
"Lavoy has a market like that?"
"No. But we have souvenir shops and markets for the tourists."

Sunniva seemed satisfied with Dreufey's explanation.

"What's the name of the perfume," she asked.
"I have no idea. It came in a red flask with no label on it."
"Really? How odd."
"That's one of the charms of Sindri's market. You can find all sorts of stuff."
"You make the place sound interesting."
"Because it is."

Dreufey hoped in this way to have turned Sunniva's disapproval of Sindri's market into curiosity instead. But it didn't look like their exchange on the topic had changed her mind, and this made Dreufey worried that Sunniva might say something to Sagnar that would put her under more scrutiny than she already was.

However, Dreufey had a bigger worry in the back of her mind, and it was this worry that grew into full blown paranoia by the time it was Dreufey's turn to talk to Sagnar. The thing was that Sagnar's office was in the restricted area of the office building. Only tagged individuals were allowed to enter that part of the building, with the only exception being people like Sagnar who were given access cards to override the restriction.

Dreufey wasn't sure if her proximity to Sagnar would allow her to enter the restricted areas without some alarm going off, and the thought of it made her nervous.

When Sagnar came to pick up Sunniva for her interview, Dreufey's heart started beating and the sickness to her stomach was almost unbearable.

When Sagnar returned with Sunniva half an hour later to pick up Dreufey, she was feeling faint and dizzy.

This isn't going so well, Dreufey thought to herself as she joined Sagnar for their walk into the restricted area.

Dreufey struggled to appear calm in Sagnar's presence, and this became especially hard as they approached the door to the restricted area. She could feel her brain cloud over. This is it, Dreufey thought, fully expecting the alarm to go off and everybody turning to look at her.

But the alarm didn't go off, and this sparked such an elated feeling in Dreufey that it positively lifted her off the ground. She became all cheers and smiles, and her focus was once again a hundred percent directed towards Sagnar whom she was determined to impress with her charms.

"So, how's your day been so far?" Sagnar asked in way of breaking the ice.
"Very well, thank you," Dreufey replied with a smile.

Sagnar ushered Dreufey into a small room with no windows. It was empty except for a table with two chairs in the middle of the room. The walls were painted white, and a single lamp hung over the table.

"Is this your office?" Dreufey asked, surprised by the sad little space.
"No, my office is on the top floor. This is a meeting room for private conversations. It's more convenient for me to use this than to bring each of you up to my office."
"Top floor, eh?"
"Yes. It has a beautiful view. But enough of that. We're not here to talk about my office space."

Sagnar had a list of prepared questions for Dreufey to answer, all designed to reveal any inconsistency in her background story. However, Dreufey had prepared for such an interview. She had spent her evenings studying Lavoy, its history, its location, industry and commerce. She had repeated for herself Freyr's made up family history, which had been carefully crafted by his team of agents. There wasn't a single question on Sagnar's list that Dreufey didn't have a ready answer for.

Satisfied by Dreufey's story, Sagnar rounded off the meeting in a more informal manner. He asked her how she found Ivaldi's city. He liked it very much himself. His only issue was that everything in town was terribly expensive.

"I don't find it expensive," Dreufey replied. "Things are no more expensive here than on Lavoy."
"It's more expensive than Jotunheim, I can tell you that. I paid a silver quarter for a coffee the other day."
"You paid with silver?"
"No. I've exchanged some gold for Ivaldi's currency, and I'm calculating the prices back into silver and gold based on the exchange rate."
"You used one of Ivaldi's banks, right?"
"Of course."
"That's your problem right there. If you have gold or silver, it's better to use it directly in Sindri's market."

Sagnar, who hadn't heard of Sindri's market before, was intrigued.

"So, it's possible to buy things directly with gold and silver?" he asked.
"Yes, and it's much cheaper that way. Sindri's market is right around the corner. I can show you where it is if you like."

Sagnar looked at Dreufey for a moment.

"How about after this meeting?" he asked.
"I have my lunch break in an hour," Dreufey replied.
"Do you mind if I take you out for a bite? If you show me the way to Sindri's market, I'll pay for your lunch."
"Well, how can I refuse such a generous offer?"
"How indeed."

Sagnar followed Dreufey back to her desk where he confirmed that he'd be back at one o'clock to pick her up for their walk. Then he headed off for another interview, this time with the next girl up the row of desks.

"He asked you out for a date?" Sunniva asked. "That was quick."
"I'm good. What can I say?"
"I knew it. The guy has an eye for you. But you better be careful. He's a Jotun. They have a terrible reputation."
"Is that so?"
"Like I said, they're a rough bunch; not the sort of people you should get yourself involved with."
"I'm just going to show him around Sindri's market, so don't you worry about me. Besides, he's been nothing but a gentleman to us all. I don't see why you insist on typecasting him as a brute."

Sunniva looked again at Dreufey with disapproval.

"What is it with you and that black market?"
"It's a nice place. Besides, Sagnar is paid in gold, so it makes sense for him to spend his money there."
"I would never go there."
"Why not?"
"It's seedy and inferior to regular stores, and Einar would disapprove for sure."
"Who's Einar?"
"You don't know who Einar is?"
"No."
"He's the guy in charge of the Jotun project."
"Well, I don't think Einar will mind if Sagnar goes to Sindri's market. Part of the reason they allow the place to be open is that it provides services to foreigners like him."
"But Einar wouldn't be very happy to see you or me there."
"Maybe not. But there's nothing illegal about the place. Do you think he'd fire me if he heard that I go there every now and again?"

Sunniva lowered her voice, Indicating she was about to reveal a secret.

"I don't know if he'd fire you," she said. "But I can ask him next time I talk to him."
"You talk to him?" Dreufey asked in a hushed voice. "On a regular basis?"
"Yes, I do. He's been texting me regularly ever since we met back when the Jotun delegation was here."
"You're kidding me."
"No. It's true. He keeps asking me to do little favours for him, like looking up stuff. You know, the sort of things he has secretaries to take care of."
"You think he might promote you?"
"I do. But promise me, don't tell anyone about this."
"Of course not. Unless you make a big deal of me going to Sindri's market with Sagnar that is."
"Trust me, I won't."

Dreufey could hardly believe her luck. Not only was she getting friendly with Sagnar, her new found friend was about to get a whole lot closer to one of Ivaldi's sons as well. Dreufey's mission was getting off to a great start.

< Previous chapter | Next chapter >