Chapter 788

*I can see how those two are friends now. Basically the same answer to the question really. ‘I mean in an ideal world no. But in this world maybe?’ is what they both basically said.* “In that case, what do you WANT to have happen here with Zuhra? Your help would be nice, but frankly whatever happens after we give our report to Apep isn’t really our business. We’re happy to work with you even if you have other plans after we leave...” offered Kat.

Jara huffed, “Yeah I guess I can see where you’re coming from. It’s not even a bad deal, especially if I’m on this side of things. As for what I want to happen... well... my parents like to threaten me with having a younger sibling if I don’t marry and have kids, preferably with Apep. I keep encouraging them to go along with the damned idea.”

Jara brushed away a strange of loose hair and continued, “I don’t know why exactly I don’t have siblings. Maybe they only wanted one, too much effort perhaps? Maybe it’s a medical thing? Perhaps they’re just really unlucky? Maybe they don’t take me seriously when I say ‘Go ahead, if you fuck enough that I don’t need my own sex life I’ll be beyond grateful’ which perhaps isn’t the most tactful phrasing but I feel like it gets the point across,”

Kat narrowed her eyes, “Is... is that really an appropriate way to... motivate? I suppose? A child?”

Jara shrugged, “I don’t know about appropriate but it is not necessarily uncommon. ‘If you won’t be a proper heir we can make another’ isn’t all that different from saying ‘I can fire you and hire someone better’ of course the issue I think my parents might have is that I’m quite a good candidate if it wasn’t for my asexuality and unwillingness to do the job. My educational scores are beyond reproach and by far the top of my generation.

“I wish I was able to compare myself against other great minds from the past, but education changes somewhat rapidly as new things are discovered. Certainly at least once a generation. So it isn’t truly comparable after a certain point. I also apparently have a head for business. Did you know the smaller crop sections were my idea? Focus on small lots of consistently grown crops specifically to sell to high end merchants and other numbers of the Ten. It makes us so much money and that was all me.

“I think my parents are scared that I got all the intelligence and any future children wouldn’t be quite as bright. Which is nonsense. If anything the other children they have should be at least close to my level... then again it’s not like my father is a genius really. Good head for business, and my mother loves him, but no genius. My mother... well she’s just lazy really. If she had half my work ethic we’d be by far the richest of the Ten!”

.....

“Really?” asked Kat.

Jara waved the point away, “Sort of? I mean we would be... but it’s easy to make money when you already have money. My family has suffered no major tragedies since its founding and we never had too many children in each generation. It’s just sort of piled up. Even though we do try to keep much of it in the economy of the city we’ve gotten quite good at things and it continues to pile up. I mean, why do you think we were able to afford the glass? That’s the only major expense my family has had to shell out for in a long time. Though it wasn’t exactly a recent purchase...”

“What are the other families spending their money on?” asked ‘Lily’ who was unwilling to actually turn back to ask the question.

“Bit of this bit of that,” said Jara, “It really is a slow drain mixed with the occasional fool. The other’s need to spend more money on guards, more money on food. The occasional heir that has a gambling problem. They always do recover of course. It’s quite hard for one major incident to end things, and the portion of taxes we receive helps stop us ever becoming completely destitute. My family has just been consistent in making small bits of money... and if you keep doing it since the city was founded it adds up over the generations. Mum just happens to be exceptional. If she tried, I don’t know that anyone could stop her. Instead... she’s content to laze about and occasionally paint. But Fountain forbid she actually SELL any of her work,”

Jara was breathing slightly heavily through her nose. She was clearly trying to retain her composure and failing slightly. Kat did want to ask about Zuhra... but it felt better to keep Jara on her own problems for the moment. Apparently, the botanist needed this. “Is there anything else you’d like to bring up?”

Jara’s eyes narrowed, quickly catching on to what Kat was offering... but she couldn’t really think of a reason to refuse. “The gardeners probably. They piss me off sometimes. They treat me like I’m still five and don’t know how to mix fertiliser properly. Just a week ago I was telling one of the junior gardeners off for skipping out on the compost in his mix but I was told ‘Look, I trained for this job, I know what I’m doing young miss,’ which. NO clearly you don’t because you can’t even follow simple instructions.

“Fool didn’t even HAVE compost anywhere nearby. No wonder he forgot it. Also, just because you trained a bit after you finished schooling doesn’t mean you can tell the heiress who has LIVED BREATHED AND CRIED SAP FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S DOING!” Kat flinched back when Jara screamed out the last part of her sentence.

“I mean really!” Jara’s voice dropped back down but continued to climb, “Why do people assume I know nothing at all of the family business? Let alone the ones that WORK HERE and SEE ME participating FREQUENTLY in the maintenance of the gardens. I’m not standing on the balcony in fine silks shouting ‘why don’t you understand peasants?’ NO! I have the worst looking nails in the nobility because I cut them down. I have more stained shirts than I have nice ball gowns. I have enough overalls to dress the ENTIRE WORKFORCE TWICE if they’d fit anyone above fifteen!

“I get it. Some of the Ten have a bit of a reputation. Not all of them take part in the main business. They just know how to manage. My own mother has probably never chipped a nail or had to desperately scrub dirt from under her fingers hours before an important party. I get that. BUT if I walk up to you. Sweaty, covered in dirt, and basically in gardener uniform telling you YOU’RE WRONG. FUCKING LISTEN!”

“Is it really so beyond their comprehension that I might, if not be correct, at least worth listening to? It’s not even that uncommon. Granted, those are the gardeners that don’t generally stay employed and get kicked out with a half hearted reference but we employee a hundred gardeners at least. We still go through them quite regularly! I can scarcely go a month without someone ignoring my advice for no good reason. It wasn’t even that much worse when I was a child.

“It was a bit sure, but it was much kinder on me because I understood. I was a child back then. I might have been a smart child, but I’ll never forget what ol’ Mister Philip’s said to me when I tried correcting him. I was only four at the time and it stuck with me. ‘Girl. I know you mean well, and you have a buncha fancy ideas. It don’t matter. It ain’t my place to come up with ideas. I just keep the garden from falling apart as per ya parents instructions with my own little tricks. If ya can find something practical, let them know first and then tell me. Cause if they told me to dig a 3 foot deep hole when it really needs to by five? I might tell ’em, but if they insist it needs to be 3 feet deep. Then it needs to be 3 feet deep.

“Granted it still took me a while to understand what he meant but now I only correct people on things I know are wrong. Things I know they should have be told about or just little mistakes. Like another time, about two months back. One of the female gardeners was trying to plant cabbages in the eggplant patch. They don’t have the same fertiliser mix or take in the same amount of water. I warned her, and she didn’t listen to me. I almost wish the cost of the seeds came out of her pay cheque when her boss found out. Almost wish I’d told him the day it happened, but while I do like correcting people. I do not want a reputation as a snitch. Much harder to deal with and remove,”