Ink & Crown

Chapter 86 – More Hands

Taren exchanged a brief glance with Lucien before looking back at them.

“There’s something I wanted to ask both of you.”

Talia and Rowan waited.

The confusion on their faces had not lessened since sitting down. If anything, it had only grown.

Taren rested his forearms lightly against the table.

“Before anything else,” he said, “how are things going at Greyford for both of you?”

The question caught both of them off guard.

Rowan blinked. “Going?”

Taren nodded. “At work.”

Talia exchanged a glance with Rowan.

Neither seemed sure where this conversation was heading.

After a moment, Rowan answered honestly. “The same as always.”

Talia let out a small breath through her nose. “That’s a polite way of saying exhausting.”

That earned a faint smile from Taren. “Still staying late?”

“Almost every day,” Rowan admitted.

“Half the departments seem permanently understaffed,” Talia added. “The other half act like dumping work on whoever is still available is a management strategy.”

Dorian nearly laughed into his drink.

Talia noticed and looked slightly embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“No,” Dorian said. “Please continue.”

That earned a few quiet smiles around the table.

Taren let them finish before asking another question. “Have either of you thought about leaving?”

The table went quiet and Talia looked at him for a moment thinking.

Then her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Taren, then at Lucien. Then back at Taren again and suddenly something clicked.

“…You’re leaving.”

The words came out more as realization than a question.

For a moment, the table fell silent.

Taren looked like he didn’t expect her to catch on to that. Across from him, Dorian looked mildly surprised while Lunessa raised an eyebrow.

Even Lucien glanced at Talia with a little more interest than before.

None of them had mentioned anything directly. Yet she had connected the pieces almost immediately.

Beside her, Rowan was still processing what she had just said.

His gaze shifted toward Taren. “Wait,” he said. “You’re resigning?”

Taren nodded. “Yes.”

For a second, neither of them spoke and the surprise on their faces was obvious.

To them, Taren had always seemed like part of Greyford itself. The dependable senior employee who somehow kept things functioning even when everything else felt chaotic.

The idea of him leaving had simply never occurred to them.

“You’re serious?” Rowan asked.

“I am.”

Taren gave them a brief explanation not going into every minute detail, just enough for them to understand like meeting Lucien, learning about Crownspire and their discussions and finally his decision to join.

Both listened quietly.

By the time he finished, the table had grown silent again.

Then Taren looked between them. “Which brings me to why I asked you here.”

Both straightened slightly.

“If the opportunity existed,” Taren said, “would either of you be interested in joining Crownspire?”

The question had barely left his mouth.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The replies came so quickly that for a moment nobody reacted.

Even Taren looked taken aback.

Lucien looked mildly surprised, while Dorian lowered his drink and Lunessa stared at them.

The two looked equally surprised by how quickly they had answered.

Then Rowan cleared his throat.

“To be fair,” he said, “I’ve been considering leaving for quite some time.”

Talia nodded immediately. “Same.”

She gestured vaguely in the direction of Greyford's office. “That place is truly suffocating.”

The blunt honesty caught everyone off guard.

Then Dorian laughed. Lunessa followed. Even Lucien looked amused and laughed.

Talia realized what she had just said and covered part of her face. “I probably should have phrased that better.”

“No,” Lucien said. “I think we understood.”

Rowan nodded. “Very accurate description, actually.”

That only made the table laugh harder.

Once the amusement settled, Taren shook his head.

“You two should think carefully before deciding.”

Both looked at him.

“This isn't Greyford,” Taren continued. “Crownspire is new. Very new. We don't know exactly what the future looks like yet. There will be risks, uncertainty, and probably more work than either of you expect.”

Neither looked concerned which immediately made Taren suspicious.

“Did either of you actually listen to what I just said?”

“We did,” Rowan replied.

“Then why do you both look so relaxed?”

This time it was Talia who answered. “Because you're here.”

Taren stared at her.

She continued as though the answer were obvious.

“You wouldn't leave unless you genuinely believed in it.”

Rowan nodded in agreement.

“We trust your judgment.”

“Your experience too,” Talia added. “You've been in this industry longer than either of us. If you're willing to stake your future on Crownspire, that means you've already evaluated the risks more carefully than we could.”

For the first time since they arrived, Taren found himself speechless. The two said it so naturally that it was obvious they meant every word.

Across the table, Lucien, Dorian, and Lunessa exchanged brief glances. They had expected respect from them but not expected this level of unconditional trust towards Taren.

Taren looked at the two younger employees for a moment before letting out a slow breath. “That's... a lot of confidence to place in one person.”

Talia smiled. “You've earned it.”

And for perhaps the second time that evening, Taren found himself unexpectedly emotional.

Lunessa was the first to recover. To her surprise, hearing those words somehow made her even more confident about bringing them in.

She looked between Talia and Rowan before glancing toward Taren.

"That actually makes me feel a lot better," she said.

Talia blinked. "What does?"

"The fact that you trust him that much."

Lunessa's tone remained casual, but she meant it as skills could be evaluated and experience could be measured, but trust was harder. Much harder.

Especially the kind that made someone willing to follow another person into a company that barely existed a few weeks ago.

Dorian seemed to understand her meaning immediately and nodded. Lucien did as well. Neither said anything.

Talia looked slightly confused for a moment before understanding. "Well..." she said. "We've worked with him enough."

Rowan nodded immediately. "If Taren says something is worth considering, we take it seriously."

Talia pointed toward him. "Exactly."

Then she looked at Taren. "So don't look so surprised."

Taren let out a quiet breath through his nose. The praise seemed to make him more uncomfortable than criticism ever did. "I'll try my best."

That only earned amused looks from everyone at the table.

A few moments later, Talia looked around. "So..."

She glanced at Rowan, then back at Taren. "When do we start?"

Taren looked at her. "What?"

"You heard me."

Talia folded her arms. "If we're joining, is there anything important we need to work on immediately?"

Rowan nodded. "Anything urgent?"

The moment those words left their mouths, everyone at the table saw Taren's expression change and his head snapped up and the answer came so fast it was almost alarming.

"Actually, yes."

Both of them straightened and waiting for Taren to give the tasks.

Lucien immediately had a bad feeling. Dorian noticed it too. Lunessa covered her mouth.

Taren leaned forward. "As a matter of fact..."

Both Talia and Rowan suddenly felt nervous. "There's author correspondence that needs organizing."

Taren began counting on his fingers.

"Submission sorting. Internal workflow documentation. Scheduling support. Review tracking. Press coordination. Recruitment assistance. Department records. Communication logs. Rights documentation. Administrative support."

The list kept going. And going… And going...

By the time he finally stopped, both Talia and Rowan were staring at him speechlessly.

The silence lasted several seconds.

Then Rowan asked carefully, "...Is that everything?"

"No."

Taren looked genuinely thoughtful. "I just stopped because I didn't want to overwhelm you."

That finally broke the table as Lunessa laughed first. Dorian nearly spilled his drink. Even Lucien gave up trying to remain composed.

The entire situation felt strangely familiar.

Just a short while ago, Taren had been sitting exactly where Talia and Rowan were now.

And Lucien, Dorian, and Lunessa had done almost the exact same thing to him.

Only now the roles had reversed.

Talia slowly turned toward Lucien. "Did this happen to him too?"

Lucien nodded immediately. "Almost word for word."

That only made everyone laugh harder.

Taren rubbed the side of his forehead and gave a wry smile. In hindsight, he probably deserved this and he immediately understood why.

The scene felt painfully familiar to him too. Because this was exactly what they had done to him.

The same expressions, the same stunned silence and the same horrifying realization that "helping out a little" apparently translated into inheriting enough work to keep an army occupied.

The only difference was that this time, he wasn't the victim. He was the one doing it.

Taren rubbed the back of his neck and gave a slightly embarrassed laugh.

Across from him, Rowan and Talia still looked shell-shocked.

They hadn't even been here ten minutes. Neither of them had fully settled into their chairs.

And somehow, they already had enough assignments to question every life decision that had led them to this room.

A single thought seemed to pass between them. Would they even survive here?

Lunessa pointed at him. "You found people to dump work on immediately."

Taren snorted. "Of course."

Then he looked directly at her. "Why else do you think I called them?"

That earned another round of laughter.

Lunessa opened her mouth to respond, but Taren raised a finger first.

"And before you say anything, weren't you the one who insisted we contact them immediately?"

Lunessa paused. Then pointed at herself.

"That's different."

"It absolutely isn't."

"It is."

"It isn't."

The two continued staring at each other with complete seriousness.

Neither looked willing to back down.

Dorian shook his head. "They've already started."

Lucien nodded. "Looks that way."

While the two continued their entirely unnecessary argument, Lucien leaned slightly toward Dorian.

"Maybe it's time we start seriously looking for office space."

Dorian glanced at him. The suggestion wasn't unexpected.

If anything, he had been thinking the same thing for a while now.

With Taren joining and Talia and Rowan potentially coming aboard as well, Crownspire was no longer just few people working from whatever empty table they could find inside the café.

The workload was growing. The company was growing. And more importantly, the number of people involved was growing.

Dorian looked around the table. Five people already. Possibly six. Soon more.

Then he looked back at Lucien. "I agree."

Lucien rested his arm against the back of his chair. "The café worked when it was just us."

He glanced briefly toward the counter where staff continued moving between customers. "But eventually we're going to start getting in everyone's way."

"Eventually?" Dorian asked.

Lucien looked around again. "...Fair point."

Dorian thought for a moment before speaking. "Until we find a proper office, there's another option."

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

"The press."

Lucien immediately understood what he meant. Stone & Quill press had space but the problem was distance.

"It's a little far."

Dorian nodded. "It is."

The press sat on the other side of the city, making it far less convenient than simply working above the café.

Still, practicality mattered more than convenience.

"It doesn't have to be permanent," Dorian continued. "Just until we find something suitable."

Lucien considered it seriously.

The press already had meeting rooms, office space, storage, and enough room for them.

It wasn't ideal. But neither was trying to run a publishing company from a crowded café forever.

After a few moments, he nodded. "That might be our best option for now."

"That's what I was thinking."

Across the table, Taren had already stopped arguing with Lunessa and was listening.

"So Crownspire doesn't actually have an office yet?"

The question earned several awkward expressions.

Taren looked between them. "...I really did join at the beginning, didn't I?"

This time even Rowan and Talia laughed.

Lucien simply smiled. "You wanted honesty."

"Fair enough."

Taren picked up his drink and shook his head.

Around them, the café continued buzzing with customers and conversation, but at their table the atmosphere felt lighter than it had all evening.