[Maelstrom]

Malina decided that she'd be the one to bite that bullet. "The office Christmas party, sir?"

Flavius was apparently oblivious to the malcontent among the staff. "Yes, Miss Garridan. It's a yearly tradition in the Times, you ought to know!"

"Of course sir,but do we really need a party? I mean, there's so much around the holidays that needs to be done and we can bond without it..." Even Asrai was adverse to the editor's plans this time.

[Maelstrom]

"Honestly, darlings, Christmas parties are so last year! Why I was speaking to Lady Spattergoit about her Christmas -"

"I'm afraid that the objections are overruled." Malina sighed inaudiably; the men had been wise or cowardly enough not to speak up.

"Besides, this year we have extra present for the staff; our backer is coming to the party!"
Despite the dislike for the Christmas party, everyone was intrigued.

[Maelstrom]

The Evelonian Times' backer was well known to all of them; after all, they had lived on her property before becoming members of the Times' staff. She was called Mistress, Miss, or M depending on who was talking and she was a human. When Julius Flavius had come to her with a plan for a new newspaper, she had listened patiently to him, then gone out and found a rundown office building in Lamenolai. She had bought it for almost nothing, then paid to have it fixed up. Presenting the keys to Flavius, she told him that whatever equipment he required to make the Times the most popular paper in Evelon, he would have. Within five years Flavius had repaid her trust.

[Maelstrom]

Now she was coming to their Christmas party. "I thought that she was tied up with the troubles in Sekudui?" asked Civan.
"She had informed me that she should be finished with them by then, and will hurry to Lamenolai for the holidays."
"That is certainly good news, Mr. Flavius! Karrick and I have some pieces that we want her opinion on," enthused Seiko. The two artists did some work on the side and M organized the sale of that work. Rather than have most of her keystones saved, M preferred the risker method of investing them so she had a number of business ventures, Sekudui being the largest.