Jeff Salyards - Veil of the Deserters

Vendurro puffed out his cheeks, then exhaled slowly. “Wishing I could let you. But this is something I got to see through myself. My duty to do. Still, means more than I can say you offering like that.” He checked the door, found it unlocked, and pushed it in. “Looks like the steward got here first. You’ll be bunking in Cap’s spare room. No telling if they dusted it or not, but other than being locked up for a few years, ought to be fine.”

I stood there, satchel and writing case tucked in my arms. “What about you and the lieutenants?”

“Oh, Mull and Hew got their own quarters, being officers and all.”

“But you’re an officer too, aren’t you?”

“Only difference between me and the other men is I got to suffer through more of their gripes and bellyaching. And occasionally repeat the Cap’s orders if they’re moving slow. Sergeant’s a glorified grunt. I got my own room, true enough, but it’s in the barracks with my brothers. All for the best. Easier to stumble in after swallowing a gallon or three of ale or sour wine. Fewer stairs.”

He took a step back, looking ready to go. I glanced at the empty room ahead and had the uncomfortable sense that I was once again on a precipice. Every time I felt as if I had discovered the worst about what might happen accompanying the Syldoon, I learned some new horrible wrinkle-secretly supporting the deposed Emperor while plotting against the new one?

Vendurro must have seen my face and asked, “You wouldn’t want to come with me, would you? Meet the mates, share some ale?”

I nearly said yes-it seemed a brighter prospect than being alone in a dusty room. But I was made for dusty rooms. And I didn’t imagine the other Syldoon soldiers would be any more receptive to sharing a flagon with me than Braylar’s immediate retinue would.

I shook my head, and Vendurro nodded. “Be seeing you then, Arki.”

“Night.”

I watched him head back down the hallway, not envying his task on the morrow, but jealous he would have old friends to take his mind off it tonight, and almost called out and asked him to wait for me to join him.

Almost.

Captain Killcoin’s quarters were spacious, and he was lucky enough to have several arched windows along one wall. I looked out and saw all of Sunwrack spread out in front of me. Even several floors from the roof of the Tower, the view was amazing-the orderly grid-like streets and alleys running off in every direction; the vast plazas teeming with colorful crowds, shimmying, shifting; fountains filled with water from the aqueduct alongside gated gardens of fig and date and those peculiar trees that homed the steel moths; temples of every size, sometimes crowned with bulbous domes or topped with achingly thin minarets painted in black and white bands; crumbling facades and ancient arches everywhere; the brass roofs reflecting the last of the sunlight, the whole city ablaze. And of course the colossal walls and Towers surrounding the vast city-a ring of castles and keeps girding the heart of the Empire.

It really was astonishing. And a little dizzying, so I stepped away.

I walked through an open arched doorway to the adjacent smaller room. Being an interior apartment, this did not have windows but I was surprised to see a small rectangular light well that was lined with glazed brick, increasing the illumination. And there was a hook above the small desk and chair that had a lantern hanging from it.

It was not as pleasant as some rooms I occupied briefly in the houses of previous employers, but writing in here would be an absolute pleasure compared to tramping about in wagons, rumbling over ruts every ten feet, spilling ink and scratching marks on the page so sloppy I could barely make out what I intended when I looked back on them hours later.

Opposite the desk was a simple bed, but that too would be luxury after sleeping alongside a wagon wheel, stirring at every noise in the dark, wondering if Hornmen or Brunesmen or some other unknown enemy would come thundering through our encampment trying to kill us all.

I set my gear down and saw that someone, the steward or slaves who prepared the room for our arrival, had dragged in a copper tub as well. Or maybe the tub was always here, but one finger dip inside told me they had filled it recently-the water was lukewarm, but the copper held the heat nicely.

A bath. A warm bath. It felt like ages since I’d had one.

I pulled some new clothes out of my satchel and quickly stripped out of my filthy tunic and trousers, the wool caked in dirt and splotches of blood. After piling my smallclothes on top and unwinding the bandage around my waist, I stepped into the tub, actually relieved it wasn’t boiling hot. I slid down, the water rising to the middle of my chest, the warmth luxurious, my itching wound finally forgotten.

A bristle brush was hanging from a hook on the side, and there was a small tray with a hunk of soap as rough as a millstone. I scrubbed and lathered and rinsed, then slid down as far as I could, my arms draped over the side, my eyes closed.

I only intended to rest, but must have fallen asleep for a few moments when I heard a voice. “Well. Don’t you look cozy.”

My eyes snapped open. A woman’s voice. Skeelana.

I sat up straight and then started to cover myself.

She was sitting cross-legged on a chair behind the table. “Oh, the soap scum is like lily pads, and you’ve browned the water nicely. I didn’t see anything.”

“What… How did you get here?”

Skeelana pointed at the door. “Not exactly a challenge. Wasn’t locked.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Same as you. Relaxing a bit. You looked very comfortable before I startled you. I almost felt guilty.” She didn’t look it in the slightest. “Though now you don’t look especially peaceful.”

I had no idea what to do or say-I’d never been interrupted during a bath by a woman before, and certainly not one I was strangely attracted to. But she spoke to me as if we were strolling along a crowded street.

“Uh, what I meant to say was, is, I am glad to see you, but what are you doing here right now? The captain could return any moment, and I’m pretty sure he would have the same question, but asked much less nicely.”

She didn’t seem particularly bothered by that either. “Oh, I saw him earlier. Towermates he hadn’t seen in years dragged him off to drink. I think we are quite safe.”

The way she said that made me feel anything but. Though not at all in the same way my unexpected conversation with Soffjian had in the wagon in the dark. Here, I just felt off balance, flushed despite the tepid water, awkward, and uncertain. “I’m going to get out now.”

Skeelana smiled. “By all means.”

“That is, to get dressed. To-”

She stood up. “Oh, never fear, Arki. I’m only playing with you. I will avert my eyes.”

True to her word, she turned away. I parted the dirty water as best I could, stepped out, shivering, even though the day was still warm. And slipped into my clean undertunic, tunic, and trousers as quickly as possible, stumbling as my wet foot caught in the pant leg and I nearly fell over.

Skeelana glanced over her shoulder and laughed. “You alright back there?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to free my foot and work it through, again nearly toppling. “Just fine, thanks.”

When I was finally dressed, she turned around and sat back down. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more on the final stretch back here. Soffjian felt it would be best if we maintained some distance. Especially after I treated Captain Killcoin. That did so unnerve his retinue, and certainly the man himself. I did miss our chats though.”

I felt myself flush even more. “I did as well,” I admitted, sitting on the bed.