by Jacinta Jade
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THEY TOOK RISERS down to the living and recreation level in small groups, and upon stepping off the platform, Genlie caught Siray’s eye from where the female had just arrived on the level and mouthed, Washroom.
Siray nodded, and as they stepped out of the riser’s platform, she and Genlie walked on ahead, rapidly leaving the males behind. As they headed in the direction of their room to get clean clothes, Genlie was so keen to strip off her soiled training attire that she announced that she just might risk a naked run to the washroom.
Even though she suspected her friend was joking, Siray didn’t ask her any more about it but determinedly led the way into the room where they collected clean clothes and headed out again in record time.
Reaching the washroom, Siray breathed out in relief upon seeing it empty, some part of her dreading that Melora might potentially be there, waiting to gloat.
Crossing to the bench near the standing taps, she placed the pile of clothes there, ready for when she needed them.
She had learned from Genlie that clean sets of clothes were dropped off outside each room every evening, the clothes provided in two colours—grey and blue. Grey for training, and blue for everything else. The clothes only came in two sizes as well—large for the males and small for the females—which meant that Genlie, who was taller than Siray by a head, had to wear the larger shirt. Although it fit her better lengthwise than the smaller version, Genlie had gotten into the habit of tying the bottom of the material into a knot to make it a more secure fit, rather than look like she was wearing a short dress over her pants.
Before Siray had even begun to undress, Genlie had hit the switch that activated the wall of light, cutting her off from Siray’s view, and a moment later, a pile of dirty clothes came flying through the opaque wall. Siray ducked under the barrage, then straightened as she shook her head, smiling. Stepping through the wall of light, she stripped her own clothes from her sweaty frame and tossed them back through the wall behind her before she raised her hands to the taps.
As she moved into the warm stream of water, a day’s worth of sweat and grime was rinsed from her body. Siray had forgotten to undo her hair, but she did so now, tossing the tie through the wall.
Genlie sighed as water pounded down against her toned back. ‘I think I’ll sleep here tonight,’ she said softly as she leaned against the wall, her blonde hair plastered to her face.
Siray chuckled and leaned farther forwards so she could feel the water on the aching muscles in her shoulders. They both enjoyed standing under the streaming water for a long time, but then something else began to nudge at Siray.
Hunger.
She turned off her tap and moved towards the drying vents, calling to Genlie, ‘I’m going to dry off and get something to eat. You coming?’
‘Ummmm,’ Genlie responded vaguely. ‘Not just yet. I’ll be there in a little while.’
Siray shrugged and activated the vents, letting them dry her from top to bottom. Then she popped her head through the wall, grabbed her clothes from the bench outside, and dressed.
When she was ready, she said bye to Genlie and stepped through the wall, brushing her long red hair back from her face. Picking up her dirty clothes, she tossed them into a large hamper that sat to one side and then checked her reflection in the mirror before heading off to meet the needs of her growling stomach.
In the meals hall, she was glad to see the queue for food was short. On the other hand, the tables were pretty full, and she could see no seats near Tamot, Jorgi and Loce who were at a distance table. She also couldn’t spot Zale anywhere, so, shrugging, she grabbed a plate and filled it, knowing she could finally eat as much as she wanted with a full night’s rest ahead of her. As she stepped away from the serving station, someone moved into her path.
‘Well, hello again. Looking for a seat? You can come sit by me.’ Mocery tried to put his hand under her arm to steer her towards his table, but Siray pivoted away.
‘Sorry,’ she said, smiling sweetly at him and feeling her scars stretch a little across her cheek. ‘I’ve just seen my friends.’ She left the large male standing there and headed over to a table in the opposite direction where she had spotted a single seat in the crowd. Although she didn’t know the males sitting there, Siray introduced herself and was soon chatting with them, the company of the strange males better than the alternative.
When she had finished her meal, she thanked the males for their conversation and left the meals hall, making for the recreation room. Thankfully, she didn’t run into Mocery again, and she scanned the room for her friends, sure that at least one of them would be present. She didn’t have to search long before she spied some of them lounging together on couches to one side of the big room and headed across.
‘There you are,’ said Baindan with amusement, perched on the far end of one couch. ‘We were beginning to think you and Genlie might need someone to come in and rescue you.’
Siray raised an eyebrow as she flopped down into a space opposite him, Tamot scooting closer to Jorgi to make room for her. ‘Let me guess—you were about to volunteer?’
‘I would have done it with my eyes closed, I swear,’ Baindan promised, grinning.
Siray chuckled. They were getting along better each day, and it looked like they were slowly returning to their old level of banter. She flashed a grin sideways at Kovi, who was sitting farther down. ‘Actually, Kovi might need to drag Genlie out, otherwise she could end up sleeping in there tonight.’
Kovi snorted. ‘At least I’ll know what to get her when—’ He cut himself off.
Only Siray, Baindan, and Wexner appeared to note that Kovi hadn’t finished his sentence, as Tamot and Jorgi were speaking across the space with Loce and Deson about the Force of Wills game.
Siray winked at Wexner and Baindan before twisting back to Kovi and asking innocently, ‘When what, Kovi?’
Kovi flushed and mumbled, ‘Nothing.’ But then he seemed to almost involuntarily continue to voice his own thoughts out loud. ‘We’re in the middle of a war, anyway. There’s no point in talking about … things,’ he finished vaguely, as he once more appeared to become aware that he was revealing too much.
Siray thought she might have to lean in and give him some clearly needed advice, but Baindan nudged Wexner, who surprised her by leaning across Loce to address Kovi in a firm voice.
‘Kovi. Some things are meant for the now, and some things are part of a bigger, lasting picture. All of them should be spoken of and appreciated for what they are, otherwise how do you ever tell the difference?’
Siray nodded to show her agreement, astounded that Wexner, of all people, could offer such wise advice on this most sensitive of topics. She looked at Baindan, who didn’t seem at all surprised to hear his friend speak those words. And that made her wonder something she hadn’t thought of before—was Wexner attached to anyone? Despite their friendship growing due to the trials they had recently come through, she really didn’t know that much more about him, as he never volunteered information about himself. She would have to make the effort to get to know him some more … and to ask Genlie and Baindan what they knew.
A male unknown to Siray approached their group. ‘Hey, Deson. Are you still up for a match tonight?’
Siray peered across at Deson to catch his reaction. She had thought his talk yesterday evening of possibly taking a match tonight had simply been a delaying tactic.
However, he nodded in a friendly manner and stood, moving off with the male. ‘Yeah. Let’s go look at the board and see when we can play.’
Siray shook her head. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, so she had no idea how Deson could summon up the energy to accept a challenge. She watched as the two males eagerly moved towards the elevated games table, then shivered as she felt the skin on the back of her neck lift. Reaching up to rub at the offending spot, her fingers encountered a hand resting on the top of the couch behind her. Swiftly twisting her neck to lo
ok behind her, she glimpsed Zale and frowned playfully.
‘You could just say hello like a normal person,’ she said.
Zale shook his head solemnly. ‘I could, but normal is so … dull.’ He grinned as he prowled around the end of the couch to take the spot Deson had just vacated. He appraised the exhausted air around Siray and the others. ‘You all look like you’ve been run over by a rilander. Tough first day?’
All of them, bar Baindan, who chuckled at the choice of words, nodded.
Jorgi joked, ‘I think they’re trying to break us.’
Zale nodded and then said seriously, ‘They probably are.’
Silence fell over the group, and Siray considered Zale’s expression. No, he wasn’t joking.
‘What do you mean?’ Baindan asked, leaning forwards from his end of the couch to peer sideways at Zale. ‘That this is a kind of test?’
Zale nodded. ‘From what I’ve heard from you all during the day, it seems like the instructors are working you pretty hard. And three long, hard sessions aren’t exactly the normal here for training new additions to units.’
Siray looked at him in disbelief. ‘But why would they do this? We passed their questioning.’
Zale shrugged. ‘They must want to see what you can do. Maybe the captain has something special in mind.’
Siray glanced at the others before regarding Zale again. ‘He did say he thought there was a mission we could potentially do,’ she said carefully.
Zale nodded. ‘Well, that’s it, then. You’re being fast-tracked through training.’ Then his expression sobered. ‘I also heard something interesting today from a friend who works with security.’
Something in Zale’s tone caught Siray’s ear, and she scrutinised him. ‘What did you hear?’
Zale looked around at them all. ‘That one of our sentries found a bloody and torn jacket not too far from where you fought the patrol in the sands. It had Faction markings on it.’
The sounds of the recreation room and the people chatting and laughing in it seemed to fade as Siray leaned forwards quickly. ‘And did they find any sign of the Faction scout?’
‘No,’ Zale said, shaking his head. ‘But given the amount of blood, and the rips in the jacket, apparently the sentry thinks that a sand vepton might have gotten him.’
Siray exhaled in a rush. Maybe she was safe. She glanced up and shared a hopeful glance with Baindan.
Deson chose that moment to return, smiling widely, but his expression rapidly altered when he saw Zale sitting in his seat. He made a point of ignoring Zale as he told the rest of the group, ‘I’m going to have a match soon. You should come over and get some good spots to watch from while you can.’ He didn’t seem to notice that they were all lost in thought.
Wexner, however, managed to say, ‘Sure you want us near the front?’
Deson nodded. ‘I think it helps having support. Especially in this crowd.’ He gestured around at the room, indicating he meant both the competitive gamers and those watching for entertainment.
Siray also saw him look in her direction, so she smiled and said, ‘Sounds good. We’ll be over shortly.’
Deson returned her smile, nodded, and disappeared back into the crowd.
‘Seems like Deson’s getting into the game,’ Zale remarked. He stretched out in his seat, his long legs almost touching Kovi’s feet. Not that Kovi noticed, lost in thought as he was.
‘Mmmmm,’ agreed Siray. ‘I don’t know how he can play, though, after the day we just had.’
Zale appeared to consider that. ‘Well, maybe he gets something else out of it. It’s a pretty amazing feeling when you win.’
Kovi caught that comment and snapped out of his daydream, chuckling. ‘And it’s only a little depressing to lose. But I can see what you mean—once you play, you want to go back and try again. The game really allows you to feel the potential of your mind.’
Zale nodded. ‘It also happens that usually the best players are also those who are our top fighters. Not that there has been any serious research done, but it has been speculated that it could have something to do with control and strength of the mind.’ He said this factually, without any hint of boasting.
Siray and the others just stared at him. Then at Deson.
Was that why Deson is turning out to be so good at this game? Siray wondered privately. And what does that say about Zale? And what would happen if I—
‘Are you going to play tonight?’ Baindan asked.
‘Doesn’t look like it,’ Zale said, shaking his head. ‘I’m still on top on the leaderboard, and the only one who could potentially challenge me is on duty this evening.’ Then he considered Baindan, assessing him. ‘Why don’t you try it?’
Baindan shook his head. ‘Still think I prefer watching. And I don’t have Deson’s energy tonight.’
Siray tilted her head a little as she considered Baindan. The link between the game and fighting ability … was Baindan pretending tiredness in order to avoid playing? To avoid what it might reveal?
‘Speaking of which,’ said Tamot, who had just ended a discussion with Jorgi, ‘shall we head over?’
Siray looked towards the Force of Wills table and saw people starting to group around it. ‘Yep—don’t want to miss Deson smashing the competition,’ she said with a smile.
They all stood and headed over, Deson giving them a wave as he noted them take a position close to the action.
Soon he was sitting down at the table across from his opponent, and the pads were lighting up.
Siray had been joking when she had talked of Deson smashing the competition, but that was exactly what he did. Watching excitedly, Siray had to keep a tight mental hold of herself to be sure she didn’t project any thoughts Deson’s way and distract him, but she didn’t have to restrain herself for long.
After a brief struggle at the start of the match, the mist surged quickly towards Deson’s opponent, and the next thing Siray knew, the pads under Deson’s hands were glowing.
The crowd clapped and cheered, and when Deson rejoined them, Siray congratulated him enthusiastically. ‘I don’t know how you managed it after such an exhausting day, but well done!’ Indeed, she felt almost more drained after having watched the match take place. Probably just the excitement, she told herself. She smiled at Deson again. ‘You beat that male faster than you defeated Kovi.’
‘Thanks, Siray,’ said Kovi dryly, but he smiled.
Deson was grinning widely. ‘I don’t know how I did it—it’s hard to explain. But it doesn’t seem to drain me. And tonight, it really all just clicked and didn’t seem that hard at all.’ They all moved away from the table as Deson began giving them a play-by-play walk-through of the short game.
Suddenly, though, Siray gave a big yawn, then blinked as she shook her head to clear it. The movement drew Baindan’s attention.
‘You should go get some rest,’ he suggested quietly, his eyes canvassing the left side of her face for a moment before they dropped to examine the floor. ‘Most likely your body’s still doing some healing.’
Siray nodded, thinking it could be a good idea. ‘Genlie said something similar to me this morning.’ She rolled her shoulders, arching her neck, and then another yawn escaped her. ‘I think you might be right.’ She peeked over his shoulder, but the others were all still circled around Deson, asking him questions.
‘Think I’ll sneak out now while they’re all occupied,’ she told him. ‘See you in the morning.’
She caught Baindan’s nod as she pivoted in the direction of the door and walked out into the hallway, where the quiet almost overwhelmed her after the noise of the recreation room. It was still early in the evening, but her body ached, and her pillow was starting to seem like the best place in the world. She was nearing the door to her room when someone called out to her.
‘Siray—wait!’
Reluctantly, she paused and twisted to look over her shoulder, sorely tempted to be annoyed at whomever was delaying her from her sleep. But wh
en she identified Zale, jogging towards her with a small object in his hand, she gave him a small, sleepy smile.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked. Maybe she had left something in the recreation room, although she didn’t think she had brought anything with her.
Zale slowed to a walk as he closed the distance between them and stopped a pace from her, holding up his hand to show the object he carried. ‘The cream I promised you,’ he reminded her.
Siray frowned for an instant, before she realised what he meant. ‘Oh. Right. Thank you,’ she said, smiling as she shook her head again to clear its fogginess. She had forgotten their brief conversation in the hallway that morning. Tiredly, she held out her hand for the cream, but Zale shook his head.
‘It’s easier if someone does it for you,’ he said, opening the small jar and digging some of the contents out with his fingertips before closing it skilfully with one hand and dropping it into a pocket.
Siray was too tired to object as Zale gently grasped her hands in his and began applying the salve to the sore spots of her hand. Cool and slightly numbing, the cream provided a relief from the stinging warmth that had been growing ever since her weapons session that morning, and Siray dimly realised that the cream had to be made from a numbing plant.
Zale was silent as he worked the cream into her hands, and Siray was mesmerised as she watched his large hands massaging hers. After a moment he lowered one of her hands and just stood there, running his thumbs over the back of the hand he still grasped, the tips of his thumbs gently caressing the soft skin beneath her knuckles.
Siray blinked in confusion at their joined hands, then peeked up at him.
His golden eyes were fixed on hers.
A door swishing closed somewhere down the hallway broke Siray’s daze, and Zale let her hand fall.
‘Ah … thanks. My hands … feel a lot better … already,’ she stammered awkwardly, face heating.
Zale smiled softly and reached into his pocket for the cream, extending one hand to hold it out to her. ‘Keep the jar—you’ll probably need more until your hands adjust.’