Dralin

by Carroll, John H.

  It wouldn’t be the first time they had lain together, but it would be the first since Frath had met Sheela. The City Guard had a very liberal policy of letting guardspeople share each other’s beds as long as it was never forced. Life in the Guard was hard and the chances of death were high. Casual relations were encouraged to help keep everyone relaxed and morale high. They were also very liberal about same-sex relationships.

  Bava slid her hand a little higher up his thigh. “I know the hearing tomorrow has you on edge, Frath. Some relief might do you good.” He chewed on his lower lip and frowned in thought. Bava took her hands away and moved to face him with her left leg folded up so she could rest her chin on the knee. “They won’t kick you out of the guard. Sarge will see to that.”

  He shook his head and spoke quietly so as not to disturb Pelya who was beginning to fall back to sleep. “He’s done far too much for me already. At this point, I owe him a debt I’ll never be able to repay. Now he’s going to stick his neck out for me even more?”

  “That’s his decision to make. Sarge does what he wants and he has his reasons.” Her voice was mellow and soothing when she wasn’t screaming at an enemy. It was one of the reasons he liked talking to her about troubling things.

  “But why is he doing so much for me?” Frath asked, looking into her dusky green eyes. The dim light of the lantern combined with the late hour gave them a smoky quality, an effect increased by the desire that was coming through.

  “Sarge sees something in you. We all do, even if we don’t know what it is.”

  “I’m not special,” Frath protested. “I’m just trying to survive like everyone else and I’m in the guard because I want to make the world a little easier for people to survive, even if it seems like a lost cause.”

  “Well maybe that’s part of what makes you special.” She told him as she stood and took Pelya. “You truly care about people and it shows.” Bava gently rested the baby on her shoulder and patted her back while Frath rinsed out the bottle using clean water out of a pitcher.

  “There are others that care. I know you do, Sarge does and most of the squad does. There are others.” Frath wiped the bottle off and set it down.

  “Yes, but you’re strong, fast and skilled,” Bava said, smiling at the oversized burp Pelya let out. “You look after the rest of us and you protect Sarge’s back. Don’t think he hasn’t noticed.”

  It was true that Frath had gone out of his way to protect the sergeant. There had been a few battles where he had turned away a sword aimed at Gorman’s back even though the sergeant most likely would have been able to avoid them. In addition, he had stood up for the man when others would cast insults or disparaging remarks.

  Bava put Pelya back in the crib and gently caressed the thin black hair that was growing in nicely. “You also go out of your way to defend every member of your squad and we all know it. That’s why you’re so popular among the rest of us.”

  Frath nodded silently, blushing a little at the compliment.

  “You’re also fast with your mind, well read on law and policy, and a quick thinker in battle. That’s more reason to keep you around.” She came over and put her arms on his shoulders. She was five eleven, but still had to look up at him. “You’re also very, very handsome, even with purple eyes.” Bava grinned.

  “I don’t think Sarge keeps me around for that reason,” Frath replied wryly.

  “No, but I do.” She tiptoed to kiss him.

  Frath returned the kiss hesitantly and put his hands on her waist, trying to decide how it felt.

  The kiss lasted a few moments and she smiled at him. “I’m not trying to replace her and I’m not asking for commitment, just warmth and relief for both of us.” Bava studied his face for a moment and then kissed him again. He returned it sincerely, though not with the love he had felt for Sheela. He would never kiss a woman like that again.

  ***

  People filled the hearing chamber, waiting to discover what would happen to Frath. Master Verbo and Healer Irmin were there as was Frath’s entire squad. There were other people from the guard who had heard of the God-Touched Private and they had enough influence to join the audience. The committee of three officers sitting behind a raised desk didn’t look at all happy about the crowd though.

  One individual was noticeably absent. Frath leaned toward Sergeant Gorman’s ear. “Where is Captain Duuth?”

  Gorman answered back into his ear. “I convinced him not to be here. Don’t ask.” Frath looked at him incredulously, but he just grinned.

  “Why are there so many people in here?” The individual sitting at the center of the desk asked in a powerful voice. He was the Commander of Internal Justice, a man with a strong face and mostly grey hair. A captain sat to his left and a low ranking member of the High Council’s Office on his right. Together they made the more important decisions of law and order within the City Guard.

  A lanky bailiff with long, straight brown hair stepped toward the desk. “Everyone is fascinated with the case because the private is God-Touched,” he said laconically. “It looks like every member of his squad was given the day off too.” The man obviously didn’t care what anyone in the room thought about him.

  “We don’t need this many people. It’s distracting. Everyone not important to the matter is to leave,” the commander ordered, banging his gavel. The audience started protesting, making a loud racket. The commander pounded the gavel on the desk in order to silence the room. It was ineffective until the gavel broke with a loud crack. The head of it went flying through the air only to be caught by the bailiff who dramatically dusted it off and set it back on the desk, ignoring the commander’s glare.

  “That was my favorite gavel, a gift from my wife!” the commander slowly stood while speaking his next sentence. “Anyone not necessary to the matter at hand is to leave immediately before I have you all arrested!” He shouted the last while leaning forward over the desk, his face ruddy in anger.

  Everyone rushed to get out, pushing and shoving regardless of rank. Gorman dismissed all the squad except Bava, who he kept to provide moral support for Frath. The squad members left in an orderly fashion after everyone else had exited.

  Remaining were the healers, a couple of priests and wizards, a few assorted members of the Guard who might act as professional advisors, the bailiff, a recorder of minutes, and legal students there to study. The latter looked nervous about not having left.

  The commander motioned that the students were alright where they were, causing most of them to sigh in relief. He then looked at some papers in his hands. “The matter at hand is the issue of whether or not to allow Private Frath Jornin to remain in the Dralin City Guard due to the fact that he has been God-Touched.”

  Frath was surprised that nothing was said about having a child in the barracks but decided to keep it to himself. There was no sense in complicating things.

  The commander flipped through his documents a moment longer while the other two stared at Frath, examining his eyes especially. “First of all, how do we know he’s God-Touched?” the commander finally asked. He had an authoritative voice that dominated the room even when he wasn’t screaming in anger.

  Priestess Calla stood from the rows of benches behind Frath. “I attest to the fact that Private Frath Jornin is God-Touched. In examining him shortly after he was taken into the healing hall, I discovered it to be true. It is not quite as noticeable now that his eyes are no longer glowing, but it is so.” She sat.

  “Hmm,” the commander looked at Priestess Calla for a moment before glancing at the other two members of the committee. When they nodded in acceptance of the words, he did as well. “Very well. He’s God-Touched. Why doesn’t somebody just fix that?”

  Frath turned back just in time to see Priestess Calla roll her eyes. Another, even older priestess on the other side of the room stood. She was the Head Priestess of the City Guard and worshipped a completely different god than Calla. The two women didn’t like each other at all.
“Only a god or goddess can cure the young man and that’s just not going to happen. I wouldn’t waste your time following that direction, Commander.” She sat down.

  This time the commander didn’t even look at the others before accepting the information. “Very well. So he’s going to stay God-Touched. Why would that make him unable to perform his duties?”

  Nobody responded. All three members of the committee looked around, waiting for an answer before Master Verbo finally stood. “Every other person I’ve ever seen who was God-Touched lost their minds and ability to function,” he explained.

  The council wizard frowned. “Being God-Touched is extraordinarily rare,” he said in a high, formal voice. “Precisely how many other God-Touched have you seen?”

  “Oh . . . well . . . one,” Master Verbo stammered, the last word lowering in volume to just above a mumble. “But I’ve heard of others,” he pointed out with a finger in the air.

  “Of course,” the wizard agreed condescendingly, drawing a narrowed look of irritation from the master healer.

  The captain on the other side asked, “You had him in your healing hall. In your opinion, has he lost his mind or ability to function?”

  “Well . . .” Master Verbo looked at Frath for a moment and then back at the committee. “I honestly have no idea. He seems alright other than some weakness from being unconscious for three days. He also doesn’t seem to be able to talk about what happened.”

  Priestess Calla stood and interrupted. “Whatever god or goddess touched him put a geas on him that prevents him from speaking of it. Nothing less than a divine being would be able to remove that geas.”

  “Where is his commanding officer?” the captain asked suddenly.

  Sergeant Gorman stood. “Captain Duuth is in a meeting at the Estate of the Grand Assembly, Sir. I’m his squad sergeant.”

  “Duuth?” the commander said with an expression of distaste that was shared by the others. “Just as well then,” he said gratefully. “Well, Sergeant, do you think he’s able to perform his duties properly?”

  “Yes Sir,” Gorman answered.

  The committee members stared at him. “That’s all you have to say? Yes Sir? Would you like to clarify, Sergeant?” the commander asked.

  Gorman nodded. “He is physically able to perform his duties. He’s been recovering this week so he could use a day or two on the practice field, but I’ll be making sure that happens,” he assured them. “His mind is strong even after whatever happened to him. There’s no slurring to his speech and he remembers everything I’ve asked him. His vision is fine even though his eyes turned purple.”

  “I’m curious as to what color they were before,” the wizard said.

  “They were blue, Sir,” Gorman answered. The wizard nodded as though it meant something. Frath figured it was just because the man wanted to look wise.

  “Private Jornin,” the commander said. “Do you feel, without reservation, that you are able to do your duties?”

  Frath honestly didn’t know, but wasn’t about to say so and jeopardize his chances of staying. “Yes Sir. I am able to do my duties,” he answered immediately while standing.

  “I figured as much. Just checking,” the commander stated as though growing bored with the hearing. “Captain Unermin,” he said to one of the Guard’s experts sitting in a gallery to the right of Frath. “I want you to test him in the training yard and determine if he’s physically and mentally capable to handle combat and . . . whatever else he needs to be able to do.”

  A man nearly as tall as Frath stood and smacked his fist to his chest in acknowledgement. Frath had never sparred against the man, but knew that Captain Unermin was one of the five best swordspeople in the Guard. He was also excellent in every other form of fighting and lighting fast too. Fortunately, Frath didn’t have to defeat him, just show that he would be able to handle himself mentally and physically.

  “This way private,” Captain Unermin ordered in a commanding voice. Frath jumped to his feet and quickly followed the officer. They walked through a short hall before exiting into an open practice area. The sun instantly beat down on them with the full force of a humid summer. There was no breeze to move the air and keep them cool, so they all began to sweat immediately.

  A lieutenant ran ahead and grabbed dull-bladed practice swords from a covered rack along the wall. They were similar to the swords normally worn, but a little off balance from use in practice.

  Frath easily caught the one tossed at him and instantly had to roll to the side as the captain came at him, catching his own in a mid-air leap. It was an excellent test to check his reflexes, but Frath really wished he had been given time to warm up. It wasn’t as if Unermin needed any kind of advantage.

  Then the strangest thing happened. As he rolled into a defensive position, Frath saw the captain’s shadow move before the captain did. On a gut instinct, he countered the captain’s motion before it happened. Their swords met and Frath leveraged his fists to the captain’s face. He was surprised when they made contact and the captain fell down with a bloody nose.

  Frath stepped back, disengaging from combat. Captain Unermin rolled back and to his feet, coming up ready. “Hold!” the lieutenant who had thrown them the swords ordered, coming between the two. Frath stepped back and put the tip of the practice sword between his feet in an indication he would press no further.

  Captain Unermin threw his sword to the ground and said a few choice words as Master Verbo and Healer Irmin rushed up to stop the blood gushing down the front of the officer’s tunic. Frath looked around and saw everyone looking at him in awe. More than a few had jaws hanging open. Even Sergeant Gorman and Bava were staring in amazement at the fact that a private had so quickly bested one of the best warriors in the city.

  It didn’t take long for the two healers to fix the nose completely. Their healing magic was strong and a little thing like a bloody nose didn’t faze them at all. Frath wished they had been around the few times his nose had been busted.

  The healers went back to the benches everyone had settled on. Frath didn’t know if the test would continue and it didn’t appear that they did either, but it certainly appeared as if they were hoping so. Members of the Guard liked good sparring matches.

  Frath didn’t really want to spar at that moment. His heart wasn’t in it, but when the captain bent over to pick up the sword, Frath decided his heart was just going to have to deal. He took a defensive posture while the captain twirled his sword and started circling. Frath heard a couple of cheers from the audience that were quickly cut off. He wanted to glare at them, but knew better than to take his eyes off his opponent.

  The captain’s shadow did another odd thing. It silently warned that the captain was going to attack without relenting. Frath didn’t know how he understood the mysterious message, but he did. When the attack came, the shadow did everything the captain did, but an instant sooner.

  Even with the forewarnings of movement, it took everything Frath had to keep up with the man. Two weeks of no real exercise combined with being thrown across the church by a goddess and lying unconscious for three days had taken a toll on his body.

  The other problem was that the captain knew moves Frath had never seen before. Fortunately, Frath was a rapid study and learned a great deal from the battle. Unfortunately, even the shadow’s forewarning wasn’t enough to enable him to keep up and eventually Captain Unermin began landing hits.

  Frath wore out more rapidly than usual, struggling to fight off the blows. Finally, the lieutenant intervened. “Disengage!” he ordered. Frath stumbled back and dropped his sword, panting heavily. Captain Unermin raised his sword as if to deliver another blow, but only for a second before stepping back and throwing it to the ground in disgust.

  They stood there for a minute, staring at each other. Frath panted heavily, but wasn’t about to back down even if the captain were to kill him for it. He was certain he had failed the test miserably.

  The Commander came forward with
a frown on his face. “Captain Unermin, I see that you’re upset. Did the private fail the test?”

  “Fail?” the captain asked incredulously, his expression still livid. “Commander, if you let this man out of the Guard, you’re a fool!” The commander raised an eyebrow. Captain Unermin explained, “I haven’t been caught by surprise in years, let alone hit in the face. I threw down everything I had and that man held his own.” He pointed angrily at Frath. “It was as if he knew what was going to happen next. If he wasn’t so out of shape from whatever happened to him, he might have been able to keep up with me a little longer.”

  “Interesting,” the commander said thoughtfully while looking at Frath. He turned to the other two committee members. “It seems as if being God-Touched will not interfere with his duties. It also seems as though we would be . . . what was the word, Captain?” he asked Unermin, who had the good grace to blush just a bit. “Fools? Yes, that was it. We would be fools if we let Private Jornin out of the Guard.”

  “Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to be a fool,” The wizard stated dryly. “I say we keep him in the guard.”

  “I concur,” the committee captain agreed with a smirk.

  “So be it,” the commander declared for all to hear. “Frath Jornin is capable of performing his duties. This hearing is over.”

  “Yeah!” Sergeant Gorman threw a fist in the air and came over to pat Frath on the back heartily with Bava right behind. Frath took the abuse as he was led away. He worriedly noticed Captain Unermin watching him all the way out of the practice yard.

  Chapter 11

  Frath’s purple eyes sparkled in the sunlight as he stood next to the weaponmaster while they watched Pelya practice basic moves with a wooden sword. The seven-year-old girl was frighteningly good with it for someone so young. Up to that point, he had never seen a child wield a sword the way a grown guardsperson would.