Brisethi placed her pack down as well and took her new compass pocket watch out of its box and satchel to place in her pocket. “You’re a grown man, capable of making your own decisions. I wouldn’t have told anyone,” she finally said and walked out onto the balcony. The view of the massive lake might as well have been the ocean. The beach below had very few people enjoying the last rays of light from the setting sun as they played on the water’s surface. “So if you’d rather have her company for the night, I would understand. She’s definitely beautiful.”
Etyne joined her on the balcony and leaned on the railing. He was nearly infuriated from Brisethi’s sudden self-pity and her assumption that he would ever think to bed Livian. “You’re kidding, right? Do you really think I need that kind of temptation right now? I’ll admit, you three ladies have not been the easiest to cope with at the moment – what with your revealing civilian clothes.”
Brisethi looked down at her very much covered skin.
“I meant theirs,” he sighed. He never realized how much he could miss the camaraderie of his male acquaintances until spending a single week with three females every hour of every day.
“You can’t blame them. I would be wearing something similar if not for my horrid scars and lack of weight,” she let her voice trail off. She poked at her bony hip, feeling for any sign of fat and muscle. She inconspicuously placed her hand on her chest that thankfully did not feel as sunken in as it had a week ago.
“Well in that case, thank you for not being a third sight I have to divert my eyes from,” he said, though it was her eyes he had secretly been infatuated with. “It’s been way too long,” he muttered and stared out at the twilight’s reflections on the lake.
Brisethi understood what he meant, for she had also been without affection for two years while on expedition. Neither was the type to take advantage of the pretty girls looking to take in any of the soldiers at the towns they stopped in during the expedition. “Such is the sacrifice we make when leading expeditions,” she finally stated.
Etyne forced his thoughts from the surface lest he surrender to his solitary feelings and allow regrettable actions. The romantic scenery of lanterns that lit the pier at the lakeshore where couples slowly walked hand-in-hand wasn’t helping him and only encouraged him to be around loud people. “Let’s wait for the other two down in the tavern. I think we both could use a drink,” he suggested.
The two of them were fortunate to swipe up the corner booth which a vacationing family was just leaving. The busy tavern had one wall missing where the lake could be seen. Beautifully flowered vines draped from the ceiling, and a breeze traveled around the room, smelling of delicious food. A bronzed waitress with long, ebony hair dressed in island attire took their orders and quickly retrieved their choice of drinks.
“In addition to the compass watch, the two rooms you rented, and the rest of the currency you lent me, how much do I owe you? I’m bad at keeping track of numbers,” Brisethi admitted. She took a sip of her fruity alcoholic beverage to test it then a gulp of it when the taste satisfied her. “Let me reimburse you for Korteni and Livian’s room – they shouldn’t have to use their own earnings for necessities on my behalf.”
Etyne finished his first ale before replying to her. “I’ll tally it all up when we get home,” he lied. He had no intention of taking money from her, even if it was his own money she had been using. “Maybe we can get reimbursed,” he chuckled.
Brisethi tried to fight the urge to ask him, hoping it wouldn’t start a confrontation. But the thought nagged at the back of her mind just as it would any other woman with the slightest hint of jealousy. She finally ceded to her curiosity and the liquid courage and asked, “If she wasn’t your subordinate, if she were just a civilian girl you met out in town...” She couldn’t finish the question.
Etyne thanked the waitress for his second ale. “Were you going somewhere with that?” he asked, returning his attention to Brisethi.
“I think you know what I’m trying to ask.” She glared at him from under her hood. She felt unusually self-conscious and finished her first drink quicker than she would have under normal circumstances.
“If you’re still going on about Sergeant Reej, because you suddenly have this crazy notion that I’m into her, I can assure you I’m not. And even if I was, what’s it to you? Why this sudden bizarre behaviour, ‘Sethi?” He pushed back on the table to lean into the booth and stare at her.
Brisethi pressed on, staring back into his blue eyes. “How can you not? Even if she was a civilian?”
“She’s too young.” He finally gave in and humored her. “She was twelve years old when we were in our first year of expedition training.”
“When you’re two-hundred and forty, she’ll be two-hundred and thirty-two,” she pointed out with a blank stare.
“I thought you weren’t good with numbers -we’ll make you a physicist yet.” He finished his second ale.
“My mother is eighty-four years older than my father,” she added.
He shrugged, looking longingly at her when she turned her head to stare out at the lake again. Despite her uneven hair, her loss of weight and sudden bitter attitude, he still cared for who she was and who he hoped she would be once again. “If there’s something you’re trying to tell me, just say it.”
If Etyne had told her those exact words a year ago during their two-week integration, she would have had the confidence to tell him. But the Lantheuns changed her appearance, scarred her skin, violated her, and mentally set her askew. She assumed Etyne could never have feelings for the abomination she had allowed herself to become. I don’t know if I could even find solace in your words anymore, or return the love anyone would want to give to me, she dejectedly thought.
When Brisethi remained silent to his request, he became fully aware that he had completely misinterpreted the last letter he’d received from her. Whatever it was he thought she was feeling for him during integration, had dissipated over the last year. And rightfully so, he thought. I was too cowardly to reveal anything to you then, and now you’ve either moved on, or the Lantheuns destroyed your emotions. He was fortunate that his response, that he carried with him in his pack, had never been sent out.
Korteni and Livian finally joined their two captains after freshening up in their room. Etyne and Brisethi couldn’t have been more grateful for their presence and interruption of the unusual awkward silence. “Did I show you this one?” Brisethi reached into her pocket and placed her silver watch compass on the table to display for Korteni.
Korteni sipped at her ale before picking up the prettier apparatus. “Did you spend the last of Etyne’s money on this?”
“Uhh, we did a trade, but yes, I owe him at least twenty frakshins,” she quickly replied, hiding her mouth in her third cup of ale.
Livian was incredulous at the frivolous captain. She barely spent three of her own frakshins on her clothes and supplies at the general store. She could hold back her opinions no longer. “You’ve spent twenty frakshins already? Money that isn’t even yours?”
Brisethi’s eyes fixed on Livian. “The rooms of this extravagant resort you chose aren’t cheap, Sergeant,” she replied, instantly regretting opening her mouth while slightly intoxicated.
Etyne was not about to deal with this again. When the three women remained silent, he sighed in relief that they reverted back to professionalism. To break the tension as he ordered another ale, he thought to have Korteni tell them the story of her dagger that hung at her hip. “Hey Korteni, let me see your dagger again; I bet Livian would want to hear about our epic ship battle,” he awkwardly attempted to break the silence.
Korteni’s eyes lit up when she recalled their heroic adventure of saving the crew of the DSV Reliant while Brisethi giggled into her drink at the situation. The tavern finally began to grow rowdier as the nightlife crowd arrived.
“And that was the first time I was shot,” Brisethi added when Korteni had finished her elaborate and accurate
recollection of their fourth year in the expedition together, much to Livian’s amusement.
“You were shot a second time?” Korteni asked as Etyne leaned in with his own curiosity.
Livian looked away, admiring the crowd around the room in their various colors and styles of dress. She found it much more interesting than anything Captain Sen Asel would have to say.
“How do you think Sulica captured me? They had to shoot me down when I had my back turned!”
“SHH!” Etyne loudly hushed her. “Nobody’s supposed to know you, remember?” he whispered. “Continue, quietly.”
Brisethi leaned in to quietly recall her actions when trying to escape with her father. It didn’t sound nearly as exciting as it did in her head due to how softly she had to explain the events unfolding. “Getting shot in the back is paralyzing,” she closed.
“How many times does that make now? Is that three times of falling off of a ship?” Etyne couldn’t resist.
Brisethi mouthed a curse word to him while the Korteni laughed.
“When was the other time she fell off a ship?” Livian innocently asked, suddenly interested again.
“Let me tell it!” Korteni excitedly shouted.
“No!” Brisethi hid her face further into her hood.
“I’m telling it!” Etyne finally stated. “His name was Master Chief Braul-“
“And he literally flung ‘Sethi off of his ship on our second day of naval training!” Korteni blurted out.
“You’re a horrible person,” Etyne retorted at her spoiling his grand story.
“Wait, what? Why?” Livian grew excited as Brisethi leaned against the corner of the booth, staring up at the lantern light.
“Because she said out loud that she felt like a pirate just as he walked by!” Korteni told her.
Etyne continued, “He was so enraged that she had insulted the ‘centuries of naval traditions’ that you could see his face turn red, his single forehead vein about to burst. He stormed over to ‘Sethi, grabbed her by her neckerchief, and dragged her to the railing. He dangled her over the sea like a sad child and shouted ‘You want to be a pirate, shipmate? Go be a pirate somewhere else!’ and threw her overboard. I can still hear her screaming until the splash,” Etyne laughed.
Livian, who rarely showed emotion at all, lost all composure and nearly dissolved into tears from how hard she was laughing.
Brisethi finally chuckled lightly. “You’re all awful friends. I’m going to sleep.”
“Aww, so soon? But it’s only,” Korteni looked at Brisethi’s compass watch, “well, it’s the first hour of the morning already.”
“Exactly, and it’s the first real bed we’ll all have slept in since we left Res’Baveth,” she replied while grabbing her compass watch and stood to urge Korteni to let her out.
“We’re leaving ninth hour, be ready,” Etyne told everyone as they parted ways.
Waiting for the bathtub to fill, Brisethi brushed her teeth at the sink. As tired as she was, the thought of a hot bath in a real bathtub with real scented soaps and oils was much more tempting than sleep. She removed her clothes and slowly stepped into the tub, adding more heat with her mystic. She smiled at the piles of bubbles that generated from the new type of soap she purchased that day. She submerged her entire body, testing how long she could hold her breath under water. She was disappointed that she couldn’t hold her breath nearly as long as she used to just a year ago.
Etyne sat in a plush, velvety chair, reading her letter to him, and the one he had meant to send to her. The thought of crumbling them up to set them ablaze in the sconce crossed his mind, but the smell and smoke of the aftermath would only raise questions from her. He begrudgingly shoved them back in his pack instead, deciding to wait until they were outside at a campfire to let them turn to ash, perhaps using them as kindling.
Recalling her terrible silence at the table only encouraged him to completely smother his continuous feelings for her. It wasn’t worth jeopardizing their unique friendship just because he’d been lonely for three years. She deserved better than a desperate situation. He convinced himself that his feelings were only temporary due to Dominion Expeditions. That, if he were back in Res’Baveth among the soft, beautiful civilian women of the city, his feelings for her would diminish. He told himself that he was simply allowing his expedition solitude to take place over logical reasoning.
The door to the washroom slightly creaked open and the sound of running water refilling the tub could be heard. Dressed in her day clothes but without the wide belt, Brisethi stepped out. “I heated the tub so the water is as hot for you as it was for me,” she shyly told him.
He tried not to stare at her kind eyes and replied with a smile, “Thanks.”
“I also added this new soap stuff I found at the general store that creates bubbles – I thought you’d find it amusing,” she added.
“Bubbles?” He arched a brow. The blossom scent of that new soap filled the air around him when she walked by. I need off this continent; he thought when her enticing scent threatened to surface his feelings once more. He grabbed his pack and entered the washroom, smiling at the inviting bubbly bath.
She crawled into bed, the first bed she had touched since the start of her command expedition two years ago. She removed her outer layer of clothes to comfortably sleep in her underclothes under the blankets. Her body spread out in the middle of the bed at first, to relax and rest her sore, healing muscles until Etyne was done with his bath. Before she knew what happened, a slight nudge woke her. She scooted over to allow Etyne to crawl in next to her. With his back to hers, she leaned against him for support and comfort.
“Rest well, Etyne,” she mumbled.
“You too, ‘Sethi,” he whispered.
Chapter VI
When the Kiaran vessel was safely out of Sariadne’s waters, Sulica was free to roam the ship again. At the first chance, she went topside. Despite finding that she thoroughly enjoyed Ekani’s company, she hated being cooped up in the cabin.
Sulica rushed to the rail and breathed deeply, taking in the smell of briny water as the light breeze wafted around her. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the railing. The crystal blue water shimmered in the morning sunlight, extending as far as she could see. The sky above was barely tinted with the pink hues from the sunrise. For the first time in what felt like an age, she allowed herself to relax. No longer did it seem like she was a prisoner on board, and she did not fear for her life.
She glanced down at her hands. The skin was tanning again, masking the translucent look it’d had in Lantheus. Her body was filling out again as well, so that she no longer felt weak after a few hours of moving around. Her hands clenched at the thought of the torture she’d been through. One day, she thought, I will see that place burn.
“Am I interrupting?” Sulica heard the smile in Ekani’s voice even before she saw it. He leaned his back against the rail to look at her. The uninterrupted blueness of his eyes reminded her of the ocean.
“Just...thinking,” she told him. After a beat, she asked, “Why do your people hate mine so much?”
“Not all Kiarans despise Resarians,” he replied carefully. “Do all Resarians hate Kiarans?”
She paused to consider the question. “I don’t think so. Sen Asel…” she began. The pang of guilt that hit her was nearly too strong to continue. “Sen Asel had this crazy goal to become Empress and bring the Kiarans back to Sariadne.”
“Why is that so crazy?” His voice was quiet. When Sulica did not answer, he continued. “The war began long before our time. Still, we fight. Is it because one side truly was wrong? Or because it is the only thing our people know now? War is an excuse to argue over resources or further one nation’s own goals and abilities. Because it is so successful, leaders continue to promote war-fighting capabilities. And the cycle repeats.”
“I never really thought about that before.” She nervously chewed on her lip as she debated how much to reveal to him.
/> Ekani waited patiently. His eyes roamed, seeing the crew go about their morning duties. The relief for the midwatch conducted turnover nearby. Minutes passed. He glanced at Sulica and noticed her eyes had a faraway look to them. Her hands began turning white from how tightly she was gripping the rail. He said her name and moved toward her when she didn’t respond, but quickly stopped himself. If she was having a day-terror, he did not want to trigger a more violent response.
Sulica seemed frozen in place, reliving a painful memory. He continued to bide his time, keeping his eyes on her. Ekani had been the one to save her, but he never before felt so helpless.
Quite suddenly, Sulica gasped for air, tossing her head back as though breaking from water’s surface. She leaned heavily against the railing, a bead of sweat trickling down her brow. “I-” she stammered, slowly sinking to the deck.
Ekani kneeled beside her and put his arm over her shoulders. “Hush, no one will harm you now,” he consoled softly. When she was ready, he helped her to her feet.
Head hung low, Sulica meekly returned to her cabin to wash away the shame and guilt.
Ekani watched her depart after declining his offer of assistance. The Lantheuns had their uses, and, until he bore witness to their results, he hadn’t much cared to think about how they got them. After meeting Sulcia and the burgundy-haired skeletal figure he’d left behind at the laboratory, his resolve at accomplishing Pahl’Kiar’s goals using any means available no longer felt quite so noble.
-:- -:- -:-
The sweet sound of the chirping birds outside the window followed by the local bell tower striking eight times slowly brought Brisethi out of her sleep. The room was bright from the open window and balcony door. She blinked and yawned then shifted in the comfortable bed, wondering how long Etyne had been awake when she heard the sound of running water. She quickly threw on her day clothes to hide her skin before Etyne could finish with his morning routine.
Spirits of Falajen Page 37