“Ah, well, if Sephiz wishes it, I suppose it must be. But it offends my aesthetic sense, I confess.”
“Handsome is as handsome does, so they say. Never mind Karik, how are you, my friend? I wished I could have been here to help.”
Wepizi only smiled sadly and shook his head. “I had people around me, Romi, and your letters gave me such comfort. As for me, I take each day as a gift from Sephiz, and do not ask why he has allowed me to be parted from her. I know one day we will be together again and for now she is with him and enjoys his love.”
Cold comfort, Romi thought, but did not say. “I hope,” he said gently, “you will find enough happiness that you will not merely endure, but actively enjoy your life, my friend. Lema would not wish it any other way, I know that.”
“So do I, Romi, and for her, I try. I try so very hard, but some days are easier than others. A day on which my good friend comes to stay is always easy,” he added gallantly. “And what of you? You and your young man, are you happy...ah. I’m sorry, my friend. I know how fond you were of him.”
“It happens,” Romi said with a shrug, his own romantic failures as nothing next to Wepizi’s grief. “As you would say, if Sephiz wishes it, then so it must be.”
“But you are young and very handsome, my friend. You will find someone eventually who will love you and who you will love with equal joy, I am sure of it. Anything else would be contrary to Sephiz’s will.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Romi lied. “But I didn’t come up here for romance, I came up here to hunt and explore and to spend time with the good friends I made last time. Were you serious in what you told Karik? I have to admit I was a little shocked at the depth of the snow. You know our beasts aren’t used to it.”
Wepizi dismissed his concern with a wave of his hand. “At this time of year, we get heavy snow, then a couple of warm days and it goes. Already it’s becoming milder.” Romi gave him a frankly sceptical look for that comment. “No, it’s true. If you’re really worried, we can tarry a few days, but our beasts are no hardier than yours and they manage fine. They complain, but I’ve never lost one yet, not to the cold, anyway. The main thing is you have to carry enough feed and that’s not a problem. Give them water, food and they make their own heat. The doigs are hardier, but they make an uncomfortable mount if you’re unused to them.”
“Tell me about it,” Romi said with feeling, remembering how sore his arse had got after a two-week trek using the damn things on his previous stay. “So the plan is to be in Visiqe by the end of spring, and back in Tsikiugui before year end. Are you really planning to travel the whole distance with us?”
“And who else would I trust?” he said with a grin. “I’ll tell you a secret. It was a personal request from my tezrei, who had it in turn from your Lord Arman, even separately from our council’s order. Your Ruler’s known Tezrei Edikio for years, and asked for someone sound to accompany you. My tezrei honoured me with the suggestion, and when I learned you were coming, I was delighted I had accepted. To be honest, my friend, I could do with getting out of Tsikiugui. Sometimes we need a change of environment to see things more clearly.”
“I know,” Romi said with feeling. “Well, I’m more glad than I can say that you’re to be with us.”
“As am I. As am I. Now, tell me who I shall be travelling with. Start with the beautiful man.”
Romi smiled as he shook his head. Even with his sorrows, Wepizi was irrepressible.
~~~~~~~~
Karik had been sorry to leave the steam room, and mortified by Soza’s rudeness to their host, so he had to grit his teeth to avoid saying something he’d regret as they walked back to the sleeping quarters. He’d hoped Soza would appreciate what an inconvenience he had been and shut up, but the man was still grumbling as they got back to the hall. “Honestly, Karik, what a stupid damn thing to do, to overheat a person, and then ask them to freeze to death afterwards. I could have had a heart attack.”
“I doubt Lep Wepizi intended any harm, Soza. After all, it’s the common practice.”
“I don’t care,” Soza said petulantly. “I should complain to a senior officer about that man’s behaviour.”
Karik stopped dead and took his arm. “Soza, ‘lep’ is a senior rank, even more senior than a colonel. Wepizi is either in charge of these barracks, or in joint charge. I don’t think we should be upsetting the Andonese this early on, do you?”
“Are you sure? He’s not that old.”
“He’s older than he looks, I think. Older than the lieutenant certainly. And he’s going to be our liaison for the year or so, so could you please...um, be tolerant?”
“You think I was rude.”
Karik looked at the ground. “I don’t think it was wise to snap at him like that, no.”
“Oh dear. Should I apologise?” He looked ready to run back to the steam room, but Karik kept a hand on his arm.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, but we’re not at home anymore. We’re the guests, so we have to make allowances. The Andonese are a very kind people, you know, but they don’t like rudeness.”
“No, I’m sure.” Soza shook his head ruefully. “I’m sorry, I just felt so unwell, and then the shock.... I’ll behave, Karik, I promise. I don’t want you to feel ashamed of me.”
“I’m not,” Karik said hastily, if not entirely truthfully. “But you’ll be experiencing lots of new things on this trip, and not all of them will be pleasant so you just have to take the good and the bad.”
“Yes, indeed. My wise young friend, what would I do without you?” He clasped Karik’s shoulder. “I’m trying, I’m just tired after the trip. That was a difficult journey.”
“Yes, it was, and I’m tired too. We’ll both feel like new men after a night’s sleep,” he promised, and hoped it would be true.
He also hoped that since the great arse had a friend of his own to keep him company on the trip, he might leave Karik alone, or at least, be in a better temper. There were already signs this might be the case, and Karik was an optimist, so he refused to fret about it too much. Romi was just a minor, temporary inconvenience on this wonderful adventure, and Karik wouldn’t let him spoil things for him.
Staying Power: 12
It was a strange experience to sleep in the same room as sixty other people and he found it hard to drop off—he always had problems sleeping in a strange environment, and resigned himself to a restless night, even though Soza and the rest of the team had gone to sleep easily. But eventually, despite the soft snores, the lamplight, and the unfamiliar surroundings, he went under, and was startled to be woken by the sounds and movements of the soldiers getting ready for the day.
He sat up and yawned, scratching his beard. The room was bathed in bright sunlight coming through the high windows, and he was suddenly eager to see what the snow would look like now. Some of the team were still waking up—the great arse was gone, thank goodness. He got up and found his winter coat, and slipped out quietly into the antechamber to pull his boots on—he could feel the intense cold even through the heavy door.
But once he was outside, he was glad he had braved it. It appeared more snow had fallen overnight, dusting the ground and the trampled dirty ice, making it all gleam. The sunlight sparkled and even the rather ugly buildings of the barracks looked beautiful under its magic. He walked out into the yard, taking care not to slip. He wondered if he would ever learn to walk with the grace of an Andonese over these treacherous surfaces.
“Never seen snow before, my friend?”
He smiled and turned to look at Wepizi. “Not like this. It doesn’t snow much on the plains, and I’ve never been in the mountains in the depths of winter. It’s so pretty.”
“But deadly, of course. It’s like fire—it’s beautiful, but you need to respect it. In its own way, the snow serves its role, just as fire does. You’ll see for yourself how it shapes our landscape and the plants.” Karik acknowledged the wisdom of the words with a slight bow of his head. “Ah, I hope you
r friend took no harm from the steam room.”
“Not at all, and he apologises for his curtness. He was just tired from the journey.”
Wepizi nodded. “I understand. Not everyone finds the steam rooms pleasant, though we Andonese think they’re essential to life.”
“I think they’re a wonderful idea,” Karik said politely. “I felt so much better afterwards.”
A new voice broke into their conversation. “And did you sleep well, Karik?”
Karik turned. “Well enough, captain,” he said coolly as Romi approached.
“Glad to hear it. We only have today to recuperate since we’ll be setting off tomorrow.” Karik wondered why he was being told something he already knew. “Wepizi is arranging for us to be instructed in raising the tent and on other matters. I hope you might participate.” There was nothing in the lieutenant’s voice or expression to indicate sarcasm, but Karik knew him too well to trust him.
“Of course. Was that all, captain? I should go and have breakfast.”
“I’ll come with you. I’ll find you later, Wepizi.”
The lep waved them off and Karik forced himself to smile, though he wondered what he had done to deserve the great arse’s attentions this time. He would have preferred to have gone inside without exchanging another word with the man, but he was out of luck. “I wanted to speak to you privately,” Romi said in a low voice.
“Strange, because that’s the last thing I want to do,” Karik snapped.
“Look....” Romi sighed. “All right. Two things. Three, actually. I apologise if I said anything which could be interpreted as disrespect towards your family. I meant none, I assure you.” Karik just stared, not believing a word of it. “I also apologise for making assumptions about your attitude towards the military.”
“You were accurate if you were only talking about my attitude to you.”
“Karik...you can’t speak to me like that. I have a position to maintain, you know.”
He was being unusually mild, and Karik could only imagine he wanted to impress his friend, still watching them from the middle of the yard. “Your position is perfectly clear, captain. Was that all?”
Romi stiffened at his rude tone. “No, one more thing. Soza needs to be reminded that we are the guests of the Andonese and being snappish with someone of Wepizi’s rank is not a good idea. Wepizi is a very easygoing man—that’s not always going to be the case.”
“I’ve already brought that up with him, and apologised to the lep for his behaviour. It won’t happen again.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Thank you for handling it.”
“I didn’t do it for your sake, captain. Do you mind? It’s cold and I’m hungry.”
“No, please go ahead,” he said, holding the door open.
Karik slipped inside without looking back, and wished he could contrive a way not to have to speak to the damn man for the next six months. Arse.
~~~~~~~~
Romi sighed and hung his head. That had gone so well.
“Am I misinterpreting things if I suggest that our beautiful young man seems less than fond of my handsome friend?”
Romi turned and gave Wepizi a rueful smile. “Was it that obvious?”
“Oh, not at all,” Wepizi said, his eyes sparkling with humour. “The fact that his look refroze all the icicles on the eaves wasn’t the least hint. You had a falling out?”
“Several. More...misunderstandings and miscommunications. I may have left it too late to fix, I fear.”
“Hmmm.” Wepizi stroked his moustache thoughtfully. “Lema always said you could charm the birds from the trees. Perhaps you’ve just not really tried to charm this particular fledgling?”
“Perhaps this particular fledgling has his feet nailed to the branch and it wouldn’t matter what I did. I’m a sorry excuse for a captain, Wepizi.”
“Nonsense, my friend. You just haven’t applied yourself to the task.” But then his smile turned serious. “But answer me this—do you want to charm him because it’s the good and right thing to do, or to prove to him what a superior person you are?”
“I....” He stopped—Wepizi had him there. “A bit of both, if I’m honest.”
Wepizi looked down his long nose at him, intelligent eyes peering into Romi’s heart. “Well, my friend, you don’t need me to join up the pieces for you. Our beautiful boy doesn’t strike me as a fool, and if you approach him without love in your heart, then his feet will be nailed to the tree for a very long time. No one wants to be another man’s platform for display.” Then he smiled again. “Now, I must go and see my tezrei. My people will come for you after breakfast and you can inspect your animals. Then we can go over the supplies. If anything is lacking, then we can delay our departure, but I’m sure we have all that we need.”
Romi gave Wepizi the formal bow which doubled as the military salute in this country. “Thank you, my friend.”
“As always, you’re welcome.”
Romi watching his friend walk away, and shook his head. Of course Wepizi was right—Karik was no fool. But to approach him with love in his heart—he smiled at Wepizi’s romantic way of putting things—seemed beyond him right now. Karik only had to give him one of his snotty replies, or one of those frigid looks, and Romi’s temper was immediately on the boil. Maybe he’d better work on controlling his own manners before he tackled anyone else’s.
Breakfast was meal porridge sweetened with sugary sap. It was only designed to tide them over until the mid-morning break, and lunch would be a couple of hours after that. In winter, the Andonese ate frequent and generous hot meals, though he had never seen any obese natives—the weather just burned the fuel off. If he ate in Darshian the way the Andonese did, he’d be too fat to mount a beast, but the struggle here was to keep the weight on. He ran over his mental inventory of the supplies they had brought, and hoped he had got his calculations right—he would check them with Wepizi later.
The team looked well rested, and relieved to be off the ship. It hadn’t been as bad as journeys could get, but there had been plenty of rough weather and a good deal of seasickness to bear, though with thorough planning, he and Netu had managed much better this time. A day’s rest would be welcome, even though he was impatient to be on his way. His people were already making friends, he was pleased to note. He’d found the barracks a welcoming place on his previous visit, and nothing much had changed. The tezrei of Tsikiugui was an excellent man, a good manager and a strong strategist. Romi had learned a good deal from both him and Wepizi on his previous visit and hoped to do so again. He’d already been given a valuable lesson in human relations before breakfast, after all.
As he ate, he watched Karik out of the corner of his eye. The man seemed to be fitting in easily with the Andonese as much as the Darshianese soldiers, and his language skills were improving by the minute, or so it seemed. He did, as he had said on the journey from Urshek, have a rather strong accent, but he had as good a grasp of grammar and vocabulary as Romi himself and was having no difficulty in conversing. By contrast, Soza was at a loss, and finally had to content himself with eating his porridge and pretending he had no interest in what was being said. Romi would have felt sorry for him if he wasn’t such a bastard.
When he was talking, Karik’s face lit up with enthusiasm, and it was then that Romi could easily describe him as Wepizi did—a ‘beautiful man’. But when he caught Romi looking at him, his expression went blank, and if he wasn’t being watched, became downright cold. Even knowing the basis of his anger, Romi found it very difficult not to answer with a sneer of his own, but he forced himself to smile back pleasantly. Yes, it was motivated purely by a need to prove himself a better man, he admitted it. But he had to start somewhere. From the look of it, Karik was yet to be the least impressed by his efforts.
“Captain? I’m Groi Tisin. Your beasts have arrived from the docks.”
Romi stood and caught Reisa’s eye. “We better go and see they’re bedding in all right.”
Reisa nodded. “Karik? Fancy coming along and giving me your opinion?”
Karik looked as startled as Romi felt and easily as displeased, but then he smiled. “Certainly, if the captain has no objection.” He gave Romi a look as if to defy him to come up with one.
“Not at all. Your experience has been invaluable. I welcome your assistance.”
Karik’s eyes narrowed, no doubt suspecting sarcasm. Soza asked what was going on, and Karik quickly explained as he rose.
Romi spoke to the rest of his team. “Netu, Jou, you take the rest of the team out to the field and begin the tent raising. Soza, if you wish to join in, you may find it interesting.”
“Perhaps,” Soza said coldly. For some reason, that got him an odd look from his lover which almost looked like annoyance. Surely not.
The three of them followed the young soldier out to the stables—the sunshine of earlier had disappeared and to Romi’s dismay, it looked about to snow again, though it felt a little milder. Despite Wepizi’s reassurances, he was worried about beginning their journey when the snow was still so thick on the ground. He had no experience of travelling in such weather at all. “Reisa, Wepizi is sure our beasts can handle the cold. Do you agree?”
“They’re pretty tough, Romi, and it gets pissing cold on Darshian plain. Karik? You’re the closest thing we have to an expert—what’s your thoughts?”
Karik looked at Reisa, then at Romi. “I think we need to be guided by the people with the experience on the ground. My main concern is about the conditions at night. If Wepizi thinks they can handle that, they can handle the rest.”
“There must be a reason they’re not native to Andon—do you think it’s because of the cold?” Romi asked.
Karik walked on. “The distribution of animals is not something I understand well, captain. Soza might be happy to elucidate, if you cared to ask him,” he added sweetly.
Little shit. Romi reined in his temper. Karik was trying to bait him—pity he was too good at this game. “Perhaps I will. I might even understand the explanation, given time.”
Staying Power (Darshian Tales #3) Page 16