“We’re lucky to be present, never mind presentable, Wepizi. But a wash for me and the steam room for the others would be wonderful.”
“As you wish. Romi, I’ll let the infirmary know you’ll be along to see them—Karik, you should go with them. And then, Romi, if you come to my office, I will take proper notes. The rest of you, if you need the smallest thing, please ask.”
“A pair of scissors would be nice,” Karik asked. Romi look at him in puzzlement—was he planning to cut his hair? “To trim this,” he clarified, stroking his now rather unruly beard. It wasn’t much longer than it had been, but had become rather bushy since Karik’s scissors had been sacrificed to their survival needs in the wilds.
“I’ll arrange them to be brought to the steam room,” Wepizi declared. “Kepi? Taz? Is there anything you desire?”
“A beer,” Kepi said decisively. Romi felt his pain—a beer would be perfect right now.
“Ah. I’m sorry, my friend—even if it were allowed, there is none to be had in the town. But once you have rested, I’m sure the local inns can provide a decent fruit wine.”
“Not the same,” Kepi muttered. “I’ll survive. I’m just glad to be off the boat, and done with that wagon, and finished with walking. I never want to travel ever again.”
“I think once you’re recovered, you may feel differently. So, go and get clean. I’ll have fresh clothes and the other items brought to the steam room, and I’ll see you again shortly.” He got up, then embraced Romi again. “Oh benevolent god, there can be no greater joy than to regain those thought lost forever.”
“And it’s good to see you too, Wepizi. Thank you for keeping the others safe for me.”
“Merely my job, my friend. Now, off you go.”
As they left the guest quarters, a soldier presented himself. “This way, please.”
Though their borrowed clothes had been clean on four days before, constant use and shipboard life had made them grimy—Romi was glad to shed them, and to thoroughly wash his hair and skin. The steamy warmth felt wonderful, and he looked longingly at the door of the steam room, through which Kepi and Taz had just gleefully gone. “Karik? Please? There’s no razika in there now.”
“Oh, stop whining,” Karik said, sounding genuinely impatient. “You can sit in the plunge pool room—that’s warm enough for you.” The attending soldier had, a few moments before, brought the scissors he’d requested, and Karik was now combing through the golden curls on his face, and trimming them back into order.
“Why don’t you just shave it off, now we’re back in civilisation?”
Karik turned and gave him an odd look. “Because I don’t have any reason to. If you want to wait in the other room, I’ll be there in a minute or two.”
Now what had he said? Romi suppressed a sigh, wrapped the drying cloth around his now much skinnier hips and went to find a place to sit and comb out his hair, which had not really been properly washed or groomed in over two months. He was wincing over tangles when Karik came in, looking much tidier, his beard now the neat object it had been when Romi had first met him. Like Romi, he combed his hair, the drying strands the most fascinating mixture of shades, from dull red gold to palest blond. Romi wondered for a moment what it would feel like if he were to rub it between his fingers, then stamped firmly on the thought. That kind of thing would get him into trouble.
Karik’s hair never seemed to tangle at all—it was unfair. Even Jou had complained about it from time to time after the team had been bathing together. He already had it combed out and rebraided while Romi was still struggling with his fifth knot. Karik watched him for a few moments, then said, “Need a hand?”
“Would you mind? I’d cut it all off for a rina.”
“No need for that. Come here—Ma has the same problem.”
Romi turned his back on Karik and tried not to imagine what this very situation might lead to, if it were Daiso grooming him and not Karik. Not very successfully, apparently. “What’s wrong?” Karik asked, tugging gently on a recalcitrant tangle.
“I, uh...I’m not single by choice, actually. My lover...left me for his pregnant girlfriend.”
Karik’s hands went still for a moment. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice, then his careful combing continued.
“So was I. I miss him. He’s a father now—think of that. He, uh, was the last person to do this for me.”
“Oh. I sometimes wonder why people put themselves through so much pain, falling in love.”
“It’s how we make sure the human race continues, I suppose. Except if it’s someone like me, who can’t have children anyway. Falling in love just seems rather pointless.”
More silence. Romi regretted bringing it up, except Karik had bared his own heart often enough, and Romi felt he was owed some honesty. “If you met a woman you loved, perhaps a friend like me....”
“Friends like you are rare, Karik. And what if I fell in love with another man? It would take a very special woman who would let us raise a child of her body.”
“Some women don’t seem to have any difficulty giving up their children,” Karik said, bitterness creeping into his voice.
Romi turned and looked at him. Karik’s eyes were downcast, offering no clue to his feelings. “One day, maybe you can tell me about that?”
“Perhaps. Turn around.”
Romi obeyed. “I don’t think it’s an option. Dai never stopped to consider it anyway. Will you...uh, if your friends want another child, will you help them?”
“Of course.”
“Even though you don’t like sex with women?”
A pause. “I don’t really think about it. It’s just something they need and I do it—it’s for them, not me.”
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be in that situation,” Romi said. “It must be very strange.”
“Mila, er, had to show me what to do, first time. It was very strange, you’re right. But there was so much love, and they were so grateful—and Jes is the most beautiful child. I hope you’ll meet her.”
“If you’ll allow it, I would be most honoured. I owe you an apology, you know. I thought you’d abandoned her mother for Soza. After Dai...I was feeling a bit oversensitive about such things. That was why I was so cold towards you.”
“Ah...yes, I see. And you obviously thought that this was just the kind of thing I would do.”
Romi turned around to face a baleful Karik. “I didn’t know you at all then, Karik. I’ve said I’m sorry. You were pretty quick to believe some rather nasty things about me too, you know.”
His companion was still giving him the evil eye. “Yes, but they were things Soza told me, not things I made up out of no evidence at all. Do I look like some kind of faithless bastard?”
Romi seized his arm. “No, you don’t. You never did—it was all because of Soza. In fact, I couldn’t make sense of what he was saying and what I observed of you, so at first I thought you were just very cunning about hiding things. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Karik continued to glare, but as Romi kept using his eyes to plead for forgiveness, he finally sighed. “It’s silly to hold grudges over this, I know. It was more that it was slandering Mila and Seiki and Jes that I minded, you know.”
“I know. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. Forgive me?”
Karik smiled suddenly. “Forgiven. And now, you’re also groomed to perfection,” he added, flipping the tail of Romi’s braid at him.
Romi made a little bow. “Thank you. Maybe I can return the favour one day.”
“Maybe,” Karik said distractedly. “Where are our fresh clothes, do you suppose?”
All they had to do was poke their heads into the changing room for the answer—and their clothes, which turned out to be Andonese uniforms without insignias. Those on offer for Karik were a bit large, but even Romi had to pull in his belt quite tightly—he was, he reckoned, easily thirty pounds lighter than when he had first come to Andon, and he had lost as much muscle as fat. I
t would take time for all of them to build up condition again.
Kepi and Taz were still luxuriating in the steam room, damn them, so Romi left them to cook and went to their next port of call, which was the infirmary. There Romi was thoroughly examined, but the healer there had no more answers than any of the others Karik had asked about the marsh bug poison. She diffidently suggested that Romi might make a full recovery in time since he had improved so much over the last few weeks, but with no other cases to use for comparison, it was only a guess. “But I would very much like to make notes on the method you used,” she said. “Tertri bites are always fatal and though they are rare, if we could find a treatment, it would be a boon.”
“Karik, you stay and talk. I have to speak to Wepizi anyway. I’ll find you in the quarters later.”
Karik agreed and Romi went back out into the freezing air to seek his friend’s office, fetching his report notes before he did so. He found Wepizi already putting arrangements in hand for their return to Darshian, but he had yet to get full details of sailings. “Now, my friend, this matter of Kizinke,” he said, pouring mugs of drizu for them both.
“Wait, Wepizi—there’s something else that I couldn’t mention before. We think we know who attacked Karik.”
Wepizi paused, the pot hovering over the mug. “You do? Did he remember?”
“Not exactly—but do you recall what you said about Soza? That you couldn’t see why he would drug Karik for sex if they were already sleeping together? It turns out they weren’t—and never have been.”
Wepizi’s eyes widened as Romi described the lies Soza had told, and the deductions they had made. “By Sephiz’s name, that fits! While we were in the field, the academy had its annual inspection—and it was found to be short in several of the restricted drugs, including gerot. Its administrators were severely reprimanded—I believe one lost his job, in fact. The problem was in pinning down when it happened because the inspections only occur once a year and the collection is not guarded in any way. Numerous people had access to it over that time.”
“It had to have been Soza—Karik said he wasn’t supervised at all, and he even specifically asked about gerot.”
Wepizi nodded. “It certainly looks that it must be him. But you realised a prosecution here would never get off the ground—not with such circumstantial evidence.”
“Quite right—but in Darshian, we have other methods of divining the truth. The main sticking point is whether Karik would allow a prosecution to go forward. It’s a very painful topic and though he’s recovered well, I think this might be more than he could bear. At least now.”
“But such a foul creature can’t be allowed to go unpunished. It’s an offence to the benevolent god.”
Romi grunted in agreement. “Never mind your deity, it’s an offence to me. I want him locked up. But it will need careful consideration, and I need to consult with Karik’s uncles first. You take care of friend Kizinke, and I’ll see to Soza.”
“As you wish. I can provide you with the reports about the academy theft, and you can give me the full details of the events surrounding the landslide. If I have my way, the council will at the very least, never offer our humble guide work again. There are many ways to bring a bird down—a blow to the head is not always necessary.”
Romi grinned—he could leave this with Wepizi. “Just make sure I find out his fate so I can tell the others. They want blood.”
“They shall have it—metaphorically, of course. I don’t approve of violence, as you know,” he added, his eyes wrinkling with humour. “Ah...and you and our beautiful man are friends, finally?”
“Yes, we are. It took a lot of time and a lot of misunderstandings, but I count him as good a friend as you. The four of us are very close now.”
“But...perhaps you and he are somewhat...closer?”
Romi shook his head. “No. I can’t let that happen. He’s my subordinate after all.”
“But only until you get to Darshek. After that?”
“After that, I go south, and he stays north. I don’t need more heartbreak.”
Wepizi’s teasing expression grew serious. “No, of course not. I was forgetting the realities. There’s no chance he might move south? He was studying in Urshek, as I recall.”
“Yes—with Soza. I can’t see that being much incentive for him to go back, can you?”
“No, true. Ah, that’s unfortunate. He’s a very fine young man. I would like to see him settled with someone worthy of him. At least I hope he will marry and be a father once more.”
“Not much chance of that,” Romi said dryly. “He doesn’t care for female charms in that way.”
“Truly? Then there must be a way I can bring you two together.”
Romi raised his hand. “No, my friend. All joking aside—please don’t. It can only end in pain, and neither of us need more of that.”
Wepizi bowed his head. “Then I shall not, though it grieves me to see two such good men parted by fortune in this way. I will pray most earnestly to Sephiz for a solution that brings you both happiness, however that may be achieved.”
“You do that—it can’t hurt. Now, about Kizinke...?”
Staying Power: 40
By the time Karik had returned from the infirmary, rather depressed about the lack of information he had been able to garner about marsh bug toxin, there was a kettle of stew heating on the stove in the guest quarters, and fresh flat bread warming in front of it. Kepi and Taz were only waiting for Karik and Romi to arrive before starting, but Karik told them to go ahead—Romi would probably be some time.
The food was hearty, as he had come to expect from army food, and made a change from the rations they had been eating on the ship. But though his companions were clearly relishing not only the meal, but also being back in a friendly barracks once more, Karik continued to be depressed, unhappy at his reactions to Romi’s comments, unhappy at their impending separation, and reminded too, that it was reckoning time for Soza. He had spent over three months barely thinking about the man at all, or the attack, and now he was confronted with it all again. He’d hoped he had recovered more than he had, only to find that his mind was just as confused and damaged as before.
“Cheer up, young Karik, it might never happen!”
Karik made himself smile at Kepi. “Don’t mind me, I’m just in a mood.”
“Should have come into the steam room—I feel human again,” Taz declared.
“Someone has to make sure Romi washes behind his ears.”
“He’ll have to find someone else to wash his privates in a week or so,” Kepi said with a sly wink. “Unless he’s planning to recruit you.”
Karik ignored the teasing. “No, I decided against it. Ma would kill me.”
Kepi grinned and made a motion of dismissal with his hand. “Mothers always say that—they get used to it.”
“Maybe.” That was as much banter as Karik was able to muster, and after a moment or two, seeing there was no more fun to be had, Kepi just grunted and went back to his food, leaving Karik to his dismal thoughts.
Shortly after, the door opened with a blast of freezing air, and Romi rushed in, shivering. He made straight for the stove to warm himself. “Food—great, I’m so damn hungry.” Karik handed him a bowl so he could serve himself. “Good news, everyone. Wepizi has the information about the boat sailings—a ship is leaving for Urshek in two days.”
“So soon?” Karik said, unable to hide his dismay. “What about Darshek?”
“That’s not for four days. Of course I’ll have to go with you to Darshek, Karik,” he said with a smile—Karik cursed his obviousness, but couldn’t quell the relief he felt. “I’ve got to give my reports, and so on.”
“And be treated.”
“That too,” Romi acknowledged with a nod. “So the only question is whether you two want to head straight to Urshek, or break your journey in Darshek. It’s up to you—the sailing to Urshek direct cuts three days off the total trip, and that’s before yo
u take into account the time in Darshek. Kepi, you’re the worst sailor. Which do you prefer?”
Kepi rubbed his chin. “Well...I think maybe I’d like to get home faster, see my parents. They must be out of their mind with grief. At least sailing direct, if I get my sea legs, I don’t have to get them again. Taz?”
“Whatever you want, Kepi. Ma and Pa will be upset, but a few days here or there won’t make a lot of difference. We can send word from Darshek, after all.”
“I can do that anyway,” Romi said. “If you want the earlier berth, then you need to make your mind up now, and go see Wepizi to arrange it. Otherwise, he’s assuming that we’ll all go to Darshek.”
“No, I think I want to get home,” Kepi said firmly. “I’m done here. Taz? Want to go arrange it?”
“Sure.”
Karik told them he’d clean up, so they went to find Wepizi’s office. Romi was too busy eating to talk, so Karik just sat watching him, his emotions in turmoil. Another couple of weeks with Romi at least—but it was only delaying the inevitable.
Finally, the edge came off Romi’s appetite enough for him to slow down, and he used his bread to sop up the stew juices. “I, uh, told Wepizi about what we’d decided about the attack.” Karik just nodded—this was to be expected. “Apparently someone stole gerot from the academy supplies. One guess as to who, and Wepizi agrees with our conclusions about Soza. However, he also agrees it will have to be dealt with in Darshian now—he’ll ensure people are told about Kizinke, though a prosecution is unlikely. I’d like to talk to Lord Arman about Soza when we go home, but I’ll need your permission to do that.”
Karik froze. “Ah-Arman? I d-don’t want him to kn-know.”
Romi touched Karik’s wrist. “I understand—but if we want to stop Soza doing this again to someone else, this is the only way. For all we know, he’s attacked other people who’ve been too scared or embarrassed to come forward. He might even count on it.”
Staying Power (Darshian Tales #3) Page 51