Interlude

by Krista D. Ball

  Bethany snorted. “I’ve done that.”

  “You aren’t fucking him, right?”

  Bethany stared at him. “You didn’t just ask me that, did you?” She groaned. “Don’t be so disgusting.”

  “You promise, you’re not? Because I’ll have to kill him if you are.”

  Bethany glared at him. “Jovan, please, go fuck yourself.”

  “Just checking,” he said with a grin.

  “Merciful Apexia,” Kiner swore.

  Bethany looked down at the page she’d flipped to while mouthing off Jovan. Her jaw dropped. It was a two page spread of her tied up in ribbons. It was definitely her, too. Her hair unbound, blowing in the wind. Ribbons dangling from the ends. Ribbons in her hand, also blowing in the breeze. Under her bare feet was a mountain of scrolls and letters.

  She flipped the page back and was relieved to find a message. A saucy, horrible message. “Oh. Wow.”

  “That’s some skill he’s got there,” Kiner said. “Look at your hair!”

  Jovan peered over her shoulder. “Wow.”

  “Look at the detail on the letters,” Kiner said. “They have address directions on them! Look!”

  “Wow,” Jovan said. “Hey! You keep the brandy locked in your bottom drawer, wench!” He grabbed two bottles.

  She sighed, but let him. “Shit. How do I get back at him for that?”

  “You can barely write you own name. You’re screwed.” Jovan said.

  Kiner nodded solemnly. “Try going with a classic threat.”

  “I hate losing,” Bethany said. She thought about writing across the drawing, but it was too good to ruin. She flipped the page and wrote:

  I have killed people I’ve liked more than you for far less than this. That was a sword, asshole.

  Bethany

  PS You’re fired.

  ***

  Monday, 4am

  Arrago staggered back to the temple with a group of initiates, more tired than intoxicated, but he waved off his friends and headed to the study. He had to see if Bethany had seen his drawing. He hoped it wasn’t too creepy, especially the way he’d drawn her with her hair down and not in armor. At least he put her in clothes, not nude, which was Edmund’s suggestion.

  He read her note and laughed, though he had to hold his ribs. She’d really hurt him, though he’d never let on quite how much. Next time, he needed to duck. Or move faster. Or something.

  He re-read the note. Fired, huh? Well then, he was going to sleep off the hangover that would’ve been a certainty without a good lie in. He glanced at the quill, but decided to leave it in its place. Two could play at her game.

  ***

  Monday, 2pm

  Bethany had a couple hours to spare, so decided to drop by her study and do a little work. Arrago wasn’t there, but she realized she’d never told him what his work hours were. Her previous aides had come and gone on their own schedules. All being members of the clergy in some form, they had their sermons and prayers to attend, so she’d never considered what a normal assistant’s hours might be.

  He must have taken the day off. He was looking so incredibly rough after their training sessions. He was in decent shape, which helped, but he didn’t have a clue about how to hold a shield or a sword. Ironically, Arrago’s attempts to dodge often ended up hurting him more than if he’d just taken a few blows from her.

  Still, she was disappointed, as she’d hoped to impress him with all of the work she was planning to get done. She flipped through the book, but there were no new notes. No new drawings, either. Apexia’s mercy, he could really draw. She could barely write in a legible hand and she’d had twenty years of elven tutors. Arrago had grown up in some backwater northern monastery and his quick sketch was better than anything she could hope to create.

  And, looking back, her sword drawing could be misinterpreted as something significantly cruder. Oh dear. That was embarrassing.

  Two hours later, she left Arrago a note:

  Arrago, I wrote eleven letters for you to send out. They’re on your desk. B.

  ***

  Monday, 5pm

  Arrago, why isn’t there any new work on my desk? And no notes? And why haven’t you sent out the letters I wrote? B.

  ***

  Monday, 6pm

  Where are you? Have you been in today?

  ***

  Monday, 9pm

  Seriously, where are you? You need to let me know if you plan to take Mondays off.

  ***

  Tuesday, 3am

  All of the red ribbon shit is done. Are you happy now?

  ***

  Tuesday, 5am

  Arrago yawned into the back of his hand and rubbed his eyes. He nodded at the two guards posted outside of the office. Bethany had had one of the guards check on him in the middle of the night. There’s nothing like having two knights break into a man’s bedroom when he’s asleep.

  He checked the diary and laughed at Bethany’s frantic messages. It had been worth it. He knew he hadn’t been fired, as Lord Kiner had already well prepped him. But even if Kiner hadn’t, Arrago would’ve guessed that Bethany made threats when she lost. She was a sore loser, so her “firing” him meant he’d won the round.

  He could imagine that most of her former assistants were too scared or awed by her to realize Bethany was always joking. He’d clued into it on the first day, but it was a great feeling to get her back.

  “Let me write down where everything goes,” Arrago said to the servant he’d brought with him to the study.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sir. Arrago didn’t scoff at the label, but only just. He scribbled various directions on a scrap of paper. “Here’s the information. Basically, everything is on my bed and labelled. There’s a guard posted on my floor so you’ll need to show them this letter. Don’t break the seal, or they won’t let you near anything. There are two baskets on the bed with addressed envelopes. All of those go straight to the postal clerks. The directions are already on the letters, so they can go out. There are three baskets on the floor next to the bed with blue ribbons tied on the handles. Those go to Sister Trine. Just tell her they’re from me and she’ll know what to do.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh, there is a wooden box full of small parcels. I have no idea what to do with those. Can you ask Sister Trine what she recommends?”

  “What are they?”

  “I’ve only opened a few, but they seem to be—I don’t know—gifts. Tokens? Bribes? But they’re all addressed to Lady Bethany. She told me to burn them, but...” He shrugged. “That’s her normal reaction to everything.”

  “I couldn’t say, sir.”

  Arrago snorted. “You like your head where it is, do you?”

  The servant smiled, glanced at the note, and took off.

  Once he had sobered up, Arrago had arranged for runners to scout out the study. They’d brought back work to his room for him. Bethany had no idea he’d been doing his work all along, which made it even more delicious.

  Bethany – I apologize for worrying you. If you recall, you fired me, so I assumed you wouldn’t want me back in the office to work for you. However, since you sent guards to my room in the middle of the night, pounding on my door like a crazy person, begging me to give you more work that you won’t actually ever do, here I am.

  Your gracious, obedient, humble servant,

  Arrago Cedar

  ***

  Tuesday, 11am

  No one likes a smart ass. Also, Sister Trine sent over her messenger, so I know you were working in your quarters this entire time. So ha! I win. Or something.

  ***

  Tuesday, 5pm

  I forgot to say, thank you for doing all of the red ribbon pile.

  Then Arrago drew a picture of happy Bethany burning a pile of documents and ribbons underneath his message.

  Week 3

  Wednesday, 11am

  Bethany leaned to look out of her own study doorway to see Arrago in the main office. Wh
y was Aneese’s messenger still with him? What on earth were they discussing? They’d been whispering for an hour. She glanced at the clock on her wall. She had to leave, or else be late for a senior staff meeting. She needed to be at this one because they were going to discuss her evaluations and work through some promotions. But she needed Arrago’s help.

  You’re at your desk, but Aneese’s messenger is with you and I have to go. I need your help writing letters to the Elven Council. I have fifteen and Aneese said I have to be nice. You’re better suited to that than I am. Shall I have one of the servants bring up supper for us tomorrow? We weren’t planning to train this week to give your ankle some time to heal—seriously, Arrago, you have to be more careful—and I’m caught up on my evaluations for now. Unless you have plans, I suppose. To clarify, drinking with your Taftlin mates in Orchard Park doesn’t count as “plans.”

  By the way, I recommend wearing that tunic more often. You don’t look like a peasant who accidentally wandered into my study and everyone’s too polite to get rid of him. It’s a nice change.

  ***

  Wednesday, 3pm

  Arrago left his desk to drop off several more letters for the decreasing stacks on Bethany’s desk. She was getting better at doing the work. He wondered if it had just been too overwhelming for her. Baskets and piles of letters in a corner can be overwhelming for anyone, let alone someone as overworked as the third in command of an entire army. Of course she was busy! Why didn’t her previous aides help her, as opposed to just making it worse?

  He was still working with the clergy to find ways to reduce the workload for the senior knights. Even Erem and Kiner, who didn’t have official titles, were extremely busy with paperwork. Kiner had three aides, which was strange since Bethany only had him. True, there was the team of clerks in the east tower that sorted through most of the crap that came to the temple, but Bethany didn’t have a lot of help. Arrago got the impression Kiner worked on more day-to-day issues, and he was the head of training. Maybe that was why. Either way, there was too much unnecessary paperwork. Anything he could do to reduce Bethany’s workload was a good thing.

  He frowned at that thought. Why did he care so much about making life easier for a woman he’d known for two weeks? He didn’t have a good answer, and it bothered him.

  He opened the journal to leave her a note saying he was taking off for a couple of hours to get some food, but he’d be back later. That’s when he saw her note.

  Bethany, seriously? You had to walk past me to leave me that message! You are allowed to interrupt me. We were gossiping, nothing more. Apparently, Lord Jovan is flirting with a bunch of new sisters and Mother Aneese is ready to murder him. Next time, interrupt!

  Yes, tomorrow is fine. No, I don’t have plans. As Lord Erem said to me earlier today, you are the centre of my life. I think that was supposed to cheer me up, but it made me incredibly sad.

  I’ll send word to the kitchens for them to send wine, water, cheese, olives, dates, bread, fruit, and leftovers from supper. Will that be enough food for you? Oh, nuts. I’ll ask for them. I’ll send word to the senior staff’s aides that we’ll meet at 7pm so no one will disturb us.

  Oh, I’ll ask for some of those balls from breakfast this morning. Those were great. Do you know what’s in them? I keep forgetting to ask you.

  Arrago

  ***

  Wednesday 5pm

  Bethany frowned at the diary. She’d hurried back because Arrago was always in the office at five, but he’d left early. She was hoping to talk to him. About...something. Whatever. She didn’t need a reason to talk to her own aide.

  Supper sounds fine. I won’t be in the office tomorrow, so don’t panic and send the wolves after me. We didn’t get through all the evaluations today like I’d hoped, so Jovan, Allric, and I will be locking ourselves up in the priest library in the west tower to hide and get them done.

  Oh, those balls are made from seaweed, onions, and beets. They smell like ass. I don’t want them in my study.

  ***

  Wednesday, 6pm

  I ordered extra of the balls.

  ***

  Thursday, 3am

  Can’t sleep, so decided to get some work done. All of the correspondence you said you couldn’t take care of is done. I put it in a basket on your chair, since I forgot which ribbon went where and I’m too lazy to look it up.

  If you are still limping in the morning, I’m going to bring in a child for you to train against until you’re ready to fight a grownup.

  Starting to yawn now, so heading to bed. See you at supper. I’m looking forward to it.

  ***

  Thursday, 5am

  Arrago stared at Bethany’s message and was uncomfortably confused. She was looking forward to what, exactly? Getting work done? The work itself? The food? The company? Spending time with him?

  It had to be a trap. Some form of mental warfare to put him off his guard so she could jump in and attack him when he was most vulnerable.

  It was already working against him, since he’d spent the last couple of days staring at her ass. She’d decapitate him if she caught him doing it. Yet did that stop him? No, of course not, because he was clearly insane.

  Bethany, you really should sleep more. It’ll make you less...violent.

  A.

  PS Thanks for staying up all night to finish the letters. I do appreciate it.

  Week 4

  Monday, 11am

  Bethany turned her head away so Arrago couldn’t see the grin on her face. She knew he was staring at her ass as she walked into the office. She saw him out of the corner of his eye just as his glance dipped down. She didn’t sway her hips, of course. Her? Sway her hips? Ha! Was she Eve all of the sudden?

  Why was she letting Arrago get away with being such a dirty pervert? She hated that question because it made her feel things, and she didn’t like that. He’d taken to wearing the clothes she liked on him, and she’d taken to wearing slightly snugger trousers than were perhaps completely necessary.

  She regretted the supper meeting because it had stopped being a meeting an hour in and become a fun evening of food and laughter. He’d read out a letter to her. So-and-so impressive person in Ellentop wants to extend blah blah blah. Bethany would reply with something like, “Oh, piss off and die. The last time we met, you called me a violent thug who needed to be married off.” Arrago would think for a moment and then write an eloquent reply that still said piss off and die in the most passive-aggressive, sugary-sweet way she’d ever seen.

  After the second bottle of wine, the replies became funnier, but Arrago only wrote down the polite sentences they came up with.

  After the third bottle of wine, they stopped answering the letters and instead laughed and talked, and then laughed some more.

  She didn’t like the way Arrago made her feel as if she was the only woman on earth worth his attention. She didn’t like that at all. So she didn’t write in the journal that morning. She closed it and thought she might need to spend a little more time away from the study, just until she was certain this was a passing bit of fun and nothing more for either of them.

  ***

  Monday, 5pm

  Arrago didn’t like how disappointed he was that Bethany had been gone most of the day from the office. Even more alarming, he was incredibly disappointed that she hadn’t left one of her fun quips in the diary. She’d taken to writing him notes even while they were both in the office. Usually mocking his hair or choice of tunic. Some days she complained about the work or parodied one of the letters she’d received. Just a few lines, letting him know she was thinking about him.

  Arrago froze. No, no; she was not thinking of him. This was harmless flirting and nothing more. Lady Champion Bethany was not the sort of woman who was anywhere near his low level. He needed to get this insanity under control, and he needed to do it now.

  So he didn’t write in the journal before he left. He closed it and decided he needed to spend more time out of the
office, just until he was certain this was a passing bit of fun and nothing more for either of them.

  Week 6

  Monday, 5pm

  The diary between Arrago and Bethany had started as a way for them to leave work-related messages. In too short a time, it had become the means by which a fragile friendship had blossomed. Then, just as fast, it had become an awkward flirtation device. Now it was back to Arrago’s original intention. He hated it.

  They’d barely spoken in the last two weeks, even during training. He was purposely finding ways to avoid conversation, and Bethany seemed on a mission to avoid him. They were still training together in the evening, but even those sessions were filled with tension.

  Still, he wrote the notes and did his job because that was what he was hired to do. It wasn’t her fault he’d built up his hopes in some kind of weird, twisted fantasy that could never happen.

  Bethany,

  Mother Aneese’s messenger came by the study today. She said you’ve been avoiding her and missed the last three appointments. Mother Aneese threatens to lay siege to your quarters until you relent and meet with her concerning the festival.

  Arrago

  ***

  Monday, 7pm

  Bethany stared at Arrago’s neat handwriting and sighed at her own stupidity. He’d turned so cold towards her. That had been the original intention for avoiding him, but she hated it. All of it. He was fun to be around. She felt like a person when she was with him, which was a novel feeling for her. Just a person. She’d never been “just” something in her life.

  Oh, screw it all. Nothing was going to happen between them. They could be friends and colleagues and it would all be fine. The risks were all on her side. Arrago staring at her was just him being a man. She was stupid for getting so scared by it.

  And she really missed laughing with him.

  A – I’ll buy you a beef pie in town if you promise to keep her off my back for the rest of the week. I’m avoiding her on purpose. Long story.