by Robin Roseau
“Worn out?”
“Yes, actually.”
She laughed.
“I’ll tell you one more thing. They’re under strict orders from Lady Olivia, the duchess. They are not allowed to make the first move.”
She began laughing in earnest. “I bet that’s frustrating for them.”
“If anyone is waiting for them to start something, she has to stop waiting. Next time they’re here, she should invite herself to sit then ask who wants to hold her hand.” I smiled. “I won’t say it won’t ever happen, but I find the likelihood they’ll ever go home with a man to be very, very, very low.”
She got up but then leaned on the table. “How was it?”
“Fantastic,” I replied, fanning myself. I gestured to her wrist. “Pity.”
She laughed again. “My man is a pain in the ass, but he’s my pain in the ass.”
Twenty minutes later, Ressie found me and sat down. “I thought you told all of us today was a rest day.”
“I’m a hypocrite,” I said. “On the other hand, I need to stay ahead. This is how I do it. How are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is this a Ms. Cuprite talk or an Allium talk?”
“Allium,” she said. “If that’s all right.”
“I told Liessa to consider me a big sister. May I ask why you sat down last night?”
“I just sort of did,” she said. “I saw you with them, and I just sort of decided.”
“Do you regret it?”
“I don't know,” she replied, filling me with concern. She looked up and must have read something from my expression. “She didn’t hurt me,” she said quickly. “Um. I really liked what she did, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I can guess,” I said with a smile. “So what’s the problem?”
She paused. “I don’t exactly know what she did.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’ve been there.”
“And it’s not like I’m going to find some guy at home who will do that for me.”
I smiled. “You might have to teach him, and not give time to anyone unwilling to be devoted to your needs.”
“Well, even if I can make that a criterion, I’d still have to know what to teach him.”
“All right. I can see how that could be a problem. But it seems like there’s a pretty simple solution, and it’s the same sort of solution you’d probably pursue if you were going to accept more dates from across the river.”
“What is that?”
“Ask one of them to teach you.”
She stared at me. “So, what?” She pointed out the window. “Walk across that bridge, knock on the guardhouse door, and ask whomever answers to teach me how to please a woman?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“You’re actually serious.”
“Sure,” I repeated. “Why not? Or you could do almost the same thing. You could cross the bridge and say you’ll be here for dinner tonight, and if someone who wanted to help you learn sat down with you, you’d be quite appreciative. After all, the first woman you run into may not be available or interested. I can’t promise anything, but I’d be shocked if you didn’t receive some sort of positive response.”
“All right,” she said slowly. “But what if-” Again she broke off and looked down at her hands.
“What if you decide you like women more than men?” Slowly, she nodded, never looking up. “Men can be a real pain in the ass.”
“That’s the truth.”
“The thing is, Ressie, women can be a real pain in the ass, too. It tends to be a different part of the ass.”
She looked up. “I really liked looking at her. I’ve never looked at another woman like that, Allium. I mean. There are women I really like.”
“And now you’re wondering if all along, you wanted to look at women like you looked at Gibslen last night?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe.”
“It’s not like we’re based in Tebradine all year.”
“Yeah.” This time she looked away. “I think I have a girl crush on someone, and I didn’t even know it.”
“Anyone I know?”
“You,” she whispered.
Oh hell.
She turned back. “I get it. I’m not going to- Um. I’m not going to let it-” She broke off entirely.
“Why me?” I asked.
“I’ve seen you around at the ministry. The way people talk about you. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Anything I should know?”
“The jealousy,” she said. “The know your place thing.”
“Ah.”
“The thing is, do you remember what you were wearing when you interviewed me?”
“I’m sorry. Not particularly.”
“You were very… commanding,” she said. “Boots, and they clicked on the floor. It got my notice. You strode into the conference room. You were clearly harried, but you smiled at me, closed the door, and gave me an insanely intense interview. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“Okay, I definitely understand that feeling.”
“You’re not any bigger than I am, but you’re a giant at the same time,” she continued. “And then you gave me a real chance. You keep giving me more chances. And if I’m not in the process of destroying my career, I’m going to go places, entirely because of you.”
“You’re not destroying your career,” I told her. “Although I’m going to ask you not to confess any of this to anyone else.”
“I wouldn’t,” she said.
“Have you had these feelings before?”
“A few times. A teacher in school. A friend of my mom’s.”
“Ever have similar feelings about a man?”
She paused before answering. “No. Allium, what am I going to do?”
“One thing at a time,” I replied immediately. “First. I see you, at most, like I might a little sister. You’re an employee. Okay?”
“I know,” she said.
“You need to be okay with that, Ressie.”
“I’m okay with it.”
“Good, because any other choice would destroy both our careers, unless we move north of the river.”
“Because we’re two women?”
“Because I’m your boss.”
“Oh. Right.”
“And even if I weren’t your boss, I’m an authority figure in the ministry.”
“Right,” she said again.
“That being said, I’m flattered. Thank you for telling me.”
She nodded. “What do I do?”
“I’d start small. I’d do what we already discussed. Cross the river and say ‘hi’. See where that leads you.”
“You think this is some sort of phase.”
“You’re the only one who can decide something like that,” I said. “You’re the one who needs to decide how much you care to buck our society. I’ve risen as far as I’m going to. I have no more promotions in front of me. I have the ear of the king and queen, but the king has told me he cannot offer me any more authority than I have. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to worry about less. I can afford to buck society all I want. You don’t have that luxury. You’re going to need to decide how important this is to you. As long as you work for me, I can protect you as long as you aren’t too scandalous, but I have no authority to promote you to a peer position, and if you want something in one of the other ministries, you need to get along with society.”
She said nothing. “So that’s it?”
“No. The other choice would be to move north, but that isn’t as easy as it sounds, either. I’m fairly certain any woman who wants to live north of the river would be welcomed, but it comes with a price, and I can’t talk about it with you. I will only say this: if I’m wrong about my own prospects, and my choices are ruining my own career, I’ll move north. I am convinced I would be welcome and happy.”
“I have decisions to make.”
“Ye
s.”
She looked up. “If you go north, would you take me with you?”
“As a lover or an employee?”
“Employee.”
“How sure are you that’s what you want?”
“I have no idea,” she said. “But I hated working for…” She trailed off, and I thought she was about to say something derogatory about her old boss.
“As long as you perform work at the quality you have for me so far, and I am in a position to make a promise like this, you will have work with me. I think that promise limits your future.”
“I could live with it,” she replied.
“But if any of that happens, I will not interfere in the customs of the north. I went through some, but a lot of people would refuse.”
“I understand.” She nodded. “I think I’m going to take a walk.”
“I think that sounds like fun. Do enjoy yourself.”
“I believe I will.” She got up. “Thank you, Allium.”
“You’re welcome, Ressie.”
She started to turn away, but then shifted back. “I’m still going to listen to your boots and check out your legs.”
I laughed. “I’m fairly sure half the crew already does. What’s one more?”
She smiled and brushed my shoulder as she stepped past me. A minute later, watching out the window, I saw her crossing the bridge.
“Well, well,” I said quietly. “I hope you find what you want, Ressie.”
In the morning, my entire crew headed east. No one was missing, and spirits seemed high.
Chapter Four
Over the next two months, I brought us back to Tebradine for a rest day approximately every seven to ten days. In the meantime, we did our jobs. In the evenings, I collected my crew leaders together, and we discussed the progress for the day and plans for tomorrow. I also talked to them about evaluating the individual members of the team.
My priorities in those regards were varied. It was important to understand who we had working with us and what their skills were. It was also important to give people growth opportunities, and I knew well the requirement of providing varied work. Just because a particular person was the best member of my team at a particular task, I couldn’t expect that person to do that sole task. That was a poor plan for multiple reasons.
It wasn’t my habit to make these decisions in the dark from my crew leaders. After all, I had the responsibility of training them, too, and managing personnel was a big part of our jobs.
We identified the self-starters. We identified the people who would work hard with little supervision, and those who needed just a little kick in the ass to achieve similar results.
The books I’d requested arrived from Barrish, and so I also asked who wanted to work with Ms. Sardonyx. Ms. Lazuli was the fastest to offer, and so I gave her the books and asked if she knew how to analyze where to start.
“She’s a little sensitive about this.”
“I’ll handle it,” Ms. Lazuli assured me with a smile.
“I want to give everyone who has the potential the opportunities to shine,” I said. “But carefully. I’d rather one of you catch potential failure of a task before it becomes something I need to address.”
We talked about that for a while. It was Mr. Sellaite who said, “Dirksten never talked about anything like this with me.” Dirksten Wulfenite was his old department head.
“How do you feel about that?”
“It’s harder worrying about these things.”
“You’re right; it is. And?”
“When does the effort begin to pay off?”
“It already has. Would our work on Green Tufts Bridge have been as satisfying if we hadn’t listened to Mr. Thinaksite?” He opened and closed his mouth, not actually saying anything, and so I continued. “Is it your intention to train up the crew, then sit back with your feet up, watching them work?”
“No. Of course not.”
“What happens isn’t that we can rest, Mr. Sellaite. What happens is we do better work. We’re more efficient. We get more done. We can be proud of what we do. We excel, which lands us more interesting projects. But it never gets easier, Mr. Sellaite. If anything, it gets harder. If you want easy, you joined the wrong team.”
“I didn’t join the wrong team,” he replied firmly. “There’s always more work.”
“Or simply an opportunity to do a better job with the same work, like we did with the bridge. And the process never ends. Ms. Sardonyx will require attention for years, and finding the right challenges so she can apply what she’s learning will be a challenge in itself. But do you think because she didn’t have the opportunity to attend school the way she did, that we should tell her to be happy with her lot in life.”
“That doesn’t seem like your style, ma’am.”
“Damned right it’s not,” I confirmed. “Is it yours?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good.”
* * * *
As I said, I returned us to Tebradine as I could. The next time back, there was a general shift. The four women of my team, counting myself as one, accepted attention. I found myself sharing dinner with Trellen, this time at a table of our own. We didn’t even discuss it. After dinner, without either of us necessarily leading, we headed across the river.
“Please don’t take me too quickly,” I told her.
“I intend to savor our challenge,” she replied. It was the first mention of a challenge since my night with Nissault.
“I need to be back to normal by noon.”
“Of course.”
It was Pandary and Gibslen who helped with the challenge. Trellen and I didn’t really discuss the details. We did simple paperwork, and they let me help prepare for the event. Then, we both changed into shifts. Trellen helped me into the tub, and then I helped her. We both sank down together, sitting in the resin, our knees up, looking at each other.
“No restraints this time,” I whispered. “I liked the cushion I used last time.”
“I’ll get a couple,” Pandary offered.
“This works best if your legs are over mine, or mine over yours,” Trellen said. “Do you have a preference?”
“Mine over yours,” I said. “Like I was last time.”
“All right.” We adjusted, and then Pandary set cushions in place. But I leaned forward and reached for Trellen. We came together, kissing, and I used the opportunity to bathe her arm with some of the resin.
She went one better. She cupped my breast through the shift. That felt nice.
“We can stay upright like this for a while,” she whispered. “Or lie back from the beginning. Both are nice.”
I brushed her arm again, adding more resin, then asked, “Why do we even start with these clothes?”
“Tradition,” she said. “We’re doing the very simplest of challenges. Frequently they are far more involved. Removing your opponent’s shift becomes a part of the challenge, I suppose, or perhaps a symbol of who is winning.”
I wet my hand again and reached underneath her shift, running my hand along her ribs. I knew I was leaving resin behind, or thought I was, but when I looked at her arm, nothing I had done had stuck yet. I stared at that for a minute. “It’s not working.”
“We just got here,” she replied. “You can bathe in it without picking any up, if you’re not emotionally involved.”
“You’re not emotionally involved?”
“Yes, but not enough for it to stick. Don’t worry, Allium. That will change. Look.” She brushed my arm, and the resin behaved no differently, dripping down like water, although more slowly.
“It was faster last time.”
She smiled. “You were tying Nissault up. It’s hard to do that to someone you’re about to make into a lover and not grow excited.”
“Or be tied, and not respond.”
“Exactly,” she said. She brushed my cheek and pulled me to a kiss then said, “This will be gentler, unless we change it. You probably won’t go as deepl
y. You’ll still love it.”
I nodded.
It became a slow seduction. We touched and kissed. I worked on the stays of her tunic, and she on me. She let it fall from one angle, exposing much of my right breast, and then began playing with it.
That felt nice. I closed my eyes and let her do what she wanted. That felt nice, too. “Trellen, is this what you wanted?”
“Yes, Allium,” she said. “There is no right or wrong. This is nice. I like the build-up. I’ve also been taken hard, and done my own taking that way, and that’s good, too. Are you disappointed?”
“No,” I whispered.
We touched. We kissed. And then Trellen urged me to lie back. I did, and then her hands were between us. I didn’t fight while she slid the device inside me. I smiled happily as she slid onto her end. She pulled me back upright, and we held each other tightly for a minute.
I could feel the resin begin to climb my legs.
“This is nice.” I said.
She did something. I’m not sure what. She flexed something, and I felt it deep inside. I gave a gasp. “That was nice, too.”
“We can do different things,” she whispered. “We can stay like this. We can lie back. We can try to make this part last a long time and let the magic take us. Unless we tried to climb out, at this point, one of us will eventually be taken. I’ve done that a few times.”
“Ever lose that way?”
“Once, a long time ago. It was nice.”
“What else can we do?”
“We can watch each other. One of us can agree to do anything to herself the other is doing to herself. Or one can do anything she’s told.”
“That seems one-sided.”
“We can alternate every few minutes,” she said. “Or we can play with different rules.”
“Like what?”
“You could start. I’d do whatever you said until you repeated yourself. Then it switches.”
I laughed. “I’m pretty sure my imagination will run out soon enough.”
“Lie back,” she said. “Trust me.”
I didn’t fight her. I lay back, which pushed the device more deeply into both of us. We both gave little gasps. There was squirming on both sides before we settled.