“Ah.” My lips quirked in a humorless smile. “And that is where the smell of smoke came from.”
Dreams were only dreams. They weren’t real, and though it took a little concerted willpower, I was getting used to them. I had gotten myself under control by the time the door creaked behind me. A draft snaked its way around the room, quickly cutting through the warmth that had filled it.
“Supper is being served.” The newcomer was Aedith, not one of my roommates, as I had expected. I forced myself to look at her. She leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, her face impassive. “We eat all together in the mess hall with the other mercenary companies who are here for the winter.”
I nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
Perhaps if I let her go ahead, I could get away with not going down to eat at all. It wasn’t as though the dream had left me particularly hungry, and I knew from my experience in Goatstrack, that a visit to a mess hall wouldn’t bring my appetite back.
“I’ll wait for you to get ready, and we’ll walk down together. I know you are not familiar with the layout yet.” Not for the first time I wondered if Aedith possessed some sort of magic to see into my skull.
At my mulish look, Aedith’s expression softened ever so slightly. To my surprise, she came to crouch next to me. The entirety of the trip she had kept her distance. Even after I had officially petitioned to her that she let me join Twelfth Company, and she had told me she would consider it, she had left my assignments and training to Aella, Dai, and Kaleb. Every time we passed a town, I had braced myself for her to tell me they were leaving me to make my own way.
Now her voice was gentle, and her words were unexpected. “The men and women down there are good people, and they’ve been through things that you might relate to. They’ll understand if you don’t want to talk, and they’ll listen if you do. We’re like a family here. A strange one, but a close one nonetheless. You’ll feel no better staying alone in your room.”
My mouth opened and shut a few times, and then I shook my head, my shoulders creeping up to my ears, one hand playing with a long blonde braid. What I couldn’t say was that, while most of Twelfth Company knew that I’d learned a great deal in a short amount of time, some of them—Gilbert, Tess, and Harold in particular— liked to make sure I knew that I still knew nothing. Compared to seasoned mercenaries, I couldn’t deny that they were probably right. What did I know?
Aedith waited, patient, silent. My voice was soft when I finally found the words. They were hard to say. “They’ll think I’m weak and useless. Look at me,” I gestured to my form, “Fighting training or not, I’m not a mercenary.” I’m a shepherd’s daughter, taken on out of pity. I can’t even sleep fearlessly.
Aedith rose from her crouch and extended a hand to me. I stared at it, and then took it, realizing with a heavy heart that she wasn’t exactly the person who was going to talk these concerns out with me. It had been goose-brained of me to think otherwise.
Except, instead of merely tugging me to my feet as I had expected she pulled me upright and then, to my outright shock, her free hand gripped my shirt front, and she threw me.
Unthinkingly my body tucked into a ball, one arm curved around my head to protect it and help push me back to my feet. I came up just short of the bunk on the other side of the room and turned back to face her automatically. Both of my hands were held close to my chest and clenched in fists. My legs were bent, prepared for the next attack.
It was a move Kaleb and I had done many times. His words rang in my head. You are small, and very throwable. We must make throwing you a mistake.
“You threw me!” I said, outrage overcoming my healthy respect for her.
Aedith smiled grimly from where she stood by the bed. Her arms were crossed casually over her chest. “Back in Nophgrin you worked each day building muscle in doing your daily chores. For the past two months, you’ve practiced almost every night, and those lessons have sunk into your muscles, shaping them for new purpose.”
“I don’t think…” I scoffed.
She continued as though she hadn’t heard me. “You’re too green to beat most veterans in a fight, it’s true. Still, your youth makes you flexible. I had a feeling you’d adapt to this life the day the men from your town came to take you. I told Kaleb and Dai that evening that, unless I was very mistaken, you would be joining us indefinitely. I do not take on charity cases, and after everything you have been through recently… you must know that you are not a mere shepherd’s daughter any longer, Taryn.”
I blinked down at my fists, in awed surprise. Slowly I allowed my arms to relax and hang limply at my sides. I looked back up at her. “So, I really can stay with you all here this winter? You weren’t just humoring me?”
She nodded solemnly. “I had a meeting with the guild leader when we arrived. She reamed me for sticking my nose into local affairs, but in the end, she agreed that it was the right decision. She also agreed with me when I said you could be a useful addition to my company. Could, mind. As I said, you’re still a novice. You could end up hating this and wanting to find a different life for yourself. Something quieter than traveling and fighting.”
“But, if I train hard and I practice,” it was what I had been hoping for, “I can go with you when you leave?”
“Food first, then we discuss the future. We all take turns in the kitchen, so it’s nothing fantastic, but trust me when I tell you that after a few months on road fare, it will taste like it belongs on the king’s own table.”
Inside the mess hall voices rose and fell in steady waves. It was warmer than the barracks, just for the sheer number of bodies pressed inside it at one time, and I was glad I had left my cloak back in my room. Three companies were already lodging in Forklahke this winter, on top of our own merry band. That was over seventy men and women—and it seemed that most of them chose to eat all at one time.
In some ways the mess hall was like the traveler’s eatery, but in others it was very different, and I found the differences comforting. The ceilings were higher, which made me feel less closed in. There were also mage lights strung across the entirety of the room, and those crystals cast a clean white glow. It was strange, but it was nicer than the flickering orange and yellow of torch and hearth light.
As opposed to chairs around round tables or even short dining tables, like at The Black Gryphon Inn, there were a series of long tables and benches that spanned almost the entire width and length of the hall. Small aisles were spaced between each table for people to make their ways through. It was a little funny to see some of the larger men and women mincing on tiptoes to keep from knocking into those who were already sitting.
I spotted most of Twelfth Company clumped together at one of the tables at the far end of the room. While there were a few strangers among them, it didn’t look as though an entire second company had joined them, let alone a third, so I guessed that Aella’s and Luke’s friends had not arrived yet.
When Dai saw us enter through the throng, he gave a careless wave, not breaking from whatever conversation he was having. Aella looked to see who he had greeted and beamed at me, making a move to stand. I gave her a small wave to indicate that she should wait for me there, and then looked to see what direction Aedith was going.
Unlike at The Black Gryphon Inn, one didn’t sit and get served here. Instead, Aedith took me to a short line, at the end of which was a woman with a kerchief tied to keep her frizzy brown hair out of her face, which was red from the heat of the kitchen behind her.
“What’ll you have?” she asked gruffly.
Aedith murmured her reply, but I didn’t hear it. I was too distracted by the woman herself. She was huge. All the women in Twelfth Company were muscular, save Belinda, but this woman was a giantess. The counter between us was at my chest level but the buckle of her belt peeked over top of it.
One thick arm dragged across her forehead as she waited for my answer, bringing my eyes back up to her face with it. When I only gaped at her,
she sighed.
“We’ve got venison for meat. Beans. Some potatoes still, I think? Chicken broth with cabbage is all right today if you’re feeling sick. Think we have some applesauce still from the harvest. What do you want?”
I stuttered out my choices and she hollered them back through the door behind her, along with Aedith’s order. Within a few moments a man with glasses sitting crooked on his thin face emerged to shove a plate at each of us before disappearing again.
The plates were filled with the food we had requested, in varying stages of heatedness. To the right of the woman, who had already started taking the next person’s order, was a cart on which a stack of chipped mugs, several pitchers of water, and a tea kettle sat. Aedith directed me to grab a drink there, and then hurried us out of the way of the person behind us.
As we walked back to the table, Aedith glanced down at her plate and grimaced. “Anthony must be the main cook back there today.” She poked at her beans. “He can never quite wrap his head around the idea that not everything is meant to be crispy.”
I ducked my head to hide my smile before the manners lodged deep in my upbringing forced me to ask, “So how do I pay for this? They didn’t say anything about it, but I know that I haven’t enough coin to buy meals every day if I’m not working. I could hunt game for myself outside the walls? Or is there work I could do here?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Aedith shook her head, placing her plate on the table as she reached it. Harold and Kaleb scooted apart to make room for her. Aella made space for me on her end, and I sat beside her, still listening. “The guild takes an annual fee from the pay we earn doing our work across the kingdom. That pay goes to things like our rooms, and our meals.”
“Even if we is the ones still cooking the food and cleaning the rooms,” joked a tall man. I didn’t know him, but a couple of the others at the table grinned and added their agreement.
“But…” I stirred what must have been venison in thin gravy with my fork, “I don’t have money to pay that fee.”
“The fee comes at the end of summer each year, when most of us have had a solid two seasons of work, if we’ve worked hard. Technically, if you sign the contract this winter, you’re at the beginning of your first cycle as a mercenary—perfect timing.” Aella nudged me with her shoulder. “Aren’t you so lucky?”
I made a noncommittal noise, which turned to choking as I took a bite of the venison. I gasped, taking a gulp of the weak tea that I’d poured for myself. There had been loads of black pepper hiding under the taupe gravy, and it burned my tongue, my throat, and the roof of my mouth.
The woman to my left pounded me on my back as I breathed raggedly. “Yeah, I tink Antony’s cookin’ ternight. I don’t tink he knows not everyting has to be peppered twice over.” Her words were clipped and hard to understand, wheezing as I was.
When my eyes had cleared, I got a better look at her. She was gaunt cheeked, with straw-like dark brown hair. When she grinned at me, she revealed that several of her front teeth were missing, and a few of the remaining ones were black. I smiled back at her.
“It’s certainly a new way of eating.”
She beamed back at me, showing all the rest of her yellow teeth. “Name’s Sam. What’s yers?”
“Taryn.” I offered her my hand, which she squeezed a little too tight with her rough fingers while pumping vigorously.
“Nice ter meet you.”
“You as well.”
I was introduced to a few of the other new faces, but for the most part, our end of the table was full of the same people I’d been traveling with. I hadn’t realized how reserved my home town—and even the road—had made them, but it was clear now.
Here there were few frowns, and scads of laughter. Shoulders were relaxed, and no one started at any loud sounds except for me. In strange towns, Aedith never allowed gambling, but here there were several friendly card games being played up and down the tables. Every so often a new person would catch sight of someone at our table and come bounding over to give them a hearty handshake or hug.
It was as I was idly watching one burly and pockmarked man teach the group surrounding him how to fold their handkerchiefs into a flower that a whole throng of people entered the hall.
Both the front doors of the mess banged open to emit the throng of men and women, wind and tiny specks of snow billowing in after them. Snow clung to their hair and cloaks as well, and over their shoulders I could see that it had begun to come down in earnest.
My whole table leaped up, even Aedith. A jolt of real fear struck me solidly in my chest. Then my brain caught up enough to decipher their loud utterances as an avalanche of good-natured greetings, and pseudo snide remarks about being late. It seemed that my mercenaries and these had had a bet as to who would make it back to the barracks first.
I watched as Aedith strode over to greet the man who must have been their commander. He clasped her forearm, and then pulled her in for a real embrace. She laughed, face full of the fur around his collar. Around them, similar reunions were taking place. Aella mussed the brown locks of a young man who had a full head of height over her. He allowed it—with a dopey smile. Harold and Tess had commandeered a man about their age and were shoving a tankard full of steaming apple cider into his hand, which he happily accepted. Ito and Belinda were exchanging pleasantries with a much older woman with long gray hair, as well as the two lithe youths who flanked her.
The people from other companies who had been sitting next to us shifted to other tables. Some cleared to leave the hall entirely, with a clatter of wood and ceramics, and a few indulgent smiles.
Aedith had said they were like a family, and I saw that now more than I had as they had interacted with other companies. They were checking each other over for signs of wear, noting new spots of gray in manes and beards…
The new boy was whispering something into Aella’s ear with a sly look on his face, and I saw her giggle. Her dark hair, streaked with sandy-colored strands from a summer in the saddle, bounced as she shook her head. Her olive skin gleamed as she flushed with pleasure. She was always beautiful, but especially so when she laughed.
I found my heart ached, and I placed a chilly hand over my chest, trying to soothe it. Aella looked up in time to see my forlorn expression. After a murmur to her friend she took him by the hand and dragged him back to the table. He allowed himself to be led, and pressed onto the bench next to me, as Sam scooted to make room.
“Taryn, this is Conner. He’s my best mate, when he’s not out collecting arrows. Conner, this is Taryn. Taryn’s—” she faltered, glancing at me, then continuing strong, “She’s our newest addition.”
Conner shook my offered hand. His tawny brown eyes were warm and gentle. “A pleasure to meet you, Taryn.” There was a lilt in his voice when he spoke.
“Thank you. I mean, you too.” I blanched. “What does she mean, collecting arrows?”
He grinned, revealing the gap between his front two teeth. I was irritated to find it didn’t ruin the smile, rather it made it more charming. “She means this.” He shucked his fur-lined cloak and pulled the collar of his tan tunic to the side. Halfway to his shoulder, tucked under his collarbone was a puckered, purple scar. I winced. “We were battling bandits in the south east all spring and summer.” He released his shirt and moved so he could see around me, addressing Aella again. “But I told you all about that in my letters. Heard you lot tackled some drakes in the south.”
“You saw.” Aella tapped her right cheek. Though hers was without blemish, her mother bore a scar in that spot. It wasn’t as ugly as it had been when I’d first met her, but it was hard to miss. “She was lucky she didn’t lose an eye. Kaleb realized just in time that she was heading for a nest, and he blew the alarm and went after her. You can’t see it, but he has a few impressive marks on his arms.”
“How big?
“Seventeen-footer.” Aella sounded smug. “But by the time I got in there they had killed the mother, and it was just
the babies left to put down.”
Conner looked around at the table. “No Miguel tonight?” A shadow settled across Aella’s eyes. She opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it. Our people were returning, and Conner’s people were separating from them and getting into the food line. He noted this at the same time she did, and slipped out from the table, leaving his cloak on the bench. “Ah, forget it. I’ll be back. I’m famished!”
When he had left, I looked at Aella. She was picking at her food, without moving to eat any of it, her face unreadable. “You sure he’s only a friend?” I asked.
She glanced up, the curious expression quickly replaced by a smile that pulled her lips wide, and down at the left. “Not jealous, are we?”
Face hot, I muttered, “I was just curious,” before shoveling some of the crispy beans into my mouth.
She leaned over to pinch my cheek gently, and I swatted at the hand before it made contact, garnering laughter from her and a few others.
“You’ll learn soon enough that all of your friends coming home for the winter stay isn’t guaranteed. We’re close with Hamash’s company. We’ve served beside them on bigger jobs, and we’ve bunked together at the barracks most winters. When we heard they were in the thick of it out east—you know with the rebel problem they’ve got right now in Elyria—well, letters can only tell you so much. Last letter I got from Conner said he’d been shot, but that he wasn’t dead.”
“I didn’t know. I apologize.” I met her eyes so she could see that I meant it, and she shrugged.
“He’s sort of like her guild brother. Can yer even imagine not knowing if’n yer brother was alive or not?” Sam, who had remained while others had left, asked this while jabbing her fork at me for emphasis.
My stomach plummeted painfully. I saw a few of my company grimace, even if they didn’t look up from what they were doing. Forcing a smile on my face, I shook my head. “No, I can’t.” Which wasn’t a lie. I couldn’t imagine that, because I knew for certain that Michael was dead.
Of Dragon Warrens and Other Traps Page 5