"Okay, you guys have to be quiet," Keri whispered, going to one of the curtains. "He's got a fever."
"Is he all right?"
An annoyed male voice drifted from behind the beads. "It's just a damn fever. I'm not that fragile, Snowy. C'mon in."
It was a bedroom, but sadly lacking in bed. On the floor, taking up almost all the space, were two mattresses. An assortment of blankets was piled atop them in layers, and wedged between them was a desk lamp that cast a dim glow around the place. Elstrin stared at the walls. Every inch was covered in colour, right up to the ceiling, a huge continuous painting of four tigers chasing each other under a starry sky, their coats rippling with rich orange-gold-russet hues. It made the dismal place look… alive.
Sprawled on the larger mattress was a man—or a teenager, maybe, Elstrin couldn't really tell in the gloom—dressed only in a loose pair of sweatpants. He had an arm tucked under his head, his other hand holding a cigarette. "Didn't realise we had company," he said lazily, looking at Elstrin through slitted eyes. Maybe it was the lit cigarette, but his pupils seemed a notch too bright.
"Gabe," Keri scolded, pushing into the room before anyone could speak. "You're not supposed to smoke when you're sick! It'll give you a cough!"
"'Kay, sis," the man mumbled, snubbing it out on the small gap between mattress and floor. "There. Happy? I'm going to have a long grownup chat now and you're not invited. Go play upstairs."
Keri pouted, but turned and skipped off. Her footsteps receded. The man sat up with a grunt, produced a lighter from somewhere within the blankets, picked up his cigarette and lit it again. He took a deep drag, let it out gradually.
"So," he said. He jabbed his pinky finger at Elstrin. "Who the fuck're you?"
"Gabriel, Cadet Elstrin White. Elstrin, Gabriel Kresil, a friend of mine," Snow said smoothly. "He dismissed spirits for a living once."
"Oh, so you're the cadet," Gabriel said, laughing to himself. "Mm. Yep. Snowy's right. Did it too damn well and suddenly there weren't any more ghosts left for me to get rid of. Now I'm just a whore. Lesson one, kid—if you're good at something, don't parade around with a red fucking flag for the whole world to see."
"Y-you're a what?" Elstrin said, taken aback.
Gabriel frowned at him for a moment. "A whore, kid. Hooker."
"But—did you paint this?" he asked, gesturing at the magnificent mural on the walls.
The man snorted. "Selling art just another form of prostitution. My plate's pretty full already. Sex is better anyway. Less personal, more fun." He blew a perfect smoke ring into the air. "Until some asshole forces you to snort cocaine before fucking. But then I had an excuse to beat him senseless and grab all his cash. Lose some, win more, right?"
"Uh… right," Elstrin said.
"What a fast learner," Gabriel drawled. He turned to Snow. "I like him. But what the hell did you bring him for?"
"We were here for a dismissal." Snow shrugged, amused. "You can tell him to leave." "Hey—" Elstrin spluttered indignantly, but Gabriel laughed and made a shooing motion. "You heard the lieutenant. Go away."
Snow nodded towards the doorway. Elstrin rolled his eyes and walked out of the colourful room.
The curtain didn't do much to block out the men's conversation. He heard the flicking of paper, then
Snow's voice, "It's from the colonel. Don't argue."
Not wanting to hang around and get accused of listening in, Elstrin headed back upstairs. He was a little reluctant to step outside, wary of how the locals might react, but it turned out that only Keri and three other children were on the mostly empty street, playing a skipping game from a crude chalk drawing on the ground. The girl saw him and immediately bounced over. "Hi, Snowy's friend! What's your name?"
"Elstrin. And you're Keri, right?"
"Yep! Keri Kresil!" she said brightly, sticking out a grimy hand. "Nice to meet you, mister!"
"Likewise," Elstrin smiled, shaking it. "So… does Snow visit you guys often?"
"Sorta. But he never stays! Maybe you can convince him?" she asked hopefully.
"I'll try. I can't guarantee he'll listen to me, though."
"Oh. When I want Gabe to listen to me, I just throw a tantrum."
"I doubt that'll work," Elstrin chuckled. "Did your brother really dismiss ghosts for a living?"
"I was too young to remember. He stopped six years ago." Some of Keri's cheer died away. "I don't know what he does now. But he gets sick more easily, and sometimes he comes home really late and doesn't want to be close to me. He earns more money, though. He bought me this dress last week, see?" She twirled around, making her bright blue skirt fan out.
"That's nice of him," Elstrin said, a little sadly. "I guess he'll discuss it with you when you're older."
"Everyone says that," she whined.
"Well, some things just don't make sense until you get older."
Keri stuck out her tongue defiantly. "I bet everyone's who's older will say that no matter what age I'm at. I bet Snowy says that to you too."
"Yeah, kinda," Elstrin grumbled. "But it's what he doesn't say that annoys me most of the time. He didn't even tell me we were coming here."
"Oh, he didn't tell us either, but Gabe sees him coming every time, so I think he's just used to inviting himself in." Before Elstrin could speak, Keri chirped happily, "I'm not supposed to talk about that. So don't ask!"
"You're just like him," Elstrin groaned. "You say something interesting and refuse to tell me more."
"Well, some things just don't make sense! Not even when you get older!" she imitated with a giggle, hopping back to the other children. "Wanna play?"
"I'll watch." He leaned against the house and flipped a small wave when the kids threw him inquisitive glances. They smiled back, lacking the mistrust that the adults carried. Elstrin wondered if it was only this part of the slums where people were more tolerant of soldiers, or if just the kids were okay with them. The children looked happy, despite the squalid living conditions, the poverty all around. He wondered if they had expectations and restrictions thrust upon them as he'd experienced in his own childhood. Maybe they didn't. Maybe, in the slums of all places, they had true freedom.
He was proven wrong a few minutes later. Their bright laughter and squeals were interrupted by a cry, so relieved that it sounded pained. Two women hurried over and snatched up the three kids, dragging them away from Keri and the chalk drawing. Their scolding was too harsh, fear manifesting into anger. They tugged the children down the path, voices carrying through the silent air even after they'd disappeared from sight.
"We looked all over for you—"
"What did I tell you about playing there? Especially with her—"
"Mum, stop pulling."
"That girl, her brother's a witch with a demon inside him, it's not safe there…"
"Keri's fine, mum, we were just playing hopscotch…"
The bickering, too, faded. Keri stayed where she was, pointed the toe of her shoe to the chalk and began to scrub at it, erasing the lines. Elstrin walked forward. "Hey, don't rub that out. I'll play with you."
"It's okay," she said, her expression quite neutral, but her foot was clumsy and vicious, scraping at the ground angrily.
"Does that happen often?"
She shrugged. "They're my friends. They'll find a way back. Their mums are scared of Gabe, so they always look everywhere first before coming here."
"He didn't seem very scary to me."
"They think he's a murderer," she said simply, blurring the final few smudges of chalk. "A year ago, ten dead bodies turned up on the streets. Lined up head to foot. I didn't get to see them, but people say Gabe did it as some kind of revenge. There isn't even any evidence at all, and I know he didn't, but they're still scared. I don't care anyway. He's still the best brother on earth."
"Aw, sis, thanks. I try," Gabriel said, emerging from the house with Snow. He'd thrown on a ratty t-shirt. In the sunlight, Elstrin could see that his skin was darker than he'd
thought, tanned to a healthy, natural bronze. His hair was the exact same shade of common brown as Keri's, but his eyes were a pale driftwood colour that he'd never really thought could exist in someone's irises. The man winced when he stepped out, raising an arm to shield his face from the sun, and abruptly moved away from Snow.
"What?" Snow said.
"Your hair is so fucking bright it's giving me a headache. You should dye it or something. Ugh. Fuck this. I'm going back inside."
"You're the one who insisted on coming up," Snow pointed out.
"Yeah, I was hoping to yell at some of those bitches," Gabriel muttered, squinting at the empty paths between the shacks, not making any effort to adjust his language in front of his young sister. "Eh. They're gone anyway. Keri, next time that happens, just gimme a holler."
"No, I won't," Keri said, hands on her hips, looking amusedly like an irritated mother herself. "You have a fever. You need to rest."
Gabriel tipped his head back and stared at the sky. "I'm fine. I'll walk our surprise guests back, okay? I won't be long." He seemed to have forgotten that a few seconds ago he was complaining about being outdoors.
"Ooh, can I come?" she said excitedly.
"Nope. You just stay here and—"
"Why?" the girl demanded shrilly.
"Because your birthday is next week, and I have some goddamn shopping to do. See what you did? You ruined the big fucking surprise."
Keri's mouth fell open, her disappointment changing immediately into absolute glee. She tackled Gabriel with a scream that made Elstrin's ears hurt. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut, looking genuinely in pain, no doubt suffering from another headache, this time caused by excessive noise. Snow laughed quietly and motioned for Elstrin to leave. "Let's go. He'll catch up if he manages to shake her off, maybe some time in the next century."
"Fuck you, lieutenant," Gabriel spat after them as they walked away, barely audible over Keri's high-pitched interrogation about whether or not the present was going to be a kitten or a box of precious jewellery or a princess's dress or a unicorn.
"Wow," Elstrin remarked, when the usual sounds of the slums returned. He hadn't realised how quiet it had been around the small house. "How, pray beg, was that a learning experience?"
"You didn't learn anything from Keri?"
"Er. No? Well, she told me about this weird mass murder—"
"Anything that I can't seem to get you to do," Snow elaborated with a smile.
"What? Were you expecting her to miraculously improve my sparring skills?" Elstrin snorted. "No, all she said was that people avoid her because they suspect Gabriel of murder. What's all that about?"
Snow heaved a long-suffering sigh. "No unnecessary questions, Elstrin. That's what I want you to learn."
"…Oh. Damn. Sorry. Um, so no questions about Gabriel somehow being able to see you visiting before you actually do. And no questions about ten corpses lined up on the street."
"None at all."
"Right. Got it." They spent a few minutes walking quietly. "Okay. This isn't a question. I think we're going the wrong way."
"I'm not forbidding you to ask things," Snow said exasperatedly.
"God, how am I supposed to know what's unnecessary, then? Where are we going?"
"A jewellery shop, where Gabriel will buy his present. Presuming he's still alive."
"He's really sweet to Keri," Elstrin said quietly. "She was just playing and these parents came out of nowhere and practically forced the other kids to leave. I don't blame him for wanting to kick their asses."
"He's protective of her, yes. Their mother died giving birth to her and their father abandoned them right afterwards. Gabriel is… well, you know what he does. He's willing to sacrifice a lot for Keri."
"How did you meet him?"
"He met me, actually. That's borderline-unnecessary."
Elstrin made a frustrated noise. "I'm trying to make conversation here while we wait for him. Okay, let's talk about something else. What's your favourite colour?"
"And how is that question not unnecessary?"
"Mine is peacock green. The shiny, bluish kind of green. It's pretty. Favourite food?"
Snow frowned, fought a smile and gave in. "I don't have one. Don't these things all depend?"
"No way. I could eat spaghetti for eternity. If it's good."
They arrived at the jewellery shop and loitered outside for a while, but there was no sign of Gabriel. They entered a nearby shabby pharmacy to waste some time. They were barely on the edge of the slums, so while there were buildings here, nothing was impressive. "I like salad. And freshly baked bread," Snow said, examining the expiry date on the back of several battered boxes of generic fever medicine.
"That's so boring." Elstrin followed him to the cashier as he paid for a few assorted bottles and packs. "Favourite drink, then?"
"Hm. Hot chocolate. Sometimes."
Exiting the pharmacy, they continued to wait. "You're really bad at this," Elstrin protested. "You're supposed to ask me back."
Snow faked a yawn.
"Ideal girlfriend?" Elstrin said.
It only earned a slight eyebrow raise before Snow nodded at a figure walking towards them. "Ah, he's here."
Gabriel had changed into a slightly better shirt and a pair of old jeans. He stopped just short of the shop's windows, which were sparkling rather weakly with sparse jewellery, beckoned Elstrin over and handed him a wad of crumpled banknotes. "Do me a favour and buy a silver necklace. Get the cheapest there is, no need for any fancy crap."
"Why can't you get it yourself?"
"'Cause I tried to nick stuff from here a few months ago and a pretty face like mine ain't that forgettable. And the cashier girl has a crush on me; I don't want to deal with it."
"Uh, okay…" Elstrin gave him a strange look and entered the shop, wondering idly if it was a prank. He peered at the display in the main counter. There was gold and silver jewellery, though the selection was small, some accompanied by pieces of crystals pretending to be diamond. The store was empty apart from the shopkeeper, who smiled at him as soon as he met her eye.
"Something for your girlfriend?"
"No. But it is for a girl. I'd like a silver necklace, please, uh, within…" He did a quick count of the money, wishing he'd thought of that outside. "Forty-seven bucks."
"Sure," she said, unfazed by his lack of a wallet or anything. She unlocked the glass drawer and took out three necklaces, all of them, in Elstrin's opinion, too plain to be even worth twenty dollars. The cheapest, a basic line of tiny silver links, cost thirty. The other two, with the addition of a teardrop and a star, jumped right up to forty-five dollars. "So are you from the army?" she asked rhetorically, indicating his uniform. "I didn't know they allow casual visits to the city like this."
"Oh, I was here for something else," Elstrin said vaguely. He paid for the first necklace, thanked her, and left quickly to avoid more questions. He made sure he was out of the shopkeeper's sight before handing the change and jewellery to Gabriel. "That was thirty bucks."
"Down the drain," Gabriel muttered, scrutinising the necklace disapprovingly. He pocketed it anyway. "Whatever. It's still silver." He said to Snow, "You think it's still there?"
"Probably. It's not even noon yet." Snow held out the small bag of medicine. "Yours."
"Wow, everyone's giving me things today. I feel so loved," Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. "I don't need it."
"I'm a soldier. My conscience forces me to aid an injured comrade," Snow said dryly.
Gabriel took the bag grudgingly with an almost childlike "fine", and Snow led the way through
the slums again, towards the western edge of the city and towards HQ. Gabriel fell back a bit to talk to Elstrin. "How's training, kid?"
"This is the part where you compliment me," Snow hinted without turning around.
"It's horrible," Elstrin said. "He makes me spar for the entire day. Two six-hour blocks. Insane."
"Ha, you'd better get used to it,
'cause he won't let up. I know Snowy is fucking ruthless when it comes to weapons training. It'll pay off in the end. You get to feel all superior by beating your classmates, and you might get promoted early."
Dragon Bone Page 12