IV
“You...!” Claudia cried, thunderstruck.
“Do you know him?”
“I do, from the banquet.” Even as she replied to Ashton, Claudia didn’t take her eyes off of the man. He introduced himself as Joshua Rikhart, a noble from Fernest’s provinces. He was good-looking, with well-balanced features and silky flaxen hair. He was also a full head taller than Ashton. Combined with the litheness of his bearing, Ashton thought he was probably popular with the ladies.
Joshua smiled awkwardly, then turned to Ashton. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Are you going to introduce yourself?”
“Oh! E-Excuse me. I’m Ashton Senefelder,” he blurted. Joshua looked mildly surprised.
“Gosh, so you’re the genius tactician. I’ve heard so much about the Seventh Legion’s activities. You know, I’d heard it already, but you really don’t look how one would expect—but perhaps that’s what makes you so formidable...” Having apparently satisfied himself, he nodded, while Ashton squirmed at the words “genius tactician.” Claudia stepped swiftly forward to put herself between Ashton and Joshua. Looking at her properly, he saw that her stance was ever so slightly lowered and her hand was on her sword. She looked like she might draw at any moment.
“Lieutenant Claudia?” he said nervously.
“Listen, you shut up and stay behind me,” she snapped, then turned to Joshua. “Now, what business does a provincial noble have with us?”
Joshua shook his head at Claudia’s overt display of caution. “Oh, don’t be like that,” he said. “Whatever has you so on guard? You’re still lovely even with that severe expression, Lady Claudia Jung, but women are always prettiest when they smile.”
There was a pause. “I don’t remember telling you my name,” Claudia said. Her voice had dropped to a growl. Ashton heard the crunch of gravel underfoot.
“Yes, I know it was rude of me, but I took the liberty of having my attendant look into you. The next in line to the great warrior House of Jung. It was discourteous on my part not to ask such a beautiful lady her name. I do hope you’ll forgive me.” Joshua knelt on the ground and bowed. It was a truly elegant gesture, and women passing along the street turned to gaze at him with rapturous expressions. It was enough to make Ashton think that, if he were a woman, he’d likely have blushed too.
But it had no such effect on Claudia. On the contrary, her brow furrowed. “Cut out the theatrics,” she said, obviously annoyed. “How about you answer my question from before?”
“I was merely proposing that we go for lunch together. I had no notion of being held in such suspicion...” Joshua stood up, then scratched his head awkwardly. Ashton couldn’t work out what had Claudia so on edge as to reach for her sword either. She said that they’d met at the banquet, but no one had mentioned any trouble.
“You think you can play innocent? At the very least, I know you’re more than you let on. Why would we even go and eat with—?”
“Okay, okay.” Olivia stepped between them, patting Claudia on the shoulder to bring down her guard. “Why not? When eating, the more, the merrier.”
“But Major, this man...”
“Lady Olivia Valedstorm, you have my most sincere gratitude for your kindness,” Joshua said, jumping on Olivia’s offer with an affable smile. “Please allow me to buy you all lunch from the stalls, as a token of my thanks.”
Ashton hadn’t detected in Joshua’s words or manner any of the particular acerbity and arrogance that nobility often carried. In fact, he found himself liking him. The man seemed to have a gift for it.
“Your treat?” Olivia asked Joshua.
“That’s right.”
“So it’s all right if I eat heaps?” Her eyes shone with expectation. It was beyond Ashton to work out why being treated would mean it was all right to eat a lot, but Joshua responded in the affirmative, putting his hand to his breast.
“But of course. Joshua Rikhart never goes back on his word.”
“Hooray!”
Looking at Joshua’s clothes with the eye of a merchant’s son, Ashton noted the liberal use of high-quality fabric. It was plain that he was from a prosperous house. Buying lunch at street stalls would be nothing to him. But he also didn’t know the bottomless pit that was Olivia’s stomach.
“Lord Joshua, for want of a better way to put it, Olivia eats a lot. Enough to freak out everyone around her.”
Joshua looked blankly at Ashton for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Oh, Ashton. That’s a fine thing, is it not? All the more reason for me to treat her.” He gave Ashton a cheerful pat on the back, a friendly gesture most unlike a noble. Here, Ashton once again found himself speaking before he could stop himself.
“There’ll be no taking it back later. Olivia left the word ‘restraint’ behind in her mother’s womb.”
“What a colorful turn of phrase. One could perhaps say that I left behind the word ‘devotion,’” Joshua mused with a faraway smile. As Ashton tried to parse what he meant by that, Olivia tugged on his sleeve.
“Are you done? Let’s go eat already.” Bored with their conversation, she trotted off, forcing them to bring it to a close. Ashton and Joshua looked at each other and shrugged, before following her. Claudia brought up the rear, the only one who didn’t let Joshua out of her sight.
As usual, the stallkeepers called out enthusiastically to Ashton and the others as they approached. There were more than twice as many people milling about as there had been that morning. As it was the lunch hour, the cries of the food stall proprietors carried above the rest.
“All righty!” Olivia declared, rolling up her sleeves. “It’s free, so eat up!” She dashed off toward the stalls. The rest of them followed her into an alley, where shops that had been closed that morning were just opening for business. The most eye-catching were the clothier stalls. Fernest was famous for manufacturing cloth of higher quality than any other nation. The textile industry was one of the kingdom’s most vital exports. Here, the shops were full of exquisite fabrics no street stall anywhere else in the world would carry.
They walked, Joshua looking around in amazement as Ashton guided him. After a while, they saw Olivia standing in front of a stall eating something. On the sign on the roof, red letters spelled out SMOKED GRAY BOAR SANDWICHES—A FIS DELICACY. In all the years Ashton had lived in the capital, he’d never heard the food in question referred to as a Fis delicacy.
As he was shaking his head at the sign, the little stallkeeper called out to them, a little desperately. “Er, are you lot this soldier’s friends?” When Claudia answered that they were, he looked thoroughly relieved. “Oh thank goodness. She said someone would come later to pay, then started eating one thing after another. I didn’t want to talk too harshly to a soldier...” He glanced at Olivia, who was chomping on a boar sandwich. “Hey...” he said reluctantly.
“Oh, look! That looks tasty too!”
“Oi! Olivia, hold up!” Ashton shouted, grabbing for her, but she slipped through his fingers and scampered away down the alley. Before he could give chase, she vanished into the thronging crowd. “The little brat!” he fumed.
Joshua laughed good-naturedly. “Lady Olivia’s full of energy, isn’t she?” He said, then, reaching into his pocket, he turned to the stallkeeper. “I’m paying. What’s the damage?”
“Thank you kindly, my lord! All counted, it comes to...ten silver!”
There was a pause. “What? Ten silver?”
“Yes, ten silver!” said the stallkeeper, holding out his hand with a sunny smile. Joshua stared blankly at the outstretched hand, then at Ashton. Ashton understood his question, so he asked the stallkeeper instead.
“Just how much did she eat?”
“How much? Why, she ate all of it. I’m closing shop for the day.” The stallkeeper beamed at them. Looking at the stall racks, Ashton saw that they were indeed empty. All that remained were a few scattered crumbs of bread. Forcing a smile, Joshua handed over the ten silver coins. Claudia watched this with a malicious grin.
Thirty minutes later, Ashton had at last apprehended Olivia. They sat down at a larger stall with chairs to sit and eat. Because Joshua was paying, every inch of the table was covered in plates of food. To make matters worse, every time one ran out, Olivia immediately ordered another, so that it seemed as though the table would never be clear.
Joshua didn’t touch any of the food. He looked like a shell of himself as he stared emptily up at the sky.
Olivia, perhaps aware after all that she’d gone too far, looked sheepish. “Look, I’m in the middle of a growth spurt, so I have to eat a lot,” she said.
“Don’t use that as an excuse. Aren’t you big enough already?” Ashton scolded.
“What part of me is big?” Olivia inquired, halfway through raising her spoon.
“What part...?” Ashton’s eyes went unbidden to her chest. Right away, he felt a crushing wave of pressure. Full of apprehension, he shifted his gaze to one side to see Claudia looking at him with a cold smile.
“The major and I are about the same,” she remarked. “Which is to say, big, I suppose.”
“Um, yes.” Ashton nodded emphatically, not touching on her deliberate vagueness. He could feel sweat dripping down his neck. Just as he was finding it hard to breathe, Joshua seemed to suddenly remember something.
“Lady Olivia, I wonder if you had any plans after lunch?” He asked.
“Huh? Nope, not really.”
“I’m very glad to hear that. I was wondering if you’d fight a bout with me.”
“A bout?” Olivia repeated. “Sure. You did buy me lunch, after all. I’ll make sure to go easy on you, so I don’t kill you.”
“Your consideration is appreciated. And Lady Claudia,” he added casually, taking a sip of his tea, “it seems rather vulgar to draw one’s sword in a place like this.” Ashton looked at Claudia and saw her blade was halfway out of its scabbard. The conversation had happened so quickly, he was struggling to keep up.
“Lieutenant Claudia! Please settle down! As for you, Lord Joshua, I’d like an explanation I can understand for why you want to fight Olivia.”
“Shut up, Ashton!” Claudia snapped, glaring at Joshua with murder in her eyes. “He’s shown his hand at last. What are you? An imperial spy?”
Joshua, an imperial spy? This just gets more and more confusing. As if in mockery of Ashton’s confusion, the conversation only grew murkier.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I have nothing to do with the empire,” Joshua replied. “On the contrary, you wouldn’t be amiss in calling it our shared enemy. Besides, what spy would openly sit here eating lunch with you?” Joshua made a fair point, which Claudia took with a stormy expression. Only Olivia continued eating as though nothing were amiss.
“And on top of that,” he continued, growing serious, “anyone with your skills ought to be able to tell that you can’t beat me, no matter what you do.” Ashton remembered Gile telling him that a strong fighter could read the caliber of their opponent just by how they held themselves.
The blood drained from Claudia’s face. Her desire to attack Joshua was so strong Ashton felt his flesh prickling. “Why don’t you try me, then?” she said, further exposing her blade.
The stallkeeper, noticing the dicey situation unfolding between the two of them, began to close up shop in a mad rush. Others around them had noticed the atmosphere of impending violence, but went around as if they hadn’t, fearing the consequences of getting involved.
Olivia let out a sigh of happiness. “That was absolutely delicious,” she said happily, and the tension evaporated. She stood up and stretched, then went to Claudia, whose hand was still on her sword, and patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”
“Major...” Claudia said. She moved to follow Olivia, but the other girl stopped her.
“I’ll be fine without you. You too, Ashton.” She turned to Joshua. “Shall we go?”
Joshua looked at her for a moment, then said, “Yes,” and off the two of them went. Ashton stared after them in a daze, then turned to Claudia, whose sword was now back in its scabbard, and said, “Are we going after them?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Claudia said. “Didn’t you hear the major say we weren’t to go?” The bitterness was plain on her face. In truth, she probably wanted to run after them right now. Ashton felt the same, but he knew Olivia had the senses of a wild animal. No matter how sneaky they were, she’d notice them right away.
“Who is that man, anyway?” Ashton wondered. “From what he said, we know he’s not an enemy, but other than that...”
Claudia didn’t reply. She just kept staring after Olivia and Joshua.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login