Brisethi’s smile faded as she looked up from her orders. “Politics, Sir?”
“Diplomacy, peace talks, treaties - how to speak like a dignitary,” he reiterated. “You’re going to train in the palace for the next three years. Afterward, you’ll have earned your next rank and be on your way to Beccilia.”
She was uncertain as to why the word ‘politics’ sounded so grueling to her. The word ‘dignitary’, however, piqued her interest. This was one step closer to her ambitions of influencing leaders of the world. The sound of palace work sparked her curiosity as well. “Beccilia,” she repeated to herself. “Thank you, Sir,” she shook his hand after being dismissed for her month of leave.
-:- -:- -:-
“Is that a kitten?” Brisethi barged into Etyne’s apartment when he opened the door and immediately dropped beside the tiny black bundle of fur.
Etyne nodded and smiled at her. Her layered, burgundy hair was scented of blossoms. The chestnut-colored long-sleeved coat hugged her form, contrasting her black leather pants. When she looked up at him he diverted his eyes to the kitten. “He needs a home. I spotted him the other day looking for his family and when he was still alone last night, crying in the alley, I took him in, bathed and fed him, but I can’t keep him if I’m out to sea more than half the year at a time.”
“What’s his name?” She cuddled the little kitten.
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask him,” he joked.
“You’re so stupid, Et- oh my spirits I love him - I’ll take him in.” She hadn’t found this much happiness in an animal since the days she’d spent with Abyss. “I have orders to stay here for three years, he’ll keep me company. My mother can use his company when I go to Beccilia.” She tore her eyes away from the little kitten and handed him her orders, proud that she would be spending her days in the palace.
“That’s impressive, ‘Sethi.” He handed the orders back to her after reading them. “I feel sorry for your trainer - having to reform someone like you into a cold-hearted politician,” he paused for a moment, ”On second thought, you’re mostly there.”
She stifled a laugh as she placed the kitten back on the ground, “He smells like candles, like your place.”
“Why are you smelling him? Is that a thing to do with kittens?” He was overjoyed that she had accepted his request to spend the day with him, especially after spending the past year among mostly males on the DSV Rogue. He could never quite find the right balance among both genders to keep him from losing his mind.
“Yes, especially after you told me you washed him. His tiny fur is soft on my nose,” she then picked him up to put him against Etyne’s face. The kitten let out a high-pitched ‘meow’.
He reluctantly nuzzled the kitten with his forehead if only to keep her smiling. “You’re so odd. What are you going to name him?”
She pet him one last time before standing. “He looks like an Edewat.”
“Ee-de-what?” he arched a brow, earning a stern look from her as if he should know better than to question her.
“Do you have a sandbox for him?” she asked.
Etyne nodded and pointed to the corner. “Take it with you.”
“Ohhh, you hung all three of them up?” Brisethi was distracted by her own paintings displayed on his wall. She gleamed that he had kept every one of them she had painted for him.
“Of course - they’re a great conversation starter when friends are over,” he said. “It’s nearly hour thirteen, did you want to pick out dinner down at the market with me or is Edewat going to steal all your attention?”
She chuckled and pulled out the compass watch he had purchased for her two years ago to show him she still treasured it. She checked the time then realized he had just said it. “Of course, let’s go.”
He guided her to his favorite vendor that sold exotic spices and produce imported from Micinity continent. His mother had passed her recipe of his favorite meal to him so that he could cook it himself for his friends.
The sound of the bell tower reminded Brisethi to ask Etyne a question. “Have you ever tried to eat a clock before?”
“Um, what?” he asked in return, not sure if he heard her correctly.
“It’s very time consuming,” she replied, trying to hold in her laughter. "Especially when I went back for seconds!”
Etyne resisted the urge to laugh until he caught sight of her grinning face. “Ah, you got me again with the childish joke,” he chuckled, shaking his head.
Before purchasing fresh meats, they stopped at various other stores to pass the time and catch up on the last two years, teasing one another, laughing at crude or childish jokes, and comparing their second tours of DSV Reliant where Brisethi swears she behaved herself.
Back in his apartment they shared spiced tea and started a game of cards they picked up which was Sariadne’s version of Fates of the Enchanted. Brisethi examined each card’s artwork before picking a deck she wanted to use against him.
“I met my father last year,” he randomly stated while testing his set of dice.
She had been mid-sip of her tea before the shock hit her. “Etyne, that’s wonderful. Where? How?”
He recounted to her his adventure with his mother to the Pakayan Islands and the overwhelming emotions he’d felt when meeting him. “I also have a twin brother,” he mentioned.
“Spirits, that’s amazing! Are you going to meet him?” She asked excitedly.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, we’re strangers, raised in adversarial lands. I do plan to visit my father at least once a year, though, now that I have his address.”
“But...we’re forbidden to…” she smiled slyly at him when he brought a finger to his lips in a gesture to keep silent. “On the islands, you mean,” she winked.
After a few rounds of their new card game, Etyne made his way to the kitchen to start their dinner. Brisethi followed to help cut up vegetables and continue bantering about the rules of their card games, his secret missions he couldn’t reveal to her, and their opinions of the Dreadnought still awaiting commission.
Etyne poured a glass of wine for each of them before presenting his culinary specialty to her. She smiled gratefully and cut into the smothered, stuffed flat bread of meats, chopped vegetables, melted cheese and spices. She let it cool down on her fork before taking a bite.
Etyne took a bite from his meal before asking, “Is it good?”
“It’s delicious,” she declared, shoving another bite into her mouth before continuing. “You realize now this is what I’m going to expect you to cook for me every time you come back to Res’Baveth.”
“Not if I visit you first and make you cook me something,” he teased.
She shrugged, “I make a fierce chicken dumpling pie.”
“Can’t wait to have it,” he smiled.
Brisethi helped him clean up the dishes when they finished their meal, helping themselves to more wine. He didn’t want her to leave and discreetly started packing his bags to ready his next deployment in the morning. When she looked at the time on her compass watch she readied herself to take leave of his home for the night, picking up Edewat in her hands.
“Do you have anywhere to be in the morning?” Etyne asked from his bedroom when he saw her picking up her coat.
She shook her head, “I’m on leave for a month.”
“Then you have no reason to rush home now?”
She eyed him suspiciously. “I figured you needed to finish packing and get enough rest.”
“Stay with me,” he nervously requested, “for my last night in the city.”
Her heart and body screamed yes, and her mouth nearly formed the word, but her mind recalled his history with past lovers and her own terrible relationship with Joss. She was terrified of becoming just another temporary thought to him and feared treating him like Joss. She had to force her voice to kindly reject. Her heart would thank her later.
“Etyne,” she hesitated from her pounding heart, “We both know this would destro
y us…not to mention the Uniform Code of Dominion Regulations forbids us to...”
He arched a brow. “‘Sethi we’ve spent plenty of nights sleeping next to one another and we’re very much still best friends,” he attempted to dodge her rejection.
Brisethi sighed in relief at his innocent request feeling humiliated for misconstruing his words. She should have known that he couldn’t possibly be low enough to care for the type of victim she was. “Cursed spirits, Etyne, the way you worded it made me think…”
He chuckled before she could finish her sentence. “You should know by now that I have too much respect for you to treat you in any other way.” He removed his packed bags from his bed when she walked into his room.
She noticed an envelope had fallen to the floor and picked it up. Ordinarily, she would have handed it back to him, but she saw her name on it. She snuck it into her coat pocket before Etyne had turned his attention to her.
She placed Edewat on the bed and proceeded to remove her boots. “I’m scared that you’ll crush him,” she said through a yawn. She crawled onto his bed and under the blanket where she could discreetly remove her outer clothes. Although her scars were small, they were visible enough that she felt she would forever hide them.
“He’ll know when to move,” he gave the kitten a soft pat on his head. Letting his day clothes fall to the floor Etyne snuffed out the lantern lights and found his way next to her. “Thanks, ‘Sethi,” he quietly told her.
“For what?” She cuddled Edewat next to her as she leaned her back against Etyne’s. The hyper kitten was not ready to sleep and wondered around the bed instead of staying with her.
For not allowing me to ruin this, he wanted to say. “For your comfort,” he instead whispered.
Chapter XIII
Second Lieutenant Livian Reej hastily walked through the library to get to her favorite spot before anyone else could take it. She didn’t study often; she had no need to when she could remember most things she cared about. When she did study, she preferred to be on the balcony of the library’s second floor. The library was located on the fourth floor of the Citadel, and she often found herself staring out at the view of Res’Baveth more than actual studying.
She frowned, sighing loudly, upon seeing that someone else had taken her seat at the only table. She was about to return inside when the student sitting there called after her.
“There’s three other chairs at the table, you know,” the female Ensign told her.
Livian knew Ensign Yulana Terrez from her class but rarely spoke to her, or anyone else, during their first year. Reluctantly, she walked over to the table and heavily placed her books down. They sat in silence for the first hour of studying until the fall storm clouds blocked the sun, threatening their comfortable climate.
The Ensign looked up at the gray sky. “I hope it snows already. What’s a crisp fall day without snow?”
Livian scowled at her. “Why would you ever wish that upon us? I hate the cold.”
Ensign Terrez smirked and lit a small flame in her hand. “I don’t have a problem keeping warm.”
Livian rolled her eyes at the display. The woman’s gray eyes and ability to summon fire reminded her of a certain unstable officer she once knew. Yulana Terrez, however, had shiny black hair that fell in long waves.
Yulana studied Livian’s tousled blonde hair before speaking to her again. “You clearly weren’t in Division Sixty-Three with me; how did your expedition training go? Anything exciting happen?”
Livian exhaled loudly at the interruption of her attempt to study. “Yes, actually, lots of things. The biggest event being that I took a trip to the Lantheun Empire, saved my incapacitated enlistment officer, watched my captain commit the Soul Reclamation on her, traveled to the Aspion Empire, was nearly killed by the crazed after effects of her stay with the Lantheuns, then boarded the DSV Sovereign to return to my usual expedition training onboard the DSV Reliant.”
Yulana’s mouth was halfway open in awe. “You’re the one who helped retrieve Captain Sen Asel? She’s a fire mystic like me! I’ve wanted to meet her ever since hearing about what she did during her recruit expedition so that I can ask for exclusive training on how to summon lightning and lava the way she does,” she said, the words spilling out excitedly. “The acolytes couldn’t get me to learn it,” she sadly told her.
“The woman is crazy, I would stay away from her if I were you,” Livian reiterated.
“Crazy gorgeous, you mean. I only saw her once in passing with that half-Kiaran fellow - oh he was your division captain?” Yulana asked.
Livian nodded. “He’s a good person. I don’t even notice that he’s half-Kiaran anymore.”
“What about Sen Asel? Is she nice? Mean? Boring?” Yulana persisted.
Livian sighed. “She’s freakish and odd - I wanted to get away from her as soon as possible. Captain Vorsen is my mentor, though, and I’m sure he still keeps in contact with her. I can ask him for an introduction of her for you if you’re that interested-”
“Would you really?” Yulana interrupted. Her previous perception of the snobby blonde girl had suddenly changed to one who might just be decent enough to befriend. “I’ll buy you dinner for a week if you can make this happen.”
Livian was a devout cheapskate when it came to how she spent her money. Saving a hefty amount of frakshins by allowing someone else to purchase her food for a week was something she couldn’t pass up. She held her hand out to Yulana. “Make it two weeks and you have yourself a deal.”
Yulana shook her hand, smiling.
“If you’re a fire mystic, why did you choose Navy instead of Army? You’re going to set your own ship on fire,” Livian almost smiled when talking.
“I want to see the world and the Navy goes everywhere. You’re just going to defend Sariadne for the next nine hundred years, have fun with that,” Yulana teased, closing her book to appear more interested in chatting, rather than studying.
Are all fire spirits always so...charming? Livian asked in her head when reminded of Elion and even Captain Sen Asel the first time she met her, before she had allowed her dignity and self-worth become stolen.
-:- -:- -:-
The air felt heavy with anticipation as Sulica silently moved along the street. Her mouth was dry, and her heart thudded so loudly against her chest that she was sure it would be heard. Slowly, she gestured to her team to move forward. Three dark shapes passed her quickly. Two stopped at the door while the other moved further along to ensure their security. The fourth member of her team stayed behind as a rear guard.
The two at the door, Azuda and Neiko, hurried at their task. One oiled the hinges while the other set to work picking the lock. When they were done, the door swung open slowly. They moved inside, crouched low to avoid being seen. Sulica and the other two followed.
Furniture was piled haphazardly all around the room. At the far end, they could see a strip of light streaming out from under the door. The group continued to move slowly, avoiding the obstacles laid out all around. They stacked up on either side of the door. One of her team, she couldn’t be sure who, reached out for the knob. Sulica nodded, and suddenly it was thrown open.
The five of them rushed into the room, throwing themselves at any person standing inside. With surprise on their side, they were able to quickly subdue most of the enemy force. On one side of the room, Azuda was struggling to get the best of her target. She finally threw her weight backwards, causing the target to get off balance. Moving fast, she swung up onto his shoulders and dug her knee into his back, pushing his face into the ground.
He came up gasping. “Uncle, uncle!” he yelled.
Sulica strode over to the man and ripped the mask from his head. At seeing who it was, she threw her hands in the air and walked away. “Seriously? Another test?”
Azuda looked down at the unmasked man and quickly jumped off.
Coughing from lack of air and the dirt in his mouth, he rose to his knees slowly. “Sorry,” he cho
ked out.
Sulica rolled her eyes while Azuda handed Aderok Simtel her water. “What gives?” she said angrily. “Haven’t I proven myself yet? Haven’t we shown that we have what it takes?”
Simtel stood slowly and reached halfway around, causing his back to pop. He sighed in relief. “Y’all are going to have some stuff to teach me by the time this ordeal is through,” he said, rubbing his neck. His wholly blue eyes met Sulica’s as they flashed angrily. Simtel just smiled. “Hey, I’m with you. I don’t know how much more my guys can take.”
Sulica’s team helped the others get to their feet and recover. The two groups left the old shack together, heading back to the palace for the debrief and a bath. Neiko and Potin were yammering away excitedly with some of Simtel’s group, reliving the takedown over and over. Sulica’s anger continued to build while they walked until it reached a boiling point. Simtel seemed to sense her anger and refrained from speaking directly to her.
When they reached the palace, she let the others go ahead of her. She took a deep breath, clenched her fist, then punched the ground next to the walkway. When she drew her hand away, there was a small crater in the grass. Feeling much better, Sulica followed the others into the palace to the meeting room. Sulica recognized Ekani’s figure facing away from the door as she entered. Forcing herself to remain calm, she leaned against the wall while the rest took their chairs. Simtel too, she noticed, remained standing. After a few moments, Ekani turned, holding a large scroll in his hands.
When he looked up, his eyes locked with Sulica’s. There were dark shadows under his eyes, as though he hadn’t been sleeping. His face was haggard, and she could see the pain in his eyes every time he moved. She felt the rest of her anger fall away into guilt as she studied him. Ekani didn’t even seem to acknowledge her presence one way or another after that.
He spread the scroll onto the table in front of him. Two of the group took hold of either side to keep it from rolling together again. “Today,” he began in the same steady voice Sulica had awoken to years before, “marks the end of your training.” He paused to let the cheers die down.
Spirits of Falajen Page 47
