Encircled

by Robin Roseau

  “You will be integrated into our society.”

  “She has said that. What she hasn’t said is what that really means.”

  “And you hope I will?”

  “I have no such expectation,” I replied.

  She nodded. “Do you wish we would leave? Do you wish the men could come back?”

  “I would have more business.”

  “Is your family suffering now?”

  “No. Your soldiers have made up for the lost business, but I don’t imagine they’re staying. Then what?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “But that is a fair point. This is not the first territory we have absorbed. There is a period of adjustment, but there has been little suffering, and the other areas have all felt greater financial security. I cannot say what will happen here. This is a trading hub, and as such, your economy is based in part on siphoning off a portion of that trade. This will continue to happen, but now some of those profits will be used to improve the lives of people less advantaged. I do not know how that will compare to having half as many mouths to feed.”

  “You think about these things?”

  “Of course we do. You did not wage war on Ressaline, Ms. Rosebush, and you should not suffer for something you didn’t do. You are now a subject of Queen Lisdee, and that makes your physical and financial security my responsibility.”

  No one had ever said anything like that to me. I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded my understanding.

  “I have another question, Ms. Rosebush. Has anyone threatened your life?”

  “Why would anyone do that?”

  “I understand you have expressed some concern that might happen.”

  “No one has threatened me,” I said.

  “You serve the soldiers, and from the reports, you do so efficiently and without rancor. Has anyone commented negatively to you for doing so?”

  “A few have asked how I can tolerate having you in the inn, but it hasn’t been caustic.”

  “Would you share the names of any individuals who have done so?”

  “I would rather not.”

  “Fair enough,” she said. “If I were to invite you on a date, would you accept?”

  “Excuse me?” I said. “I am fairly certain that is personal and has little to do with your official duties.”

  “And yet, I am asking.”

  “You’re asking me on a date?”

  “No, I am asking how you would respond if I did. Consider it a hypothetical question.”

  “I don’t know, Captain Bess,” I said. “I don’t know what I would do.”

  “If you were ordered to accept a date from one of us, but you were given the choice of choosing whom, what would you do?”

  “That’s a rather ridiculous question.”

  “Why can’t you just tell me you would decline?”

  “For one thing, I don’t believe declining orders from you is a very good idea if I wish to avoid a rather heavily laced drink.”

  “You believe I would pacify you if you didn’t accept my invitation?”

  “You’re going back and forth. First, you asked a hypothetical question about an invitation. Then you turned it into an order. Now it’s an invitation again. Pick one.”

  “The order?”

  “I would accept, but I wouldn’t be happy about it, and I would have words for Lady Olivia.”

  “And you believe she would listen?”

  “She has in the past. I haven’t tested her patience since the end of phase one.”

  “You would be unhappy about the date?”

  “About the order.”

  “All right. Then if I invited you?”

  “Get to know me better and I’ll answer,” I said.

  She huffed. “Fine. You seem to know Lady Olivia well enough. Imagine you have received a written invitation from her.”

  I leaned back in the chair. “Not an order.”

  “An invitation to dinner. Would accepting her invitation put your life at risk?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think people have made up their minds about you. Some are pretty pleased you kicked the men out. Some are a lot richer than they were. On the other hand, those whose husbands or teenage boys are lost might not be as happy. So I don’t know.”

  She withdrew an envelope from the folder at the corner of the table. My eyes locked on it. “What kind of game are you playing, Captain Bess?”

  “We’re trying to get to know you better, Ms. Rosebush,” she replied. “Some of you aren’t that interesting. Some of you are quite interesting. You are in the latter group. You notice I have made no notes for some time. You have avoided offering clear answers to my questions, and so I am going to force the issue. You may offer to spend time socially with me or another of the officers here in Charth. Or you may ask me to give you this. I was directed to give it to you only if you declined other offers.”

  “She doesn’t really want me to receive it?”

  “Don’t even try thinking that part through,” she said.

  I gestured. “That might be phrased as an invitation, but I don’t imagine it’s a good idea to decline.”

  “I wouldn’t,” she replied.

  I looked at the envelope. I looked up at her. “This is not about you. I don’t know you. Take the time to get to know me, and maybe I’d take an offer. But I get ten offers a night, and I go out once every blue moon. I don’t know how many times I’ve turned down other women dressed like you, but they aren’t serious. And frankly, neither are you. I’m an assignment. Not interested.” I held out my hands.

  “Very well.” She handed me the envelope. “You are to read it in my presence. There is a card to return.”

  I nodded and broke the seal. It was a lovely, hand-written note. Olivia expressed a desire to see me and gave me several choices. I read through them then looked up. I took the card, flipped it over, and asked Bess her pencil. She shook her head. Instead, she produced a fine, leather case. It was deep red, rectangular, and a little longer than two hand widths. She opened it flat on the desk between us, displaying six glass dip pens. “I presume you can use these?” She added a small jar of black ink.

  “Yes.” I selected one of the pens, examined it for a moment, and then dipped the tip into the waiting ink. But then I thought before I set pen to paper. “Lady Olivia,” I wrote. “I will see you during any of the times indicated, but my preference would be the afternoon, Tuesday, and you could take me for a carriage ride in the country. If this ill suits you, then any of the other events would be lovely. Claary Rosebush.”

  I finished it then turned it around for Captain Bess to read. She smiled when she was done. “What time does your noon meal end?”

  “Two, but I could leave at one, as long as I have warning.”

  “Someone will collect you shortly after one. You will dress as a lady, not a barmaid.” She smiled again.

  “I have clothing,” I said. “I will expect someone Tuesday.”

  “Very good, Ms. Rosebush. Thank you for your time today. I’m sure you can find your way out.”

  I stood and headed for the door, but she stopped me. “Claary.” I turned. “When you said you’d consider an invitation if I got to know you, were you serious?”

  “I didn’t promise to accept. I don’t know if I would find I like you. And I imagine the nature of the invitation would matter.”

  She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind, Claary. I hope I haven’t offended you today.”

  “It would be foolish to serve as a barmaid if I were easily offended, Bess. Good day, Captain.”

  * * * *

  Captain Bess, along with several other soldiers, collected me from the inn on Tuesday. I had washed briefly and changed into somewhat nicer clothes, including a broad hat for the sun. Captain Bess seemed pleased, and she offered an escort to Government House.

  Waiting in front was a lovely carriage. Lady Olivia stood beside it, and one of her soldiers was in the driver’s seat. Olivia smiled
as I approached. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Rosebush.”

  “If this is a social occasion,” I said, “I would prefer you call me Claary, but not if you’re going to insist I call you Lady or Duchess.”

  “Of course, Claary,” she said. “Such an unusual name.” She offered a hand, and I climbed into my seat. She followed behind me, and with a swish of the reins, we were moving.

  Neither of us said anything until we had passed through the gate. I looked around and then turned to Olivia. “May I speak plainly?”

  “Corporal Dessen won’t repeat anything you say,” she said. “Of course you may speak plainly.”

  “What’s really going on?”

  “We’re going for a ride in the country,” she said. “And getting to know each other.”

  “Why?”

  “What a strange question.”

  “It’s not at all a strange question. Why? Is this truly a social outing, or a part of phase two?”

  “So suspicious,” she said.

  “There seems to be a lot of not answering of questions,” I said. “What do you want, Lady Olivia?”

  “I thought we weren’t using titles.”

  I turned away from her. We rode without speaking for the better part of a mile before she set her hand on my shoulder. “I have both personal and professional reasons.”

  “Keep going.”

  “You impress me.”

  “You’re a duchess. I’m a barmaid.”

  “Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about. If you take a stance like that, and we can turn around. Frankly, I don’t have time for that.”

  “Fine,” I said. “But you’re the one who started with the games, and you’re far better at them than I am.”

  “I’ll stop if you do.”

  I turned back to face her. “Please don’t lie to me. You haven’t so far, that I can tell, but I think that was dangerously close. Are you even capable of keeping that promise?”

  “I am not promising to answer all your questions,” she said. “But if you stop with your games, I will stop with mine.”

  “If I play more you may call me on them.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” she said. “You intrigue me, Claary. I want to get to know you. I want to decide how I might want you in my life.”

  “And does what I want matter?”

  “For now, anyway. Did you want to turn around?”

  “No,” I said. “I want to know it’s safe to let my guard down. I’m not at all sure it is.”

  “What do you think I’m going to do to you?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “And I don’t know what happens if I let you.”

  “Ah. Let us agree to this. At least this afternoon, I’m not going to do anything that requires those sorts of decisions. Will you let me hold your hand?”

  “Tell me about your professional interest.”

  “We are identifying the future leaders. Some people are interesting, but we barely know you.”

  “All right,” I said. “Phase three?”

  “Yes. Phase three. But this is about more than phase three. This is about you and me as well.”

  “There is no you and me.”

  “There could be,” she said. “Face it: you’re as intrigued by me as I am by you.”

  I thought about it and then offered her my hand. She smiled and took it. “Thank you. Why did you invite this instead of accepting one of my other offers?”

  “I didn’t want to go home with you, and I didn’t want to be surrounded by other people. This is what I thought of.”

  “Well, it was a lovely plan. Thank you.” She gestured. “I am unaccustomed to the land being so flat.”

  “I imagine,” I said. “What is your home like?”

  * * * *

  We talked easily. She was intelligent and easy to listen to. I relaxed further.

  “Do you like running the inn?”

  “I don’t run it. I help run it. I’m good at it, though.”

  “I imagine you are,” she said. “But I believe you would be good at anything you did.”

  “I haven’t had much opportunity to find out,” I replied. “I don’t imagine I will.”

  “Did your brother or cousins work at the inn?”

  “My brother used to, but he hasn’t in several years. He worked with my cousin instead. He claimed it was a better opportunity, but I think it’s really because Mother wouldn’t let him run the inn. You sent away two of our younger employees, but no one critical to our operations.”

  “You work hard.”

  “Everyone works hard,” I said. “I’d rather run an inn than a plow.” I gestured to the farm we were passing.

  “Your farmers work very hard,” she said. “But they do well for themselves. That is not universally true. You have good land here, and it is worked well.”

  “You are duchess now,” I pointed out. “Shouldn’t you say ‘we’.”

  She laughed. “You are right. I have not fully settled into my position.”

  “Will there be taxes?”

  “No. Once our spies have confirmed there are no armies massing at the borders to ‘liberate’ Charthen, we can send much of the army home. We do not keep such a large standing army, but only call them up as necessary. That will reduce expenses. Queen Lisdee is not greedy, and I will be paid from the lands I claimed.”

  “From phase one.”

  “Yes, land claimed from phase one.” When the men left.

  * * * *

  We spent the afternoon together. She tried to extend it into the evening, but I declined. “Olivia, until I have seen there is nothing to fear from phase three, I do not wish personal attention, not from you or from anyone else. If you need to continue to watch me for professional reasons, there is little I can say about that.”

  “I am unsure I will accept what you have said,” she replied.

  “So you will force time from me?”

  “Can you compromise?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “How often can you leave the inn?”

  “I go to the market daily.”

  “I thought we weren’t playing that game.”

  “I don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “How often could you come to dinner, if you were inclined to do so?”

  “We do not serve dinner Monday evenings,” I said.

  “Then I would like you to come to dinner every other Monday evening, beginning two weeks from yesterday.”

  “Is that a command from the head of an occupying army?”

  “No. Do you want me to drop my attention?”

  “I think that means more than the obvious,” I said.

  “It does, but I won’t explain. Not yet.”

  “It sounded like an order from the head of an occupying army,” I said. “And it sounds like if I decline, there are implications beyond my social life.” She said nothing, and I thought further. I didn’t like my choices.

  “Two weeks,” I confirmed. “You may also come to the inn. We close at ten during the week, but I would allow you to stay and keep me company while I do my duties. But you will then leave, and I will be going to bed alone.”

  “Is that an open invitation?”

  “Yes.”

  “You realize I travel with guards. They would also stay.”

  “I guessed.”

  “Thank you, Claary. I will take advantage of this offer.”

  Transition

  Olivia was true to her word. She came Thursday, arriving about nine. I served her and her escort, and at ten, I yelled, “Drink up! I have to be up before first light to prepare breakfast, and I need sleep.”

  It took another ten minutes to get everyone to leave. I closed the doors while my younger sister, Lisbon, drew the blinds. She looked at Olivia and raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Help in back tonight,” I said. “I’ll see to things here.”

  “This is a bad idea, Claary,” but she turned her back and headed for the kitchen
.

  I turned to Olivia. She and her soldiers were all watching me. I stepped over. “You heard me. I don’t get enough sleep as is. You can keep me company while I work, or I can let you leave, but I can’t afford to let you slow me down.”

  “Teach me.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Teach me,” she repeated.

  “I have to clean the tables then once they’re dry, put the chairs up.” I stepped behind the bar and prepared a bucket with soapy water. I grabbed two rags, setting one down on one table before turning my attention to another. I got through two tables, and Olivia a third, before one of the soldiers stepped over. “We’ll do this.” She took my rag, and another soldier took the rag from Olivia.

  I shrugged. Olivia smiled and said, “That was easy. Next?”

  “Behind the bar.” I pulled her back there. “Straighten the bottles. Check the levels. If any are low, speak up.” I set to wiping the bar down.

  * * * *

  It took half as long as it might normally to clean the front room. It would have been even faster if Olivia had done any of it before, but I had to show her. But the soldiers helped, too, and they did so cheerfully. When we finished, I thanked them.

  “Do you have other duties tonight?”

  “No.”

  “So you can give me a few minutes.”

  “I can,” I said. We pulled two chairs back down from their spaces on the tables and sat down. I let her take my hands. We smiled at each other.

  “You are very lovely, Claary.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I looked down. We sat there, not speaking, for several minutes, and then she said, “I should let you sleep.” She stood then pulled me to my feet and right into her arms. I gave a little squeak of surprise, but I didn’t struggle to free myself. Instead, I stared into her eyes.

  “Are you going to stop me?”

  I considered. “No.” And I closed my eyes.

  It was a sweet kiss, and the butt grope wasn’t horrible, either.

  But I didn’t trust her, and I didn’t appreciate her attention.

  * * * *

  After that, she came once every several days. Sometimes we talked as we cleaned up. Sometimes we just quietly saw to things. Then we sat, again, sometimes talking, before she pulled me up for a kiss and a little grope.