Little One 2

Hey again, last update until Wednesday. It's going to be the mega chapter.


Awaking drowsily to the warm, dark room around her, wrapped in layers of fine cloth, Jess allowed one contented sigh to escape her lips before she rose and prepared for the day. She lay momentarily on her side, staring at the draped windows, frowning; it was such a lovely way to start the day. Her body ached from the long night before, but it was a nice ache, a good ache. Some days she resented waking alone, but Kateri and Camion had things to do early in the morning, always, and would steal from bed so softly as to not wake her. She would wake and miss the warmth of their bodies on either side of her, Kateri’s arm wrapped possessively around her, Camion’s big hands resting on her hips or stomach.

They had fallen into a comfortable sort of life, the three of them, before the fair. Camion ended work at half eighteenth, and he would come back to Kateri’s quarters and wait with Jess for the empress to return. And she would, sometime later than Camion, after all the councilors and messengers and attendants had been seen to and sent away, then would she come back to them. On those long nights when she was kept at council or in meetings, Camion would have servants bring up food for them, and they would eat in companionable silence, glancing at the door now an again.

Jess did not like the way Kateri looked so tired when she returned. Deep dark circles had formed under her eyes, and from time to time, Jess found Kateri at the west-facing window, staring out and down the road that headed towards the war.

She had watched, once, late in the night as Kateri stood by that window and watched the empty road. Camion had come behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his face out of view of Kateri, and filled with worry. He had drawn her back away from the window, back into bed with him and Jess. She had turned and smiled, tiredly.

More and more lately, it seemed Camion was attempting to distract Kateri from everything else. As soon as she came home for the night he would tug her gently and insistently towards the bedroom. At first Jess had written it off as his insatiable appetite, but, after so many weeks of it, she had seen through the façade and knew he was trying to distract Kateri.

How bad was the war going? What could be so very wrong that Kateri worried so?

Mentally shaking herself, Jess slid off the large, warm bed and walked to the bathroom. There was no one there, not even servants at this early hour. They would come later, around thirteenth to dust and clean and do whatever else they did. So she went naked, selecting one of the many towels from the linen closet and taking it to the large stone bathroom connected by a secret passageway to the empress’ quarters.

Though the bathroom and the passage were stone, unrelieved by tapestries or rugs, it was pleasantly warm and Jess hummed to herself as she strolled down it. She did not hear the main door as it opened, nor did she hear the passage door opening behind her. She did not hear the conspiratorial whispers behind her. She did not know anything was amiss at all, in fact, until a hand wrapped around her eyes, and another around her mouth.

~~

Kateri focused on keeping her face straight and pleasantly blank as she walked quickly through the hall. Dogging her every step was a small, reedy man with a short, stubbly beard and squinty eyes. His voice when he spoke, which was often, was raspy, weak, and uncommonly high for a man. Kateri loathed him. He was a course fellow, one Kateri thought more suited to work as a seaman or merchant; she could envision him in yellow merchants robes even know in her minds eye.

Rudius Klarin was not the sort one expected on a war council. His thin frame looked odd in the council room between barrel-chested Lord Alborn and the tall, muscular Lady Adderidge. They were two of her generals, warriors, but Klarin was one of her best spies. It was why he was there, and he served his purpose well, but frankly, the man annoyed Kateri to no end. As a man, he was too forward, and as a spy, well… A good spy reported information and let those above him decide what to do. He followed orders, he did his best.

The last two Klarin followed, but the first evaded him. He was too opinionated, always saying what he thought should be done, as he was doing now.

“… and based on what is happening in Terinth, the army should retreat back to Brekrid and regroup. Leave Terinth to those savages, save Deinkroth instead.”

“Thank you councilor, but we will stay and see what will happen in Terinth a while longer. If Terinth falls, we lose half the West, eventually. Lords Camion and Alborn will see to it that it holds; just you make sure my information on the situation is accurate.”

She added the last, and she could see by the sour gleam in his eyes he understood what she wasn’t saying. When he had formed an opinion on a subject, all information he gave afterwards was tainted to fit his view. If he thought Terinth should be abandoned, then he would make sure all reports detailed how bad a choice it was to remain there.

He had paused, angry at her outright implication, and she took the opportunity to dart down another hallway and through the door of Riena Marvet, one of her childhood friends and now close personal advisor.

Riena looked up as Kateri closed the door behind her. She smiled, “Hiding from another councilor, I see.”

“Sorry, Rie, but if I spent another minute in his company, I may have knocked him through a wall.”

Riena chuckled. She stole a glance at her friend and her smile broadened. “Kat, I don’t suppose you were out by the west terrace any time this morning, were you?”

Those high eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “No, why?” as Riena just continued to smile up at her, a realization as to what her friend was saying dawned, and without even a thank you, Kateri bolted back through the door, past the still-dumbfounded Klarin, and towards the nearest staircase that lead back to her quarters.


Review?
KaS