Lady Champion Bethany focused all of her willpower into not tapping her foot, thumb, or any other tappable part of her anatomy. Mother Aneese, the revered mother of the faith, prattled on about something uninteresting, in a low monotonous voice that could’ve sent an insomniac into hibernation.
Of course, the temptation to tap and twitch would have been less if Jovan, Lord Protector, hadn’t kept bumping his knee against hers. He was even jumpier than she was. She gave him a sidelong glare. He made a parroting motion with his hand before rolling his eyes. His thumb went back to tapping out a staccato on his thigh.
“Finally...” the old elven woman said, and Bethany let out an audible sigh of relief that drew everyone’s attention. She gave them a rueful grin.
“And finally,” Aneese repeated, her tone laced with annoyance, “The Honourable Liaison Relas will be arriving from Wyllow tomorrow. I recommend Lady Bethany be assigned to—”
“Not me,” Bethany piped up. “I have three days off, starting right after this meeting.”
“As do I,” Jovan chimed in. “Lord Kiner does, too.”
Aneese scowled. “Lord Allric, you allowed this?”
“I forgot about Relas.” Allric gave the Honoured Sister a shrug. “I already approved their time off.”
“Deny it. There are things more important than getting drunk in brothels.”
A contemplative expression came over Jovan’s face, and Bethany grinned at him.
“I am sorry, Mother Aneese,” Allric said and, though he apologized, his voice was like bedrock. “They have earned the time off.”
“Yes, yes.” Aneese waved off his comment. “They have been working very hard, unlike the rest of us who do not get a day off in the service of the Gentle Goddess. After all, Lady Bethany has an aide, Lord Jovan has three, and Lord Kiner’s training responsibilities are spread between several junior knights. Yes, they are overworked indeed.”
Bethany kept her sharp retort to herself. Arguing would prolong the meeting, thereby prolonging the time between herself and three full days of uninterrupted freedom. She would not let her tongue get in the way. If she had to, she’d bite through it until it swelled so much speech would be beyond her.
Bethany, Lady Champion, was about to have three days off and no one, and no thing, was going to stand in her way. Least of all her own tongue.
“I will look after Relas,” Allric said.
“Hurmph.” The old elf crossed her arms. “I suppose the head of the Silver Knights and myself would be a better greeting than the rag-tag mess Lady Bethany and Lord Jovan have turned into.”
Bethany clamped down on her tongue.
“It is unfortunate that Father Torius is not here this week,” Aneese mused. “The head of the faith and the head of the Silver Knights would be an excellent show.”
“We must make do with what Apexia has given us,” Allric said and Bethany saw the corner of his mouth quiver.
Bethany’s mouth, likewise, struggled not to twitch in the face of Allric’s sassing of the High Priestess.
“Anything else?” Jovan said, his foot now tapping against the wooden floorboards.
Allric actually smiled this time. “If there is nothing else, Mother Aneese?”
The old elf sighed, but shook her head.
Both Jovan and Bethany jumped to their feet, though they resisted rushing off and waited for Aneese to pull her crippled form from her chair. Sure, they were in a hurry to escape their duties, but Aneese was an old woman.
With a final contemptuous glare, Aneese left Allric’s study.
“What are your plans?” Allric asked.
“We’re heading to Eve’s tomorrow morning,” Jovan said.
“Why so late?”
“Eve is away, so there’s no point going early,” Bethany replied. “Besides, I don’t know about Jovan and Kiner, but I need a break. I plan to sit in my room and do nothing.”
“Nothing?” Allric said, amusement in his voice.
“Nothing,” Bethany confirmed.
“Who will look after Arrago’s training?”
“Quartermaster Rho and Erem agreed to take turns.”
“How is training going?” Jovan asked. “Kid couldn’t handle a sword in class.”
Bethany fought to keep her tone neutral. In truth, she was enjoying Arrago’s company a little too much. A short vacation away from him was exactly what she needed. “Arrago isn’t going to be winning duels anytime soon, but he’s learning.” A beat later she added, “I have to confess, I’d keep him around even if he wasn’t learning. He’s the best aide I’ve ever had.”
Allric laughed. “That’ll wear off.”
“Did you know he kicked me out of my office to clean it?” She smirked. “It was kinda funny.”
“You didn’t kill him?” Jovan asked, mirth in his voice. “You’re getting soft.”
Bethany smiled. “Now, if you will both excuse me, I have a glorious evening planned, doing absolutely nothing.” And with that she turned and left Lord Allric’s study and headed out into the corridor.
She found it hard to keep the smile off her face. Three days off! It had been months since she’d had three full days and she planned to make the most of it.
Bethany waved off requests to stop and chat, with “Talk to me in three days!” Most of the senior knights knew about her time off. She, Jovan, and Kiner tried to take their time off together whenever possible. They were the Tranquility Trio, after all. People expected them to cause trouble on occasion.
But tonight she was just Bethany, who needed to make a birthday gift for Jovan’s mother, and who wanted to sit quietly on her behind for an evening. And eat. And sleep. Perhaps dream about sleeping and eating.
“Bethany!” A familiar voice called out behind her.
Bethany turned to find her aide, Arrago, rushing toward her, a basket of scrolls in his arms.
Arrago was a tall man, pretty much her own height, who always looked like a rakish rogue-in-training. He wore a lot of brown, which nicely matched his tan skin. His brown hair was cropped short, but not too short, and was constantly tousled. He had a contagious smile, something she was becoming very aware of.
Contagious smile or not, she wanted to be rid of him. “Arrago,” she said.
“I know,” he said with an apologetic tone. “I know. Time off. The Assistant Post Master said these are for your eyes only, though.”
“The scrolls can sit in a stack in my study.” She glared at him. “Before you, no one ever expected me to sign anything for a good month. Since you’ve been meddling with my paperwork they expect me to do things immediately. It can wait.”
“But—”
“They can deal with me not signing anything for three days.”
Arrago moved the basket to redistribute the weight. “But—”
“No,” she said firmly. “I’ll see you in three days.”
“But Bethany—”
Bethany spun around. “What part of ‘no’ are you not comprehending?”
Arrago flinched.
“You’ve been hounding me ever since I made you my aide. You’ve shown up at mealtimes, senior staff meetings, training formations. I’ve even caught you lurking in my corridor waiting for me to leave my bedroom. I’ve let you, and not strangled you for it.” Then she said, in a pinched tone, “No more.”
Arrago’s cheeks drew in before her eyes, as if he’d sucked in a breath and was chewing on the insides of his mouth to keep from talking back.
The part of her that had been enjoying being around Arrago the Aide a little too much would not let her leave things like that, so she added, “I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Arrago.”
Arrago gave her an inscrutable look.
“Seriously, you’ve been the best aide I’ve ever had. And now it’s time to get out of my sight.” She followed it up with a shooing gesture. “Be gone.”
“Fine,” Arrago spat. “Go enjoy your day off.”
“Three days,” Bethany corrected and turned to walk away, ignoring the muttered “Stubborn wench” that escaped Arrago’s lips.
Bethany glanced over her shoulder at his very fine form in his snug brown trousers and brown tunic. He had a great ass. Oh, yeah. She really, really, really needed some time away from him.
With that encounter over, Bethany weaved her way through the corridors of the great temple to the isolated wing that housed her room high in the tower. Most of the vowed knights, plus higher ranking priests and nuns, had apartments near hers. Bethany’s thigh muscles burned by the time she reached her room, but less than they used to. All of the training with Arrago had been doing her good, putting her back into fighting shape. Not that she’d ever completely gotten out of it, but constant training had ramped up her stamina once again.
She went through the wooden door that separated the stairwell from the hallway, and was faced with Kiner standing at the far end of the corridor, beside the door to her room. She frowned and walked toward him. Hers was the largest room on the floor, one of the few that actually had a balcony and a window; the rest were a part of the tower’s rock face.
“Go away,” Bethany said as she approached the man loitering near her door.
“Sorry, Bethany,” he began, though he did offer her a sheepish smile. “I just—”
“I’m serious, Kiner. Go away.”
“I need somewhere to hide,” he said with a grimace.
She cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms.
The door to the corridor creaked and Kiner dove, literally dove, into the water closet that some of the priests shared on her floor. Bethany stared at the toilet’s carefully closing door, before turning to the red-faced, brown-robed figured at the other end of the corridor. The young man wheezed so hard that Bethany feared he was going to vomit all over the floor.
“You!” She shouted. “Who are you?” She pointed and took several long strides to the priest initiate. “This is a restricted area.”
“Oh shit,” he squeaked.
Bethany resisted a snort. “Speak.”
He raised his hands and cowered. “Please don’t hurt me, Lady Bethany.”
Bethany rolled her eyes. She didn’t even have a sword in her hands. She motioned for him to uncurl himself and tried to keep her voice terse but even. “Why are you here?”
“I’m looking for Lord Kiner,” he said, still cowering, though he had at least removed his hands from his face. “Mother Aneese sent me to find him.”
Bethany’s mouth quirked and she couldn’t keep the mirth from her tone. “Why?”
“Um,” the man said, bewildered that her demeanour had changed, “the elven diplomat’s ship just docked.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow night.”
“Good wind?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “What does this have to do with Kiner?”
“We couldn’t find Lord Allric. One of his aides said he’d gone into town to meet with the Captain of the Guard, so Mother Aneese needed a representative from the Knights to meet the diplomat.”
Bethany rubbed her eyes. “So she sent you to round up someone?”
He nodded. “I went to Lord Jovan’s office first, but he was drunk.”
Bethany looked away to hide her grin. Their meeting had ended less than thirty minutes ago; there was no way he was drunk. What a coward. “So now you’re after Kiner?”
He nodded. “Mother Aneese said not to ask you, since you were...” His voice trailed off. “She said not to ask you.”
“Lord Kiner is not here. Go find Lord Erem; he loves doing this kind of shit. Tell him I sent you.” Erem hated diplomatic tasks, but he owed her after beating her in three temple betting pools.
“Yes, Lady Bethany,” the man said, bowing deeply before turning to run off.
Bethany waited until she couldn’t hear his pounding footsteps before saying, “You owe me.”
The water closet’s door creaked open. “Thank you so much.”
Bethany turned. “Good bye.”
“Oh come on! Aneese will never accept Erem. She can’t stand him. She’s going to keep looking for me.” He shook his head. “Bloody Jovan!”
“Drunk,” Bethany snorted and opened her door. “Eventually someone is going to clue in to that one.”
Kiner began to step in behind her.
“What are you doing?”
It took him a beat before he spoke. “You aren’t going to hide me?”
“Absolutely not. This is a big temple. Go pray somewhere.”
“Aneese has spies everywhere!”
Bethany shrugged. “That’s what you get for being good.”
Kiner looked as if he was going to hurl himself off the nearest cliff.
She sighed. “Tell Arrago that you need to hide. He’ll cover for you.”
Kiner just stared at her. “You are seriously kicking me out?”
“Kiner, you are a grown up. I’m confident that the big bad priestess won’t be able to catch you. And, if she does, I’m sure you’ll survive. We’re all leaving in the morning. It will be fine. You’ll see.”
Kiner glared. “I can’t believe you’re throwing me out.”
“Life is cruel, Kiner,” she said and slammed the door on him, latching it shut.
She scowled and leaned against the door, listening to Kiner’s fading footfalls. Then she let out a sigh of relief. Silence. No talking. No thinking. No anything.
She sniffed the air, and then her tunic. First, a bath.
Bethany lived in the tower with the upgraded sewer and water system, where there was running hot water and flushing toilets. Not in all of the rooms, of course, and the water wasn’t always hot. And the pipes made a lot of noise and sometimes smelled. Still, it was better than having a troop of maids walk up the stairs anytime she wanted to wash.
Bethany, of course, got the best room in the tower. Allric’s wasn’t even as nice as her’s. Well, that’s what Jovan told her. She’d not actually seen his newly renovated apartment. Of course she would be given the best room. Normally that got under her skin, but as the water knocked and boomed and splashed into the marble tub, she was very grateful for the occasional extra privileges she received as the daughter of a goddess.
Bethany stripped out of her baldric: a sash that hung across her chest displaying her war medals and denoting her position as a Silver Knight. She peeled off her trousers, tunic, and boots. She unbound her breasts and lowered herself into the steaming bath – and yelped so loud that they probably heard her on the bottom floor.
The water was near boiling.
“Oh come on!” Bethany whined, glaring at the pump as if it would make the water cool down. It didn’t.
She let the tub continue to fill. It would eventually cool. She grabbed a cloth from the basket of towels in the corner and dipped it in the water. It was hot out and she was dusty, sweaty, and sticky. She needed to scrape the first layer of grime off her body.
Once mostly cleaned and feeling somewhat alive again, Bethany heard someone pounding on her door.
“Bethany!” Jovan shouted from the other side. “Apexia’s tits, let me in! Bethany!”
Bethany grabbed her tunic, now wet from washing, and held it up against her torso as she rushed to the door. She flung it open.
Jovan pushed her aside as he, Kiner, and Arrago plowed into her room.
“Shut the door! Hurry!” Jovan snapped.
Bethany stood there, dripping wet, staring at the three of them. “Excuse me?”
“There’s no time for this!” Jovan elbowed her as he shut the door and latched it.
Bethany staggered and she dropped the tunic. Arrago flushed scarlet and looked away. Bethany felt heat rise in her cheeks and grabbed the tunic to press it back against her. If she pulled it on, it would cut off just short of the crucial bits of her anatomy that she most wanted covered from Arrago.
Embarrassed at being stark naked in front of a man she...well, not had feelings for... but did think was a nice man, she lashed out at them. “Why the fuck are the three of you in my room?”
Jovan was busy peering through the cracks in the door. “I don’t see them.”
“Who?” Bethany whispered. “What’s going on?” She glanced across the room; her Blessed Blades were ready on the trunk at the foot of her bed.
“Aneese is after us,” Jovan whispered.
“Oh, just get out!”
“Keep your voice down.”
“Do not tell me what to do, Jovan,” she snarled. “Buck naked or not, I can kick your ass and you know it.”
“Bethany...” Kiner began.
“You,” she said accusingly. “I told you to go find Arrago. I didn’t mean for you to bring him here.”
“Sorry,” Arrago said, “they...they forced me to come.”
Bethany turned to Jovan, who had a rather guilty look on his face. She looked back at Arrago. “They forced you?”
“Well...” Kiner hedged.
“Not exactly,” Jovan said.
Arrago lifted his hands. “Not exactly? You picked up my chair with me still in it.”
“I didn’t have time to argue with you,” Jovan said, as though it made perfect sense. “Kiner, explain it to him.”
“Explain it to me,” Bethany said, her tone steady. “Explain why you kidnapped my aide and brought him to my bedroom while I’m naked.”
The two people closest to her in the world stared at her, then at Arrago, and then back at her quasi-naked form.
“Erm,” Jovan said.
“Um,” Kiner added.
“Exactly. This is my day off. We’re going to Eve’s tomorrow. And the next day we ride back. The next two days of my holiday will be spent on a horse. I simply wanted one evening to myself, to have a bath, to sleep, to eat olives. That’s it.” She gritted her teeth. “And then you come charging into my room with my aide! And I’m naked!”
Jovan waved her off. “Pish, it’s not like we haven’t seen you naked before.”
She thrust her finger in Arrago’s direction. “He hasn’t!”
More silence.
“Arrago,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “What are you doing here?”
Jovan began to answer, but Bethany cast him the frostiest glare she could. Naked or not, she would break his leg in fourteen places if he didn’t shut up. Clearly he recognized the look, because he clamped his mouth shut.
“I was at my desk,” Arrago said, clearly trying to look her in the eyes and look at the floor and not look at anything in between, “working. Then these two come bursting in, talking over each other so I couldn’t understand anything.” He shot a glare at Jovan. “Then this one says something about no time, and picks me up! Chair and all, and takes me off down the hallway with Lord Kiner over there following behind shouting at Jovan to be careful.”
Bethany exhaled as a headache formed behind her eyes. “Then what?”
“They dragged me up here. I still don’t know what’s going on, unless it’s something to do with the fact that I did need all of you to sign stuff.” His glare was for Bethany this time. “But some of you were too busy to talk to me.” He crossed his arms.
She held the wet tunic closer to her. She couldn’t turn around to fetch clothes, and she refused to be so undignified as to walk backwards and hide in the closet. So she stood there. “Whatever you needed me for can wait,” she said.
“No, that’s the problem,” Kiner said, “It can’t wait.”
“The three of you didn’t sign the ledger for taking time off,” Arrago said.
“So? And what ledger?”
Arrago rolled his eyes. “If you paid attention in your senior official meetings, you‘d know. Mother Aneese wanted a ledger kept of who was and wasn’t at the temple. It was implemented a month ago.”
“It was?” Bethany asked. She looked at Jovan. “I don’t remember that.”
Jovan shrugged. “It sounds vaguely familiar, but I didn’t realize Torius went through with it.”
“Yes, Father Torius did go through with it,” Arrago said. “So I’ve been trying to get Bethany to sign a letter for it all day.”
She felt rather stupid. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Perhaps it was the threat of violence that made me feel less interested in covering your ass,” he snapped, then looked in the direction of her bare posterior and turned away, blushing even brighter. “So to speak.”
“All right, so we didn’t sign the stupid paper thingy. So what? Just bring it here, we all sign it, you all leave, and I put on clothes.”
“Mother Aneese knows about the ledger,” Kiner said.
“That’s why we kidnapped the kid,” Jovan added.
Bethany blinked. “You kidnapped Arrago, as opposed to bringing the stupid book with you?”
Again, silence.
“Right. Okay. Let me put some clothes on and we’ll go fix this.”
Arrago shook his head. “It’s too late. The Diplomat arrived and Mother Aneese is looking for someone to—”
“Babysit him,” Jovan finished. Then he shook his head, “We’re doomed.”
“Shit,” Bethany whispered. “She’s going to make us look after him, isn’t she? Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“Pretty much,” Jovan said gravely.
Arrago stared at them. “Um, so you don’t have a day off and have to look after someone important? Big deal.”
The Tranquility Trio stared at Arrago until he flinched.
“The ‘big deal’ as you call it,” Bethany said, “is that the last time we babysat Relas, he got drunk and put his hands down Jovan’s trousers.”
Jovan nodded. “When I objected to being manhandled, he punched me. Bethany and Kiner were drunk and jumped him.”
“I was not drunk,” both Kiner and Bethany replied.
“Drunk and jumped him,” Jovan repeated, “and then Relas’s guards jumped them, and on and on. By the time Allric and Torius showed up, the entire dining hall was a giant brawl.”
“We all got sentry duty,” Bethany said meekly.
“For a month,” Kiner added.
“For causing a riot,” Bethany said.
“A month on top of our regular duties,” Jovan clarified. “You can see why we want to avoid him”
Bethany blew out a breath in irritation. “We can't stay here. Make a run for Eve’s tonight?”
Jovan and Kiner nodded.
“Wait,” Arrago said. “No one is after me. Why am I still here?”
“You’re enjoying Bethany naked?” Jovan asked.
“You are such a...a...”
Jovan took a step toward the human. “Such a what?”
“Asshole.”
Jovan quirked a smile and put his arm around Arrago. “That’s my boy.”
Arrago pushed him away. “Get your hands off me.”
“Whoa!” Jovan said, his tone exaggerating. “The farmboy is upset.”
“Jovan...” Bethany growled in warning.
“You come bursting into my office, literally kidnap me, drag me up into Bethany’s bedroom, for Apexia’s merciful sake, and I’m supposed to stand here and be all friends and accomplices?” Arrago snorted. “I don’t think so, points.”
“Oh shit,” Kiner murmured.
“What did you call me?”
“Jovan,” Bethany said, “leave him be. You started it.”
“Shut up, Bethany.”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Arrago snapped.
“I don’t need you to defend me,” Bethany said, glaring at Arrago. “Just...everyone calm down.” She paused for a beat before adding, “I can’t believe I’m the one saying that.”
Side-stepping to avoid turning her bare Elorian ass to the crowd, Bethany moved closer to Arrago. “Jovan, leave him be. Arrago, don’t call any elf ‘points’ again if you want to keep your face intact.”
“You know what? Then stop calling me farmboy. I’m not even from a farm.”
Jovan pushed Arrago. “Shut up, farmboy.”
Arrago swung at Jovan and his fist landed square on Jovan’s jaw. Without missing a beat, Jovan swung back and Arrago ducked—and Jovan’s fist slammed into Bethany’s nose. She fell backwards, tunic flying to one side, stars and tears filling her eyes.
“You hit her!” Arrago yelled and rushed Jovan.
“Stop it, both of you!” Kiner shouted, trying to pull them apart.
Bethany tried to sit up, dizzy. She lay back and watched the ceiling spin. She knew she was sprawled naked on her rug, but her body wouldn’t respond. Had she hit her head? Ow. It sure hurt enough.
As she groaned and finally pulled herself up, Kiner landed on top of her, slamming her back to the floor.
“Get off me!”
“Sorry, Bethany.” He tried pushing himself up, but struggled to find a place to put his hands.
“Oh just get up,” she said, pushing at him.
That’s when Jovan threw Arrago to the floor. But Arrago had a hold of him by the trousers and they all tumbled in a heap, Jovan’s trousers ripping as Arrago fell.
Kiner was the first to laugh.
“What is so funny?” Bethany demanded.
“There’s three men on top of you, and you’re naked. It’s rather funny.”
Bethany tried glaring, but a laugh burst from her too. Jovan was missing part of his trousers. Arrago’s lip was bleeding. Kiner was covered in the blood from Bethany’s bleeding nose. “Stop making me laugh, it hurts.”
With the men trying to untangle themselves from a very naked, blood-splattered Bethany, it proved the best moment for Mother Aneese and Relas to walk into Bethany’s room.
“Lady Bethany!” Aneese said, and her tone promised imminent violence that one would not expect from an eight-hundred-year-old elf. “What is this?”
“Um,” Bethany said, not moving. The men on top of her were at least hiding most of her bits and pieces.
“Erm,” Jovan added.
Relas turned to Aneese. “This is how the most senior knights behave, is it? Is this normal?”
“It certainly is not,” Aneese answered, steel in her voice. “They will be heavily punished for this.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Bethany exclaimed, mostly to herself. “I just wanted a day off.”
“Then you should have gotten your time off signed for in the ledger,” Aneese said.
“The fucking ledger,” Bethany snarled under her breath.
***
Rain fell from the sky in sheets. Ocean waves crashed against the dock posts, spraying cold salt water. The wind howled and blew from the ocean, cutting through the soaked figures who stood on the forlorn dock.
“I might never speak to any of you again,” Bethany said.
“Hey! I’m the innocent one,” Arrago protested. “I was kidnapped! At least you’re in all that armor. I’m going to die of hypothermia.”
Bethany looked over at her aide. “If you think dying is going to get you out of sentry duty, you’re mistaken. If I have to suffer, you will as well.”
“A week of this,” Kiner sighed.
“Sexual depravity,” Jovan said. He let out a snort. “Drunken disorder.”
“Striking an on-duty knight,” Kiner recited.
“Public nudity,” Bethany said with a sigh.
“Behaviour unbecoming of an initiate,” Arrago sighed. “I’m not even an initiate anymore.”
Jovan looked at him. “Stop whining. You started all this.”
Arrago turned and said, “Me? ME?”
Jovan put his hands on his hips and attempted to imitate Arrago. “Yes, me.”
Bethany let out a long, frustrated sigh. All she’d wanted was a day off.