A Court Of Night and Fire

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Articus's eyes cracked open to the false dawn that seeped through from his balcony.

Balcony? Right.

He could just make out a woman standing over him. Staying completely still, he opened his eyes slowly, letting the slits widen by a hair. Now, he could clearly see the fiery redhead whose green eyes were peering down at him with curiosity.

"And you are?" Articus asked hoarsely. His mouth had turned to ash over night and his head felt as if it were still under his pillow. He didn't care right at that moment if she was an assassin sent to kill him. Sleep had evaded him most of the night and his habit of starting the day early didn't help his mood either.

She gasped and backed away. The woman had been very close, he realized. Slowly, Articus got up on his elbows and looked around the room. It was bigger than it had appeared last night. Two large windowed doors stood wide open in front of him; they led out to an enormous balcony. To his right was the doorway that led to a sitting room and, beyond that, was the hallway. His head swung lazily to his left and he saw a doorway that went off into a bathroom he had yet to explore.

Rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, he yawned. His eyes slowly opened back up a moment later to see the redheaded woman. She looked down at him in pure terror, just before lowering her eyes.

A few curses came to Articus's mind right then. The slave... my slave. Mother of Gods why me?

She was wearing a thin white robe that looked... indecent. Articus now realized why Celia had said he'd like her. She was as breathtaking as Celia herself. Curse the woman to do this to me.

"No need to fear me girl--err woman." He hadn't noticed that the very curvy figure had an older face; she was about his age. "What's your name? And stop looking at the ground; it's irritating."

The woman went wide-eyed and looked every which way but at him. He sighed.

"Ma-My name is Mia, Master."

"My name is Articus, not Master," he grumbled. Swinging his feet over the side of the bed, he stood up. He hadn't remembered taking off his clothes but, after spending time in the dorms with both men and women, he'd long since gotten past shyness. He was slightly embarrassed, however.

Ignoring Mia's green gaze, he went for the large wardrobe that towered in the corner. Through the full sized mirror next to the massive piece of furniture, he spied Mia gripping her hands nervously.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not going to yell at you," Articus said tiredly. He threw back the wardrobe's doors and made a low whistle. Seven pairs of good woolen grey uniforms with the single red stripe hung from wooden hangers. All of them had recently been pressed.

Thumbing through them, he found two other pairs of clothes he hadn't seen before. One was a dressier version of his uniform, black silk instead of the grey wool with a red Reaper's sign stitched across the breast. Next to that was a plain brown woolen shirt and trousers, which were much more to his taste.

Pushing the new garments aside, he found his Guard uniform freshly cleaned, pressed, and folded on a shelf in the back. He also found a fat purse atop his old clothes. At the very bottom of the wardrobe were his old military boots--polished to a high sheen that he hadn't ever managed to get before--and a newer, finer cut of boots that he had seen the other students in the hall wear.

"Did you do this?" Articus asked gently. He didn't want to scare the woman away.

Looking at the boots, she simply nodded.

"Thank you," he said, genuinely grateful. "And you can look at me; I won't bite."

His words cut into her and she stiffened as if he'd slapped her.