A Place To Bloom

Get Down

Hoden the Quartermaster held up the armor he'd earned as a young knight in the Imperial army. Specks of sunlight littered its shadow, and a chunk of metal broke off and clattered onto the stone floor. His wife, Meyisi, sat with one knee over the other and her arms crossed, scowling at me. Apparently that cart of hers was brand-new.

Five months, no salary.

Presently, I stood with Bilal beneath the covered sitting area by the courtyard surrounded by three dozen recruits. High stone walls blocked the wind and trapped the morning sun, and even in the shade it felt like a furnace.

I wiped the sweat from my brow, unfurled the very authentic-looking ancient scroll, and read from the list of names of those who would get slaughtered that day. "Kurt of Nowhere!"

A tallish Herali with a wide face and strong build stood quietly.

"Bazen Spider-Web's Bane!"

The man laughed and stepped forward. He was about average height, and he had a faint line of hair that wrapped from his ears around and beneath his chin; I'd never seen that before.

Nickel... Where's Nickel?"

The men seated on the log benches all looked around. Beside us in the courtyard, the quartermaster's wife directed several recruits to empty out the storeroom. Up on the ramparts were a few other recruits Commander Gaedi had volunteered for wall duty.

"He's still sleepin'," Rolon peered over the list. "Daemon, you're up man, you ready? You got this. You can do this, man!"

"Yeah," Bazen quipped. "Walk around until you get shot. Very easy."

I crossed out Nickel's name. "Orel, Pickpocket of Ulum."

The man with the short cropped hair and long nose chuckled and joined us.

"Listen. I owe you guys for Second Captain, so I have to give it back where I can. Oma..."

Bazen snickered. "Call him Right Hook."

I lowered my face and tried, unsuccessfully, to not join the low murmur of laughter passing through the crowd. "Kely Sine-Two-Theta."

Kely of Linud stepped up, clasped hands with Bazen, and they embraced.

"Turic the Big Fat Guy." I nodded to Bazen. "That works; we're going to keep that one. Derek... where's Derek?"

Sweat gathered around Bilal's thickening hair. "He's in the medical ward shitting everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It's all over his clothes, it's on the walls, in that thing you ate for breakfast, it's everywhere!"

"Well, that's good to know." I nodded.

"Some of it got in your coffee this morning."

"It did taste funny."

"Can I go?" A light tenor called out. A recruit with hair cropped around his shoulders and narrow, monolid eyes raised his hand and stood. "Dannie of Eelie."

The bow on his back had etchings of the fight between Cougar and Crane when Crane first came from across the Great Western Ocean. I didn't bother checking the list; I liked his enthusiasm. "Dannie What's-This-Do, you know you can't shoot practice arrows with a eupin bow?"

He nodded. "If it's alright, I like to have it with me."

I shrugged. "Siddik, Moldslayer of Kyoen?"

A tall Herali with a lean face stepped forward.

"Ardou and Jenzui? I don't know these guys."

Bazen raised a finger. "That's Ardou Beaver-Tooth, and Jenzui Opossum-Cuddler."