Fractured Earth

Chapter 7

"Take your shoes off," Oleipha told him, and he laughed at her. "Really," She insisted. "Take your shoes off."

"Oh!" He blinked, and pulled off the black boots he'd been wearing. "And my socks, I suppose?"

"Yes," She grinned with amusement. "It's a shame you have to wear your uniform, though."

Marshal Kalam adopted a mock-wounded impression. "You don't like it?" He stuffed his socks into his boots and rested them neatly against the wall. "I think it's rather fetching."

Oleipha rolled her eyes. "Fetching it may be, but we're not going into Ivaza to impress the townsfolk with your dashing good looks and charm. We're going there to earn their trust."

"Fine. But why the shoes?"

"If you walk around their town with heavy boots on, you look authoritative. If you walk around barefoot, you look humble."

"You are crazy smart," He grinned at her, a twinkle of mischief in his eye - and something else, something she couldn't quite place but that made her think of Elder Iteldu. "You're right. The uniform is protocol, but I'll ask Arbiter Saight if we can come up with a more appropriate variation on the uniform for the express purpose of interacting with the locale."

"Arbiter Saight," She smiled. "She was nice. She's family, isn't she?"

"Yes," Kalam stepped in line with her as they walked, barefoot, from the compound and across the field to the dirt track on the other side of the hill. "She was my mother's sister."

"Was?" Oleipha looked up at him. He was rather fetching in the uniform, she had to admit. The black shirt and breeches were close-fitting and joined as one garment, something she'd never seen before, with a sliding clasp called a 'zipper' that ran from the collar all the way down the front. A narrow belt rested on his hips, just above the pockets. The sleeves were long, cuffed in blue; the collar high and trimmed with gold, and the lapels - a part of the shirt, and not separate items - were piped from the neck and out, around the shoulders, in grey with blue stripes. The Commensurate insignia was imprinted on the left breast, and the officer's name imprinted on the right. Such a tight fit, she mused, as she watched him walk.

"My mother died when I was young. I barely remember her."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She studied his profile; he was looking straight ahead, and didn't appear to be saddened by this admission.

"It's alright," He glanced down at her briefly and smiled. "My aunt misses her a lot. She sees a lot of my mother in me, I suppose."

"And your father?"

Marshal Kalam tutted under his breath. "He kinda drifted away after my mother died. I don't really remember him either, but I know our family don't talk to him any more."

"That must be hard?" She asked. "Knowing you have a father out there somewhere, who chose not to belong to your family any more?"

He shrugged. "Not really; I don't think about it. I mean, I'm not forcing myself not to think about it - I just don't. It's not something that bothers me."

"I see," She smiled. "And I'm sorry. Those were very personal questions - I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine," He looked down at her again and his expression was warm and accepting. "Truth be told, it's nice having a casual conversation for a change. Although I will be returning the favour by asking you intimate questions about the darkest nuances of your personal life over a bottle of wine this evening."

Oleipha laughed. "I think you'd find that incredibly boring. My life has been pretty ordinary; my mother and father are both alive and well in Nyis. I have no siblings and my grandparents passed away before I was born. I haven't lost anyone -" She paused, thinking of Ranal suddenly. "Well. No-one worth mentioning."