From Iron and Ruin

Another Piece

Chapter Four - Another Piece

My day stared terribly. Cold food, a grumpy hound and a pile of reports that seemed to want to drown me. A simple training exercise in the morning with soldiers and Lieutenant Hoyarn had begun to turn my day around. Until Lord Ackerly arrived.

One moment, I was washing my face from a cool basin of water and the next, an overweight man was snapping his fingers at me. I blinked down at him, patting my face dry and watching as his face reddened. Horses and unfamiliar soldiers loitered in the courtyard, resisting the stable-hands attempts to take their mounts.

"I am here to meet with Captain Bryant and Seeker Birchwood. Take me to them immediately." He grumbled, already impatient.

I eyed the way his rings sunk into his thick fingers and the meanness of his small eyes. Ah. Lord Ackerly. It must have been. No Legion worker, or Legion friend would dare talk to me like that. Letting lightning strike my body had apparently given me some kind of pass on the 'Half-Blood hate'. "You are early, Lord Ackerly."

"You do not decide if I am early." He sniffed. "I will not have insolence from a servant."

I glanced down at my mud slathered boots and thick brown leggings. I was wrapped tight against the cold morning weather and any flashes of silver were hidden beneath thick layers. "I am not a servant."

He took a step towards me and my attention flashed to the soldiers accompanying him. One took a deliberate step with him, grabbing the hilt of his sword. "I don't care what you are. You are in the service of this Legion and I am an honoured guest."

I bit down a barbed comment, reminding myself that we needed all the support we could get. People always assumed Half-Bloods were nothing more than lowly servants, slaves, or sex workers. Dressed in haggard and muddy clothing, I could only assume that he had made a quite easy assumption.

I raised my chin high. "To come into Adotlan and insult those who work and live within these walls is a poor choice. You have not even introduced yourself to me."

"I do not need to lower myself."

Gah – human lords were insufferable. Taking a breath, I turned to face Lieutenant Hoyarn who had wandered closer, frowning as he looked between us. I knew he saw straight through my easy smile, but he didn't comment on it. "I need to go and change. I am not dressed to meet with a lord."

"I'll keep him occupied," Hoyarn's smile was slight beneath his beard. "You go get changed."

I left the lord to splutter in outrage and trudged through the cold and empty halls of the Keep. I changed into finer clothes, smoothing my hands over the fine thread as I examined myself in the mirror. I looked like a lady – but only if one didn't look too closely. My hands were rough and my nails were chipped. My hair was left in a loose braid down my back, untouched by a maid though they had offered to help me with it.

Fine clothes didn't take the soldier from me. That made me happy – no matter what I wore, I would always just be Aviana.

When I returned, Lord Ackerly had been moved to the Map-Room and I took great pleasure in watching him pale and squirm as he saw me walking towards him. In the end, Lord Ackerly's problem turned out to be something more serious than I had anticipated.

At first, when he mentioned missing servants, I just thought they couldn't bare being in his service anymore but Fyr explained quietly to me that his pay was good and despite his manner, his servants were human and he treated them well.