Post by Ahryantah on Jan 27, 2005 23:21:32 GMT -5
An excerpt from the second book in my fantasy trilogy. Just a little scene between Atro and Jay, per JAG's request.
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Jay narrowed her eyes, watching as a woman who claimed to be the ambassador from Ttarren was searched by one of the Court guards. She was pleased to see the guard was doing a thorough job; she had trained him well and he had learned, despite his misgivings about listening to a woman. Jay strove to relieve the men in this backwards empire of their erroneous beliefs regarding women, usually at dagger-point. So far she had been entirely successful.
Or perhaps the men were just too frightened of her to say otherwise in her presence. She found she didn’t really care which it was. Over time false beliefs could become real, as the ancient story Leenyka and the barbarous people of the Nassii attested. The Nassii were an ancient race that had once lived side-by-side with the Nicholeans, who were of course their masters. The Nassii had paid lip service to the gods, but had not truly believed until several miracles were revealed to them through Leenyka, a moon prophet of Nur Patkej. The Nassii had found themselves with true belief in their hearts, and those who had cast it out again were drowned in a great wave that swept over the island nations the Nicholeans had inhabited before their journey to the great eastern continent of Catah. Only those who believed in the gods were spared.
Jay smiled. The metaphor wasn’t quite appropriate for the situation. It could even be regarded by some as blasphemous, but it was her favorite story and she liked thinking about it.
She looked over at the ambassador again, whom the guard had apparently pronounced weaponless. She tightened her lips and nodded curtly in the ambassador’s direction. The Ttarren ambassador gave her an odd look, and continued following the guard to the quarters Atro had made ready.
Jay both hated and looked forward to this time of year, when the ambassadors arrived. She saw it as an exercise of her skill as commander of the Court Guard, but every year she was ultimately let down. Nothing exciting ever happened in the Court. Even the construction, which Jay had liked to watch on lazier days, had completed. The stone walls were silent, the paved paths clean and devoid of anything resembling a threat or challenge.
Jay was bored.
She leaned against one of the trees that lined the path leading to the center of the inner Courtyard, wishing for the days when she had been a personal guard of the High Empress of Kandel. Granted, she had been a personal guard for only a few moons before she had been banished, but she remembered that short time with relish.
Though she could be doing worse now. Before Atro, she had been living on the streets, forced to fight for her survival. Of course, that meant she had been surviving very well indeed, but it was still nice to sleep in the same place every night, and to expect proper food every day. Atro treated his staff very well. She half-closed her eyes as her thoughts turned to him. Atro had always struck her as a strange man. He had been acting particularly strange as of late, unusually edgy, and she wondered what was on his mind. It perhaps had something to do with the ambassadors arriving for the summer meetings, but this was the third summer meeting Jay had witnessed at the Court, and Atro had never been significantly more nervous at those times.
No, something else was bothering him, something that had only increased after his visit with the Emperor two nights previous, and she was perturbed that he had not discussed it. What if he was concerned about a security risk? What if his concern represented a security risk and he didn’t realize it? She should know about it.
I will ask him next time I see him, she resolved, immediately feeling better. It never once crossed her mind that she might be straying into business that wasn’t her own.
As if the gods themselves had heard her wish–and she did not doubt they had–Atro emerged from the Courtroom at that very moment. He looked to be heading toward the Private Hall, but she straightened and called his name loudly, waving him over to her position under the tree.
He hesitated a moment, and it seemed he was trying to decide whether to answer her or continue on his way. She narrowed her eyes. She had done her best, but Atro still didn’t quite respect her position. She would have to remind him.
“Atro!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth. “There is danger! An army attacks the city!”
He was by her side almost immediately, his eyes wide, his breath ragged from his sprint from the Main Hall. “An army?” he panted. “Who? From where?”
She smiled sweetly. “Now that I have your attention, there is something I must ask you.”
The fearful look fell from his face, replaced by a glare that would have cowed most other people but which Jay barely noticed. “I have seen that . . .”
“There’s no attacking army?” he said, his voice flat with barely-repressed anger.
“Of course not,” said Jay. “Would I be loitering beneath a tree if there was? Now, I wanted to . . .”
“You’ve gone too far, Jay!” Atro exploded, shocking her into silence. “What kind of game are you playing?”
She cocked her head. “I need to talk to you, and you were going to ignore me.”
“I don’t care!” He was fuming, and Jay wondered what he was so angry about. “I’m the Councilor, Jay. You’re the commander of my guard. I’m not at your beck and call. It’s supposed to be the other way around!”
She frowned. “Not when there is a potential security risk.”
He calmed somewhat. “There’s a security risk?”
“I know not. I was hoping you could tell me.”
“What?” He looked confused.
She sighed. Men could never keep up in a conversation. “You are nervous about something. I have seen how you are acting. I need to know what bothers you. Is there an enemy you fear?”
He furrowed his brow. “Oh, that? It’s nothing. I just . . . well, the ambassadors are here, and I’m a bit nervous about the meetings, and . . .”
“Cowshit,” said Jay pleasantly. She had picked up the curse from the other guards, and it was one of her more favorite words.
Atro looked nonplussed for a moment. Then he said, “It’s really none of your business, Jay.” She opened her mouth and he held up one hand. “It has nothing to do with security, don’t worry.”
She pursed her lips, unconvinced. “I still think I should know, just in case.”
“I think you’re just nosey.”
She shrugged, not having a comeback to what was essentially a true statement.
He ran one hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in auburn spikes. She smiled at him, and he suddenly seemed unable to meet her gaze. “Jay, there are just some things you can’t know. Things you wouldn’t even be interested in. You have to learn that.”
She stopped smiling, her good humor dampened. He was probably right. She could admit that to herself.
But never to him.
He looked at her, and she brought the smile back to her face. She wanted to make him feel better, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. What was bothering him so much? “Just be sure to keep me appraised of . . .”
“I’m getting married,” he said.
This was the one thing she hadn’t been expecting. She physically took a step away from him in her surprise. “What?”
“Married,” he repeated, and his eyes looked dull. “To Lady Hopina. Her father is one of my advisors.”
“I know who she is,” Jay snapped. “I do not approve at all.” She remembered Hopina, all right, just another stupid, simpering noblewoman decked in pink ribbons making eyes at a man too far out of her league.
Except that she hadn’t. Jay frowned. She had seen Hopina, and the way she looked at that merchant that showed up occasionally. How had she and Atro been matched? Jay’s mind, always ready to find injustice, jumped to an immediate conclusion.
“You are not forcing her, are you?”
Atro sighed wearily. “No,” he said. “I will only marry her if she consents.”
“She has not consented?”
“No.”
“Then you do not know if you are getting married,” said Jay, puzzled by the Councilor’s behavior.
“I don’t know,” said Atro, and he sighed again. Jay decided he was not in the mood to talk anymore, so she nodded stiffly and turned away from him.
“I must return to my duties.”
“Yes,” said Atro, and she thought he sounded a little sad.
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Jay narrowed her eyes, watching as a woman who claimed to be the ambassador from Ttarren was searched by one of the Court guards. She was pleased to see the guard was doing a thorough job; she had trained him well and he had learned, despite his misgivings about listening to a woman. Jay strove to relieve the men in this backwards empire of their erroneous beliefs regarding women, usually at dagger-point. So far she had been entirely successful.
Or perhaps the men were just too frightened of her to say otherwise in her presence. She found she didn’t really care which it was. Over time false beliefs could become real, as the ancient story Leenyka and the barbarous people of the Nassii attested. The Nassii were an ancient race that had once lived side-by-side with the Nicholeans, who were of course their masters. The Nassii had paid lip service to the gods, but had not truly believed until several miracles were revealed to them through Leenyka, a moon prophet of Nur Patkej. The Nassii had found themselves with true belief in their hearts, and those who had cast it out again were drowned in a great wave that swept over the island nations the Nicholeans had inhabited before their journey to the great eastern continent of Catah. Only those who believed in the gods were spared.
Jay smiled. The metaphor wasn’t quite appropriate for the situation. It could even be regarded by some as blasphemous, but it was her favorite story and she liked thinking about it.
She looked over at the ambassador again, whom the guard had apparently pronounced weaponless. She tightened her lips and nodded curtly in the ambassador’s direction. The Ttarren ambassador gave her an odd look, and continued following the guard to the quarters Atro had made ready.
Jay both hated and looked forward to this time of year, when the ambassadors arrived. She saw it as an exercise of her skill as commander of the Court Guard, but every year she was ultimately let down. Nothing exciting ever happened in the Court. Even the construction, which Jay had liked to watch on lazier days, had completed. The stone walls were silent, the paved paths clean and devoid of anything resembling a threat or challenge.
Jay was bored.
She leaned against one of the trees that lined the path leading to the center of the inner Courtyard, wishing for the days when she had been a personal guard of the High Empress of Kandel. Granted, she had been a personal guard for only a few moons before she had been banished, but she remembered that short time with relish.
Though she could be doing worse now. Before Atro, she had been living on the streets, forced to fight for her survival. Of course, that meant she had been surviving very well indeed, but it was still nice to sleep in the same place every night, and to expect proper food every day. Atro treated his staff very well. She half-closed her eyes as her thoughts turned to him. Atro had always struck her as a strange man. He had been acting particularly strange as of late, unusually edgy, and she wondered what was on his mind. It perhaps had something to do with the ambassadors arriving for the summer meetings, but this was the third summer meeting Jay had witnessed at the Court, and Atro had never been significantly more nervous at those times.
No, something else was bothering him, something that had only increased after his visit with the Emperor two nights previous, and she was perturbed that he had not discussed it. What if he was concerned about a security risk? What if his concern represented a security risk and he didn’t realize it? She should know about it.
I will ask him next time I see him, she resolved, immediately feeling better. It never once crossed her mind that she might be straying into business that wasn’t her own.
As if the gods themselves had heard her wish–and she did not doubt they had–Atro emerged from the Courtroom at that very moment. He looked to be heading toward the Private Hall, but she straightened and called his name loudly, waving him over to her position under the tree.
He hesitated a moment, and it seemed he was trying to decide whether to answer her or continue on his way. She narrowed her eyes. She had done her best, but Atro still didn’t quite respect her position. She would have to remind him.
“Atro!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth. “There is danger! An army attacks the city!”
He was by her side almost immediately, his eyes wide, his breath ragged from his sprint from the Main Hall. “An army?” he panted. “Who? From where?”
She smiled sweetly. “Now that I have your attention, there is something I must ask you.”
The fearful look fell from his face, replaced by a glare that would have cowed most other people but which Jay barely noticed. “I have seen that . . .”
“There’s no attacking army?” he said, his voice flat with barely-repressed anger.
“Of course not,” said Jay. “Would I be loitering beneath a tree if there was? Now, I wanted to . . .”
“You’ve gone too far, Jay!” Atro exploded, shocking her into silence. “What kind of game are you playing?”
She cocked her head. “I need to talk to you, and you were going to ignore me.”
“I don’t care!” He was fuming, and Jay wondered what he was so angry about. “I’m the Councilor, Jay. You’re the commander of my guard. I’m not at your beck and call. It’s supposed to be the other way around!”
She frowned. “Not when there is a potential security risk.”
He calmed somewhat. “There’s a security risk?”
“I know not. I was hoping you could tell me.”
“What?” He looked confused.
She sighed. Men could never keep up in a conversation. “You are nervous about something. I have seen how you are acting. I need to know what bothers you. Is there an enemy you fear?”
He furrowed his brow. “Oh, that? It’s nothing. I just . . . well, the ambassadors are here, and I’m a bit nervous about the meetings, and . . .”
“Cowshit,” said Jay pleasantly. She had picked up the curse from the other guards, and it was one of her more favorite words.
Atro looked nonplussed for a moment. Then he said, “It’s really none of your business, Jay.” She opened her mouth and he held up one hand. “It has nothing to do with security, don’t worry.”
She pursed her lips, unconvinced. “I still think I should know, just in case.”
“I think you’re just nosey.”
She shrugged, not having a comeback to what was essentially a true statement.
He ran one hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in auburn spikes. She smiled at him, and he suddenly seemed unable to meet her gaze. “Jay, there are just some things you can’t know. Things you wouldn’t even be interested in. You have to learn that.”
She stopped smiling, her good humor dampened. He was probably right. She could admit that to herself.
But never to him.
He looked at her, and she brought the smile back to her face. She wanted to make him feel better, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. What was bothering him so much? “Just be sure to keep me appraised of . . .”
“I’m getting married,” he said.
This was the one thing she hadn’t been expecting. She physically took a step away from him in her surprise. “What?”
“Married,” he repeated, and his eyes looked dull. “To Lady Hopina. Her father is one of my advisors.”
“I know who she is,” Jay snapped. “I do not approve at all.” She remembered Hopina, all right, just another stupid, simpering noblewoman decked in pink ribbons making eyes at a man too far out of her league.
Except that she hadn’t. Jay frowned. She had seen Hopina, and the way she looked at that merchant that showed up occasionally. How had she and Atro been matched? Jay’s mind, always ready to find injustice, jumped to an immediate conclusion.
“You are not forcing her, are you?”
Atro sighed wearily. “No,” he said. “I will only marry her if she consents.”
“She has not consented?”
“No.”
“Then you do not know if you are getting married,” said Jay, puzzled by the Councilor’s behavior.
“I don’t know,” said Atro, and he sighed again. Jay decided he was not in the mood to talk anymore, so she nodded stiffly and turned away from him.
“I must return to my duties.”
“Yes,” said Atro, and she thought he sounded a little sad.
