The other woman sat underneath a blossoming tree. She was a vision in a dark blue gown, hair tumbling in loose curls over her shoulder. The sunlight hit her just at the right angle to highlight her hair and face in reds and gold. Darius, seeing her, felt his heart give a single, hard lurch in his chest.
Breathing was simply beyond him.
She noticed him in the doorway and froze, the book in her hands falling closed. Not a word crossed her lips but her dark brown eyes spoke of unease and she drew away from him slightly.
Seeing her caution, he cleared his throat and bowed to both women deeply. “Forgive the intrusion. I am Darius Bresalier.”
“General Darius Bresalier?” a soft, clear soprano asked hesitantly.
He lifted his head and gave her his most charming smile, hoping to put her at ease. “Indeed, Raja. Have I, by chance, stumbled into your private garden?”
“Yes,” she admitted, still cautious. “Yes, you have.”
“I sincerely apologize,” he upped his charm a little more while mentally kicking himself for being five different types of fool. “It was not intentional, I assure you. In truth…I’m lost.”
Her caution abruptly disappeared and her mouth dropped open in surprise. “Lost?”
Darius grimaced. Darr truly
was
hounding his footsteps. For the first time since entering Niotan, he’d chanced upon an extraordinarily beautiful woman, and instead of being able to impress her he had to appear like an idiot. “I’m afraid so. I set out this morning to learn the layout of the palace but…,” he gave a frustrated look around him, and tossed a hand to indicate the building in general. “This place has no rhyme or reason that I can find. I lost my bearings hours ago. Raja, if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction?”
She’d lifted a hand to cover her mouth, but the movement didn’t completely camouflage her smile. Her eyes were crinkled in silent laughter. “I do not think that wise, General Bresalier. You have, in fact, entered the west wing of the palace and have completely left your section altogether. Simple directions on my part will not help you.”
That bad, huh? He lifted a hand and massaged his aching temples.
“But I will aid you.” She closed the book and handed it off to the other woman before standing and walking to him. “I am Amalah Sebresos.”
The name suited her perfectly but he didn’t recognize it. Then again, he still didn’t know most of the families at court. “Raja Amalah, I gratefully accept your offer.”
“Perhaps in return, you will recount the battle on the eastern border for me?” she asked with that same caution he’d seen before.
“Of course,” he assured her in a gentler tone than he’d meant to use. Something about her manner suggested that she was naturally quite shy. It had, probably, taken quite a bit of courage for her to even approach him. But this turn of events might not be bad at that—if he could walk and talk with her for a while, he might be able to win her over and make another friend here.
With that in mind, he offered his arm like a proper escort would. She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, uncertain, but accepted the gesture and put her hand on his arm.
That expression confirmed it. She
was
shy and something about him made her a tad nervous. But he’d learned from his father’s knee how to charm people when needed and he put every ounce of that skill to use. “Thank you. Now, which way?”
“We need to go left down this hallway,” she directed with an inclination of her head.
He set out, keeping his stride shorter in order to match hers. The maid/companion followed silently along. Darius spared her a glance, but the woman glared daggers at him, so he quickly focused forward again. He didn’t know what the other woman disliked about him—it might be anything from him being a former enemy general to an unmarried man hanging about her mistress—but he didn’t want to delve into it either. He’d
much
rather focus on the woman on his arm.
“Well, where shall I start?” he asked her, not sure how much a raja of her position would have heard.
“They say—” she took in a breath before blurting out “—they say that you employed tactics that no one has seen before.”
He blinked, not quite expecting that opening. “Ah, those? Well, I’ve been in war in one way or another for almost fifteen years, Raja. I’ve been all over this continent, in fact. No two countries really fight the same way. I’ve picked up tactics from here and there that are remarkably effective. Most of the time, I’ve been prevented from really employing them because of Brindisi’s policies regarding warfare. But Queen Tresea had absolute faith in me to only use tactics that I
knew
would work well. With that much leeway, I could be more innovative.”
Far from appearing bored, she listened carefully to every word. “Is that where the idea of modifying the shields came from?”
“In part,” he admitted, bemused by her interest. “Well, I can’t take full credit for that. My staff—especially Commander Ramin—worked closely with several blacksmiths to come up with a feasible design.”
“And the barriers?”
He fell into a pattern of answering her questions and quickly discovered that she had been well informed of recent events. Strangely enjoying the conversation, he started to explain the tactics in more depth and discovered that she could not only understand him, but used whatever information he gave her to ask yet more questions. Wanting to make her smile, he told her of some of the funnier moments that happened as well, such as going into the final day of battle half-shaved, or his strange language lessons with a runner and a bodyguard.
She choked on a laugh. “Did you really go the full day only half-shaved?”
Ruefully, he nodded. “I did. I have no doubt the men were snickering behind my back, but they didn’t dare do it to my face. I’m sure I looked quite a sight, but I never had the chance to shave the rest off until after the battle was over.”
“I admit that I am surprised that you were caught so off-guard,” she said candidly, finally meeting his eyes. “I thought you had everything planned and accounted for.”
He snorted. “No plan survives first contact with the enemy, Raja, I assure you. The best I can do is plan good tactics and then innovate depending on what happens. If any man assures you that he can plan a whole battle in advance, know that he is an untried fool.”
“Innovate…,” she repeated thoughtfully. “You put much emphasis on learning and adapting what you know. Is that why you wanted to learn street slang?”
“Well, that and I had to find a way to make a certain man on my staff talk to me,” he admitted. “I plan most of my ideas out loud, you see. I depend on the people around me to tell me if an idea is bad or not. He wouldn’t say much of anything to me until I proved that I was willing to meet him half-way.” Now he couldn’t get Navid to stop talking, at times. The man took great pleasure in overloading Darius’s poor brain with too many words.
She phrased the words carefully before she spoke them. “You don’t believe that a man of your station cannot learn anything from someone of a lower class?”
He stopped dead and gave her a look of frank bewilderment. “Raja Amalah, the very idea is preposterous. Actually, according to my religion, the idea is
blasphemous
. The only time that a man cannot learn something is if he has shut his eyes and ears and refuses to learn.”
The expression on her face had a complexity of interweaving emotions that he could not begin to decipher. “General,” she ventured, “might I be frank with you?”
Finally
he was getting somewhere. “Of course.”
“You are not at all the man your reputation makes you out to be.”
He chuckled in open delight. “I’ve been hearing that a lot, lately.”
From behind them, the maid cleared her throat meaningfully.
Amalah’s openness disappeared instantly and she almost snapped back into her shell. “I fear we’ve become somewhat distracted from our original goal. We need to take a right at the hallway ahead.”
Darius started walking again but he shot the maid a withering look. If he stuffed the old biddy into a closet somewhere, how long would it be before someone missed her? A few hours would suffice.
Unfortunately, they arrived at his section of the palace before he could somehow manage this.
She stopped at the intersection of two hallways. “Do you recognize your surroundings now, General?”
“Yes,” unfortunately, “I do. Thank you very much for guiding me, Raja Amalah.”
Amalah was back to not quite meeting his eyes but she gave a slight bow to him. “It was my pleasure. I enjoyed talking to you.”
“And I you.” Hoping to draw her out again, he ducked his head a little to meet her eyes. “I hope this is not the last time that we are able to converse? It is rare that I can speak with an intelligent woman.”
Her eyes flew up to his, as if she had to verify if he were teasing her or not, but when she read his sincerity a vivid blush stained her cheeks. For several moments, she couldn’t form a response at all, but she finally managed, “I would like that.”
“Good. I would, as well. Then, perhaps at the next formal gathering in the palace?”
Her blush, impossibly, seemed to deepen to an almost maroon color. “If we can.”
I feel like I just won some sort of major victory.
Stamping down a demented grin, he gave her a bow. “Then, I will take my leave. Thank you again.”
“Anytime,” she assured him quietly, eyes darting up to meet his before fleeing back to the side.
He gave her a proper bow and even spared another, more shallow bow to her companion before leaving. Even as he walked toward his suite, he started quickly formulating plans. First, he had to hunt down Sego and ask what sort of gift would be appropriate for a young maiden. Then, he had to—
“Shir!” Bohme called to him from behind, sounding a little worried and out of sorts. “Where have you been?!”
To Darius’s ear, the question sounded almost paternal. Resigned, he stopped and waited for Bohme to catch up before admitting frankly, “Lost.”
“Losht?” Bohme repeated incredulously. “Where?”
“Here.”
It took a second to click, but when Bohme realized what he meant, his eyes flew wide and a deep laugh rumbled from his chest. “Y-you’ve been all over the continent leading armiesh—”
“—And a single building got me completely turned around,” Darius finished the sentence wryly. “Yes, I realize it’s funny. Go ahead and laugh and get it out of your system, will you?”
Bohme doubled over with the force of his laughter, one hand slapping his leg repeatedly.
“Bohme, it’s not
that
funny!”
“N-nobody getsh losht here!” the bodyguard managed to stutter out between laughing fits.
“That’s because you’ve all grown up coming in and out of this building,” Darius snarked. “Of course you know the way around, you grew up learning the layout!”
“It’sh not that complicated!”
Oh, what was the use? He’d never be able to explain it so that Bohme could understand. And he’d never live this down, even if he managed to do so. “Let’s just go,” he requested wearily. “I have to talk to Sego about something.”
~~~
Sego, being a more cultured man, didn’t pound his leg and laugh outright like Bohme had. But he still snickered and enjoyed Darius’s discomfort.
Darius sat on a low bench next to the man and just patiently waited for the amusement to pass. While waiting for Sego to gain control of himself, he took a better look at the man’s apartment. Sego was clearly a bookworm—he had almost two dozen volumes proudly displayed on a shelf on the far wall, with stacks of rolled parchment taking up every possible corner of the room. This he’d rather expected. What he
hadn’t
expected were the instruments lined up on the other wall. A lyre, flute, and very elegant wind pipe were hung from the wall, but clearly saw regular use judging from the sheet music stacked on a table nearby.
The room had the exact layout that Darius’s did, only on a smaller scale and without the extra study off to one side. It had clearly been Sego’s for quite some time as the man’s belongings took up every possible nook and cranny. It had a sort of ‘organized chaos’ feel to it that made Darius feel right at home.
Sego straightened himself up on his bench and cleared his throat, putting his voice back on a steady tone. Still, his eyes held a very suspicious twinkle as he said somberly, “I am very glad to see that you found your way back, General.”
This would just throw kindling on an already burning flame, but… “I didn’t,” Darius admitted ruefully.
His bodyguard and steward stared at him in surprise. “You didn’t?” they asked in near tandem.
“No, I had to be rescued.” He shrugged when this set them off all over again. “I don’t really mind,” he admitted over their laughter. “My rescuer was a very beautiful and intelligent woman.”
That
stopped them and they cut themselves off. “Who?” Sego demanded.
“Her name is Amalah Sebresos.”
“Hooo,” Sego said in instant recognition. “Of the House of Sebresos? It’s not a very wealthy house, in comparison to some, but it’s an old one. I’ve met her on several occasions but she’s barely spoken two words to me.”
“She just about talked my ear off.” Under Sego’s incredulous look, he spread his palms in an open shrug and tried not to smirk. “I know how to charm people out of their shells.”
“What, like one of thoshe shtreet performersh with the flute and the shnakesh?” Bohme clearly found this image funny as he chortled.
Darius rolled his eyes and prayed for patience. “Only without the flute. Sego, I came to you to ask, what would be an appropriate gift for her?”
Sego gave him that weighted, calculating look he sometimes wore. “You give presents to women on a regular basis.”
“Only women have been truly helpful to me so far. Well, without being assigned to me,” he pointed out. “I’d do the same with men, if they offered me any kindness. I’m trying to gain friends and build up a reputation. The easiest way to do that is to be generous.”
“You’re not wrong,” Sego admitted. “Alright. You cannot, of course, give her any type of clothing as that would be a courting gift.”