In Her Argent Embrace

Leuna nods and spurs her horse into a gallop. You make good time, but it's hell on your butt and you feel like you might be thrown off at any moment.

"Are you alright back there?" asks Leuna.

You say that you are, but then the horse stumbles for a moment over some clayey soil and you yelp and grab onto Leuna, who yelps as well.

You apologise, but when you begin to remove your arms from around her waist, she reaches back with one hand and stops you.

"It's safer if you hold on tight," she says.

You're glad she can't see your blush.

As the day passes the grasslands give way to rocky tors and sandy defiles, the edges of the badlands that follow the meandering path of the Bihurri river. Deep and uncrossable and infested with swamp drakes, it's an unavoidable part of the journey from the underpopulated northeast to the capital for those who want to avoid a long and circuitous, although safer, journey through the tiny hamlets of the valley of Motela.

"Is there really an inn around here?" asks Leuna as for hour after hour you only see eroded plateaus and the scattered stone rocky outcrops like precipitous mountains in miniature.

You laugh and tell her you don't blame her for not believing you. The area seems desolate here, but you'll soon reach the main road that comes down from the foothills of the mountains. There are many sulphur mines there, the precious substance that smells like rotten eggs but which is an essential part of alchemical magic.

"So it's true that Hiria has lights that stay on even during the night? Lights powered by alchemy?"

It's hard to believe, but it's true, you say. You've never seen it before, but you've heard many stories from journeyman merchants who make the journey between Ekiald and Hiria regularly.

"I can't wait to see it," she murmurs.

Soon a dark rectangle appears in the dying light of sunset at the side of the road before you: the Inn. After so many days in the wilderness, such a regular shape seems out of place.

The horse picks up speed.

"He can smell the other horses," says Leuna patting the side of his neck. "And other horses means hay and water and all the creature comforts of home."

You laugh. You feel the same way. The inn means hot water, and meat, and best of all ale.

"And we might be able to get you some new clothes," says Leuna.

It reminds you that you're wearing the tunic she sewed for you from her own clothes. It gives you a warm feeling inside and you don't know if you want to part with it.

Leuna pats the pouch at her waist. "There should be enough here to cover the both of us for the night."

You put your hand on hers and tell her that she won't need to spend any of her money. The owner of the inn is a friend of your family, and as merchants you often survive on this network of guest-friendship to avoid carrying around large sums of money unnecessarily.

"Oh," says Leuna.

You realise then that's she staring at your hand on hers. It was an instinctive gesture, but you quickly take it away. She doesn't seem offended, though.

Soon you arrive at the inn and you both dismount to walk. It's a low building, built of coastal oak, designed after the Hirian style, the façade decorated with a carved relief of a lion hunt. You run your fingers across the face of one of the lions, remembering the times you travelled here as a child. It's as close as you ever got to Hiria and you start to wonder about your future

A servant you've met before comes out of the attached stables and stops and stares at the two of you. You stare back, wondering just what the problem is, but then you remember your own reaction to seeing Leuna for the first time.

You glance at her. In her armour, she really is a tall and imposing figure.

The servant quickly remembers his manners and bows. "Young master," he says, recognising you. "It's been a while." Leuna gets off the horse and he quickly bows to her, quite a bit lower you can't help noticing. "Lady knight," he says, his voice thick with respect. "You honour our humble establishment with your presence."

Leuna seems startled by the effusiveness of his greeting and she inclines her head, blushing. She lets him take the reins and lead the horse to the stables.

"They don't often see knights around here," you tell her.

She nods. It's so strange that a knight who showed no fear dealing with bandits now seems awkward and unsure of herself. You ask her what's wrong.

"I... I'm not used to meeting strangers," she admits.

"But I'm a stranger," you say.

"You're different," says Leuna.

Different. You're about to ask her what she means by it when the door flies open and a big, buxom, red-faced woman bursts out and crushes you in a giant perfumed hug.

Leuna's hand slips to her sword-hilt instinctively, but when she hears the woman call you by your name and sees the smile on your face she lets it slide off.

"This is Kalbasa," you say, your voice strained by the lack of air: her hug has managed to squeeze the majority of it from your lungs. "She's the innkeeper."

Kalbasa laughs and releases you. "Such a flatterer. Calling this tiny watering hole an inn!" She looks at the knight and laughs again, elbowing you in the ribs. "And you've brought a girl, I see. I knew you'd find one eventually." She looks Leuna up and down and whistles. "It's a good one, too."

Leuna blushes fiercely under Kalbasa's gaze.

You babble a protest but Kalbasa just laughs. "You haven't changed. Still can't take a joke?" She grins at Leuna. "Am I right?"

Leuna smiles but doesn't say anything. She's still blushing.

Kalbasa leads you inside the inn and has another servant take your belongings to a room. She casts a critical eye over the two of you. "I'm betting you both need a hot bath. I'll have one prepared for you."

Leuna's eyes immediately light up. "Oh, yes please!"

"I think I have a tub big enough to fit the two of you."

Leuna's smile falls from her face. "Oh! Together? But... but..."

Kalbasa laughs and you can't help but smile a little at how flustered Leuna had become. It's another of her jokes, you explain.

"So, who want to get in first?"

You of course chivalrously allow Leuna to use the water first. When the knight protests, you remind her that you had a chance to wash in the morning while she didn't.

Leuna goes an even deeper red and she ceases her protests and nods, defeated.

--

You're sitting on a chair and looking out the window when Leuna returns from her bath. She's got dressed in her clothes again, you notice, but her hair is wet and she's still drying it as she walks into the room.

She's shocked to see you there.

"Oh, but... are we going to sleep together again?" Then she remembers what that means and she adds, "In the same room, I mean."

You tell her that the inn is usually full all year round, given the busyness of the sulphur road, but that Kalbasa keeps a room free for the exclusive use of guest-friends, who generally travel alone.

Leuna nods. "I'm lucky you have such good friends." She sits down on the cot and busies herself with drying her hair. With her hair wet, her eyes seem somehow even larger than before, that glacial blue even deeper. With her small nose and that little sprinkling of freckles across her face she seems suddenly childish despite the years she has on you. And yet, there's her exquisitely toned body beneath her tunic. Her long, bare arms and legs remind you of how tall she is. She'll barely fit on the bed, you muse.

You feel a certain heat start in your body and so you quickly start talking about Kalbasa, since that was the last thing Leuna mentioned, acting as though you've been staring into space and composing your words. She's an old friend of your family, you explain, a retired warrior and despite her appearance she's still lightening quick with a halberd.

Leuna nods. "I thought she might be. She walks like a trained fighter." She turns to you, smiling. "She acts like she's your mother, doesn't she?"

You nod, embarrassed. She's always poking fun at you, you say.

A surprisingly mischievous smile flickers onto Leuna's lips and she lowers the towel from her hair. "About women?"

You chuckle and nod ruefully. Ever since you were a little kid she's been trying to set you up. She says it's not normal for a man not to be married.

"So you're not married," says Leuna. She says it like someone repeating a fact that they guessed at before.

You tell her that you guess you've never met the right person. Leuna says nothing, but is clearly weighing something up in her head.

"But men and women can meet each other freely in Elkiad, you said."

You laugh. Meeting freely is one thing, but finding someone you like enough to marry is a lot more difficult.

Leuna seems surprised by this. "But isn't it just a case of meeting as many women as you can? I mean, sooner or later you'll have to come upon your true love and then your eyes will meet and 'by that glance alone love will be kindled in both your hearts'." She sighs. "That's how it works, isn't it?"

You wonder if she's joking, but then you remember her sheltered upbringing. You ask her where she learned that.

She blinks at you. "From books, of course."

You don't need to ask what kind of books. The scenario is already playing out in your head: Leuna or a friend of hers smuggling a romance into their dormitory, the girls reading it under the candlelight, the artificial world within it strange and free and exciting.

The image makes your heart melt. You manage to stammer something about love being a bit more complicated than books make out but your words can't help but sound unconvincing even to your own ears.

Leuna sits forward on the bed, eager to hear more. "Complicated? Oh yes, of course. The furtive glances and blushes, the confession of love, the suffering of lovers divided, the trials that must be undergone before they're reunited, the wedding, the wedding-night..." She stops, blushing. Then she looks up at you, her huge eyes alight. "Have you ever been in love?"

You stare across at the beautiful woman sitting on the bed, wondering just how you should respond to such a question, when the servant knocks on the door to your room, announcing that Kalbasa has meat and ale ready for you.

--

As soon as you return to the main room of the inn, Kalbasa sits you both down and slams two mugs of ale in front of you. The inn is not what you'd call crowded: it's mostly the usual mix of trappers, sulphur miners and farmers that are the source of Kalbasa's livelihood on top of the merchants that pass by along the coastal road to and from the capital.

She sees you looking around. "As you can see, business is booming." She sighs. "It's all down to that unpleasant business on the border. Like they say, war is bad for business."

"But we're not at war," says Leuna. She's been staring down at her drink the whole time. You've already attacked yours, the bitter soapy liquor restoring feeling back into your buffeted things and backside and smoothing over the lingering awkwardness of your conversation with Luena. "The treaty between the Regency and the Duchy..."

Kalbasa looks at Leuna with a motherly indulgence. "Dear, there may be treaties and all that, but when it comes to being at the pointy end, pieces of paper and expensive ink and fancy seals don't count for much, unfortunately." She turns to you. "There've been attacks along the road."

"Bandits?" you ask.

"Do bandits want to cut down penniless sulphur-miners?" She shakes her head. "It's just the Duke sowing terror through mercenaries since his army was routed."

"But we haven't heard anything about this at the Academy," protests Leuna. "Someone needs to put a stop to it!" The fierce look of determination on her face is both impressive and adorable.

Kalbasa smiles at Leuna and then turns to you. "An idealist, too. That's certainly a breath of fresh air around these parts. A few more like her and we might actually win this war."

Leuna looks uncomfortable, but Kalbasa places a hammy hand on the knight's delicate one and pats it. "Don't mind me, dear. I'm just old and crotchety. I don't mean any offence. And I agree with you. Something has to be done. But I'm afraid we're pretty far down the Regent's list of priorities...Well, enjoy your drinks." She winks at you. "I guess this should all go on the family tab?"

You nod.

Leuna is still staring down at her drink. "I feel bad having you pay for me. As soon as we reach the capital, I'll pay you back for all this."

You laugh and say she can if she wants, but it's really not necessary. You owe her your life, after all, and while it's not a particularly important one, it's worth more than a few mugs of ale and rooms for the night.

Leuna nods. She's still looking at her drink, so you tell her not to feel guilty and to drink it. It's very good.

"But it's alcohol," she says. Then she blushes. "I... I've never drunk it before. It makes you act funny, doesn't it?"

Funny? Well, if you drink too much it can certainly have that effect, but in moderation... You're a bit taken aback that she's never drunk before. You say that you never knew there was a rule in the Knightly Protocols that forbade it.

"Oh, there isn't," says Leuna. "It's just I guess that... well, maybe I just never got the opportunity to try it." She glances across at you. "This is another first for me, I guess."

She lifts the mug to her lips and takes a sip. She grimaces.

"It's bitter!" she says.

You can't help but laugh. "Ale is usually bitter," you tell her. "It's because of the hops in it."

Leuna lifts the mug again, a little more tentatively this time, and takes a deeper drink. She coughs a little and she doesn't seem to notice the white suds on her lip until you point them out.

"It doesn't taste bad," she says as she wipes the foam from her top lip. She still seems a little unsure, though.

It's then that Kalbasa appears with a little glass of a deep brown liquid. "Here," she says, putting it in front of Leuna. "We don't often have girls here, but this is more the sort of thing I like to drink."

Leuna lifts it to her mouth and downs it in one go.

"It's delicious!" she cries.

Kalbasa, laughing, takes the glass from her. "Hey, hey. Take it a little easy there. That's patsharan. It's made from wild plums, and it might be sweet, but it's very potent. That little glass was the same as two ales."

Leuna lifts a hand to her lips. "Oh!"

Kalbasa slides Leuna's ale across to you. "You look like you need another." She glances at the knight. "You too. But sip it this time!"

Leuna watches her go, then turns and beams at you. "She's very nice, isn't she?"

You nod. You're distracted, though, by the mug in front of you. The edge of mug where Leuna's lips touched it is glistening.

Can you really just take it and drink it? Isn't it almost like sharing a kiss with her?

Leuna is staring at you, her smile slipping, and you panic that she thinks you're hesitating over her mug because you're concerned that it's somehow dirty. You snatch it up and take a long draught.

Somehow, it's far more delicious than your first one was.

Kalbasa brings you more drinks and some food as well, and you're soon enjoying yourselves. Leuna follows Kalbasa's advice and sips at the powerful little drink, but soon her cheeks are flushed and you realise she's already a bit tipsy.

"Oh, why did I leave it this long to try drinking?" she mutters. "It's so wonderful!" She throws out her arms and almost knocks over your ale in the process.

You laugh and take her arm, trying to get her to settle down. She stares at your hand pressing against her bare skin.

"You have very soft hands," she says suddenly.

You blink, self-consciously taking your hand away. Then you chuckle. Merchants are often accused of having soft hands, you say, since a lot of their business revolves around accounting and reading and not so much physical labour.

Leuna frowns. "Oh, I hope I didn't offend you. I wasn't trying to criticise. I... I like it." Then she seems to realise what she's said, and she hurriedly adds, "I mean, I don't hate it or anything. I mean, it's fine. I mean, I'm a bit jealous, actually." She lifts up her own hands and waves them at you. "Mine are all calloused."

You look at her hands. They're such delicate, slender hands. You can't see the callouses that she seems to think are there.

Such pretty hands, you muse. They were the first part of her you ever saw.

Leuna lowers her gaze to her drink and you see the rosiness of her cheeks spreading out in a blush.

You don't quite know how to take her outburst, so you return to your drink.

A short while later, the awkwardness seems to pass and you start to discuss the remainder of your journey. Despite Kalbasa's warnings, the coastal road is probably your only option. Otherwise, you end up having to travel through the badlands you skirted the edge of yesterday which is something neither of you wants to do. Waterless and rough, they're the home of scorpions and venomous sand-drakes and other unpleasant creatures.

Taking the coastal road you should be in Hiria in about two days, you say. For some reason, discussing the end of your journey makes you unhappy.

Well, of course it does. Once you arrive there, you'll have to say goodbye to Leuna. She'll swear fealty to the regent and live in the castle, while you'll go on to your new job in the merchant's quarter. You suddenly don't relish the idea.

You push such negative thoughts out of your head. You're just enjoying the freedom of the road, that's all. It's always like this at the end of a journey...

And yet...

You glance across at Leuna as she sips her drink. Out of her armour, she seems like a normal woman. Well, not normal exactly. Every other time you've been with a woman in this kind of situation, it's felt hideously awkward. Every time you've met potential matches, there's been nothing to talk about. Women in the East seem like a breed apart from men, only coming together really for romantic assignations and marriage. Strange, given how free everyone is to mingle, so different from how Leuna was brought up. You guess it's really just segregation under a different name.

Leuna. She's so pretty, and yet she doesn't even seem to realise it. She'd never drunk alcohol before tonight, or seen a man naked until you, and her ideas of love are those of a child, and yet the masterful way she saw those bandits off, her courage and her graceful skill with the sword and crossbow...

You finish your drink and wait for another, suddenly gripped by the desire to drink yourself stupid.

But Kalbasa seems busy. While you've been drinking, a small group of men has come into the Inn. They're wearing mismatching leather armour and their unshaven and dust-streaked faces indicate they've been on the road for a while. There seems to be a bit of an argument going on, but it's soon resolved as they take off their swords and hand them to the innkeeper. They take a table not far from yours, laughing. They're words are tinged with the accent of border-men, and you wonder what they're doing so far south.

"So much for the famous southern hospitality," says their leader, a surprisingly young looking man, even despite the weeks of unruly beard and the stringiness of his black hair. He sits down with the others and starts speaking in a distinct brogue that you can't understand a word of. The others laugh.

"Milady, ale!" he cries out. On his lips even the honorific lady sounds like the vilest of insults.

Kalbasa brings them their drinks and after serving them with stoic dignity despite their jests she brings your drinks over.

"Who are they?" whispers Leuna. It's not really that soft a whisper and you realise that Leuna seems more than a little tipsy.