The lifting of the Curtain: Chapter two (2)

Steffanes snapped back to full awareness, and turned about to the
direction of this voice. Standing nearby him was corporal Marchell ,
with a confused look on her face. She’d clearly left the food hall, and
had not expected to find her commander like this.

For some reason, Steffanes could not immediately answer her. He
looked about himself, trying to avoid her eyes. It was almost like she
was his mother, walking in on him doing something embarrassing.

“ Sir, are you alright?” Marchell asked, concern in her voice.

Finally, Steffanes regained his composure. “ I’m chopping wood Corporal, what does it look like I’m doing?”

At this, Marchell looked indignant. “ Of course I know your chopping
wood sir, it’s just that officers don’t do our grunt work for us,
idiot!”

The moment “ Idiot” left her mouth, she covered it with her hands,
her face a mixture of embarrassed and terror. Speaking like that to a
superior could result in any number of punishments, all to the choice of
the offended officer.

Uncovering her mouth, she blurted out “ I’m so sorry sir, please, it’s just that- oh shit, fuck!”

For a moment there was silence, Marchell awaiting whatever fate she
had coming to her with her head bowed. But to her utter surprise, she
heard the sound of uproarious laughter, and looked up to see her young
commander bent down to his knees, clutching his sides as he chuckled
aloud.

“ Stars above” thought the corporal, “ how have I ended up with this madman for my commander”

Eventually, Steffanes stopped laughing, and got to his feet. He looked over to Marchell with a smile.

“ What’s your name Corporal? Your first name, I mean?”

“ Errm, it’s Alecia sir. Why are you asking?”

Steffanes moved closer to her, setting his axe down. He offered his
hand in greeting, the rain now falling in heavier torrents upon the pair
of them.

“ My name’s Steffanes, and even though you wouldn’t be able to do so
in public, you can call me that rather than Sir. Thanks’ for making me
laugh.”

She stared at him for a moment, trying to process what was happening. After half a minute, she took his hand.

“ Thank you sir- Steffanes. If you want to chop wood, it’s up to you.”

Steffanes shrugged. “ I just hate not having anything to do, that’s all. Besides, the food doesn’t smell all that good.”

“ It’s not that bad, if you close your eyes. Holding your nose helps too.”

“ I guess I’m not missing all that much then, so there’s a comfort.”

She smiled at that, then noticed something. “ You’re soaked through, you’ll catch your death if you stay out here much longer.”

Steffanes looked down at his shirt, which he could now see through.
Alecia was right, staying out here for much longer would be unhealthy.

“ Look,” said Alecia, “ let’s get inside. You should be able to find a shirt somewhere.”

Steffanes simply nodded in agreement, and made to pick up his armour.
Once he was done, Alecia beckoned that he follow her, and the two
headed across the yard to one of the wood buildings. A distant rumble in
the sky could be heard, which meant lightning on the plains tonight.

They found themselves in the washing room, where all the clothes and
armour of the forts soldiers were cleaned. There was no one here, all
laundry having been done in the morning. The shelves where stacked with
clean clothes, ideal for Steffanes’s needs.

Without hesitating, he grabbed a shirt from the shelf, tossing off
his ruined one. Before putting it on, he took a towel down from another
shelf, as his long hair was also soaked through. For a moment or two he
stood and dried himself off, shivering slightly as he stood shirtless in
the cold room. Then he remembered he wasn’t alone, and turned about to
see Alecia sitting down on a bench, staring at the ceiling.

For the second time that evening, Steffanes felt embarrassed.

“ I’m sorry,” He said, blushing, “ I should have remembered you where here.”

She smiled at that, and replied “ Don’t worry, it’s nothing I haven’t
seen before. You’ll find that in this army, prudery doesn’t really have
a place.”

Steffanes had no answer to that, so he simply nodded. He supposed
that he had much to learn about day to day life in the army, and in a
small way he was annoyed at his father for not giving him more details.
Still, it was just like the old man, to let him find things out for
himself.

“ So,” Asked Alecia, breaking the silence. “ This is your first commission?”

“ It is, yes. I missed the war altogether, so my father fixed it that
I join the Aretesan’s and come here. How about you, been in the army
long?

“ Five years, served with the Aretesan’s all that time. We were at Heidelhill, and the siege of Dorrim castle. “

“ I heard about those battles” Steffanes remarked, putting on his
shirt. “ The word is they were hard fought victories. I wish I could
have been there, I-“

He stopped as he took note of her face, and saw that she was clearly
remembering those battles herself. Her hands where trembling on her
knees, and her shoulders where shaking.

Steffanes didn’t know what to do, and he felt like the greatest fool
in the kingdom at this moment. Here he was, mouthing off like a boy
about great battles, while here was one who knew them for themselves.

“ I……… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that” was all he could come up with, and he was sure it wasn’t enough.

She turned to him, and he could see she was trying to smile. “ No…
I’m sorry. It’s silly of me to get like this, but…… Well, I lost some
friends on those days. War isn’t like the songs say. As a man who’s
taken a life, you should know that.”

Steffanes felt a jab of pain in his heart at that last remark, and
turned his face downward. He’d spent so much of that day trying to
forget the woman he’d killed, the look on her face as her life ebbed
away. But now, he could see her again, and guilt rose in his chest at
what he’d done. Sure, she’d chosen the bandits life, she’d tried to kill
him, but there could have always been another way. She needn’t have
died at his hands.

“ Look” Suggested Alecia, after an uncomfortably long pause “ Let’s
forget we brought up this whole subject, alright? I’ll start us over,
where are you from?”

Steffanes was glad of a change of subject, but a little taken aback
by the question. He sat beside her on the bench, leaning back against
the wall.

“ You don’t know? I thought everyone knew where my family was from.”

“ I don’t have time to remember where every jumped up noble spouted from.” Answered Alecia with a snort.

Steffanes felt he should be offended by that last remark, but found
that he wasn’t. Somehow, he wasn’t interested in defending his family’s
honour at this time.

“ Our castle is just by Cullsrest, down in the east.”

“ It figures why I might not know” Remarked Alecia. “ I’m an Abelian
girl myself, born and raised. Before I joined the army, I’d never seen
so much as a field, let alone any castles.”

“ So that’s why you joined the army, is it?” jibed Steffanes, “ To see fields and castles?”

Alecia smirked at that. “ No, it’s because it was that or work in my
pa’s jewel shop all my sodding life, bowing and scraping to every stuck
up prick that walked through the door.”

“ A Jewel shop?” Remarked Steffanes. “ I’ve never seen one. I know we had a supplier in Abelia, Finnolan’s of Yeate Street.”

Alecia sighed at that. “ That would be my pa’s place. Named for my
great grandpa, and meant to be mine one day. But if stars are kind, my
pa will hand it over to Talvot, my stupid little brother. He loves
stacking shiny rocks in neat little rows, never mixing the eighty
different shades of dark blue, not confusing order seven- fifteen with
order thirteen. He’s welcome to it, I say.”

“ So what happens when you leave the army?” Steffanes asked. “ Do you have a plan at all.”

Alecia shrugged her shoulders “ Never given it much thought. Maybe
I’ll set up a farm, or a tavern. Or just never leave, be like old
Kinloch and die in my boots. Shit, I could die in my boots before I grow
old.”

“ What about you, lord’s son?” She asked Steffanes. “ is it all
inheritance for you, take the castle and the wealth that comes with it?

Steffanes stretched out his arms, taking a second before he answered.
The thunder and lightning hadn’t let up during their whole talk,
hammering against their wooden hut.

“ I suppose it is, and unlike you, I probably can’t run get away from it.”

Alecia put her hand to her chest, and replied with a voice of mocking
sympathy “Oh how tragic, to be born to a castle and money and silk
sheets. How I weep for you!”

Steffanes chuckled a little at that. “I’ve heard that before, and
trust me, I used to moan to anyone that would listen about not wanting
to be the lord of Ingriade castle. I told my father again and again, I
wanted to go and see the world, live by my own wits and sword, taking
what I wanted when I wanted it.”

“ Well, what did your father say to that?”

Steffanes smiled. “ When I was thirteen, he finally let me go. He
told me that if I lasted a week on my own, he’d strike me from the
succession and I’d be free for life. I gathered up all my friends from
the village, and off we went. We called ourselves the wild brotherhood,
mercenary gang for hire.”

Alecia looked up to the roof, a faraway look in her eyes. “ That must
have been quite the sight, all of you wandering around trying to look
tough. How long did that last?”

“ Oh, about two days. See, when you’re the lords son, at least half
of your friends are only your friends because you happen to be the lords
son. That half left after a few hours, when they realised we’d have to
hunt for our own food. The rest of us made it through one night, then we
realised we had no idea where we were going. I let the rest of them go
at the end of the second day, then spent the night in a barn. My father
found me the next morning, and told me that I’d barely made it four
miles away from our castle!”

He could see Alecia laughing even as he finished, and he couldn’t
help but laugh himself. For a moment or two, the pair of them laughed
together.

“ Stars above” Remarked Alecia as she finished laughing. “ The idiocy of boys, eh? I guess you learned your lesson then?”

“ Sort off. From then on, my father made me focus on my sword
training and all of that, so I’d work off all my energy. But every
Fithday night I’d sneak out of the castle and head to the tavern, where
me and my friends would do what young lads do. Just last month I found
out my father knew all along, and told our guards to just let me go.”

Alecia stretched out her arms, rising them high above her head. “
It’s been ages since I’ve been to a tavern” She mused. “ Last time I was
in one, this huge brawl broke out. Someone spilled someone’s pint or
kissed someone’s girl, I don’t know. But I do know I knocked at least
three people out with my bare fists, until some bastard got me with a
chair.”

Steffanes smirked at her “ I can top that. Five, until someone got a
steel pipe and smacked me with it. I grew my hair long to cover up the
scar.”

Alecia pouted at him. “ lads like you, always got to one up everybody.”

“ Of course, that’s what young officers do.”

For a minute, neither of them said anything, yet this was not an
awkward silence. They listened to the rain and thunder outside, each of
them content with their own thoughts.

“ You know” said Alecia, breaking the silence “ We’ll have to forget
about all this tomorrow. Talking like this, getting on like friends.
Your still my commander after all, and I’m just a corporal.”

Steffanes sighed, and lowered his head. “ I know, what a bugger. I
don’t feel that half of this is right, you know? Me, telling all of you
what to do.”

“ It’s not fair.” Replied Alecia.

“ Exactly. Don’t think I don’t see it from you and the other
soldier’s side. I’m just some lord’s brat to you, and I’m expecting you
to do what I tell you. It can’t be-“

“ Stop it!” Shouted Alecia, causing Steffanes to jump in his seat. He
looked over to her, and saw that she was staring at him, anger in her
eyes.

“ When I said it’s not fair, I meant on you, not us! It’s not fair
that you have to deal with having our lives in your hands, but don’t you
think that if we all wanted to, we could refuse your orders? But we’re
soldiers, Steffanes, and though we’ve served longer than you, we respect
that you’ve been given this post, and you’ve got some idea of what
you’re doing. Just look at what happened today, we followed your word,
and all of us lived. So far, so good, if you ask me. ”

Steffanes bowed his head. He felt like the world’s greatest fool, and
a part of him wanted to cry. He’d been so wrapped up in his
self-absorbed doubts and insecurities, he’d forgotten that others didn’t
always want to hear him whine.

“ You’re right.” Steffanes’s voice was low, and he couldn’t help but
sound like he was on the verge of tears. “ I can do this, and I can
count on all of you to help. I didn’t train all of those years just to
doubt myself now. I’ll just shut up and leave then.”

With that, he stood up and made to leave the room. But before he
could take one step, he felt a hand grab his arm. He looked down at
Alecia, and saw in her eyes that she was sorry.

“ Please, don’t go.” She pleaded. “ I just, you needed to hear that. I
can understand, you know, feeling like you do now. I don’t expect you
to just get over it, but maybe….”

She trailed off, but Steffanes didn’t need her to say any more. He
sat back down, and without thinking about what he was doing, leaned over
so that he was resting on her shoulder. She said nothing, and made no
attempt to push him off.

“ You know” Said Steffanes, his voice now calm. “ You’re more than just a corporal, you realise that?”

“ Of course I do”. Replied Alecia, with mock indignation. “ don’t you forget it. “

“ I won’t, Alecia.” Steffanes then smiled as he realised something. “ Ha, Alecia from Abelia.”

Alecia rolled her eyes. “ It usually takes people less time to pick
up on that. It’s a Nikralkan name, my great grandpa was run out of there
for cheating some count.”

“ It’s a nice name. “ He leaned her head on her shoulder, feeling more and more comfortable with being this close to her.

They both should have known what they did next was wrong. Known just
how many rules they were breaking. Known that they were both being
idiots.

But in that brief moment, neither of them cared.

It began with Steffanes slowly putting his arm around Alecia’s waist.
He wasn’t thinking about what he was doing, and all it would take was a
firm slap to bring him back to himself.

Next, she turned her face to his. She was smiling, and for the first
time that night, Steffanes noticed her beauty. Dark eyes, smooth skin,
and an inner warmth that could overwhelm you.

Then he felt her lips on his, and closed his eyes. She brought her
hand to his cheek as she deepened the kiss, her tongue in his mouth. He
still held her waist tightly, never wanting to let go.

How long this kiss lasted, neither of them had any idea.

Then came the loudest thunderclap of the night, and following
straight after, the bellowing voice of Sergeant Kinloch from the
courtyard.

“ My Lord Ingriade! Where are you!”

Other voices chimed in, some shouting for Steffanes, others addressing the corporal.

They both pulled away from each other, a sudden rush of terror
gripping both of them. Steffanes looked over to Alecia, and at seeing
how wide her eyes where, the redness of her face, the heaviness of her
breathing, he nearly cried out.

Guilt, shame, fear, regret, all these feelings rushed him at once.
His heart was pounding fit to burst, and his throat felt so tight he was
sure he would die.

Speech was out of the question, so with one last look at Alecia, he
grabbed his bundle of armour, and ran from the washroom. Upon stepping
outside, he sprinted for the direction of the keep, where he assumed his
quarters would be.

“ Idiot!” he said to himself, over and over again as he ran. If the
stars where the least bit kind, they would send a lightning bolt
directly upon his head.