Page 22 of Insolence (Eisha’s Hidden Codices #1)
“Nah. I’m an old man now. I’ll be forty-seven when I can go home to Black City. Can’t waste what’s left of my life on this blasted mountain, can I?”
But I can. The unspoken observation drifts awkwardly between us.
I take the bottle back and drink in earnest this time. Relish the liquor’s burn. The way it softens the jagged edges of everything that’s been chipped away from me. “Hey, Autry.” I shift my focus. “You got your eye on any of the pretty girls down in the valley there?”
“Sure,” he snorts, caught off guard. “Who doesn’t?”
I don’t react. Both men’s eyes land on me anyway.
We don’t use labels, but my being a slag was a given from the get-go, seeing as I’m here at all. I’m sure by the time I arrived they’d seen their fair share of Caras and Rosalies. Heard about plenty more.
The reason I struck up a friendship to begin with is because these two—Autry in particular—have compassion. They don’t enjoy the suffering these women endure.
Maybe when they began their temple contracts, Kael and Autry believed the betrothed deserved what was coming to them. By the time I arrived? Not so much.
That’s another thing we don’t discuss, although I want to. But I’m not supposed to know about any of that.
I hold the bottle aloft. “To pretty girls. In backwater valleys and otherwise.” I take another swig to Kael’s rowdy laughter and Autry slapping his knee.
Despite my dark mood on arriving, between the liquor and their camaraderie, my muscles are unclenching. The anger that’s been fueling me these past three days is beginning to trickle away—at least a little bit.
“I don’t trust a person who won’t drink to pretty girls.” Kael chuckles, his eyes unfocused. The brandy continues to make its rounds.
I fix my attention back on Autry. “You’ve got a big family, right? Back in Cantana?”
“After a fashion.” He barks an awkward laugh, eyes darting around the alcove in that wary way of his whenever anyone asks him about back home.
As long as I’ve known him, Autry seems to be guarding as many secrets as I am.
“Lucky most of the stuff we make is small. I figure I’ve got a long career ahead.
” He rotates both arms at the shoulder before stretching the lanky limbs over his head.
“After Kael leaves, I’ll be a proper blacksmith.
Might want to try my hand at something bigger. ”
“Heavier hammers’ll wear your body down quicker,” I point out. “You sure you don’t want to stay here and keep making those sweet little daggers for the guardsmen? Mentor an apprentice of your own?”
“ Psshh . How do you think you girls get all that pretty jewelry you like to flaunt, eh?” grumbles Kael between sips that slosh, clear liquor beading on his whiskers. “Think that stuff just makes itself?”
You girls . Briefly disoriented in my body, I mask my discomfort with a joke. “And here I thought it was the stuff you picked out of your teeth.”
Times like this, when my body and mind fail to align—with alcohol heating my insides and bringing a flush to Autry’s pale cheeks and Kael’s swarthy complexion—it’s hard not to forget about the feminine lines of my face and hips.
My long hair and soft chest. Which is bound nearly flat beneath my shirt today.
Kael scoffs. “It’s not all mallets and anvils, you know. Jewelry is a whole different beast.”
Credit where it’s due, though. Even though they don’t know about my mutable soul, these two have never looked at me askance in my trousers.
“ Beast may be stretching it,” I chuckle.
“You’d be surprised,” Autry says, reaching for the red juggling balls he usually keeps nearby. Always has to occupy his hands, that one.
“Come on,” I lower my chin, taking the bottle back. “How hard can it actually be?” I’m laying it on a bit thick. But this is what I’ve been working up to since we sat down.
Just as I hoped, Kael rises to his feet. Sways slightly. “Give me another sip of that and I’ll show you. Since you’re so sure of yourself.”
And there it is . “You’re on, old man.” I get up and sway, blood pressure dropping to my socks. The heavy cloak hanging from my shoulders threatens to drag me back into my chair.
Against all odds, I manage to stay upright. Surrender the bottle to Autry. It’s still half full. More than enough to see us through.
With how my head feels pleasantly detached from the rest of me, I certainly don’t plan on drinking any more.
Over the next hours I’m walked through the rudimentary aspects of sand casting. Shown how to moisten the aggregate of sand, clay, and pulverized charcoal the right amount. Directed to arrange the prototype in the center of the mold frame. Shown where the parting dust is kept.
Then forge and crucible. All fairly straightforward to my mind. Not that it isn’t hard, hot work.
The whole time Autry practices new tricks with his juggling balls. Between giving pointers and gulping brandy. He excuses himself to bed shortly before the impromptu lesson comes to an end.
Sweating, cloak discarded, my hands and clothes streaked with grime, I collapse in my chair. “All right. I see what you do. In all seriousness, I respect your craft.”
Kael issues a satisfied grunt, eyelids at half-mast. I’ve got no idea what time it is, but both of us will be having a difficult morning tomorrow. Of that much I am certain.
“So if I ever wanted to play around with this stuff. Try my hand at making something—”
Kael rumbles, “Not while I’m working.”
“Course not. Deirdre’d have a conniption if she heard about me mucking around in front of the girls. After hours, maybe. When you and Autry are all cozy and tucked in your sweet little beds.” I push what remains of the brandy into his bear paw of a hand. “Mind if I tool around out here?”
Deep in contemplation, he swirls the clear liquor in its bottle. “So long as you clean up after yourself and don’t make too much noise.”
“Done.”
“All right then. Don’t know why a pretty thing like you wants to get dirty, but suit yourself.”
“Ah. Well.” My hand goes to the back of my neck. “Parts of me may surprise you, friend.”
He looks me up and down, eyes bleary, before swilling half the remaining liquor in one breath. “I doubt there’s much you could get up to that’d surprise me much, your holiness.”
I smile before excusing myself. Next stop—Maida’s rooms.