Rebellion by Rachel White

Author:Rachel White [White, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay, Fantasy, Pansexual, Romance
Publisher: Less Than Three Press, LLC
Published: 2018-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

When he awoke again, there was no sign of Lieutenant Taarq. The doorway was empty and the sleeping chamber was still and quiet. Half-asleep and disoriented, nursing a pounding headache, Rallis shuffled out to the main room of the apartment and stopped short at the sight of a young woman in a legionnaire's uniform lounging on the couch. She had one leg thrown over the armrest and was playing with what appeared to be a children's toy.

"Excuse me," said Rallis, "who are you?"

"Hmm?" The woman glanced over her shoulder and grinned at him. He had never seen a legionnaire act so casually before, but if she was embarrassed at being caught, she gave no sign of it. She didn't even put down the toy, a little replica flier with adjustable parts. "Ah, you're up, are you?"

"Who are you? What time is it? Where's Lieutenant Taarq?"

She leapt gracefully to her feet and bowed. "Legionnaire Aleena Saura," she said. "It's just past thirteen o'clock. I'm your alternate guard. Did I miss anything?"

"Alternate guard?"

"Even Lieutenant Taarq needs to sleep. Are you hungry?"

"Yes," said Rallis, watching her pace around the room. She was the youngest legionnaire he had seen, hardly older than Naravi, with a thin, cheerful face and hair in tight braids against her scalp. Although her movements were sharply precise, evidence of years of legionnaire training, she seemed so full of energy she nearly vibrated in place when she stood still.

"I called for food," she told him, dropping back onto the couch. "Ah, I don't envy you, that's the truth. I'm amazed you even slept. What's it like in Adesa? Is it true you can fall into the center of the world if the hole is deep enough?"

"I don't think so—" Rallis began, but a knock on the door interrupted him before he could ask what she meant. He watched her take a tray of food from another legionnaire and set it carefully on the table in the center of the room.

She gestured him closer. "Lunch. I asked for simple things."

Simple things turned out to be porridge, cooked sausages, a variety of familiar and unfamiliar fruits, a kind of soft bread baked in rounds, and tea with milk and a little jar of a thick, golden syrup Rallis initially assumed was honey, until he began to add it to his cup and Legionnaire Saura said, "I wouldn't! That's rhhev."

He eyed the jar. "What's rhhev?"

"It's a Jevite flavoring." She plucked it from his hands and dipped her spoon in the jar, holding it out to him. "Try it before you add it. It's…an acquired taste."

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.