The Evening Blade by Kyle Oates

Author:Kyle Oates [Oates, Kyle K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kyle Oates
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

XII

Harvest Festival

Opening Week

Nicholas's carriage bounced a lot as it journeyed south and Anara bemoaned silently as yet another field of amber grains swayed outside the window. Lena slept with the shaved left side of her head in Anara's lap. Erin sat reading, she had been doing the past three weeks as they journeyed to Crossroads. Anara had tried, but even the information in Advanced Enchantment Theory had been unable to keep her attention focused enough to avoid motion sickness. Roxanne sat beside Erin painting her nails. Another impossibility for Anara, she lacked the coordination it required to do anything other than putting lacquer splotches on her fingers with the constant motions of the cabin. Only four courtesans were going to represent Lussena's Temple at the Harvest Tournament this year because it had been pushed back and moved to a different city at the last minute.

Ultimately, the three of Erin's closest friends were heading south for a month long appointment; Roxanne was a fellow blade dancer while Anara—and Lena by association—had grown close during the dinners with Nicholas. It felt wrong to Anara since there were more experienced courtesans to choose from. Anara sighed again as yet another field rolled by.

"I had forgotten you were asleep for this part the first time we came through," Erin said, smiling from behind her book. "It was a little more exciting back then since I was worried you would die at any time."

"She was in no danger. I told you that the moment you got back... a week late," Lena said. Anara smiled, placing her hand on Lena's back. Of course she was only pretending to be asleep. "Mistress Caidrill was furious when you told her about the additional expenditures you paid, by the way."

"Really? She didn't say anything about it to me. How odd," Erin sighed. "Though it could not have been helped. Anara was really very little help when we had to set up camp and break it down every night, wasting time in hibernation."

"Sounds like how it has been this trek," Mistress Ashton chimed in with a chuckle. "I love the heat box she made right before we left, but I'd think she could help contribute a bit more when there isn't a tavern to spend the night in."

"It wasn't my fault," Anara pouted, glaring at Roxanne. She helped plenty those nights, Roxanne just liked to rub in how much more she could do. Anara could not physically lift as much as Erin or Roxanne since they focused on physical strength and agility for their chapter. "I was ill."

"No you weren't," Lena laughed, sitting up just long enough to kiss Anara. "I don't know what you were, but Erin's suggestion of hibernation seems the most likely. Your body just seemed to be frozen in time, you lost no weight and needed no food for four weeks. When I’m a famous orderly I might have to do a case study on you to see if I can reproduce the results."

"I'm not a bear who sleeps off the winter, nor a rodent to experiment on," Anara said, poking Lena in the ribs.

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