The Price of Honor by Richard Fierce

Author:Richard Fierce [Fierce, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonfire Press

16

In the morning, Lailani awoke to the pounding of the worst headache she could remember. It was like the beating of drums inside her skull. Her mouth was dry as though full of cotton, and she was disoriented. She sat up, and the tent walls spun around her. Where was she? She caught a flash of Kalea’s face before she staggered to the entrance and vomited on the ground.

She remained on her hands and knees until the ground stopped tilting, then returned to her bed with a groan.

“Rough morning?” Huou asked, chuckling.

The sound of his laugh grated on her nerves, but she bit her tongue. It wasn’t his fault she’d overindulged last night.

“I don’t know why anyone drinks alcohol when this is what the aftereffect is like,” she said.

“People enjoy being tortured when it’s on their own terms,” Kalea chimed in.

Lailani watched them both rise from their bedrolls. They put their armor on and were preparing to leave the tent.

“Don’t tell me we still have to train today?”

“You didn’t think you got to sleep all day, did you? Yes, we have to train, but we get to spend the day with our dragons.”

That was good news, but she still felt like death was waiting to take her to the afterlife. The two men left the tent, leaving her alone. She rolled onto her side and wondered if it was possible to die from drinking whatever Lord Ishida had given her.

Lord Ishida.

The memory of the night before came to the forefront of her mind, and her eyes widened. He knew she was a woman! He said he wouldn’t say anything, but why not? Did he feel the same attraction she did toward him? Perhaps he did. There was nothing for him to gain by keeping her secret. It wasn’t as if she was from wealth, so he couldn’t extort her family.

They had kissed, too. Her cheeks burned, and she eased herself up into a sitting position. Would things be awkward between them now? Should she avoid him? Did he remember what happened, or was the moment lost to the void of drunkenness?

Ameratsu.

The dragon’s name echoed in her thoughts. She tried to ignore the creature, but its presence lingered in her mind, much like the scent of the powdered incense from Lord Ishida’s pavilion wouldn’t leave her nostrils. She decided to put him out of her thoughts. War loomed on the horizon, and romance would only distract her from her course.

Lailani forced herself off the bedroll and retrieved one of the sea sponges from the bag hidden underneath it, stuffing the sponge under her cuirass. She’d passed out with her boots and armor on, so she only had to smooth her hair, and then she was on her way through the camp to find a private spot. She performed her ablutions and went to the meal rug, opting to skip breakfast. Her stomach felt too weak to eat anything.

The general atmosphere among the other men was much the same as her own. It was a sea of pale faces, and a few people looked as if they were about to be sick.

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