Title: Expecting Someone Taller
Words: 310
Characters: Miri and Padrach of the Queen's Riders
"Evin! Evin Larse!" Padrach pounds on his group commander's door with all his might, making (as he will later be told) enough noise to wake the dead. "Evin, you lazy sod, wake up!"
All along the corridor doors are flung open and sleep-tousled heads emerge to demand an explanation, to suggest means of breaking in, or simply to tell Padrach to shut his silly head and let them sleep. Evin's door alone remains stubbornly shut and locked.
At last, however, the doorknob rattles, and a crack appears between door and jamb through which there peers a vividly green eye. Padrach recoils: of course it's not unexpected for Evin not to be sleeping alone, but at least he usually opens his own door. And there's something familiar about that particular shade of green …
Now the door swings fully open, and a horribly well-known voice fills Padrach's burning ears. "This had better be important, Padrach Sawyer! It's not even false dawn, and some of us rode in bloody late last night."
It's Miri Fisher to the life, wearing only a woollen blanket and a ferocious glare. He's seen her, over the years, in most stages of undress – but this is different, excruciating, and he wishes he were anywhere else but here.
"M-M-Miri," he manages to stammer through his choking embarrassment. "I was – I was looking for Evin …"
"Obviously." Her tone is scathing. "As it's his room. Did you have a reason for looking for Evin at this hour of the night, or did you just decide to wake everyone up for the fun of it?"
Padrach had a very good reason, of course, but the twenty silver pieces Evin owes him have suddenly become a lot less urgent. "N-no," he says, and then, more firmly, "I'll catch him up later."
"What a good idea," says Miri, and shuts the door.
