3

I went to the guards' quarters and began wandering around aimlessly, looking for the kitchen. The kitchen and supply rooms were usually on the ground floor, while the guards' personal rooms and beds occupied the top two stories. The basement normally held the armory and training areas. I have been in a few forts before, so I had a general idea where things were located.

I followed the smell of food to the kitchen, where several workers in drab gray aprons were stirring pots over little fires, or cutting bread and fruits on long cutting boards. Smoke and the smell of food was thick in the air, and my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since early in the morning.

One of the cooks, a large man with thick arms and a bristly black beard, was looking at me, so I walked over to him. "I'm looking for someone named Liman," I said.

"I'm Liman. You new here?" The man's voice was deep and gravelly, but he didn't seem threatening.

"Yes, your Captain sent me over here. I don't have enough money to pay for room and board here at the fort, so he said you could find some work for me to do."

Liman wiped his greasy hands on his apron, but it was so dirty already that I didn't think it cleaned his hands off. "I suppose I can," he said. "You must have come off the supply ship, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. When the wagon gets here, start unloading all the food and provisions. I'll send someone out to help you carry them into the kitchen."

"Okay, and after that?"

"You know how to clean fish?"

I nodded. "I've done it a few times."

"Good," Liman said, flashing a quick grin. "Hopefully my men caught some today. They should be back here right before supper. You can help them clean and prepare the fish."

"Okay, sounds like fun," I said.

Liman chuckled at that, and I decided that I liked him. He went back to stirring pots of stew and checking on the rest of the food being made, and I turned and walked back out of the kitchen. Just as I was leaving, Liman called me back.

"Hey, come here a second," he said.

I walked back over to him and he asked, "Do you know if there was anything to drink on that supply ship? Any Cyrodiilic brandy or anything?"

"You're the third person to ask me that," I said. "Sorry, but I don't think there was."

"Damn," he muttered. "We haven't had any in months. The Captain must want us all to be miserable here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's the one who writes up our supply orders," Liman explained. "I always put in orders for more drinks. You know, flin and brandy. But the final supply order from the Captain never has them on the list. He must want this place to be a dry fort or something."

I couldn't help but show my surprise. Carius had mentioned the lack of alcohol, but he had told me that the supply ships had stopped delivering it. He didn't mention that he never ordered any. "Has anyone asked him about it?" I asked.

Liman shrugged his big shoulders. "I don't know. He's the Captain, it's not like we can do anything about it."

"Yeah," I said. "I guess not. Well, I'm going to check to see if the wagon is back yet."

"Okay, I'll send someone out in a little bit to help you."

I left the kitchen and headed back to the front door. I peeked outside, but the supply wagon had not returned yet. Instead of waiting outside for it, I decided to take a look around the guards' quarters. Since Captain Carius never got around to telling me how to secure a bed for myself, I decided to just look around and find my own.

I went upstairs and checked out the bunk rooms. The first one appeared full, since all the beds had clothing or other personal items laying around. I decided I didn't want a bed in the same room as all the male guards, so that room was out.

As I went back out into the hallway, I heard the sound of a sword suddenly being drawn, and harsh voice behind me.

"Don't move. What do you think you're doing?"

"Looking for a place to stay," I said carefully, slowly turning around to see one of the guards facing me with their sword in their hand. "Your Captain told me there were extra beds here. I was looking for an unoccupied one."

I was surprised to see that the guard was a woman, although with her armor on it was hard to tell. She eyed me up for a moment and must have decided that I was not a threat. Pursing her lips disapprovingly, she sheathed her sword. "I thought you were a thief," she explained, but I had already guessed that.

"I have a note from the Captain, if you want to see it."

"Yes, I'd better." I gave the note to her, and she glanced at it briefly before handing it right back to me. "It has Carius' stamp, I guess that's good enough."

"Where do the female guards bunk at?" I asked. "It would be better if I stayed in the same room with the other women."

"Down this way," the guard said, motioning for me to follow her. We went to the bunk room at the other end of the hallway and she led me inside. Most of the beds were made, but most of them looked as if they hadn't been slept in recently.

"You can take one of these beds," she said. "There's only two guards here that are women, and we both sleep in here."

I tossed my bag onto one of the empty beds. "Alright then. This will be my home for at least a week, until the supply ship comes back. My name is Sasha, by the way."

"My name is Gaea Artoria. Nice to meet you." We didn't shake hands or anything, but Gaea smiled warmly as she led me back out of the room. "I'm still on patrol, but when my shift is over I can show you around the fort, if you want."

"That would be nice," I said. "I'm supposed to help in the kitchen today, so I don't know how late they'll have me work."

"Okay, I'll probably see you tonight then."

"Thanks a lot," I said, and headed back down the stairs to the lobby. As soon as I went outside, I saw the wagon come through the main gate, with all the provisions from the ship stacked on top. I guessed it was time to get to work.