4

I was so busy during the dinner rush that I barely had any time to grab some dinner myself. After unloading the wagon with the help of a young boy named Tomas, I cleaned two dozen fish and them helped Liman prepare three huge kettles of broth. Guards started shuffling in and for the next two hours I was pretty busy helping serve dinner and then cleaning up afterward. I was so busy that I wondered how they managed to serve dinner when they didn't have an extra person helping them.

"We just work harder," Liman said with a laugh when I asked him about it. "This is actually our easy day because the guards don't all come in at once. When they all come in at the same time, that's when things really get hectic."

"I'm surprised they haven't hired more help," I said.

"We had a couple other people helping us, but they quit about two weeks ago. The Captain said he had sent a request for more workers, but the Legion turned him down."

I helped them clean some dirty dishes and wiped the dinner tables down. The guards, predictably, were very messy eaters. When I was done, Liman handed me a bowl of soup and a plate with some bread and fish.

"Thanks," I said wearily.

"Thank you. You did a great job today."

I sat down at one of the tables and dipped my bread into the soup. Liman sat down beside me, munching on a piece of fruit. The front of his formerly white apron was almost brown now with grease and gunk, and bits of food were caught in his beard.

"You're staying here all week, right?" he asked.

I nodded, chewing on my dinner.

"How about after that?"

I swallowed and said, "I guess I'll go back to Khuul when the supply ship comes. I'll wait there for the ship to Skyrim."

"We could really use your help here, if you decide to stay."

I smiled at that. "I'll have to think about it."

When I was done eating, I helped Tomas mop the floor and put away some of the cooking supplies. After that, I wished them a good evening and headed back to the guards' quarters. Outside, it was dark and bitterly cold, much colder than it had been during the day. Flakes of snow whipped around the walls and stung my face. With the sun down, the temperature dropped so much that I was shivering with cold by the time I had crossed the yard and went inside the guard building. I touched my face, the warmth from my fingers feeling good on my nose.

"Don't you own a coat?" someone asked, and I turned to see one of the guards standing nearby in the main lobby. I didn't know who he was, but I guessed that he recognized me from dinner.

"No," I said. "I didn't expect it to be so cold here."

"Come on then," he said. "I'll get a coat for you."

I followed him down the stairs to the supply rooms and armory. His heavy booted feet clunked loudly on the stone stairs, while my feet made no noise at all. We passed the blacksmith area, where the sounds of banging metal echoed everywhere. The guard led me to a supply room where chests and crates were stacked up along the walls.

"We have lots of extra coats and clothing and stuff here," he said, digging into one of the crates. "You should probably get some heavier pants and boots as well."

Together, he helped me get a fur-lined jacket my size, as well as some thick leather pants and nice Nordic boots, although I needed to wear two pairs of thick socks to make the boots fit properly on my small feet. He also found a belt for me and a fur cap.

"Thanks a lot," I said.

He glanced at me sideways and muttered, "Yeah, no problem. So, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

It seemed the guards' initial rudeness had passed. Now that some of them noticed I was female, they were more than happy to help me. I held the clothing to my chest and nodded. "Yes, one of the woman guards showed me where the female bunks were."

"I'm done with guard duty for the night," he said. "Maybe I could, you know, show you around a little bit."

"Maybe later," I said with a smile, enough to keep him guessing. "I'm really tired though. It's been a long day. I think I'm just going to go to bed. They'll probably want me up early to help serve breakfast."

"Okay," he said, keeping the disappointment out of his voice. "Maybe tomorrow, then."

"Sure thing. Thanks again."

The guard left me in the store room and I bundled up the items so I could carry them all up to my bed. I looked forward to walking outside tomorrow without feeling the numbing cold. Maybe I would take a walk around the fort and get a better idea of my surroundings. I might be stuck on Solstheim for a week, but I was certainly not going to be trapped in the fort the whole time.

I walked out of the room, and although I thought I could find my way out, I must have made a wrong turn because I stumbled into the training area. There was a large straw mat on the floor, some wooden fighting dummies, and some heavy punching bags hanging on chains from the ceiling. And of course, there were several practice swords stacked on a wooden rack.

I looked around curiously, but no one was in the training area. I took another look back into the hallway to make sure no one was coming, and set my new clothes on the floor.

I hadn't held a sword since before my arrest in Cyrodiil. Picking one of them up off the rack brought back some nice memories. It also brought back some not-so-nice memories, but I pushed those out of the way.

The practice sword was chipped and very dull, and felt imbalanced. But its weight was good and I made a few slow passes in the air with it, getting a feel for it. It felt good to hold a weapon in my hand again, even one as battered and useless as this one.

I approached one of the fighting dummies and swung the dull blade a few times, whacking the dummy harmlessly, adding a few dents to its already scarred and gouged visage. I wondered if it might be possible to get a real sword. They probably had an extra sword lying around in the armory that they might be willing to sell me. If the surrounding woods were as dangerous as the Captain Carius had claimed, maybe the sword would come in handy.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice came from behind me.

I spun around and lowered the sword. It was none other than the Captain himself, Falx Carius, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, an amused smile on his face. He was not wearing his golden breastplate now, just the red shirt and black pants. His black hair hung loose on his head, no longer in a ponytail.

"One of the guards brought me down here to get some warmer clothing," I explained. "On my way out, I wandered in here by accident."

"Sure you did," Carius said with a smile.

"Honest," I said innocently.

Carius glanced down at the battered sword in my hand. "It almost looks like you know how to use that thing."

"I can't use it for much. It's so dull it would barely cut through water."

Carius laughed at that, and then merely smiled, his voice more serious than his expression. "You know how to use a sword?"

"I can defend myself," I answered carefully.

"I'm sure you can," he said. He stepped into the room and walked over to the practice swords, taking one off the rack. He frowned at the blade and then twirled the handle a few times, getting a feel for the battered sword. "Are you ready?" he asked casually, swinging the blade left and right slowly in front of him.

"Sure," I said, turning my body so that he faced my right side. The sword rested comfortably in my right hand, my fingers loosely holding onto the handle.

"All right then," he said.

He was on me in an instant, his sword coming down fast and hard. I blocked it and turned aside, letting his momentum bring him right past me. He swung again, and I deflected the blow as easily as the first. Backpedaling, I countered half a dozen more strikes before Carius backed off and lowered his blade, grinning wolfishly.

"Very nice," he said with a chuckle. "I was holding back, of course."

"So was I," I said, keeping the blade pointed at him. I kept my body turned sideways the entire time, naturally falling into my fighting habits. I held my stance until Carius returned his sword to the rack, and only then did I lower the blade. Holding back or not, I was not about to underestimate him. I half-expected another swift attack, but Carius set the sword down and walked toward the doorway. I returned my sword as well and bent over to pick up my clothes.

Carius came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips as I stood up. "Can I help you with those?" he asked softly, leaning his head over my shoulder to speak right into my ear.

"Thanks," I said, turning around to shove the pile of clothes directly into his hands. He looked at them for a moment and then back up at me.

"But I'm still not going to sleep with you."

"You're sure?" he asked innocently. "You might enjoy it."

"But you might not. I don't think you can handle me."

He laughed out loud as I stepped away, walking out into the hallway. Carius followed me with the clothes in his arms, shaking his head amusedly. "I do hope you agree to stay longer than just a week," he said, still laughing slightly. "Maybe I could convince you to stay here a little while longer."

"I'll think about it."

We walked up the steps to the guards' quarters, and Carius handed me the clothes when we reached the top of the staircase.

"I would invite you to come to my chambers and share a drink, but I'm afraid I don't have anything to drink," he said.

"About that," I said, remembering what Liman had told me, "Liman said that you're the one who hasn't been ordering any alcohol for the fort."

Carius seemed confused for a second. "What do you mean? Of course I order it."

"Liman said that it's not on the final supply orders."

"That doesn't make any sense. I don't change his orders at all, I just copy them and send them to ..." He paused momentarily and looked away. "Oh, that sneaky little bastard," he muttered to himself.

"Who?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Antonius Nuncius. He's an administrator at the Imperial Cult. He handles the supply orders and payments to the shipping company. I give him the final orders, but he must be changing them."

"Why would he do that?"

"He's a bit of a teetotaler. I remember him telling me once how harmful alcohol is. It never occurred to me that he would do something like this to keep the rest of the men from having anything to drink."

"Well," I said, "Now that you know who's responsible, maybe the fort will get some alcohol again. Maybe the morale will improve."

Carius considered this, and then smiled again. The same wolfish smile he had given me back in the training room. "How would you like to do a favor for me?" he asked.