Red Rope of Fate (7 page)

Arion nodded, taking
in Tari’s words. “Although we can easily communicate that does not mean the wide gap of our cultures was bridged.”

Tari leaned heavier against the archway. “So you don’t mind if I chatter and I can bang about your office without fear of disturbing you?”

“Yes.”

Tari uneasily straightened.
“This is going to be more difficult than I thought. We are, I mean.”

“It
has been my experience that anything worth fighting for does not come easily.”

“But we’ve got to try,” Tari said. “We’re the first like this. Ever. We need to try. Imagine what it would mean if we really became partnered friends.”

Arion inclined his head in a slight nod.

Tari and Arion stared at each other for a few moments before Arion turned
to place his chestplate on the ground. “You should probably retire, Tari. It has been a long day for you.”

“Yes. Thank you again, Arion. Good night,” Tari said before beating a hasty retreat.

This bond she shared with the captain. It wasn’t like the lovely stories or legends where they formed an instantaneous friendship. They would have to work at it, and Tari was very likely to be unintentionally insulted in the future by the quiet captain, but this was real and the stakes were high. Arion was right. Their bond was something worth fighting for.

When Tari woke it was to a storm of missives, worried officials (human and elf alike
), and hot fruit bread.

“Where is Arion?” Tari asked, nibbling on a piece of warm bread. The butter had melted on top and was a perfect combination with the sweet berries in the flaky crust.

Evlawyn leaned against the buckling door of Tari’s rooms, armed with a broom. “He left at dawn, Lady Tari,” Evlawyn said before briefly opening the door and smacking whatever unfortunate official sat outside with the broom. “The Lady Tari must prepare herself for the day before she can receive visitors,” she shrilly announced before slamming the door shut.

Tari spread more butter on her bread with amusement. “
That’s the spirit Evlawyn. Thank you for facing them for me.”

Evlawyn mewled as she leaned against the door again.

Tari stood, taking her bread with her, and ambled to the massive wardrobe her clothes were stored in. She swung it open and reflected on her clothes as she ate more bread. “More of my things arrived yesterday?”

“Yes,” Evlawyn said from the sitting room. Tari pushed aside some of her clothes as Evlawyn added. “Your practice Evening Star
clothes mostly, and some more morning dresses.”

“Did they happen to send any of my Evening Star
official uniforms?”

“No, I don’t believe so. Would you like me to request that they be sent?”

Tari thoughtfully fingered the silky material of her practice clothes. “Yes, please. If possible send word to Seer Ringali.”

“Your instructor? Does he have your clothes?” Evlawyn asked, bewildered.

“No, but I suspect he hasn’t sent me a scalding message because he’s coming to visit me. If he does he can bring my clothes with him.”

At the noon hour Tari stared at the door to Arion’s office. It seemed to loom and stretch above her like a dooming dragon. Tari swallowed and tried to bolster her sagging spirits.
She took a breath and raised her hand to knock, but hesitated.

Arion
wants
me to be informal. I can do this.

Tari pushed the door open with such force it banged into the wall and bounced back. “Good Afternoon Arion,” Tari said, entering his office before she could be told to come in.

Arion was standing behind his desk, speaking to two uniformed guards. “Good afternoon, Tari. How are you feeling?” he said.

Tari elegantly slumped into one of two chairs in the room. “Like I was kicked in the head by a horse,” Tari said.
“Did you get enough rest?”

Arion nodded, and Tari
leaned back and closed her eyes when he returned his attention to his men.

“I will relieve Clive
r at the afternoon patrol. Alert the rest of the patrol leaders to the changes in the rounds. You are dismissed.”

T
he guards replied in perfect unison.

Tari opened her eyes after the men trooped past and offered Arion a smile.

He inclined his head, acknowledging it, and began paging through reports.

Tari rubbed the tender spot at the back of her head and straightened in her chair. “Can I call for tea?” she asked.

“Of course,” Arion said, briefly looking up from his papers.

“Would you like any?”

“No, no thank you.”

“Very well,” Tari said, rising to her feet. She poked her head in the hallway and smiled when she caught sight of Evlawyn, who was hiding in a pocket in the wall.
“Evlawyn, could you call for tea, please?”

Evlawyn curtsied and scurried down the hallway as Tari ducked back into Arion’s office.

“Were you stormed with officials and written concerns this morning as well?”

“To a certain extent. It is only to be
expected. I cannot believe you were attacked in the palace by men from
Calnor
.”

“Perhaps they were hired by someone from a different country.”

“It does not matter. Calnor is the sworn protector of Lessa. We guard you from harm, we do
not
incite it,” Arion paused and looked up from his report. “You mentioned you could not fight back due to your attackers’ ethnicity. Why would you never fight a person from Calnor?”

“It’s in the vows I take as a
n Evening Star. I am sworn to never use my magic against the men of Calnor.”

“
Evening Stars are dancers, are they not? Surely defending yourself would not fall under such a vow?”

“It does,”
Tari grimly said. “It’s an unbreakable rule that is the foundation of my position.”

Arion furrowed his eyebrows
, but either he used his sneaky ability to pick up on her emotions or he decided it was not worth pursuing and let the matter drop.

“Have you gotten any information from the men? Did
they survive?” Tari asked.

“They did. Some of them are unfit to be questioned. Those that are have
not been broken yet, but I am certain they will be willing to share information shortly,” Arion said.

Tari
winced at the implication and moved to stand by the window. She turned her back to the sun, smiling as it warmed her bones.

Arion’s desk was covered in a mishmash of papers, reports, folders, and books. “That is a very interesting organization system you are following,”
Tari smiled.

Arion quirked an eyebrow. “It works.”

“I’m sure it does,” Tari laughed.

There was a timid knock on the door, and Tari flounced through the room. “That must be Evlawyn with the tea,” Tari said before opening the door
to Evlawyn. Internally Tari wailed at the great amount of informality she was displaying in all of this—she was essentially using Arion’s room as if it were her own. However the captain seemed content to give her free rule.

Tari took the
tea tray from her handmaiden with a smile before she crossed the room to set the wooden tray down on a small end table crowded next to her chair.

Tari reclined in the chair and sipped her tea, apple spice flavored, while Arion quietly shuffled through his paperwork. When a soldier knocked on Arion’s door an hour later Tari took her leave, feeling content—if not accomplished.

The following day Tari was cross-examined forwards and backwards during a rather intense interview with the head security captain of Rosewood Park. It was an elf, and he seemed to take Tari’s attack rather as a personal failing than a defensive misstep.

Tari’s assurances that she felt perfectly safe in the gardens did not seem to sit well with the captain, who gravely promised to double the garden security detail before bowing her out of the room.

“I apologize again for the shortcomings of our patrols. We shall double our efforts to ensure the gardens are a place of peace and sanctuary.”

“Thank you, sir, but the
failing was neither yours nor your men’s. You cannot take the blame from those who sought to attack me, the fault is theirs,” Tari countered.

The captain looked unconvinced and bowed deeper still before shutting the door to his office.

Tari exhaled and set out in the direction she thought would lead her to Rosewood Park. She was still using it as her center point for transportation rather than attempt to learn the winding passages of the castle. It meant she took an awkwardly long amount of time to travel the palace, but Tari didn’t mind. The sunlight and open air corridors refreshed her.

Tari flicked her skirts in a pleased gesture when she found one of the open air corridors that transverse
d the side of the palace and Rosewood Park. She went down one flight of stairs and was about to go down a second when she paused and instead started down the corridor.

This isn’t the direction I need to go in.
Tari thought, even as she kept walking. There was something that pulled her along.

The
corridor turned in a wide U shape—still following the palace and overlooking the gardens below. Tari glanced at the other side of the U and spotted Arion, walking briskly with three guards hurrying after him to keep pace.

“Arion,” Tari called.

The captain stopped, looked across the courtyard and nodded to her before he started walking again. They met at the bottom of the U.

Arion was dressed in his usual dark colored tunic and military hauberk, his sword and daggers draped from his belt. There was a distinct wrinkle in his forehead, and his eyes looked stormy. His soldiers
walked gingerly behind him, their expressions pinched with worry.

“Is everything all right?”
Tari asked uncertainly.

“Yes,” Arion barked. Behind him his men jumped.

Tari leaned forward, studying Arion. “What are you doing out here?”

“Patrols. I check on my men stationed in the castle,” he said, turning slightly to cast a stormy look to
the guards.

They shifted uncomfortably and said nothing.