Chapter 25 – The Military Girl
Gray walked out of Andria’s father’s bank feeling content for the seventh time of that year. So far his revenue has been good, he had been a good investor, and the cash flow was enough for him to get what every other noble had - a house, a carriage, and some nice clothes.
“Let’s go to the military quarters in Hail Street,” he threw his driver a silver coin. “We need to hire some guards to the house.”
His carriage driver, Jones, was a half-mute old man who had a hunched back and looked like he got beaten by every mob in the street. But for a man in his mid-sixties, the bastard was a damn good servant. Didn’t question Gray’s orders too much, did what he asked, and left with his pay. It wasn’t something a lot of servants did. Not even Gray when he was a servant.
While on the carriage he ran through the documents Montrea’s lawyer had provided him. He had read them a few times last night just to see if all the details were correct, and there weren’t any loopholes those damn lawyers could use against him. So far, it has been good.
But I am dealing with dangerous people…Gray brushed his fingers. I need to be careful. I still have the tattoos if anything happens-
He almost stumbled forward when the carriage lurched to a halt. The horses neighed, several people screamed, and then it all died down in an instant.
“What the fuck?” Gray swung the door open and jumped out of the carriage. “Jones, what the hell was that?”
The old man looked at him, looking numb as ever. But he lifted a bony finger and pointed at the street.
In front of them, there were three men down on the ground. One big guy at least three times the size of Gray, and probably his two skinny henchmen. The big guy was grabbing his balls while bleeding from a cut on his forehead. The other two were lying on the ground in pools of blood.
Murder in cold daylight? And here I thought this kingdom couldn’t get any worse.
The crowds were starting to gather out like flies to rotten food. There were so many people to investigate a murder after it had happened. But before the crowds could get too rough a girl in the Adulan Military Uniform stepped through.
“Please clear off the area!” her voice wasn’t loud, but it had a sense of ferocity that even made the men in the front row back away.
Gray scrutinized the girl. She was a little older than him, medium height, with cropped black hair, pale skin with a slight tan from the sunlight, and a big scar on her hand. The left part of her face looked bloody, probably from the fight.
“Any trouble?” Gray moved through the crowds. The people cleared off as soon as they saw his carriage. Not many men had the luxury of private transportation.
The girl looked like she was about to swat him off, but then her eyes moved to the noble emblem pinned on his left pocket.
“Sorry sir, this is a private military matter. Escapees from prison. They’ve been rotting in this town for a while.”
“Oh,” Gray looked at the tattoos on the big man’s arms. The guy definitely didn’t look like your local barman.
“Atena!” A young woman came running through the crowd. “Oh, thank you! You saved us again. I cannot thank you enough.”
She grabbed the military girl’s hands and shook them like she was giving a blessing.
The name Atena started to go as a whisper around the crowd. There were several claps, and a few cheers, while the rest were more focused on the bloody dead bodies.
Gray retreated back towards Jones.
“Atena? You know something about her?”
“Aye, sir!” the old man smacked his lips. “Brave girl. Saved a lot of people in this town from bandits and beasts. She’s a famous name around here.”
Atena, huh…
Gray looked at her chest. Pretty average for a girl. But her movement was firm, and her gaze was sharp. Qualities of a warrior.
“Is that woman troubling you sir?”
Gray turned in a flash to see three soldiers, all dressed in military uniform. None of them looked so happy.
“No fellas,” he gave back a smile. Sometimes the sight of the military still made him shiver. Habits from his days in servitude for Julius. Once he had stolen from the market and got beaten by them pretty badly. The military vest hadn’t been a friendly sight for him ever since. “I was on the way to your quarters. Searching for a private guard. You know anyone good?”
The eyes of the three soldiers lighted up. It was a common practice for nobles to hire private guards from the military. And there was nothing the soldiers loved more than that. Less work, more pay, more vacations, and some even had affairs with the noble masters and mistresses. It was a soldier’s paradise.
“Name’s Ruthcroft sir,” The bulkier guy on the left pushed the other two and walked to Gray. “Twenty-Three. Served five years in the military. My father was a soldier too. And you can search for the records. I’m the best in the business.”
“Oh, really?” Judging from the man’s looks Gray had no doubt about that. And he would have chosen him without second guessing if only he hadn’t seen Atena. Gray looked back at the girl, who was dragging the corpses out of the street. She was fully dressed, but by the way her movements worked, he could guess there were some sweet muscles underneath. And she was a girl. Much better. “What about Atena?”
Ruthcroft’s face darkened. “What about her sir?”
“How’re her rankings?”
“She’s just hitting up the charts a little. But it’ll be down soon. No need to focus on her sir, I’m the man you need.”
Ah, jealousy, perhaps?
As someone who regularly cuckolded people, it was a feeling Gray was used to.
“I’d still like to know about her Ruthcroft. And if she isn’t a valid candidate, I can hire you.”
“She won’t be after tonight sir,” the skinny soldier in the left said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Edward! Shut up!” Ruthfort snapped, then turned to Gray. “She will be leaving the military tomorrow.”
“Oh, really?” Gray arched his eyebrows. “Any specific reason?”
“We don’t know.”
Gray sighed. He pulled a pouch of silver from his pocket. “First to open his mouth gets this.”
“We are making her hate the military!” the skinny guy at the left said. “We are planning on getting her drunk and demoted tonight.”
Ruthcroft turned back in a flash and punched the soldier. He stumbled back and fell to the ground.
“Shut up Edward! That’s private,” he turned to Gray again, his face wary. “Sorry, you had to see that sir. But we are…giving her a little treatment tonight. Now you could go and report this to the military, but I wouldn’t recommend that. My father is the chief officer in the city defenses. He definitely doesn’t like someone snooping around-”
“Are you threatening me?” Gray frowned. He was no longer a servant boy. He had money. He had power. He could throw away a pouch of gold and ask everyone around to crush the man’s spine.
Calm down, the saner part of Gray said. There’s time.
“No sir,” Ruthcroft didn’t meet my eyes. “Just saying.”
“Good,” Gray threw Ruthcroft the pouch of silver. “You mind if I join you in this little party of yours?”
The soldier who was silent gawked his mouth. “A noble? Among us?”
“With gold and free beer. And my mouth will be zipped. Are we in or out?”
The two men looked at each other, and then Ruthcroft gave a nod. “You can come, sir. But it won’t be a pretty party.”
“I have parties inside my house every day Ruthcroft, and they aren’t pretty ones either.”