3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
C olette sank down with a contented sigh into her favorite plush chair by the fireplace.
Her grandmother, Talisa, sat opposite her on a small matching sofa.
Talisa often stayed up late to wait for Colette to return after a job.
The two women rested in a comfortable silence, enjoying the dancing light of the flames brightening the small main room of the home they shared.
Ever since Colette had arrived in Zhava City three years ago, she had stayed close to her grandmother, Talisa.
Colette’s mother had been an only child.
When her mother met her father and moved away to Ichorna all those years ago, her grandmother had refused to leave along with them.
She had written Colette letters every month for as long as Colette could remember, though they only met a few times when the family had returned to Zhava City to visit.
Colette’s thoughts wandered, and she let herself miss her parents for a rare moment.
The fire gradually slowed its dance, settling down into glowing embers as Colette thought of the life she had left behind in Ichorna.
She had been a palace guard in the capital, Lucinne.
She had loved the long hours of training and exertion her role required; she wanted to be able to take care of herself.
Colette and her grandmother had grown close from years of thoughtful and regular correspondence, so when Talisa fell ill and could no longer live alone, Colette decided to move her life to Zhava City. Growing up in Ichorna had been wonderful, but she craved a new adventure.
Finding a job as a guard in the city had not proven as easy as Colette had hoped, however.
Sartyans could be a suspicious lot, and the fact that she had served another realm, despite her Sartyan heritage, had kept her shut out of every opportunity.
So, she had found other ways to put her skills to use—more fulfilling ways.
Pulling herself from her thoughts, Colette turned to her grandmother.
“I am happy to be here with you. I hope you know that,” she said.
“For someone in your line of work, you are rather sentimental—but I am grateful for your company and for your honesty. You are the light of my life, Coco.” Talisa smiled at her. “Will you help me to bed? I’ve stared at the fire long enough for tonight.”
Colette rose and went to her grandmother’s side.
Talisa’s mobility issues were the main reason she could no longer live by herself.
Her body was declining, but her mind was sharp as a whip.
The pain and swelling in her joints was manageable when treated with a specific blend of rather expensive herbs.
The cost of medication, in combination with Colette’s lack of a job and her grandmother’s dwindling savings, had led Colette to try her hand at redistributing some of the wealth from Zhava City’s oblivious nobles.
Talisa took Colette’s offered arm and slowly rose from her sofa.
Her grandmother always smelled of strong black tea and night-blooming jasmine.
The two women made their way across the apartment to the bedroom, where Colette made sure her grandmother was comfortable before retreating to their tiny kitchen to find something to eat.
Colette had told her grandmother about her…
“line of work” as she had called it. The older woman had snorted a laugh upon hearing Colette’s reasoning, saying Colette might as well help other common folk with the proceeds of her efforts.
Zhava City was not known for its care of its poorer citizens, so it had been an easy decision to make.
Now, Colette spent her time distributing purses of coin discreetly when she wasn’t staking out her next target.
What had started out of boredom and necessity had grown into something Colette was truly passionate about—helping people.
Putting a bunch of pretentious rich people in their place was a bonus.
Her muscles had started to ache in a pleasant way now that she was a few hours past the exertion of the break-in.
She stretched her arms over her head as she stared at their shelves of food, trying to decide what she would eat and finally settling on a soft round of flatbread and a ripe joulum fruit.
A bite of the deep purple stone fruit sent its tart, sweet flavor bursting across her tongue.
She savored the silky feel of the fruit as a bit of juice trickled down her chin.
The sensation sent her back to the last time she had been with a lover; they had shared a joulum, a known aphrodisiac, and had spent long moments licking tiny rivulets of its juice from each other’s skin.
It felt like an eternity ago. Colette wasn’t shy about taking lovers, but she had grown a bit bored with her prospects in recent months.
She wanted something more, something exciting and real .
She thought back to the suggestive letter she had left to Zhava City’s stern Captain of the Guard and chuckled.
Captain Mav Azimi was a manticore, a rare sight in Sartya’s more populated areas.
Colette had only laid eyes on the Captain once, at the first and only royal address she had attended the first year she came back to Sartya.
Captain Azimi had been strikingly beautiful that day, in her sculpted leather armor that left the soft golden fur of her midriff on display.
She was tall and fierce, her face that of a lion’s, but more expressive.
Colette imagined her hair resembled a lion’s mane, but she had it slicked back and braided tightly so that her furry rounded ears stood out as part of her silhouette.
Her wings and scorpion tail had made her an imposing figure standing on the dais in front of the gathered crowd.
Perhaps Captain Azimi would prove to be the excitement Colette wanted so desperately.