Chapter 2 #3
Theo bit his tongue, forcing himself to hold back. Gerard may have been a pain in the ass, but he was a decent fighter and damn good with a bow. Not as skilled as Gris, of course. She was the most talented archer in Godwin.
An enraged Bennet stared down the governor through the open door.
At first glance, Bennet was stoic, but Theo knew his demeanor.
He’d trained him for his entire life, and Theo had learned when his anger grew and how to evade the backlash.
At least that much hadn’t changed in three years.
Bennet gripped his wrist behind his back, scrunching the cuff of his uniform.
His widened stance with his leather belt strapped tightly around his waist with a sword and dagger showed his authority, and it worked as the governor cowered in his study.
The smell of musty books hit Theo as he crossed the threshold onto the red and gold rug, sending a familiar longing through him.
Bennet followed him, passing cherry thistlewood shelves filled with various volumes of war, politics, and a few leisure reads Theo recognized would fit perfectly on his shelf along with his other adventure novels.
The governor raced frantically around his large desk, righting frames and shuffling piles of parchment. Bennet marched to the center of the room and stopped at the desk of the frightened dignitary. The governor slowed his frantic movements, and the whites of his eyes grew as he shrank before him.
Theo followed in his wake, feeling the shadow he was once again forced to hide in. Bennet wasn’t pleased with the fight on the docks, but Theo hadn’t had an opportunity to elaborate much beyond requesting a meeting with the governor.
It was strange working under Bennet again.
Theo had led his own squad during the war and rarely had any other higher-ranking officer with him on missions.
Only when Theo had been promoted to captain and became second-in-command of Thereus Company under Major Faylare had he worked with a commanding officer on a more routine basis.
Gerard took a place to Bennet’s right, and Gris perched on the edge of a red fainting couch, crossing a leg over the other.
Her movements were fluid and graceful. It was hard to believe she’d spent most of the last ten years as a soldier among many men who didn’t share a single shred of her civility.
She placed the tip of her extravagant bow at her feet and began spinning it in slow circles.
“Chief,” the governor stammered, “I hope this is important. I was forced to push my meeting with—”
“Governor Risley,” Bennet interrupted, narrowing his gaze as he gripped the back of an upholstered chair. “The fight on the docks this morning was intolerable.” He threw a flared glance at Theo, who tightened his jaw but didn’t interrupt.
“What happened on the docks was the direct result of an instigation by one of your officers,” Risley growled.
The governor was a short and slender man with blond hair fixed into a slicked-back ponytail.
Even in the intense heat, he still wore a red frock coat over a golden waistcoat.
Theo scoffed at his comment, resulting in another glower from Bennet.
Risley was the type of man bred for politics, not battle, or at least to look the part.
He’d only won the election because he’d run unopposed.
“Which will be dealt with.” Bennet ground his teeth. “But were you made aware of who else instigated this fight?”
The governor pulled a red handkerchief from his pocket to dab the beads of sweat crowning his forehead.
“Chief, if you plan to insult me, you can stop right there. My soldiers contained these fights before they could turn into full-fledged riots and before your soldiers arrived.” Risley shot Theo with a harrowing frown.
“I’ve allowed this meeting, not to squabble over merchants and tariffs, but because I have a more pressing matter.
I have too many reports of missing persons to cast them aside. ”
The missing runners and the shopkeeper’s employee. Theo replayed Alan and Gris’s comments from earlier. He wouldn’t tolerate it. No one else would be ripped from their home.
Gris coughed beside him, and he glanced at her lazily leaning against the armrest, picking at a loose thread. She raised her brows as their eyes met. Theo flicked his gaze back to Risley, steadying his thoughts before they could ramble further. Somehow, she could always tell when they raced.
Bennet’s voice was gruff as he asked, “What do you believe to be the cause?”
“The first reports coming in were of beggars who vanished, teenagers no longer scouring the docks for small jobs, but now they’ve escalated to esteemed members of society. Lord Freville and one of the Veduco boys has gone missing.”
Theo contained his rage over the governor’s naivete to dismiss the fight and his insults against his people.
“Only with the absence of high-class members of society will you look into these disappearances?” Theo chastised, drawing a sharp look from Bennet.
It was a waste of resources and time. Lord Freville was a pompous twat, and both Veduco brothers were well known for disappearing with a bottle of liquor in one hand and a woman on the other.
“The men who started the fight this morning spoke Tendasy. Are you aware you now have ships docking from enemy territories?”
“Impossible!” Risley shouted, rising to his full height, which only came to Theo’s shoulder. “Our enemies in the Black Sea wouldn’t dare invade Godwin’s waters. The king’s armada stationed at Charibert would see to their demise instantly!”
“They could easily slip through a port of this magnitude,” Theo replied callously. “Falsifying their documentation would be easy. What if they’ve brought their slave trade to Godwin?”
Bennet’s hand gripped into a balled fist at his side, his knuckles burning white for Theo’s outburst and insubordination. They didn’t have time for Bennet’s arrogance or the governor’s naivete. If people were being taken, they’d need to put a stop to it.
The governor pressed his hands into the desk, but the color began slowly draining from his face. “What do you know of the ongoings of the Black Sea, Captain?” The inflection of his voice mocked his title.
Theo gripped the hilt of his dagger, running the thumb along the edge.
“You’ve been off fighting in the Nebulous Sea for the last three years in a ridiculous war that has wreaked havoc on trade in my port.”
“Your port?” Theo yelled, releasing his dagger and slamming his hands against the desk. “Our armies are weakened, and our enemies know this. The slavers know this!”
“I will not entertain the ridiculous notions of a child,” Risley ridiculed.
“That’s enough,” Bennet snapped, raising his hand to silence any further discussion. “We would be foolish to discount all theories. A ship possibly manned with our enemies made it into your port. We have brought more soldiers and stationed them along the docks. We’ll leave them in your charge.”
“More soldiers won’t stop the issues,” Risley replied.
“Do you wish for the duke to close the port?”
“That would ruin Duncaster.”
“Duncaster might already be in ruin,” Bennet snapped. “Until the issue with these missing persons is solved, every vessel wishing to trade will be searched before they are allowed to dock and after to be sure they’re only carrying their stated cargo.”
“This is how you wish to handle the situation? They won’t agree to it.”
Bennet pressed his hands against Risley’s desk, leaning over the man as he retreated into his chair. “If they will not agree to pay or have their ships searched, then they won’t be trading in Duncaster. Those are the duke’s orders.”
Bennet abruptly took to the hall, Gerard right behind him. The governor sat with his shoulders hunched and his mouth agape.
“Theodoric!” Bennet shouted.
Theo closed the door. Madness. We discover tenants are missing, and Bennet wishes to lecture me now?
He shook off the sweltering anger clinging to every fiber of his body.
The inner soldier threatened to break loose as he charged down the steps of the governor’s office, but Theo shoved it down, shutting himself off from that part of him.
Once down the rickety steps and into the town center, Theo turned to Bennet. He forced his heart to slow and his breaths to remain steady. Learning to mask what emotions or thoughts spun within his mind was a useful skill he regretfully attained during the war, growing cold and numb.
“Missing tenants—” Theo began.
“Don’t test me,” Bennet said through gritted teeth, ushering them off the cobbled streets and into an alley between the governor’s office and a butcher’s shop. The smell of rotting meat hit Theo’s nose instantly as they entered the filthy alley lined with rubbish and piss.
Bennet pinned Theo’s shoulders against the building behind him. Theo could’ve pushed him away, shoved him back against the opposite wall, but he stifled his anger.
“You are only a captain here,” Bennet snapped. “You’ll do well to remember that. You spoke out of line and made us look like fools in front of the governor. Your actions were disgraceful. Two sailors and one civilian dead and three soldiers injured!”
Theo swallowed as Bennet spewed the results of their small battle from the morning. One dead civilian. The crimson overlay crept into his mind, bathing his vision in blood as he stood before Bennet. He may not have been the first one to attack, but he’d instigated the fight.
Bennet released his shoulder and began ranting about insubordination, but Theo could only hear the ringing in his ears.
No one else would die for his actions. His breaths came quick and painful, like each one would be his last. I fight and I live.
He repeated the chant, rubbing his thumb against the crest in his dagger’s hilt.
He didn’t know when Bennet stepped away or when Gerard cleared the alley, but his mind focused on Gris, who stood before him. The red slid away, and Theo found himself panting and staring down either end of the alley, but Bennet and Gerard were gone.
“Where did they go?”
“Back to the inn.” Gris’s voice was hesitant, but he pushed past her to head toward the inn they’d procured rooms at for the night.
They crossed the cobbled street and passed zooming carriages. Theo couldn’t look her in the eye after his moment of weakness. What had come over him? What had Bennet said to him? He opened the door to the inn and rushed to his room before anyone could snag him.
He sat on the edge of the bed, gripping his temples between his calloused fingers and praying to his gods to keep his heart steady and his mind clear.