forty-four
Sulim left Takir’s salon at the far end of Shield Town later that evening, having enacted a handshake deal to personally pay for Mira’s first full chiefly regalia as was befitting a woman of her newfound station.
Leave it up to Mira, and she’ll wear the bare minimum.
She needed more than that, and it wasn’t simply a point of pride.
Other mercenaries had to respect her; townsfolk must revere her.
Mira trekked a fine line between coming in with a job to do and maintaining command of a ragtag team of misfits who had mostly only ever known fighting, killing, and stealing for money, sometimes all on the same mission.
Mercenaries usually didn’t interact with julah outside of the Temple, and they certainly didn’t lead the humans and occasional hybrid who shows up in the ranks.
We don’t have any hybrids that I know of.
Not just in Second Tribe, but in any of the tribes.
Even if they did, odds were great that they were human-aligned hybrids who didn’t hold much respect for Yahzenian culture. They probably didn’t even speak Julah.
Sulim had received her first orders from her new chief.
In the morning, she was departing for Bow Village deep in the jungle, where she had already arranged to meet up with her local contacts in Third Tribe.
Sonall was ordered to head to Spear City.
Mira thought it prudent to assign a julah escort for both.
Sulim had yet to touch base with Kema, though.
And she hadn’t seen much of Sonall, either, who had been at that afternoon’s briefing and quickly made himself scarce again.
But if Sulim knew anything about his pre-departure routine, he was in the tavern having fun before heading over to one of the card houses.
Or the brothel. That was the only hinge in Sulim’s plan to find him.
Where oh where do I begin? The debauchery tour could spin him in any direction.
Her hunch to trawl through the tavern proved fruitful in an instant.
“…The guy proceeded to get so drunk that he fell right on his ass, spilling the money out of his pocket and all over the floor.”
Sulim recognized his voice anywhere, especially when he was telling one of his funniest tales.
“Didn’t even have to kill him. Just scooped up all of that money while he passed out to the Void. Couldn’t tell you how he reacted when he came to, but we were long gone from that planet.”
Sulim stood by the booth Sonall shared with Kema, who was more than cozy with the man who was tipsier than a two-legged stool and a single drink for them to share through one straw.
Very subtle. His arm was slung around Kema’s shoulders, the young Yahzenian hybrid pushed up against the wall but looking quite comfortable with one hand between Sonall’s legs.
“The reason he passed out drunk,” Sulim reminded her partner, who sniffed up any embarrassment he felt and pretended to be fascinated with his drink, “is because I slipped him a mickey before you started playing cards.”
Sulim shot Kema a friendly look. “This guy planned to win all of that money through multiple rounds of cards. Or kill him.”
“It’s always good to have a backup plan,” Sonall said, his right arm opening to include Sulim on the bench.
She declined. “I went for the faster, cleaner plan.”
“You hear this?” Sonall bent his head toward Kema, who giggled like this was the most fun ever.
Well, that’s heartbreaking. Or maybe Sulim was so numb to the flirty freak Sonall became when he was intoxicated that she saw no appeal.
“She never lets me have any fun. Like the crow who pecks the pretties out of your eyes because you didn’t return to the nest in time.”
That was certainly one metaphor for marriage used around the Federation, and Sulim wondered if she had the face of a crow or if he was drunk enough to say whatever came to mind. “Look, I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said, “but I need to touch base with you before tomorrow.”
“I’m kinda busy, Sul.”
“Happy for you, but as it so happens, I need to talk to Kema, too.” She looked right into the other woman’s dark brown eyes. “Maybe don’t get drunk tonight, you know? We have to leave early for Bow Village. I’ve arranged for a noon meeting with my contacts.”
“Uh, about that…” Sonall slightly sobered up as he removed his arm from Kema. She, however, kept her hand on his thigh. “I was thinking that Kema might come with me. Let that other girl… uh…”
“Hannu,” Kema helpfully supplied.
“Yeah. Let Hannu go with you. She has the demeanor for Third Tribe. And you.”
“What does that mean?” Sulim asked.
“Just that you have the demeanor for Third Tribe shenanigans. How many times have they tried to poach you now?”
This is how it’s gonna be, huh? Fine. She could puff up her chest and play a game with her partner.
And I will always win the mind game. Sulim slid into the booth, placing herself right between them, gaze leveled on the sloppy mercenary she once called her paramour and the pretty ma-julah who was in way over her head.
“Mira assigned who she did for a reason.” Sulim perched both elbows on the table. When a server approached, she waved the young woman off as if she were a wasp about to start trouble. “She wants Kema with me, and Hannu with you.”
“Relax.” Whereas Sulim was stiff and purposeful, Sonall flopped both arms on the table, nearly knocking over the large cocktail he shared with his new girlfriend.
“Ultimately, it’s about having a julah with each of us. Quite frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t assign Hannu to you. One would think that your julah lover would want to go all out protecting you, Sulim. Even Kema here has told me that Hannu is a much better sorceress than her.”
It was the first time Kema was humbled that night—let alone spoke. “It’s true. I’m only half. I graduated from the Academy, but Hannu is more skilled than me.”
“You hear that? You should take Hannu with you. Those Third Tribe kooks are more likely to do some underhanded shit. I don’t care if you dated one of them, Sul.”
She snorted.
“Don’t give me that.”
She arched one brow.
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that.”
She cocked her head to the right.
“Ah, fuck it, I’ve gotta piss a river.”
Sonall was good at putting on a show for everyone else involved, but Sulim knew this was his way of extracting himself from the uncomfortable situation they put themselves in.
He either keeps running his mouth, or he bails.
If he weren’t so reliable when out on a mission, Sulim would have begged for a new partner years ago.
Yet she had a feeling that Olma had liked Sulim with Sonall because not only could he cover for her, but she could keep him reined in.
As he slinked away to the privy, Sulim was left with Kema, who cupped her hands around the large cocktail.
Sulim noted that it was a Miko Bomb, one of the cheaper large cocktails because it sourced the citrus ingredients straight from the nearby jungle instead of importing them from other parts of the universe.
He’s treating her to new flavors, not being a miser.
Sonall was an impossible flirt when it came to beautiful women open to his seduction, but he was only this thoughtful upfront if someone offered something more than sex.
There was a reason he had his favorite courtesans, and it wasn’t always based on their chest size.
He even had a thing with the main madam in town.
Were they still together? Did Vaus know that her younger male lover had found a hybrid woman straight from Yahzen? Do I have to tell her it’s over?
“Enjoying the local specialties?” Sulim asked. “Must be different, a place like Cerilyn.”
The little smirk on Kema’s face only made her lovelier.
God, that’s it. That’s why he has the hots for her.
If Sonall loved one thing in a woman, it was her ability to throw his own shit back in his face.
Sarcasm and inside jokes went far with that man.
If Kema parlayed like that? Yeah, they’re already sleeping together.
“It’s quite interesting, yes.” Kema stirred the straw through the remaining drink. “Bit more humid than I’m used to, but I hear Dunsman Estate isn’t too different.”
Surely, she knew that’s not what Sulim meant…
As if one cue, Kema cracked, her smirk twitching into laughter. “This is so weird, isn’t it? But I suppose not. You don’t remember me. You don’t remember any of it.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“You must. Mira talks to you about it, I’m sure.”
Sulim threaded her fingers together and hid her own discomfort behind her hands. “He and I are both aware of what’s happened. To you lot, at least.”
“Master Marlow explained to me that those who were alive at the time have retained their memories and sense of self from the other reality, including him. And Mira, of course.”
“I hear I was quite dead.”
Kema momentarily lost whatever girlish enchantment she attempted to place upon Sulim. “Yes. Him, too. I didn’t see the scene, but…” She averted her gaze, then forced herself to look at Sulim across from her again. “I hear that you two were killed together. In his mother’s salon.”
Sulim’s entwined fingers twitched. “Let’s both be glad that I can’t remember that.”
“He tried to protect you, but mercenaries are quick. They move fast and break things.”
“I’ve heard us described as such, yes.” Sulim moved fast, but she didn’t like breaking things. The more she left behind, intact, the better job she did.
“I resented you before that,” Kema continued.
“You had his love. He adored you. It wasn’t you cheating on him that made me resent you—I’m a julah, culturally speaking, and we view that kind of thing differently. It was the fact that you were going to break his heart by running off with Mira when it was time. Nobody had to say this.
I just plainly saw it from the way you two clearly loved each other in such a short time.”
“She says we’re soulmates, so that makes sense.”
“Her Holiness saw that in you two. She was so happy for her daughter. I…”
Kema’s cheeks sagged as she deflated before Sulim.
“I miss her. Lady Joiya, I mean. In this world, I never knew her beyond being the Ascended divine. But I remember how lovely and tender she was. She was the one who encouraged me to pursue Sonall, if that was what my heart wanted.