was just about overt in getting people to join the cause.”
“How did you all manage that? I’m sure with spies and loyalists to Palus traveling, there had to be trouble,” Marian said.
“All the time. Cally was always being raided, shot up, and infiltrated by Fel soldiers,” Blu said, sitting up and pausing to munch on some jerky. He took a swig of wine from a large jug. “The thing is, as resistance men and women, we welcomed it. Fel attacks were a way for us to weed out the weak and train the strong. Actually Raf—your Raf, he made his name right here in the center of Cally city during an attack. Damn near died, the fool, but we patched him up and he went from being just another recruit to being a brother. ‘Bleeds resistance red,’ they used to say about him. Raf knew no fear.”
“Knows no fear,” Marian said, correcting his words. “He’s very much alive, Blu. Alive and thyping anything with a skirt from here to Anstractor’s edge.”
Blu looked puzzled. “Excuse me? What did you say? Thyping ? I’m not understanding—”
“Sorry, I’m rambling, Raf was a hero here and I am constantly reminded of it. I’ve never seen him fearful of anything outside of failure, and even then it isn’t fear, just emotion over not wanting to disappoint those of us he loves.” She thought about the look in his eyes when he realized she was ready to leave him. “Rafian fights for what he believes in, and he won’t let anything short of death stop him once he’s on the path.”
She felt exhausted from the memory and wanted to talk about something else. “I just don’t understand,” Marian said, changing the subject. “If they kept attacking then they knew you all were here, amassing troops, plotting and whatnot. Why would they allow you to continue?”
“They didn’t. Open those big, sparkly pupils of yours and look around, Lady Raf. The city of Cally is no more. They bombed this place when it was determined that the main resistance force operated out of here and not on Talula like they assumed.”
Marian grew quiet when he said this and reached inside the bowl to grab some jerky. When she put it in her mouth, the spice made her flinch visibly. It was salty, hot and sweet all at the same time, but the hot was a different kind of hot than she was used to. This spicy heat worked its way from the tongue all the way out to the limbs. It was so intense, in fact, that before long she was sweating and wanting to remove all of her clothes.
She pocketed a few pieces of the meat and drank deeply from the wine jug. A burp came out almost immediately, causing her to struggle not to drop the jug. She was so embarrassed that her deep, caramel-colored face turned a slight maroon in the light.
“You are definitely one of us!” Blu laughed, his chest heaving uncontrollably as he pointed at her and guffawed. The android joined in and Nemesis looked up from her jerky to regard them curiously as they snickered.
“I’m so … I can’t …” Marian tried, wanting to ball up and disappear from the embarrassment.
“Oh relax, Lady Raf, it’s just us rebels. There’s no fancy duchesses here to rap you on the knuckles for belching, or lords to turn up their nose at you for being a living creature. Come on now, laugh at yourself!”
Marian allowed herself to laugh. “It amazes me how much I am still that little Baroness at court inside, Blu. A burp like that would have gotten me locked inside my room for an entire week. The woman who cared for me inside the castle was a real piece of schtill .”
“ Schtill? ” Blu echoed, confused by the unfamiliar word.
“Oh, it means dung. She was a woman I hated with all my heart,” Marian said before taking another swig of the drink and belching again.
Before long she was fast asleep, and the wine kept her under in a motionless slumber that was void of dreams. She woke up after several hours to the sound of a bell ringing. Cally had a central clock that would wake
“How did you all manage that? I’m sure with spies and loyalists to Palus traveling, there had to be trouble,” Marian said.
“All the time. Cally was always being raided, shot up, and infiltrated by Fel soldiers,” Blu said, sitting up and pausing to munch on some jerky. He took a swig of wine from a large jug. “The thing is, as resistance men and women, we welcomed it. Fel attacks were a way for us to weed out the weak and train the strong. Actually Raf—your Raf, he made his name right here in the center of Cally city during an attack. Damn near died, the fool, but we patched him up and he went from being just another recruit to being a brother. ‘Bleeds resistance red,’ they used to say about him. Raf knew no fear.”
“Knows no fear,” Marian said, correcting his words. “He’s very much alive, Blu. Alive and thyping anything with a skirt from here to Anstractor’s edge.”
Blu looked puzzled. “Excuse me? What did you say? Thyping ? I’m not understanding—”
“Sorry, I’m rambling, Raf was a hero here and I am constantly reminded of it. I’ve never seen him fearful of anything outside of failure, and even then it isn’t fear, just emotion over not wanting to disappoint those of us he loves.” She thought about the look in his eyes when he realized she was ready to leave him. “Rafian fights for what he believes in, and he won’t let anything short of death stop him once he’s on the path.”
She felt exhausted from the memory and wanted to talk about something else. “I just don’t understand,” Marian said, changing the subject. “If they kept attacking then they knew you all were here, amassing troops, plotting and whatnot. Why would they allow you to continue?”
“They didn’t. Open those big, sparkly pupils of yours and look around, Lady Raf. The city of Cally is no more. They bombed this place when it was determined that the main resistance force operated out of here and not on Talula like they assumed.”
Marian grew quiet when he said this and reached inside the bowl to grab some jerky. When she put it in her mouth, the spice made her flinch visibly. It was salty, hot and sweet all at the same time, but the hot was a different kind of hot than she was used to. This spicy heat worked its way from the tongue all the way out to the limbs. It was so intense, in fact, that before long she was sweating and wanting to remove all of her clothes.
She pocketed a few pieces of the meat and drank deeply from the wine jug. A burp came out almost immediately, causing her to struggle not to drop the jug. She was so embarrassed that her deep, caramel-colored face turned a slight maroon in the light.
“You are definitely one of us!” Blu laughed, his chest heaving uncontrollably as he pointed at her and guffawed. The android joined in and Nemesis looked up from her jerky to regard them curiously as they snickered.
“I’m so … I can’t …” Marian tried, wanting to ball up and disappear from the embarrassment.
“Oh relax, Lady Raf, it’s just us rebels. There’s no fancy duchesses here to rap you on the knuckles for belching, or lords to turn up their nose at you for being a living creature. Come on now, laugh at yourself!”
Marian allowed herself to laugh. “It amazes me how much I am still that little Baroness at court inside, Blu. A burp like that would have gotten me locked inside my room for an entire week. The woman who cared for me inside the castle was a real piece of schtill .”
“ Schtill? ” Blu echoed, confused by the unfamiliar word.
“Oh, it means dung. She was a woman I hated with all my heart,” Marian said before taking another swig of the drink and belching again.
Before long she was fast asleep, and the wine kept her under in a motionless slumber that was void of dreams. She woke up after several hours to the sound of a bell ringing. Cally had a central clock that would wake
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