Record of Ashes War

Chapter 11 - Dhorjun

Theodore gnawed at the mouth of a near empty bottle as a hungry wolf gnaws on fleshless bones, drawing an annoyed eye from the barkeep —a dark skinned woman with braided hair and gold earrings on her left ear. Her dress differed from most women in Eurale, a one piece grey outfit —or what seemed one piece— that wrapped around her skin in folds, leaving only the full length of her arms bare. If it shimmered, one might easily dismiss it as plate armor from a distance as Eurale's soldiers dressed in plate with arms bare. Theo exhaled, swirling around the remaining drops in his bottle.

"Would you like another bottle, Master Coraine?" the woman asked, her accent thick like Agram's. "I'll have it poured into that one, seeing as how you kiss it like it's your lover."

"The drink, Aki, is my lover. Not the bottle."

"Ah, so you are cheating on the drink. Well, I can see the appeal that a long neck of a bottle may have when tending to certain pleasures."

Theo scowled, downing the remaining wine and sliding the glass across the wood counter towards Aki. She inspected the mouth, shrugged, and placed it in a crate of other empty bottles. The bar, dark as it was, had few customers. A handful of rugged deckhands from The Salamander and regular city drunks spouting nonsense in a candlelit corner. Most of Theo's crew didn't fancy drinking in the middle of the day. One could hardly tell it was day. Not a single window had been carved into the sand building. Outside light barely poked in through a gap between the wooden entrance and a grainy floor.

Aki turned her back to Theo, leaning against the counter and polishing bottles of his export. He watched the arching lines of her upper arm move back and forth, narrowing his eyes at the size of her triceps. She twirled a bottle in her fingers with a relaxed expertise, not caring in the slightest for the object's fragility. Candlelight reflected from its smooth and dark surface. Satisfied, she placed the bottle back on a shelf. "How can you see any blemishes with such little light," Theo mused, waving his arms as he imagined a drunk man would.

"Master Dhorjun might not even come, you know," Aki said, ignoring the question. She crossed her arms and rested them on the counter. Three separate lines of muscle ran along both forearms. "He's a busy man. Been sailing back and forth and taking trips to the other kingdoms of the Alliance. Last I heard, he was going to Katur. Fancies himself more a merchant these days than a soldier."

Theo was convinced the barkeep had experience in combat. "Does he now? That brute?" Aki shrugged in response. "You a soldier, Aki? Or were? I don't imagine you get arms like those rubbing bottles all day."

"These hands can do more than just bottle rubbing."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "I have a wife. You know that."

"And yet that doesn't stop you from calling a drink your lover. I'm not talking about you. That man, back there. The one with glass eyes. What's his name?"

Theodore turned around. Sitting near the entrance was his bookkeeper, Fiernz. A boy barely seventeen, though he looked more thirteen with his short and frail stature. He wore a pair of spectacles before his poor eyes. He was terribly quick with numbers, making that his only advantage. "That's your taste? It's… peculiar. His name's Fiernz. About seventeen I think."

Aki snorted. "Men don't know other men. It's always the shy and smart ones that please the best. And they aren’t indecent enough to get diseased in pleasure houses." She went back to polishing bottles, stealing glances at the bookkeeper. "I was a soldier. Got bored of sitting on my rear all day. Not much fighting to be done since the Alliance formed a few centuries ago."

"Those in peace don't value it until it is stolen," Theo mumbled. Aki didn’t seem to hear. "A female soldier, hmm? Is that normal, here in the deserts? I've never had much a mind to care."

"Normal? Soldiers are weapons. If a weapon is useful, it is used. If a soldier is strong, they are used. I am strong enough to be a soldier. And so I was allowed to be a soldier." She looked Theo up and down. "I'll bet the next shipment's worth of your wine that I can use your sword better than you."

"Aki," Theo insisted, "I have a wife." The woman frowned, her thin eyebrows bending like drawn waves. She snapped her head and brought her braids over a shoulder, revealing gold beads tied at the ends. Theo was left wondering how much soldiers were paid in Eurale for Aki to have just up and quit and have enough to open a bar by the docks. Of course, her business relied mostly on him.

"Are you not bored? I'll duel you on your ship before your men. Next shipment of wine as a wager. Help pass the time while we wait for Master Dhorjun. What say you, Lord Coraine?"

Theo sighed. He would've leaned back had he sat on a chair. The tall stool had no back upon which to lean. He ran his hand down the length of his goatee, throat feeling parched again. "I never enter a fight I cannot win," he said.

Aki placed another polished bottle on the shelf, finishing an entire row. They sat there like an organized rank of Xenarian Queen's Guard, dark and full of spirit. "So the rumored Theodore Twincrescent is just a coward?" she asked.

"My dear Aki, that was me providing advice. What happens when you inevitably lose and then pay a full five crates worth of Red Vine vintage? You'll be forced to stock your bar with cheap ale. And as a regular when I visit Eurale, I'll be forced to drink it. You ought to think five steps ahead. This is why soldiers are soldiers and commanders are commanders." Theo looked up at the ceiling. "Or maybe you thought of all of this and were ready to use those hands of yours to earn something extra."

Aki twisted her mouth, tapping an impatient finger against the wood of the counter. "I relent, Master Theodore. You are a strange one. I thought I was the one doing the goading… Hence why I am —was— a mere soldier and not a commander. That is fair advice. I will consider it."

"Deception is the primary principle of war. And imagination, the shield against its treacherous double edge. To do what is unexpected and to imagine what is unexpected are what forms the basics of what we call conflict." Theo pulled out a silver half. "Give me something non-alcoholic to drink. My throat feels like sand."

Aki hummed at the non-alcoholic part. She shrugged and poured a clear liquid into a mug from a barrel.

Theo looked down at his own reflection once handed the mug, frowning. "Water?"

"I don't carry juice. Or milk. And coconuts only grow on Kovar's white beaches. Hardly any finds its way to us. I tried buying coconut water once. Was charged double what you charge me for one of your best bottles."

Theo scratched his head. The bottles he sold to the bars and taverns in Eurale were of lesser quality than the one he gifted to King Agram. Aged between five and ten years, they went for gold halves with most commoners paying mere silver pences for a fractions worth of drink after a night of downing cheap ale at dockside taverns. "A full gold crown for a single coconut?"

Aki nodded.

Kovar was Coraine territory. The city's viceroy was to report all its business back to Theodore. "I'll be it. Maybe I should look into growing that instead of selling wines and wares." Someone needs a little reprimanding it seems.

The bar was suddenly blasted with a wave of light as the wood door was shoved open, twisting all the way and striking the wall beside it with a loud bang. Aki scowled, likely hoping the door wasn't damaged as thumping footsteps approached the front counter. The newcomer took a seat beside Theodore, brandishing thick and hairy arms as if they were cudgels before setting them on the counter. In fact, Dhorjun preferred using cudgels as weapons. The smell of seawater and sweat surrounded him. "Thought I'd find you here," his deep voice boomed. "You're not long for here are you? Your sailors are all lounging about, waiting t'leave."

"No. I was just here waiting for you," Theo said, barely glancing towards Eurale's naval commander.

Dhorjun beamed. "Great. Then we can share a drink fore you go!"

"Not likely," Aki said, placing a dark bottle before the large man. He slid her a gold coin in return. "Master Theodore has already finished drinking. I've never seen him completely consumed by alcohol. Something, something, he's a commander, and not a soldier."

"Scorching shame then. Even the mighty Shuari gets drunk. Course that's when sandstorms roll around. Well? What'd you want to discuss?"

Theo turned to face Dhorjun. He wore a great black mane around his sun tanned pale skin. "The girl. The Estraean with a head of flame. I'll buy her from you for ten crowns."

"Ah! Now that you mention it, I was supposed to go pick her up from the king. That thirteen year old, yes? Or was she fourteen? Still wears a child's face though having a decent figure. She looks like she might have good selling value in a few years. I've been fancying myself somewhat of a merchant these da—"

"Fifty crowns."

Dhorjun's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me yer into little gi—"

"Seventy!"

"To think I'd see two grown men fight for a thirteen year old girl," Aki mentioned offhandedly. Both men ignored her, staring at each other instead. She slowly pulled back the bottle she had set down whilst pocketing the payment for it.

"Shuari's Flaming grave, Theodore. I'll give her to you for a warship."

"I'm not giving you one of my vessels!" Theo said as he crossed his arms.

"Then five shipwrights for the girl! You obviously know what she can do."

Theo considered for a long hard moment. Five shipwrights was certainly a worthy trade. It wasn't as if those men would be enslaved. Dhorjun would put them to work. To work… on building a warship the likes of which Xenaria possesses? Theo's eyebrows came close together. "You want to expand your military power."

"Don't look at me like that, old friend. Agram's no doubt expressed his worries to you. About these Trillians and the Sun City. I want to be prepared. And ready to retaliate if need be. Expect the unexpected. That's one of your philosophies is it not?"

"Imagine the unexpected," Theo corrected. And that's only half of it. Something about the way Dhorjun said 'friend' didn't sit right with Theo. They'd known each other for years. Dhorjun had often referred to him as a friend. But it always felt more natural than it did just now… Because he'd always said it under the influence. Why is it I remember that? His breath didn't smell of alcohol. Dhorjun was completely sober. And he spoke proper rather than broken when he first came into the bar. Theo turned away. "I can't give you my shipwrights."

"Flames. Scorching Flames, Theodore. You don't even trust allies. Do you want the girl or not?"

"I don't have allies. I have business partners and vested interests. The seas are treacherous, my father used to say. But not even the waves under a thunder wrought black sky can match the stupidest of humans when it comes to treachery. Good day, old friend. Let us hope the Sun City doesn't press our hands. If they do, I've already promised Agram to ride, er, I mean sail to your aid."

"Drunk Shuari forbid they attack," Dhorjun mumbled as Theo rose and walked out.

Fancies himself a merchant, eh? Theo glanced back at the counter as he pulled open the door, left hand resting on the pommel of his cutlass. Aki's golden earrings sparkled as outside light spilled inside again. Her dark eyes were staring at him and shot down the moment he met her gaze. Theo clicked his tongue. Schemes everywhere. He snapped his fingers and his crew stood up and followed him outside.

A new ship was docked next to the Salamander. Its sails were black with gold weavings in the center that made it seem as if three pristine tears had been made in them through which sunlight flowed. The Three Rends. The markings of the Sand God, Shuari. For when a desert storm struck, two more always followed in quick succession. Eurale's official banner was that of a radiant sun over sand dunes, and yet its naval commander used a religious symbol to mark his ship.

Theo examined the vessel as he walked to his own. A sleek design with horizontal black lines painted at the sides. Its sails were wider than its width. The ship was built for speed rather than naval war. Its sides were lined with small ballistae. They weren't as threatening to large ships as the powerful iron bolt firing ballistae that Xenarian warships possessed. Iron bolts the likes of which were the size of five spears bunched together and thrice as heavy.

Etched into the side of the ship was the name The Virulence. An odd name for a vessel, Theo thought. His eyes fell upon a bald man wearing a long black coat, standing at the bow, staring down at him. Dhorjun's first mate and right hand. A calculating man who went by the name Crow. A man of Xenarian descent by his looks. Theo averted his eyes and walked brazenly up the steps of the gangplank attached to his own ship, his long coat fluttering behind him.

"Raise anchor! Set sail for Qalydon!" he called. He looked one last time upon the black striped ship as the Salamander set off. Crow was no longer staring at him, but rather the warship as if trying to glean its inner workings through observation alone. Even if he could, only a shipwright's eyes would be capable of accurately dismantling its construction.

The Euralites were bent on expanding their military strength. Or at least Dhorjun was. Agram didn't seem too intent on it. Or perhaps he was. Imagine the unexpected.