Sami caught him in the stairwell as he made way to his barracks. His stomach did a cartwheel on seeing her, and he struggled to keep his expression even. He was still not sure what to make of Ben. He had witnessed the beginnings of something. Something that could be good. But what was his intent? Was his interest more than some carnal sense, a desire for companionship…a relationship?

  He wanted to tell Sami about him, to give voice to what had transpired just this afternoon, but she didn’t give him time.

  “Hey buddy!” she said. “Stones tonight?”

  “Sure.” He said. Wait though—“

  “Can’t. I’m late for a date. Ariana and Peter said they got some of that Mirrhvalian wine all the nobles are raving about.”

  “O-okay.”

  She passed him by on the way down.

  He watched her go, the words drying up in his throat. She was lost around the barrel shaft wall of the spiral staircase.

  “What time?” he called after her.

  “Eighth bell. We’ll play until curfew. Just don’t blow it for us, okay?”

  “I’m not the one—“

  “See ya later!”

  He deflated. “See ya!”

  He marched up the stairs. If he knew her at all, there would be no romance in the intervening hours. There would barely be any preamble. Sami was not the type to entertain long standing relationships. He could not remember a time when she had been involved with anyone for more than a couple of weeks. As soon as the glamor and sparkle wore off, she would be onto the next one, and another girl’s heart would be broken.

  He sucked his teeth. I guess I’ll tell her later.

  He passed the second floor, and thought briefly of visiting the barracks there. Ben had said he could find him there, but it was too soon. He did not want to come across as clingy. He let the moment pass, marched onward.

  Give it a day at least. Maybe two.

  There was that exchange with Lord Aren to think about, too. Ben needed time to think that over, to decide whether it was worth getting entangled with someone in such a precarious position as he currently was. If he was honest with himself, he needed time to think it over, too.

  He met his friends in the usual place. A storeroom somewhat removed from the kitchens. He could hear Ariana and Peter chattering away just inside, but he hesitated outside the entrance.

  How do I tell them? He thought. “Oh hi. Yeah, Ben was the one from the showers. The one I embarrassed myself in front of…no, fuck that. I sound like an idiot.

  “Hey guys! I met a boy. Yeah, it’s him. It’s Ben…stupid.”

  “You can come in any time!” Ariana called.

  Shit. Did they hear all that?

  He stepped across the threshold.

  Dry goods populated metal shelves throughout the expanse, and candle light emanated from a corner near the back of the room. Beans and rice, potatoes, onions, whole heads of garlic and assorted spices were neatly arranged in burlap sacks, wood crates and shallow trenchers along the shelves, all there to remind him of his stage in the kitchens and the expectations of Ariana and Peter that he would eventually see sense and choose to work under them.

  He didn’t know how to approach that subject either. He couldn’t tell them what Lord Aren had said. The general had been clear enough about that. He couldn’t very well place himself in the kitchens where couriers were abundant and constantly jumping out of shadows, either.

  I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. He still had his stage in the furnaces to think about. Some time before he need make a final decision. Once it was over, he could broach the subject, address the elephant in the room. They might not take it well. Peter would understand, but Ariana was a different matter. She might fight him over it.

  Who am I kidding. She will fight me over it.

  He negotiated his way around a tall rack loaded down with leftover bread from the day which would be repurposed the following morning.

  His friends were sitting around an overturned crate in the corner. A wooden game board with a tight grid inlaid into its surface was situated on top of it. The fat candle they were using for light was seated on a nearby rack, together with two small sacks which housed the glass beads they would be playing with.

  He edged around the board, and took a seat on the far side, next to Ariana.

  “Oh, no. Absolutely not. You two can’t play together.” Peter protested.

  “Why ever not, honey bunch?” Ariana batted her eyelashes innocently.

  “Because both of you are cunning little shits. That’s why.” He said.

  “Well then you might learn something.” Lance said.

  “Where is Sami, anyway.” He asked.

  Ariana reached behind her and snatched up a clay jug. A crimson wax seal held the cork in place, and it was unbroken.

  Lance rolled his eyes. “She’s off fucking some chick in the Teacher’s Tower.”

  “She better hurry her ass up.” Ariana said.

  “Don’t be like that.” Sami materialized around the corner.

  “Fuck off. You’re late.” Ariana groused.

  Sami glanced at the board, at Lance and Ariana seated on the other side of it. “So I’m babysitting.”

  Peter glared at her. “I’m not that bad.”

  “No, of course not.” Ariana said. “You’re just too sweet for strategy games.”

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  Sami snorted. “Something like that.”

  “I did tell them they couldn’t play together.” Peter said.

  “We could do girls versus boys?” Sami said.

  Ariana shrugged.

  “We did that last time.” Lance protested.

  “Okay fine. I’ll play with the lump.”

  “Hey now! Is that any way to talk about the guy who got you wine?”

  “We got them wine.” Ariana broke the seal on the jug.

  Lance looked around. “What no cups?”

  “Is that a problem?” Ariana said.

  “I guess not.” He said.

  “Can we just get into it? Sami, take a seat. Since you made us wait, you can go last.”

  “That’s fair. Besides, I need to wash my hands. See! Smell.” She shoved her fingers under Peter’s nose.

  He reeled back, screwing up his face in disgust. “Ewurgh!”

  “Relax, I’m only kidding. Lance would have a heart attack if I touched those stones with pussy juice all over my hands.” She said. “See! Look at his face!”

  “You should wash up anyway.”

  “Already did. Shower and everything. It was fun, by the way. Real good time. Not a lot of talking.”

  “You’re depraved.” He said. “Can we get to the game?”

  “Oh, fine.” She took her seat next to Peter.

  The bags of stones were upended and the stones divided four ways. Each of them made their first move, setting a stone on the quarter of the board that would be their individual domain. Lance took an aggressive stance, near the center of the board, while Ariana hung back. Peter’s chosen position was neutral, neither far back nor far forward, and Sami edged her piece in close to the perimeter of his domain, in easy reach for an eventual block if it was needed.

  And it would be needed.

  “So, you know what I’ve been up to. What have you been doing since the last time we sat down like this?”

  Ariana took a pull from the bottle. Her nose wrinkled, eyes squeezed shut as she swallowed. “What the fuck…is this shit.” She coughed. “It tastes like piss.”

  “Care to tell us how you know that?” Sami glanced at Peter, a smirk touching her lips.

  “If anyone has firsthand knowledge of that, it would be you.” Peter said, taking the bottle from his girlfriend.

  Sami shrugged. “Things get messy sometimes. And when your face is…well anyway. You don’t want to hear about all that.”

  “What’s her name, anyway?”

  “You know I never found out.”

  “I met—“ Lance started. He was immediately cut off by Ariana.

  “I see what you’re doing, sugar bear, but it’s not going to work.” She was eying Peter’s growing array with shark-like hunger.

  He took a pull from the bottle, and grimaced. “I see what you mean. Why is it that strong?”

  “Maybe it’s not really wine.” She said.

  “Mistress Dina said—“

  “What does she know? She’s never used it before. She’s probably writing out a list of new insults about it as we speak.”

  “You might be right. Either way, it tastes like hot ass.”

  “Isn’t that Lance’s department?”

  Sami and Ariana cackled.

  “Speaking of—“ Lance said, but no one was paying attention to him.

  The bottle passed into his clutches, and he took a pull. Wisdom told him to take it in small doses. It tasted oddly sweet, and at the same time like it would be better utilized as floor cleaner. The back of his throat burned as he swallowed, and his stomach felt as if it had shriveled up and died when it hit. In the aftermath, a comforting warmth spread through him.

  He passed the bottle to Sami. “Take it in sips.”

  “So, I’m not a bitch.” She said, and knocked back a mouthful. She gasped.

  “Bad, right?” Peter said.

  “It’s doing a job, though.” She said. “But back to you guys. What’s new? What’s hot?”

  “Well, it’s your move for one thing.” Ariana said.

  “I—“

  “What’s new is Lance staged in the kitchens.” Ariana said.

  Oh not this.

  “And he did good. Mistress Dina said she was going to pass her recommendation for apprenticeship to Lady Tamalsen.”

  “She’ll love that.” Sami said sarcastically.

  “I mean, what are the other choices realistically. Working with your friends, or sitting on your ass all day.”

  “Or running errands for the nobility.” Peter supplied.

  “And the military.” Sami added.

  “I still have a stage in the furnaces.” Lance said.

  “But you’re not going to choose that!” Ariana said.

  “I don’t know. I might like it.” He shrugged.

  “Just say you don’t like us. I can take it.” Ariana took another swig from the bottle. A dark flush swept across her cheeks. She was grinning like a madwoman when she set her next piece, capturing three of Peter’s stones in one sweep.

  “BOOM!” she smacked her leg. “Love you, loser.”

  “Okay.” Peter said. “Okay. I see how it is.”

  He took the bottle from her.

  “Hey, I wasn’t done with that!”

  “It’s called, um, sharing? I think that’s the word.” He took a long swig.

  “I met a boy!” Lance said, the words tumbled out of him in a rapid string. “Ben. He’s the one from the showers and I thought I’d done something to make him uncomfortable because I was staring at him, you know, and I really really wanted to avoid him but then he was everywhere I was and he kissed me.

  “He kissed me. I don’t know what it means.”

  A brief silence.

  “What the fuck, Lance.” Sami said. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “I tried when I saw you earlier, but you had other things on your mind.” He said.

  “Well that’s good.” Ariana said.

  Sami took her turn, daintily set a stone in a position aligning with the array Ariana had just captured, and took two of her pieces as a result.

  “Damn you.” Ariana said. “I had something going there.”

  “I do have eyes.” Sami said.

  “Anyway, I think I’m going to see him again.”

  “You should. He’s nice.” Ariana said.

  “Do you think he’s just in it for—“

  “Trust me, he’s not a whore. Not like…” she looked at Sami, hefted her eyebrows.

  “I am ethically nonmonogamous, thank you very much.” Sami gestured airily. “Happily unattached, if you will.”

  “Well, anyway, how long do I wait?”

  “Three days.” Peter said.

  “Fuck off. That’s how you almost lost me.”

  “But I didn’t. Which means it worked.”

  “It just pissed me off. And since your memory’s so bad, let me remind you I approached you after a day and a half and asked you out. Because you were clearly too much of a punk to do it.”

  “Is that how you remember it?” He snickered.

  Lance took another pull from the bottle. “This game is moving at a glacial pace. We only have until the tenth bell.”

  “Says the guy who just couldn’t wait to tell us all about his new boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a person of interest at this point.”

  “You sound like me.” Sami said. “Which is good. You really should stir the paint more often.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked.

  Ariana rolled her eyes. “She means you should dabble before you settle on one person. I disagree. If things work out with this guy, you’re not missing anything by sticking with him.”

  “You guys are getting way ahead of yourselves.” Peter said.

  “Thank you.” Lance grinned at him. “I was just going to say.”

  “I mean, you’re talking about them like they’re a thing already.” Peter went on.

  “They are a thing already. They kissed. Didn’t you hear him?” Ariana said.

  “One kiss. Probably not even a real one. And did you hear the part about the awkward shower scenario. You didn’t pop wood, did you?”

  “N…no. Why would you…I mean he’s cute but….”

  “I’m just saying it must be so hard for you being surrounded by naked men every morning.”

  “I’m not attracted to everyone that moves, you know.” Lance grumbled. “I have standards.”

  “So you’re going to see him again.” Peter said, changing the subject.

  “I think so. I don’t really want to suggest the Teacher’s Tower. I think he’d read into that too much.”

  “Go to the Core.”

  “Isn’t that where Lady Therien’s been—” Sami started.

  “Is any part of the palace safe from her escapades?” Ariana cut in. “It’s nice there. The gardens are always in bloom. There’s a water feature you can sit by—“

  “And braid each other’s pubes.” Sami said.

  “Would you be just a little more serious?” Ariana growled. “It’s his first date. Ever.”

  “Okay, slow down. I’ve been on a date before.”

  “With who?”

  “No one you know.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “So the Core?”

  “Best place you have access to if you want to set the right tone. He can shadow walk, so I suppose you could go up to the Royal Garden if you timed it right, but you’d have to ask him and that might be pushing your luck.”

  Lance blanched.

  “Did I say something weird? I’m sorry.”

  “No. I’m just new to this.”

  “HA!” Ariana said. “I knew it!”

  “So what is it about him?” Sami asked. “What makes him special?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really know. I mean…I don’t really know him. That’s kind of what the date is for.”

  “Gotcha.” She said. “Just keep it loose then. But do your kegels. No one wants it loose.”

  “Would you please shut the fuck up!” Ariana snapped.

  Sami gestured at the board. “If you’ll stop hedging and make your move.”

  “I’m strategizing.”

  “You’re procrastinating.”

  “It’s your own fault. You fucked up my rhythm.”

  “That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?”

  “Pass me that bottle. It’s going to be a while.” Peter said.

  Rolling his eyes, Lance handed it to him.