“How did you all start working together?”
“I scouted them,” Slade replies. “They all became soldiers under my command, and they proved to be smart and skilled. But the loyalty...that came with time. Osrik was originally from First Kingdom. We actually battled one another—he belonged to a team of mercenaries.”
My brows lift. “Really?”
He and Lu share a smirk. “Yep. The big bastard nearly knocked me off my horse, so he impressed me. After the scuffle was over, Judd and I persuaded Os to join us and train as my soldier instead. He took the deal,” Slade explains.
“How did you all start working together?”
“I scouted them,” Slade replies. “They all became soldiers under my command, and they proved to be smart and skilled. But the loyalty...that came with time. Osrik was originally from First Kingdom. We actually battled one another—he belonged to a team of mercenaries.”
My brows lift. “Really?”
He and Lu share a smirk. “Yep. The big bastard nearly knocked me off my horse, so he impressed me. After the scuffle was over, Judd and I persuaded Os to join us and train as my soldier instead. He took the deal,” Slade explains.
“Course he did. He had my sword to his balls,” Lu chirps, sounding happy about it.
I wince a little. “That recruitment method seems a little violent.”
Lu snorts. “It’s better than when the commander tossed Judd’s ass in jail.”
My eyes go wide. “You did?”
Slade nods. “He was a wanderer with sticky fingers, kept stealing from noble houses. But once we finally caught him, the prick made a game of it. He’d break out of his cell nearly every day and then wait like the cocky bastard he is, outside of the bars, amused as can be. I had to offer him a deal just so he’d stop making a mockery of our jailhouse.”
I laugh, shaking my head as I imagine it all. “That sounds like something Judd would do. What about you?” I ask Lu. “How’d you come to join Fourth’s army?”
All the easygoing openness shutters in her eyes with a single blink, and her expression goes stoic. “A story for another day.”
My curiosity burns, but I have enough in my past that I don’t like to think about, let alone talk about, so I know better than to press. Instead, I say, “The way you guys are with each other...so much trust there.”
“We’ve been together for a long time,” Lu replies, casting Slade a smile. It’s not flirtatious in any way, but familial and affectionate.
A sudden shout cuts through the air. “Ho there!”
My head whips around at the call, and I squint through the fog to see a large campfire where a group of soldiers are gathered. Right there in the center of it all, stirring something over an iron pot and grinning from ear to ear, is a familiar face.
“Hey, Keg.” I wave as I walk over with a smile.
Without taking his eyes off me, Keg slops a spoonful of stew into the bowl of the soldier in front of him. A bunch of it splashes out, and the soldier grumbles before walking off. Good ol’ Keg.
“Gildy, I thought that was you,” Keg says, shoving back his long, twisted black hair, making the dangling bits of woven-in wood jangle together like chimes. “What are you doing out here slumming it? Shouldn’t you be up in that fancy ass castle?”
Not knowing how to answer, I look over my shoulder to Slade, and Keg follows my gaze. “Ho there, Commander. Didn’t see you there. Sad to tell you, Gildy Locks outshines you.”
Slade shakes his head, the corner of his lips twitching. “I don’t disagree.”
“Oy, can you serve me?” a soldier in line asks, eyeing the spoon in Keg’s hand like he’s hungry enough to try to snatch it from his grasp.
The army’s cook pins the man with a look, wiping his free hand over his uniform, the leather as dark as his smooth black skin. “I can. I can also kick my foot right up your arse.”
“I missed you, Keg,” I say with a laugh. “I’ll catch up later, okay? I better get back to my fancy ass castle now.”
He serves the stew for the poor waiting soldier before he points the dripping spoon right at me. “Alright, fine. But next time I see you, I’m f
eeding you. Double helpings.”
“I’m not going to fight you on it. If anyone can make army slop taste good, it’s you.”
Keg’s brown eyes shine with satisfaction. “That’s right, girl. Don’t you forget it. The other cooks in this army try to sabotage me constantly. But someone won’t do a thing about it,” he says, looking perfectly serious as he glares at Lu.
She rolls her eyes and comes up to grab my arm. “Yeah, yeah. Cry your tears in the pot, Keg,” she tells him as we begin to walk away.
“I will!” he shouts. “How do you think I get it so salty?”
The soldiers in his line groan.