26. Chapter Twenty-Six

That woman was going to be the death of me.

Shortly after I caught her staring, I wrapped up with the recruits—a few minutes earlier than I had originally intended—but I was in need of a cold bath after watching her bite down on her lower lip. She had been so blissfully unaware that I had been looking back at her that I almost let her get away with it, too. Almost.

Platonic, I reminded myself. We’re keeping things platonic.

But there had been plenty of other fit, sweating guards for her to make eyes at on the field—plenty of them shirtless and plenty of them attractive. Any one of them would have fallen on their swords for her attention, too, but she’d been staring at me when she bit that lip.

Yeah. A cold bath would be necessary before I could come back out and tutor her in the magickal, inane art of realistic-looking mail sprites.

Gods.

I was getting better at tempering my degeneracy around her, but it was a little easier to play off as friendly flirtatiousness when she wasn’t staring at my fucking groin. That image of those pretty golden eyes going hazy and half-lidded as they rested on my torso was going to haunt me later in the best of ways. I pushed down the impulse to act on the attraction in any other way than that private fantasy, though. We both knew better.

That said, I wasn’t sure if sticking the pair of us in close quarters like a study room in the Biblyos would be in either of our best interests today. Perhaps I could put off the lesson, and instead play tour guide again… but where to take her?

I pondered on it as I strolled into the bathing rooms and stripped out of my sweaty clothes, thankfully having calmed down a bit as I stepped into one of the tubs, hissing with relief as the cool water sluiced the heat, sweat and grime of training off of my body.

I could take her to another museum, but most of the museums in the northeastern quarter were much quieter and more enjoyable in the mornings.

Another day, then.

There was always the arts district, or going for a meal—though she’d been nibbling on some grapes as she’d “studied,” and I wasn’t particularly hungry yet, either.

Another idea came to mind… Hans was stationed at the Western Gates this afternoon, so I could swing it without issue. It was just about the perfect time of day for it, too.

I smiled to myself as I toweled off and got dressed in clean, civilian clothing. She was going to like seeing Sophrosyne from above.

“So,” I began, strolling up to where she was still seated beside the fields, flipping through her notebook. “How would you feel about skipping the lessons today in favor of another adventure? As your official tour guide to Sophrosyne, I must say that this one comes highly recommended.”

“You know, I’m starting to think that your friendship might be a detriment to my education, Kieran.”

That was entirely possible.

“What if I told you that the adventure involves us sneaking around a bit?”

A spark of intrigue flickered in her eyes, as I had anticipated.

“You have my attention.”

“Excellent. Follow me, Little Conduit.”

Instead of cutting directly through the city, I took the longer route, leading her through the backstreets of the Administrative Quarter, towards the Archives.

“Do you often train the new recruits?” Arken asked me along the way.

“Actually, no. I was standing in for Rorick, another branch captain, as a favor,” I explained. “Why? Any of the freshlings catch your eye?”

She snorted, pausing a moment to pick up a quartzy-looking pebble off the side of the road and held it up to the sun.

“Ah, no—of course not,” I supplied. “The woman is clearly more interested in rocks.”

Though if that were the case, it would make our little field trip all the better.

“I collect them,” she said, with the slightest hint of shyness creeping into her voice. It would seem the Fates had smiled upon my plans.

“Pebbles? Crystals? Any manner of rock?” I inquired with genuine interest.

“I typically stick to anything small enough to fit in my pockets. Not just rocks, though. Anything pretty, with a good texture or pattern. Things that sparkle. Uncommon bits and bobs. My mentor used to poke fun at me for it, calling me her little raven.”

Absently, I raised my fingers to my sternum, reaching for a necklace I no longer wore.

“So if you’re not typically training, and not typically standing guard at lectures, what is it that you normally do for the guard, Kieran?” Arken asked.

I winced. Probably should have prepared myself for that one. I didn’t often put myself in situations where people had enough time to try and get to know me better, but here we were…

“Most of my work is confidential,” I admitted. “I run a subsection of the guard dedicated to scouting and reconnaissance, obviously. The reconnaissance side of things was built more for a time when the territories were at war. So in times of peace, that typically means going out and looking for anything that might threaten Sophrosyne or its people. Proactive peacekeeping, if you will. I’m afraid I can’t go into much more of the details.”

“I mean, that was a perfectly good answer on its own,” she said easily.

I supposed she was right, though I felt strangely compelled to tell her more. It would be nice to get out of my head like that, to talk about my day to day, but Arken didn’t need to know what troubles and horrors were brewing behind the flawless facade of the city.

We passed by the Northern Gates, and I nodded in acknowledgement to those on duty as they quickly corrected their posture and attempted to look busy. I managed a straight face, but Arken noticed and could hardly contain her own giggles.

“You’re pretty young to be a captain already, aren’t you?” she asked, tilting her head in careful consideration as we passed them.

“Yeah,” I replied, trying to keep my tone light. I didn’t particularly like talking about exactly why that was. “I worked hard.”

“Can I ask… why? I mean you can’t be much older than me, right?”

According to my ill-gained research, Arken was twenty-two.

“I’m twenty-five, yeah.”

I swallowed the growing irritation and discomfort, knowing that she was only curious. I picked through the skeletons in my closet to find the most authentic answer I could muster to her first question.

“And it’s not as complicated as you might think,” I lied easily. “I love this city. I want to see it protected.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but it wasn’t anywhere near the full truth. Regardless, the trusting woman nodded, offering me a soft and understanding smile.

“Though speaking of people who are ahead of the curve, how are your classes going? Learn anything of interest today?”

We had almost reached our destination, but I was eager to change the subject.

“Oh,” she murmured.

The energy in her voice had dropped, just enough to be noticeable. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her bite at her lip nervously.

“No, not really.”

Hmm.

“We’ll have to fix that, then,” I replied, placing my hand on the small of her back to gently guide her as we approached a small entrance in the massive limestone walls that encircled the city, several feet in front of the Western Gate.

From the distance, I caught the eye of my lieutenant who was stationed there and nodded once in acknowledgement. He would give me shit for this later, but then again, Hans Deering would give me shit for breathing if he found the right angle.

“Am I even allowed to be in here?” Arken asked as we stepped inside the wall’s interior, where several flights of stairs ascended within.

“In theory, no. In practice… also no. Remember what I said about sneaking around?”

Her eyes widened, and I chuckled.

“Don’t look so worried, Little Conduit. My men are the ones on guard at the gate tonight, none of them will tattle,” I teased.

“I’m going to kick your ass if this “adventure” ends with me getting tossed in a cell for trespassing again, Vistarii,” she threatened as we began to climb the stairs.

I smirked.

Oh, I would truly love to see her try.