Chamis just stared at him. He was pretty sure you didn’t just notice and tuck away the food preferences of someone you might want to be friends with.
“I’m not categorically opposed to green beans?” Chamis offered after a moment.
Bennan grinned at him. “I’ll keep that in mind. But everything else green is out?”
“Broccoli is disgusting,” he said flatly. “It smells like old socks.”
The other man crowed with laughter. “But every green thing doesn’t smell like old socks!”
“Spinach is slimy—have you seen it when it’s cooked? And peas when they’re all mushy? Who would eatthose?”
Bennan was still laughing. “I’ve been known to eat them.”
Chamis huffed a breath and tried teasing: “I suppose I won’t hold it against you.”
Bennan was still smiling, and Chamis felt relaxed and happy and more at ease than he had in a long time. Now that they were actually talking, there wasn’t too much pressure, and he felt more like he did at home, when he could make a joke occasionally.
“Thanks,” Bennan said, grinning. “That’s so generous of you. I’ll remember that for the future.” His face lit up. “Ooh, I know where to go, come on.”
They went, Bennan wending his way confidently through the many streets.
“You know the city well?” Chamis asked.
“Very well,” Bennan agreed. “I grew up here. City boy born and bred. From the first time I saw a Warrior when I was five, I was sure that’s what I wanted to do. They accepted me for training when I turned fifteen, and I’ve never looked back. I can’t totally believe it’s been twelve years already, to be honest. You?”
“Oh, country boy, through and through,” Chamis answered, making the other man smile. “Nearest town was a couple of hours away and so much smaller than Royal City. This is huge and a bit overwhelming.”
Bennan smiled at him. “I’ll be happy to be your guide anytime you want.”
“I’ll remember that,” Chamis said, not able to hide his happiness.
Bennan led him to a small restaurant with very dingy windows that would have made him extremely leery if Bennan wasn’t the one bringinghim here. It was quiet, not necessarily a point in favor of a restaurant, but it certainly made him more comfortable.
Chapter Three
They were led promptly to their table, and the menu items were few and simple. Bennan even asked that there be no green vegetables on Chamis’s plate, which made his ears go red. He would never have said anything—he would just have eaten around them—but Bennan clearly wanted to make this a great experience for him.
They each ordered a pint, which was brought while they were waiting for the food to arrive, though the server told them it wouldn’t be long. Chamis had once been to one of the bigger, fancier restaurants where there was a whole page of menu items. He was definitely more at ease in a place like this, where they had one or two options and everything was simply prepared.
Sure enough, they’d barely had the chance to get in a few swallows of their pints before their food was plunked down in front of them. Steamcurled up from everything, and the servings were large, which was a blessing for men of their size who had such physical jobs.
“You were saying how you were born in the country,” Bennan said. “What made you want to be a Warrior?”
“There was a lesser demon attack,” Chamis told him, thinking back to that long-ago day. “Not right near us, but we heard about the attack, how several people were killed. And then the Warriors and Mage Warriors were called in, and they hunted down the demons, inspected the whole area, even as far out as we were, and made sure there were no more nests. The Warriors were all big people, sturdy and strong and brave, and they protected people. Even though I was eighteen and there was a small chance I could still have manifested an element, I was sure that I wouldn’t. So I knew I could never be a Mage, but when I looked at those Warriors, I thought, maybe there was something useful I could do with this big body. I talked to my parents about it, and… my father laughed in my face.”
Bennan stiffened. “What?”
Chamis sighed, still feeling the squirming in his gut that always happened when he thought about his father.
“I got my size from him. The red hair. But, uh, not my temperament. He couldn’t understand how I could be so meek.”
“You’re not meek,” Bennan countered immediately, affronted. “You’re a Warrior!”
Chamis shot him a look. “A shy Warrior who doesn’t like people.”
“But who puts up with them whenever he needs to in order to accomplish his very important job.” Bennan’s eyes were so earnest. “Chamis, think of all the things you could have done, but youchoseto dothis. That’s so admirable, and not at all weak.” He scowled. “I’d like to give your father a piece of my mind.”
“Well, you’re a few years too late, as he died when I was twenty.”
