Page 28 of The Shadow of Breninsol
Eleanor tore down the corridor towards the kitchens, where she thankfully hadn’t heard any shouting yet. Hopefully, whatever Julia had done or stolen this time wasn’t beyond salvaging. She scowled that this was becoming a frequent occurrence, with the city guards coming to reprimand Julia. If the guards were in a good mood today, hopefully Eleanor could placate them with some poor wine and flirting. They were yet to take the guards to one side and give them a quick fuck in exchange for looking the other way. Eleanor hoped that today wouldn’t be the day they needed to go that far for the girl.
As she entered the kitchen, Iris was talking to two city guards—in her sultry voice that she reserved for her clients—both of whom were scowling in their shiny bronze and beige armour. A pale Julia perched on a stool, nibbling at her bottom lip.
“—this is a simple case of mistaken identity, gentlemen. I’m sure we can come to some arrangement,” Iris said in her enchanting voice while she flipped her long, dark hair over one golden-brown shoulder.
Eleanor blew out a relieved breath, seeing which of the city guards were in the kitchen.
“Sergeant Ryland, Becker,” she greeted with a manageable smile and tried not to look at the king’s crest emblazoned on their bronze breastplate. It was half the size of a normal breastplate, as it cut off under the pectorals, revealing the beige tabard that told everyone they were a part of the cityguard. Becker had plain bronze pauldrons, while Ryland’s right pauldron bore three chevrons, marking his officer ranking. That was the only way she could use to differentiate between them.
Fortunately, she wouldn’t need to offer herself to these guards. This pair, unlike the other men in the guard, appeared to enjoy coming here, though she wasn’t certain if it was for her or Iris. “This is unexpected, even if it is lovely to see the two of you pop by.”
She had met them in her first week at the pleasure house. It hadn’t been her most dignified first meeting. She had stumbled into the kitchen after sleeping in past the house’s noon-breakfast, and her holey dressing gown had flown open with the biting wind as they’d opened what was supposed to be a barred back door. Turned out Milk and Cookie had given Ryland a key for safeguarding, something Madam Grace would punish them for. Eleanor was still puzzled about how Milk and Cookie determined their trustworthiness for a key. She wasn’t questioning it, as it meant they could discreetly bring Julia back without the madam or her house guards finding out about Julia’s little indiscretions.
Almost absentmindedly, Eleanor pulled at her dressing gown’s ties, not to have a repeat of that particular meeting. The movement didn’t go unnoticed, as Becker gave her a knowing smirk while Ryland reinforced his maturity through not showing any reaction.
“Good morning, Eleanor. We can’t keep doing this,” greeted Ryland with an easy grin that made him look younger than Becker.
Even though she couldn’t place their age, they both had faces that were… average. She couldn’t even decide if their hair and skin tone was light, dusky, or dark. They seemed to always shift tones depending on wherever she bumped into them. Their short haircut seemed to be a common feature amongsoldiers, helping them blend in with the other guards, and their indiscriminate faces meant they didn’t have to constantly wear their helms and could lead a normal life outside of the guard.
“I’m sure it’s no hardship,” she replied in a tone that was just as light-hearted.
After her first surprising introduction to Ryland and Becker, it seemed to be a weekly occurrence to run into them. At first, she’d been suspicious, but after tailing them and staking out their barracks for a few weeks, she relaxed around them. Eleanor discovered that Ryland and Becker treated her as conscientiously as a select few in Breninsol. Eleanor bumped into them at the Grain, just last week. She couldn't figure out what she’d done to earn a spot on their list of people they were keeping an eye on, but she was on it. Surprisingly, Eleanor found she didn’t much mind it.
“Lia almost got caught, and the lord graciously decided not to press any charges this time,” Becker said. Typically, he tended to be the more straightforward one of the pair.
“How generous of him,” Iris purred.
Ryland chuckled. “It is, considering it was the marquis.”
Iris’s eyes went wide. “Julia!”
The girl shrank back on her stool with tears welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry…I didn’t know who it was.”
“Kind of hard to miss him, considering he was the one strutting through Breninsol’s most expensive street like he owned the whole damned place,” Becker said.
“He’s rich enough,” Julia added unhelpfully.
“This won’t happen again boys, we’ll make sure of it, won’t we?” Iris framed that pointed question at Julia, who mumbled something to appease Iris’s ire.
“Just be careful, the lord might not be so generous next time,” Becker cautioned, with an eye on Julia.
“There won’t be a next time,” Iris said with her folded arms fully on Julia, so the girl had the full weight of being chastised.
Eleanor gave Ryland and Becker a smile. “Thanks for being the ones to bring her back, boys.”
They both chuckled and shook their heads as they sensed their job was done, having delivered the troublesome youth and there being no further reason for them to linger.
“We’ll leave you ladies to it then,” Ryland said, moving towards the door, but stopped in his tracks as something came to his mind. “Oh, and ladies…” He glanced at his partner.
“Yes?” Eleanor prompted.
Ryland coughed. “We’ve had some reports of women going Missing recently.”
“Oh?” she replied, trying to give a light questioning tone to encourage them to continue giving her information that they had in their possession.
Ryland shifted, looking uneasy about the topic, but Becker seamlessly picked up the conversation. “I’m sure you ladies have heard. You all know what goes on among you.”
Eleanor knew there was no point to feign ignorance, so she nodded. “The woman from the Moonlight House, we’ve heard.”
