Page 7 of A Suitable Brat
“‘What of it?’”Sun was disbelieving then abruptly still and quiet.“‘Solace?’”he echoed that too, young and lost, before his shoulders went back and his chin went up.“Solace,” he said again.It was different the second time.“That means peace, right?”
“A nice bed’s not jewelry, I admit,” Westin insisted, somehow unsurprised when Hely nudged his foot as if to tell him to mind his tone.He pushed out a breath.“But I’m an old, tired guard.Perhaps we want different things.”
Sun went still again, a slight line between his eyes.“Old?”
Hely cut in diplomatically.“A few hours of peace are worth a great deal to some at any age.Less so to others.But we try to make our friends happy here, as long as theyarefriends.”
Westin couldn’t tell if that was a warning or not, or why Hely thought he needed a warning.Westin already knew he was just another companion in the Outguard to Sun.He’d always known that.Some jewelry didn’t make any difference, even if Westin was having trouble feeling settled this evening.But perhaps the warning, if there was one, was meant for Sun, who breathed hard and stared at Westin with an expression that could have been bewilderment, or anger, or anger about being bewildered.
But Sun was only a brat when it suited him to be.He was a well-trained, successful outguard the rest of the time.He smoothed whatever he felt from his face before he turned to Hely.His voice was even.
“What happens if someone isn’t friendly?”he wondered, curious.“I didn’t spot any burly types by the door as some taverns have.”
Hely didn’t seem offended.“Those get discovered and shown the door early on most of the time.One has to make friends here first.But it also helps that we have a frequent outguard visitor.”He nodded toward Westin.Sun’s gaze slid to him, lingered, then returned to Hely as Hely continued.“And though we are on Corilyeth territory and they aren’t particularly strong, they are respected enough that locals mind their manners.”
“It’s other nobles that usually get pushy.”Sun made a face.“Especially the lesser families.”He paused.“Corilyeth?Four beats yet I’ve never heard of them.”
“Their power has weakened over the centuries,” Hely explained in an especially gentle voice.“I don’t know all the history.But they don’t charge us rent, and in return, we provide news from river travelers and we use their crops here in the kitchens.They are a farming family, known for that, and a little bit for their honey and some beets used for sugar.”
“And Westin is a frequent visitor.”Sun kept his focus on Hely.“Is he from around here, then?Westin Lyeth makes me think so.Not that he has ever said.”
Westin opened, then closed, his mouth.“The family used to be Corialyeth,” he heard himself offering a moment later, as though Sun cared for trivial bits of knowledge.“Five beats.But the family is so small now and their power so reduced, they dropped a beat a century ago so as to seem less foolish.”
“So, youarea local,” Sun interpreted.“Why not work here?Why the Outguard?”
Westin was unprepared for the intensity of the question, or for how Hely hummed and agreed.
“Yes.You would have done quite well here, Westin.Still would, more than likely.You have a soothing presence… most of the time, that is.There seem to be exceptions.”Hely glanced pointedly at Sun.
Sun’s mouth was set in a line.“But maybe too well.He’d listen and never volunteer a word about himself.”
“I thought you liked that.”Hely had finished his wine.Westin must have been wrong about how much the workers consumed.“All that attention on you must feel rather remarkable.”Hely continued over the sound of Sun’s small gasp, “You really would do well here, Westin.All it takes is discreetly determining what a customer is actually after.Some make it obvious.”He gestured to Sun, who narrowed his eyes.“But with some it will take a few visits, or a few games of dice, or a few hours spent over tea discussing whatever you like.Most of our workers have regulars for that reason.It’s less work once you know.”
“Is Westin a regular?”Sun demanded immediately.
Hely smiled and ignored Sun to look over Westin’s forgotten teapot.“It’s barely warm now.Tsk.”
“Warm enough to help you stop shivering.”Westin met Sun’s eyes right as Sun blinked, startled.“Even with your hood up, your hair got wet, and I bet some of your clothes as well.You’ve been trying not to show that you’re cold.”Westin didn’t think about why.“But you are.Here.Before you get something hot.”He poured a cupful and pushed it across the table at Sun.“There’s a seat by the fire too, but I suppose you aren’t done needling me yet.”
Sun peered down at the cup, full of a flavor of tea he already might not have liked, but now no longer at its best, then closed both hands around the bowl of the cup and raised it to drink it all.
He made a face but swallowed, then returned the cup to the tray.“That was awful, West.”
“Yet you drank it,” Hely remarked.
“Appeasing my worries,” Westin admitted stiffly.“I shouldn’t make him do that, I know.”
“Make me.”Sun scoffed.“I don’t fucking think so.I choose, West.Ido.”He again turned to Hely, as if Hely was the only reasonable person at the table.“Understand, I knew people were messy before I was ever in the Outguard.They’re horrible, just absolute shits.They reject others, or bully them, or treat them badly, and for the stupidest reasons—theycando all those things, I should say.Those same people will help an injured bird, or go out of their way to give water to travelers, or urge an outguard to go easy on a thief who was only after food.Makes no fucking sense, but they will.I didn’t always see that.I was different when I was younger.”He shot a heated look to Westin as though Westin had been going to object.Then he was back to talking only to Hely.“I see it more now, which is funny, with this work.Or not, I guess.Because outguards see far more of the country and the people in it than they might see in one little village.The majority of people are goodandbad.And all of them have feelings that are a mess.They’ve all got quirks and fears and things that bother them.Even the ones who seem steady on the outside.”
“And that’s Westin?”Hely had not lost his softness.
“He’s got fears and he has good reasons for them.”Sun shrugged as if unconcerned but didn’t meet Westin’s eyes.“I don’t need to be told to keep warm, but I don’t mind if he worries.That’s what you do with….That’s how you’re supposed to do it, right?Accept that sort of thing with your person?”
He didn’t say what ‘it’ was, but Hely nodded.“I’m so glad to have met you, Sun.”
For a moment, Sun seemed younger, his chin dipping almost bashfully before he recovered, but by then, the blush had reached his cheeks.
“I’m glad you got to see more good in people.”Westin was possibly softer than Hely had been.
