Wesley sniffled loudly. The cloistered walk was dreadfully drafty, and he was sure he'd catch his death if he didn't get assigned to a new post soon. If the cold didn't get him, the boredom certainly would.
A gravely voice shattered the gusty midnight quiet. "Boy, over here."
Wes snapped to attention, clutching his polearm tight as he searched the dark gallery for the source of his summons.
"At ease, lad, don't go running me through with that thing now."
Wes squinted into a warm pool of brazier light as the figure showed itself to be none other than Gauwynn Tollere, lord captain of the royal guard and storied hero of a hundred campaigns at least. Even at sixty-something, the old war dog could have laid Wes flat on his ass in the blink of an eye.
"Lord," Wes replied, clapping a hand to his breastplate in salute.
"Wesley, yes?"
Wes nodded, feeling a little silly at the way his ill-fitted steel helm rocked back and forth on his head. "Aye, lord."
"Good. Come along then." The old goat didn't wait for Wes' reply, turning to leave the way he'd come. Wesley glanced around furtively; Lord Tollere was the highest-ranking official in the service, but leaving a post was a capital offense. "Hurry along, lad; I won't let them hang you. Not for this anyway!" His booming bark of a laugh shocked Wes' feet into motion.
Along twisting ways and down endless stairs, Gauwynn led Wesley into the bowels of the imperial palace without so much as a word, occasionally nodding to acknowledge the nervous salutes of other palace guards as they passed.
"In here," the grizzled veteran intoned, pushing into an unremarkable chamber somewhere deep in the keep's undercroft.
A single lamp sputtered greasily from the small table of what was obviously a disused storeroom. Two chairs and a stack of rotting crates completed the decor.
"Close the door, and take a seat."
Wes did as he was bade, leaning his halberd against the wall and setting his helmet on the table. Across from him, the older man groaned nearly as loud as the tortured chair he settled into as it struggled to uphold the immense weight of his muscly bulk and burnished plate mail.
"Phaw," grumbled the elder soldier, slapping his heavy gloves onto the tabletop before producing a pair of stone crocks and a pitcher of heady, fragrant mead from nowhere. "You'll be wanting this, boy. Drink up." Wes accepted the offered cup and drained it in a noisy gulp, wanting his commander to think him a worthy drinking partner. "Good lad. Now, the truth for me, eh? Eh?"
Wesley nodded, suddenly concerned he'd done something wrong. Surely he'd be dead already if he'd done anything to warrant the ire of someone like Lord Tollere. "Yes, lord."
"Good. Good." He scrubbed a hand through his beard to wipe away the errant dregs of his own hasty gulp before carrying on. "When did you last bathe, eh?"
Wes knew better than to do anything other than answer the question directly but failed to keep the puzzled look from his face. "My unit was inspected Thursday last, lord. We scrubbed in the creek that morning."
"Three days then. Not great. Not bad, but not great."
An abrupt knock at the door startled Wes, who turned in time to watch it open just enough to admit the face of a guard he didn't know. "She's on her way, sire. Two minutes."
"Very good, as you were Pymm."
The youth nodded his head and ducked out as swiftly as he'd arrived.
"And your teeth then," Gauwynn carried on, flashing a yellowing smile, "you've got all your teeth, yes?"
Wes stretched his mouth ludicrously in reply, shutting his trap only once his superior had nodded in satisfaction.
"Fine then, that's...that's fine."
Another knock.
"Aye!"
"You called for me lord?" Jocelyn said as she slipped into the small, dank chamber. Wes pursed his lips in what he hoped would pass for a polite smile. The lady's maid was known to him, to say the least.
"Right, yes." The older man suddenly seemed to border on discomfort, which set Wesley's teeth on edge. What could flap the legendary Butcher of Borelia? Surely not mere waifish maiden in her night slip? "Listen to me boy, we said truth, aye?"
Wes nodded. Jocelyn looked on placidly from the corner of the room, obviously having been roused from bed only minutes prior as she stifled a yawn.
"Good. Right. So, uh, have you- you know," he stammered, glancing at Jocelyn briefly, "Have you made it with a lass yet?"
Jocelyn snorted through the tail end of her yawn loudly, failing to hide her laughter.
"I- I have, lord."
"Right, uh. it's just- is something the matter, girl?"
"Apologies, lord," Jocelyn laughed, waving her hand as if to dismiss the fit of giggles.
"Alright," he replied slowly, missing whatever private irony she was enjoying. "That's as may be, but I'll need to, you know, erm." He cleared his throat loudly. "I'll need to know for certain so if you could, uh-"
"Oh, lord I..." Wes began as Jocelyn blurted her own protest loudly alongside him.
"What?!" He demanded.
"That will NOT be happening!" Jocelyn exclaimed angrily.
"But he's washed on Thursday!" Gauwynn pled.
Wes held a hand up to each side, hoping to placate the pair before they came to blows. "Lord, please! She's...she's my cousin!"
"Oh," the older man said sheepishly.