Charlotte Boyett-Compo- WIND VERSE- Pleasure's Foehn by Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Book: Charlotte Boyett-Compo- WIND VERSE- Pleasure's Foehn by Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Ads: Link
him!”
56
Pleasure’s Foehn
As fast as his brittle old bones would carry him, Seamus went searching for Cair. For over an hour he searched every nook and cranny in which he’d ever discovered a drunken Scythelord in the past but Cair was nowhere to be found. Growing very concerned, Seamus called out the security forces to help. Well into the late morning, there was no sign of the Foehn ’s captain.
Davan looked up as the security team entered the sickbay. Without a word to her, they searched the premises then left—again without a word of explanation. She went to the door, watching as they entered each of the operatories but hesitated to ask questions for the looks on the faces of the men were forbidding. It wasn’t until she made a VidCom call to the captain’s office that she found he was missing.
“Where is Chief Rawls?” she asked, hoping Seamus would tell her what was happening.
“Is there a message?” the yeoman asked, irritation rampant in his tone.
“Would you ask him to contact me as soon as—” She got no further for the yeoman broke the contact with a curt “aye”.
The Francach warrior who had been operated on the night before was awake and in a great deal of pain though he could flex his wounded hand, much to Davan’s relief. His captain Pierre LeClerc had come by to see him and had spent a few minutes with Davan before agreeing the warrior should stay a few more days in sickbay.
“I will send a shuttle back for him,” LeClerc promised. “I will need his testimony at the court marshal of his assailant.”
“Will you be taking his attacker with you, then?” Davan asked. She remembered the rage on the warrior’s face and the sharp blade with which he had threatened her.
“He is in our brig even as we speak,” LeClerc replied. “Had not Captain Ghrian disarmed him, I am told he would have stabbed you in the back.” He clucked his tongue. “For that offense alone he would have been drummed out of our military!”
“I hope you have a safe trip back to the front,” she said. “I believe you’ve had more than your share of excitement while on leave.”
LeClerc shrugged. “And more heaped upon that since Captain Ghrian had wanted to ask a boon of me,” he said. “One with which I shall most assuredly comply although he has not asked it of me personally.” He put an index finger to his right eye and pulled down the lower lid. “Getting rid of a mistress is something I understand all too well. I’ve been forced to do it myself on occasion.”
“A mistress?”
“Aye,” LeClerc replied. “The stygian red-haired virago Chief Rawls brought aboard the Faucon kicking and screaming like one of those wild Amhantarean banshees of legend. The woman was cursing a blue streak ten fathoms wide until I had her sedated. All that noise gives me a bellyache. I have never cared for Iodálach women. They are too temperamental for me.”
“Amethyst?” Davan asked. “Is that who you mean?”
57
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
At LeClerc’s nod, Davan whistled silently. She wondered what had happened to cause the rift between the two lovers but a part of her felt relief at not having to come into contact with the brazen woman again.
Another part of her whispered joy at the Scythelord’s availability.
“Well, I’ll be going now, Doctor,” LeClerc announced. “I am glad Dubois had so fine a surgeon to see to his wound.”
After walking the Francach captain to the door, Davan told the corpsman on duty she was going to get a bite of lunch. As she knew would happen, the man ignored her and that was a situation she was going to have to clarify when she returned. Walking down the corridor, she passed several security men. They were opening doors that had been locked and were peering inside, shutting the doors and relocking them as they continued on. She wondered where the captain could be hiding but on a ship the size of the Foehn , it could be just about anywhere and it would take days to
56
Pleasure’s Foehn
As fast as his brittle old bones would carry him, Seamus went searching for Cair. For over an hour he searched every nook and cranny in which he’d ever discovered a drunken Scythelord in the past but Cair was nowhere to be found. Growing very concerned, Seamus called out the security forces to help. Well into the late morning, there was no sign of the Foehn ’s captain.
Davan looked up as the security team entered the sickbay. Without a word to her, they searched the premises then left—again without a word of explanation. She went to the door, watching as they entered each of the operatories but hesitated to ask questions for the looks on the faces of the men were forbidding. It wasn’t until she made a VidCom call to the captain’s office that she found he was missing.
“Where is Chief Rawls?” she asked, hoping Seamus would tell her what was happening.
“Is there a message?” the yeoman asked, irritation rampant in his tone.
“Would you ask him to contact me as soon as—” She got no further for the yeoman broke the contact with a curt “aye”.
The Francach warrior who had been operated on the night before was awake and in a great deal of pain though he could flex his wounded hand, much to Davan’s relief. His captain Pierre LeClerc had come by to see him and had spent a few minutes with Davan before agreeing the warrior should stay a few more days in sickbay.
“I will send a shuttle back for him,” LeClerc promised. “I will need his testimony at the court marshal of his assailant.”
“Will you be taking his attacker with you, then?” Davan asked. She remembered the rage on the warrior’s face and the sharp blade with which he had threatened her.
“He is in our brig even as we speak,” LeClerc replied. “Had not Captain Ghrian disarmed him, I am told he would have stabbed you in the back.” He clucked his tongue. “For that offense alone he would have been drummed out of our military!”
“I hope you have a safe trip back to the front,” she said. “I believe you’ve had more than your share of excitement while on leave.”
LeClerc shrugged. “And more heaped upon that since Captain Ghrian had wanted to ask a boon of me,” he said. “One with which I shall most assuredly comply although he has not asked it of me personally.” He put an index finger to his right eye and pulled down the lower lid. “Getting rid of a mistress is something I understand all too well. I’ve been forced to do it myself on occasion.”
“A mistress?”
“Aye,” LeClerc replied. “The stygian red-haired virago Chief Rawls brought aboard the Faucon kicking and screaming like one of those wild Amhantarean banshees of legend. The woman was cursing a blue streak ten fathoms wide until I had her sedated. All that noise gives me a bellyache. I have never cared for Iodálach women. They are too temperamental for me.”
“Amethyst?” Davan asked. “Is that who you mean?”
57
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
At LeClerc’s nod, Davan whistled silently. She wondered what had happened to cause the rift between the two lovers but a part of her felt relief at not having to come into contact with the brazen woman again.
Another part of her whispered joy at the Scythelord’s availability.
“Well, I’ll be going now, Doctor,” LeClerc announced. “I am glad Dubois had so fine a surgeon to see to his wound.”
After walking the Francach captain to the door, Davan told the corpsman on duty she was going to get a bite of lunch. As she knew would happen, the man ignored her and that was a situation she was going to have to clarify when she returned. Walking down the corridor, she passed several security men. They were opening doors that had been locked and were peering inside, shutting the doors and relocking them as they continued on. She wondered where the captain could be hiding but on a ship the size of the Foehn , it could be just about anywhere and it would take days to
Similar Books
