LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 40: The Barracks
Four guards were gathered around a table that had a chess board carved into it. Playing cards were scattered on top and their muddy boots were kicked up onto various other pieces of furniture. They had their armored greaves on, but 3 of them were bare chested. The largest of the group, Gaius, still had his hands covered in mud that had long since dried.
They were a bit rowdy, but that's a part of what made it so nice to be around them. They didn't care about normal societal rules. I am glad their wives made them still bathe, but outside of that and the fact that they watched their language around me they were what you would expect from people that had lived hard lives without much discipline.
Gaius looked across the table at us as we walked in. Without moving his feet from off the table he leaned back even further,pushing the chair onto its back legs. “Yo boys look, little Callum brought home a girl already.”
I won't lie, his comment did make me uncomfortable, but that was just how he was. It was rarely bad enough to actually get to me, but he would often tell jokes in poor taste.
He was by far the roughest and most crude of the bunch, this was only further cemented by his appearance. He had a shaved head and massive scars all across his chest from animal claws, as well as a snake dragon tattoo wrapping around his right arm, and a broken arrowhead under his left eye. There were so many severe marks on him that I actually found myself having to ask him how he was still alive at one point. To which he responded, “If a man has something to live for, or enough liquor in his body, he can't die. I had both.”
The man across from him, Nillous, was the highest rank in the room. His scowl carried that responsibility as he scolded Gaius. “Are you seriously making jokes like that about children now? Don't you think you should watch what you say a bit more?”
“Children? What, wait no way, how old are you anyway kid?” He looked across the room at me and took a hand away from his cards to call me closer.
I walked up to the table and put my hands on my hips, tilting my head. “You seriously don't recognise me, Gaius?” ‘I guess it makes sense… This would be the first time in my life I can remember wearing real clothes. My hair and skin are clean, Still though, it kind of hurts… If he doesn't recognise me.’
Callum followed close behind. His head had stopped bleeding, but the dried blood from when the wound was open was still easily visible, despite that, nobody seemed to pay it any mind “Wait no way…” He paused, crossing his arms and standing squarely, “Is Gaius your father?”
Gaius was so startled he fell out of his chair and scrambled to his feet. “What the hehhhh- '' He stopped mid sentence and stared at me. “H-hey kid he's not right is he?”
“You're despicable,” Nillous said calmly, throwing a card down on the table before placing his hand face down in front of him.
I sighed. “Come on, I mean at least you acknowledged I was a girl and not just a dirty little brat, but did you have to ruin the moment with all this extra nonsense. If I was your kid do you really think I'd be this cute?”
“Well, that all depends on who your mother was.” He paused and squinted at me, still confused. “Wait… Siya?”
“Yea duh.” I said as I rolled my eyes.
The other three guards all froze, one of them going so far as to drop his cards all over the floor.
Callum stepped away, appearing to have lost interest, while the others remained dumbfounded.
‘Do I… Really look that different?’
I unconsciously tugged on Finlos' cloak, using it to cover myself as they all stared at me.
Gaius put his chair back right side up and sat back down. “No way…” I heard a gentle sigh of relief before he started laughing. “You know you really had me worried there for a second.”
I raised an eyebrow, seeing a way to redirect their eyes and quickly put on the most cute pouting face I could. “Oh… are you saying you don't want me papa?”
He visibly cringed and the others cracked up. I smirked, but honestly felt like I might have taken the joke a little too far, so it was hard for me to laugh at it myself. Still, it turned their attention away from me and seemed to break all the tension, so I was relieved.
Nillous leaned back in his chair with a grin ‘Oh no… I started something again… well, sorry Gaius but you kind of had it coming anyway.’
Nillous raised his hand of cards, carefully looking at them as he realized his opponent was distracted. “Hey Gaius, remember what you said about Calum bringing home a girl?”
He frowned, “Yea yea I should watch my mouth, don't be such an a– I mean– er– Just shut up alright, besides, Siya here isn't as young as she looks.” I looked over at Gaius with pitying eyes, and he must have seen them only to realize too late that he was walking into an unavoidable trap.
Nillous didn't always show it, but I could see his evil grin. “I'm not sure her age is what matters in this case. How much do you think lord Keigan would appreciate you talking about his daughter like that?”
His eyes widened, and a look of pure terror came over him. “Your… not going to say anything… right?”
“Remember this moment Gaius, it might make you a better person.”
He gritted his teeth and scoffed as the others taunted him.
“Gaius, you're really just taking it tonight, you haven't even dished anything out yet, this must be a first for you huh.”
“Yea no joke, she even snuck in some indirect jabs too like when she called you ugly.”
“Guys…” I mumbled, feeling kind of bad for him. Besides, they weren't even being funny anymore, they were just straight up insulting him.
He laid a card on the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, it's not like it ain't true… It can't be helped though. You really think I'd tell her she wasn't cute when she comes in looking like that.”
Everyone quieted down at his surprisingly wholesome comment. “No… I guess not…” They were all rough around the edges, but they always tried their best not to hurt my feelings. They would throw jabs at me every now and then sure, but it was sweet how they showed they cared.
‘It's my first time looking like this… Wearing clean clothes and not covered in dirt with tangled hair… I guess they didn't want me to feel self conscious, not even Gaius.’
I felt my face get warm again. Admittedly, I was a bit embarrassed. I even almost felt bad for making fun of him, Almost. Thinking about it more, I would hate to say it, but it would have hurt quite a bit if one of them did actually say something bad about how I looked.
Instead, the way they reacted gave me hope. For a moment, I even had the courage to look in a mirror.
The silence stopped when Gaius looked back over to me with a smirk. “What's wrong, tomato face?”
I could feel my facial expression change as the warm feeling I had changed to a dull annoyance and I let out a sigh, “nothing, just thinking about how sweet you were… It didn't last very long”
He kicked back in his chair again. “Sweetness is for girls.”
“Wow, that thought must have had a long and lonely journey when it crossed your mind… Forget it, I'm going to go find Callum.
They all froze solid again and I could hear them whispering as they gave me glances that resembled those a middle schooler might give you if you started talking about someone of the opposite sex.
I couldn't help but think they got the wrong idea, but I didn't care. It was kind of funny to an extent, and they would figure out why I wanted to find him soon enough.