Belly of the Beast Warren Thomas (e novels for free .txt) 📖

an hour to bathe and clean their clothes at the open air bath, with Tane’s 3rd Platoon first on that day. While one of the platoon’s five sections bathed under the water flowing from twelve spouts a good three hands over Tane’s head, the other four sections scrubbed their tunics and trousers clean. After they were through, they donned their damp clothes and headed back to the barracks.

            All but Raven, that is. She sought out Corporal Pendar and demanded her right to see a priest of her choice. He reluctantly led her away.

            “She’s got balls, that one,” Quinn said, watching their retreating forms until they vanished in the crowd.

            “Scared old Gareth witless,” Armin snickered, winking at Joelle.

            “You think it wise of her?” Tane asked Quinn.

            “No! That’s why you’ve got to admire her.”

            “Tyrians all have more guts than brains,” Joelle said. “I hope she wins. If he keeps having his way, then it might occur to him there are other ways to abuse women in his power. And other women to abuse.”

            Joelle and Armin shared a grim look. Quinn stared off into space, his face as somber as Joelle’s words left Tane feeling.

            “It’s getting to be harder all the time,” Tane said, dropping down to sit on the stone step leading into the barracks. “I didn’t like being forced into the army, and admit to being more than a little scared at the prospect of marching into battle, but at least I thought I was on the right side, the side of good. Now I don’t know.”

            Quinn sat beside him a moment before speaking.

            “I understand. This is only my second experience with an auxiliary company and forced induction,” he said slowly, seemingly lost in thought. “But you have to understand their problem, and the very real desperation they feel. I have seen the enemy, and fought him. They are terrible, ghastly. Men and women, and even children, their minds burned away and under the power of evil men. They are zombies, in name if not in fact, and utterly fearless in battle.”

            “And they’re sweeping across the Leltic Lands,” Armin said grim-faced. “Joelle and I have also fought them. I’m sure Kestsax’s General Staff and king have their own spies and scouts, and are aware of the threat rolling towards them like an avalanche of humanity.”

            “Exactly,” Quinn said, turning to look hard into Tane’s eyes. “They will be here soon enough. The Kestsaxians don’t have time to properly recruit and train soldiers. I suspect they took their best and started training them to fight the zombies, and the troublemakers and misfits were sent over here to whip us into shape.”

            Bitterness welled up in Tane.

            “Right, we’re the sword-fodder,” Tane said.

            With that solemn note, they went up to their bay and began cleaning and polishing their boots. Tane thought the military mind insane while he worked. They made them stomp around in the mud and blood all day, and expected their clothes to be spotless and their boots to be shined to a mirror finish by the next morning. What was the use! His three comrades were no help, for they all professed a fondness of clean clothes and shined boots.

            Raven returned with Corporal Pendar just at lights out. Both were grinning ear to ear. The heady scent of ale filled the air when Raven breezed past Tane. He noted she wore a long, thin votary braid at her left temple, to be kept as a reminder until she completed her vow. The God of Vows and Oaths would do terrible things to her if she failed to uphold her vow.

            Sergeant Gareth came out of his room, and stared at her speculatively. Raven grinned at him, held up the votary braid, then began undressing shamelessly for bed. Tane could hardly believe she would so brazenly taunted him with what he wanted most from her. He couldn’t look at her, so wild and wanton. And naked.

            His mouth went dry, a lump formed in his throat and it became hard to breathe. To take his mind off Raven, Tane covertly watched the sergeant as a dozen warring emotions fought for Gareth’s ugly face, from lust to fear to hate to finally resignation. He made a brusque threat about giving Raven extra duty if her boots didn’t have a proper “military” shine by formation, then stomped sullenly into his room.

            “Well met,” Corporal Pendar said to Raven, sharing a grin with her. “Well met, indeed.”

            Tane rolled over as the last oil lamp was turned low, more confused than ever. She had succeeded. He was sure everyone thought her doomed, including Corporal Pendar. But Gareth backed down, even knowing it would cause him to lose face. Raven had wagered her life, literally, that the sergeant didn’t have the stomach to chance her wrath. Pride swelled a brief instant, knowing one of his comrades had beaten the man bullying them. And then Tane knew a moment’s shame, for he knew he would never have courted such disaster. He would’ve been too afraid of the punishment for failure.

            He heard Raven crawl up into her bunk, then mutter quietly, “Life is good.”

            “It would be better if you crawled into my bunk,” Everard said from across the dark room, none too quietly, either.

            Tane tensed. Though they had assigned bunks, the Vikon couple openly shared a single bunk. Neither the sergeant nor the corporals so much as raised an eyebrow at that.

            “I’m too tired to go that far,” Raven laughed. “You come over here.”

            Tane heard a bunk creak, then the sound of bare feet heading toward him. He feigned sleep, just cracking his eyes enough to see a dark shadow stop by his bunk. A second later the man crawled up into Raven’s bunk.

            Then Raven giggled.

            That was followed by Everard’s whispered words of desire. The kissing sounds that followed froze Tane’s heart, and they were quickly followed