Page 23 of Long Live the King

She walked over to the wall and put her bag down on it, placed her keys beside it, and leaned there.

“And what do you do, Lochie?”

“Dost ye want tae sit down? Ye must be worn from the work.”

“Yeah, actually, yeah.” She perched on the wall and I stood in front of her.

“I work for m’brother...” I searched for a way tae express what I did without sayin’ I fought in the arena for him, I said, “I help him keep his lands.”

“Like a groundskeeper, or an assistant?”

“Aye, I assist him, if he needs me... I do what is required.”

“Do you go to Scotland a lot?”

“Verra often, tis a beautiful land — hae ye seen it, Mistress Ash?”

“No, I’ve been a few places in the US, but never overseas, and nowhere as beautiful as that — you know, you can just call me Ash if you...” Her voice trailed off.

I shook my head.

She said, “I do kinda like it when you call me ‘Mistress Ash’, it makes me feel fancy, and... yeah, I could use the boost, it’s been a tough year.”

“Och nae, what has been tough on ye, Mistress Ash?”

She smiled up at me, lightin’ a blaze in m’heart. “It’s nothing really, I was in the army?—”

“The army…?”

“Yeah, the military and?—”

“Ye were a soldier? I daena understand…”

She squinted. “Lochie, yes, I was a soldier, I mean, I was in the military, my job was?—”

“Ye fought in a war?”

“No, I worked on a base.”

“Oh.”

She said, “Have you ever met a woman soldier before Lochie?”

“Nae, never.”

“There aren’t women in your military in the UK?”

I shook my head, then because I wasna certain I said, “At least I hae never met one.”

She grinned. “Now you have. I’m out now, a reservist, I can get called up if a war starts, but I’m out, so I came back here, started a job, but you don’t want to hear about all my dramas...”

I said, “I do, I want tae be the one who ye share yer dramas with...”

“Oh.”

There was a long pause. I was unsure what tae say.

Then she said, “I ought to go home, I had a long night.”

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