Warsinger by James Baldwin (most important books of all time txt) 📕

“Deal. To be honest with you, I don’t know if I’m up for sharing a bed all night yet.” Suri’s smile faded slightly, and she looked toward the fire. “I'm gonna have shitty nightmares no matter how much fun we have, and I don't want to accidentally punch your lights out in my sleep.”

“Fair enough.” Part of me was worried, part of me was grateful. Karalti and I were both comfort-seeking bedbugs, and damned if spooning her at night wasn't one of the best feelings in the world. “Thanks for being so tolerant of… you know. Me and her.”

“Like I said: I knew you and Special-K were a package deal when I signed up for this. You guys are joined at the brainstem for the rest of your lives, minimum. Even if I was jealous, it wouldn’t change a damn thing.” Suri snorted, looking down. “But I've got you to myself for the rest of the evening, and that’s what counts. Want to know what we're doing tonight?”

I thought about that for a moment. “I'm hoping it involves at least some motorboating.”

“Depends how you play it.” Suri quite deliberately leaned forward in a way that displayed the girls to maximum effect. “Sooo… According to the KMS, there's a big night market on in Litvy tonight.”

“A Night Market? With food? I don't know.” I grimaced, leaning back against the edge of the door. “Karhad's still in a bad way, and I don't want to be pigging out while the city's struggling along on rations. What if they find out?”

“People in the city are celebrating the fact we brought their services back online today,” Suri said. “Our Renown went up by a shitton, we got a bunch of Build Points, and everyone knows food is on the way. You've got our best men and women on the biggest quests that need doing. Check and see where they're at.”

I smiled briefly, then opened the KMS to take a look. My eyebrows shot up. Taethawn was already 80% done. His light cavalry and the artillery support of our only airship had crushed the bandits in the Freehold of Vyeshniki. The refugee situation was going more slowly, but it was already at 45%. I had an unread system message from Ur Gehlan saying that everything was going well and the first big caravan of peasants had been dispatched south. He had put in a request that we fund the building of shelters in the biggest harvest regions. According to him, we were likely to lose about a quarter of the harvest, which meant next year’s would have to be a good one. As I read that message, the quest updated with a sub-quest: It Takes a Village.

The other quests were going similarly. I did a rough calculation: if we kept clearing Kingdom Quests at this rate, we'd have them all done three or four days before the harvest was due to start. There was only one active quest that was sitting at 0% - the one to return Kitti Hussar's lands to their rightful lady.

“We need to do something about Kitti,” I said. “Are you really taking her on as a Zerkling?”

“Yeah. Kind of fell into that one, didn’t I?” Suri's face flushed with a sheepish grin. “I like Kitti: the kid’s got what it takes. She wants to train as a Berserker, and I’m gonna teach her.”

I tried to imagine Kitti, with her big brown eyes and cute blonde plaits, hauling a six-foot maul wading into battle the way that Suri did. “I can’t quite imagine that.”

“You’ll see. Once she’s got a few levels, we’re gonna go south to Bas and cream that dickhead squatting in her family home. We’ll need to take about a hundred men with us.”

“We could send Taethawn in,” I said, flicking over to take a look at his army in the Combat Management System display. “They look like they've got one campaign left in them before we need to rotate them out. Or the Knights of the Red Star?”

“We need the knights for the castle.” Suri stood up, and walked toward me in a way that immediately drew my attention from the translucent holographic screens and riveted it on her. “My point wasn't to get you working again, lover. My point was to show you that we can take a night off and not feel bad about it.”

I closed everything down, and slid my hands up and over her waist as she drew in close and pressed up against me. The chains weren’t hard and metallic: the warmth of her skin and the way they draped made them feel soft against my palms. “I might feel bad about taking the night off no matter what you say, but that doesn't mean I can't make you feel good.”

“Make me, huh?” She took my hands in hers and slid my hands up over her chest. “Feeling a bit less bitey?”

“Still pretty damn bitey.” I squeezed gently, leaned in, and licked the side of her neck. Suri shuddered and tipped her head back, then let out a breathy moan of pleasure as I gently, carefully pressed the sharp points of my teeth into her skin.

“Arse.” Suri playfully shoved herself back, licking her lips. “Come on: if we don't get ready now, we won't end up leaving the castle.”

“Is that so bad?” I grinned at her, tamping down the dark urge I had to stalk her across the room, pin her to the bed, and bite her for real.

“The night market only runs ‘til midnight.” She made a face at me. “Go on, lover. Rin and Ebisa said they’re ready. I'll meet you in fifteen.”

***

It was hard to imagine Litvy was in the same province as Karhad. It was a younger, busier, and hotter city, with a lot more industrial sprawl and less planning than the provincial capital to the cooler, more mountainous south. It was also completely untouched by the war: the only sign of the invasion here were the refugee