Fic: Twenty Roads Cazaril Didn't Take

[jeriendhal]

"But…! I didn't…! I was sold to the Roknari galleys!" Cazaril sputtered. He just managed to catch his shirt as the enraged bathhouse owner tossed it and his sandals into his face, the latter dropping to the ground at Cazaril's feet, then slammed the door shut. Cazaril hugged it to his belly, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

Slipping the sandals back onto his feet, he turned around, intent on getting back to the laundress' to wait for his clothing to be finished washing. He instead found himself staring into the hard set face a man wearing the tabard of Valenda's municipal guard, his palm resting on the hilt of his sword.

Cazaril's face blanched, and he quickly slipped his shift over his head. "It's not… It isn't what it looks like," he began again. "I was sold to the Roknari after the fall of Gortoget!"

"Of course you were," the guard said, his voice fairly dripping with contempt. He grabbed hold of Cazaril's arm and started dragging him towards the town's main gate.

Oh, my poor honor, Cazaril thought helplessly, as his sandals slapped the cobblestones like snap of the oar master's whip.

Comments

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Jujold?