Chapter 15 - Monstrous Business

Wherein Bosra stays behind and doesn’t mind at all.

The monster-training business wasn’t going anywhere yet. Bosra accepted that. She enjoyed the simple work she had, mucking stalls, feeding livestock. She started training up a pair of handsome dire-goats.

The stables were echoingly empty. The ongoing war to the East had cleared out most stock, as people leaving Splendor for the front had bought all but the few wildest equines. Reggie was looking for new mounts to train.

The last sturdy donkey had just left with a crew of smalls when recruiters came past the stables. Brother and sister, twins, dressed mostly in black leather and armed with more than standard gear. The white-blue sash with a golden pin was the only colour on them.

Hired muscle hiring more muscle. Oh, the irony.

The young roughs were eager enough to take the King’s crown. It would be just her and Reginald for now, she guessed. Bosra watched them walk out of the stables. The brother stood next to her, eyeing her speculatively.

"You look like an adventurer. There’s plenty of chances at the front. The King could use a well-seasoned captain."

"I’m just a stable hand," Bosra had replied.

"Goat-shit," the brother had said. "I know who you are."

"Do you?" She turned to look down on him. Her voice gained a gravelly edge.

"As it happens, yes." He looked her up and down. "You’re the Golden Bow, legendary marksman. Got a tat on your shoulder to prove it." He nodded to the ink visible beneath her sleeveless top.

She admitted nothing, opting to remain silent. Tension corded the muscles in her neck.

"You lost your drake, that’s rough on a beast-master," the sister tried. "I have a bear myself," she continued. "I almost lost him, so I know how you’re feeling. Going out there and getting revenge is a good way to deal with grief."

Bosra eyed the slim, half-elven woman. Slick leathers, fancy boots, magical bow, plenty of jewellery.

"Nah."

"You’re really out?" the brother asked. He shook his head and grinned. "I’ve heard rumours about you. You were on the fast track to fabled." Both respect and incredulity tinted his tone. "The way you slew that necromancer up in the Cotts. But it was a dragon that got you that mark on your shoulder, wasn’t it?"

Bosra shifted, finding her hands balled into fists. "This talk going anywhere?"

"It appears not," the sister said, looking around the dusty, empty hall. "Leave it be, brother-dear. She’s taking the coward’s way out." She bumped her brother’s shoulder with her own. Side by side, they walked away.

Bosra growled low. She was no coward. She was also no longer that person. No longer the Hero with a list of accomplishments longer than the King's shit-list. 

"They don’t know," Reggie said. He stood right behind her, to the side, his face sombre. "They don’t know what it’s like to lose a part of their soul."

Bosra snorted, then nodded. "Makes you rethink things."

"Hngf," Reggie grunted his agreement. "Back to work."

Bosra’s gaze went back to the rowdy group just turning the corner, headed for hopes of grand adventure. Quiet would take on a whole new meaning. She heaved her shoulders with a snort. No time for wallowing; there was work to do.

As she mucked out the last stall, previously occupied by the sturdy donkey, she thought about telling Rose and Tina about her history. Rose had witnessed the run-in with the rogue in Risban, but she never brought it up again, leaving Bosra to wonder if she remembered at all.

And Tina knew nothing of who she had been before.

But if Bosra told them, there would be questions. More questions than she wanted to answer. More attention than she wanted to draw.

Once... once she had accrued a different name for herself, maybe then she would feel free to talk about the past like it truly was history. 

Tossing a load of dung into a wheelbarrow, she put the matter from her mind and focussed on the next.

The young’ns leaving… They had bought into the recruitment pitch, charmed by the idea of gold and adventure. More than likely they'd find their deaths instead. 

She sighed. It was a shame. They were good kids, with real potential. They weren't ever going to make headlines in the day-journals, but they had a good hand with the animals. 

It seemed there would be more than just new mounts to buy and train; Reggie would have to round up new stable-boys too.

While things were going slow, she would look around for more monstrous pets to train. People leaving Splendor altogether were hardly in need of a trainer that stayed behind. She had left her calling card here and there. Rose had a few to distribute freely too, but Pupper was having her own troubles to deal with and Bosra wasn’t desperate.

A few times, Bosra had tried to imagine herself holding a new baby drake, or gryphon, and simply couldn’t. Every time she had tried, she thought of Buddy. Of how small he had been. What a surprise it had been to find a blue lizard in a golden egg. He had been a problem child. Eating little, drinking little, stunted in growth. She pulled every trick in the book to keep him alive. He had to live. 

In the end, she had to stop trying. She had held him in her arms, cradled against her chest for warmth out on the road, and prayed. Prayed she didn’t lose him as she had her son.

And his health had turned around. He started eating. He started thriving.

In a few years’ time, he had grown into the biggest, baddest drake on this side of the ocean. They had been inseparable.

If there was one thing that Buddy had taught her, it was that she needed to have faith in happy endings. The monsters would come, or not. She trusted in Sunfather to light her path and Nightsoul to steer her true through darkness. 

~

If you’re interested in a signed paperback copy of Three of Cups, and are willing to pay the extra shipping costs, contact Zanna Bear directly to set up a private sale. You will receive a slight discount to the Amazon retail price.