Honesty

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Jezal lay on his back, his hands behind his head, the sheets around his waist. He watched Ardee looking out of the window, her elbows on the sill, her chin on her hands. He watched Ardee, and he thanked the fates that some long-forgotten designer of military apparel had seen fit to provide the officers of the King's Own with a high-waisted jacket. He thanked them with a deep and earnest gratitude, because his jacket was all she was wearing.

It was amazing how things had changed between them, since that bitter, bewildering reunion. For a week they had not spent a night apart, and for a week the smile had barely left his face. Occasionally the memory would wallow up, of course, unbidden and horribly surprising, like a bloated corpse bobbing to the surface of the pond while one enjoys a picnic on the shore, of Ardee biting and hitting him, crying and screaming in his face. But when it did so he would fix his grin, and see her smile at him, and soon enough he would be able to shove those unpleasant thoughts back down again, at least for now. Then he would congratulate himself on being a big enough man to do it, and on giving her the benefit of the doubt.

'Ardee,' he wheedled at her.

'Mmm?'

'Come back to bed.'

'Why?'

'Because I love you.' Strange, how the more he said it, the easier it became.

She gave a bored sigh. 'So you keep saying.'

'It's true.'

She turned round, hands on the sill behind, her body a dark outline against the bright window. 'And what does that mean, exactly? That you've been fucking me for a week and you haven't had enough yet?'

'I don't think I'll ever get enough.'

'Well,' and she pushed herself away from the window and padded across the boards. 'I don't suppose there's any harm in finding out, is there? No more harm, anyway.' She stopped at the foot of the bed. 'Just promise me one thing.'

Jezal swallowed, worried at what she might ask him, worried at what he might say in reply. 'Anything,' he murmured, forcing himself to smile.

'Don't let me down.'

His smile grew easier. That was not so hard to say yes to. He was a changed man, after all. 'Of course, I promise.'

'Good.' She crept up on to the bed, on her hands and knees, eyes fixed on his face while he wriggled his toes in anticipation under the sheet. She knelt up, one leg on either side of him, and jerked the jacket smooth across her chest. 'Well then, Captain, do I pass muster?'

'I would say…' and he grabbed the front of the jacket and pulled her down on top of him, slipped his hands inside it, 'that you are without a doubt…' and he slid his hand under her breast and rubbed at her nipple with his thumb, 'the finest-looking soldier in my company.'