Chapter 49: Mira Black

Joe met Mira because she brought Simon lunch.

A guard near the training yard called out.

"Captain. Your lady's here."

Simon nearly dropped the spear he was returning to the rack.

Joe turned.

A young woman stood near the entrance carrying a covered basket.

She was around Simon's age, dressed well without being ostentatious. Her dark hair had been pinned neatly back, and her face was pleasant rather than striking.

What Joe noticed was the way it changed when Simon approached.

She brightened immediately.

Joe looked at Simon.

Simon noticed.

"Don't."

"I haven't said anything."

"You were going to."

Joe smiled.

Simon brought her over.

"Mira, this is Joe."

She looked at him with immediate recognition.

"So you're Joe."

"I am."

"I've heard a lot about you."

Simon interrupted.

"I don't talk about him that much."

Mira considered.

"That's true."

Joe liked her immediately.

The basket contained roasted chicken, soft bread, pickled vegetables and sugar candies.

Joe looked at the food.

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Then Simon.

"You've been eating like this?"

"Not every day."

"Three days," Mira said.

"Sometimes two."

"Three."

Joe picked up a piece of chicken.

"So, this explains Late Skin Tempering."

Simon nearly choked.

Mira laughed.

Joe had already noticed the progress.

Simon had left Green Hollow solidly in Middle Skin Tempering.

He had now entered Late Skin.

That was respectable advancement for a seventeen-year-old from an ordinary farming household.

Better than respectable, considering his background.

Later, Joe learned why.

A year earlier Simon had served with Daren and Cole under Captain Harven and had spent far more time in the rougher district.

One afternoon, they encountered several young men surrounding a girl near an alley.

"Four," Simon said.

"Three," Mira corrected.

"There was another."

"He ran away."

"He was still part of it."

"He ran before you reached us."

"Because he saw me."

Joe nodded solemnly.

"Three."

Simon glared.

The exact number hardly mattered.

The other guards had wanted to avoid involvement. Small gangs were irritating enemies. A guard could arrest a man today and find his cousin waiting outside a drinking house two months later.

Unless the crime was serious or the victim important, experienced guards often preferred breaking things up without creating personal feuds.

Simon did not know the victim was important. He only saw a frightened girl. So, Simon did what Simon did. He interfered.

The men were not serious martial practitioners.

Simon was.

The encounter ended quickly.

One took a punch. Another hit a wall. The others ran.

Only afterward did Simon learn that Mira had not been kidnapped.

She had run away from home.

"Why?" Joe asked.

Mira looked embarrassed.

"My father wouldn't let me attend a friend's birthday dinner."

Simon stared.

"You never told me that."

"You never asked."

"I thought it was serious."

"It was serious."

Joe looked down at his food before either of them saw him smiling.

Mira had grown up protected by relatives, servants and family businesses.

Leaving alone had been her attempt at independence.

She chose the wrong district to demonstrate it.

Simon escorted her back home.

She left him a handkerchief.

Then she found his guard station several days later.

Then came food.

Then sweets.

Then more visits.

Then Simon finally learned her surname.

Black.

Joe leaned back when the story ended.

"So, you beat three idiots and accidentally acquire a wealthy girlfriend."

"I'm not—"

Mira looked at Simon.

Simon stopped.

Joe smiled.

Interesting.

Mira was sheltered. She was not stupid. The difference became clearer the longer Joe knew her.

She had limited experience with danger and ordinary poverty, but she had grown up hearing merchants negotiate, watching accounts handled and listening to adults discuss contracts.

That part of her upbringing had not been wasted.

Joe would discover that later. For now, he discovered something much more amusing.

Simon had not told Lily.

"You haven't written Mother?"

Simon stiffened.

Mira looked shocked. "You haven't told them?"

"I was going to."

"When?"

"Eventually."

Joe stared.

"You fought gang members with less fear."

"They weren't Mother."

"She is hundreds of miles away."

"Exactly. I can't explain after she starts."

Joe laughed.

"You should tell her."

Simon looked betrayed.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Mira's."

"I am your brother."

"She brought chicken."

Simon stared at him.

Joe took another piece.

The matter was settled.