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Chapter Forty-Four: Dog Nose

Sarafina filled the glass jug with water and placed it gently on the tray in Eva's outstretched hands with some empty glasses. Her sister looked at the jug with an intense expression, as if it was about to grow tentacles and jump onto the floor. 

'Are you sure you don't want me to carry the tray?' 

Eva gripped the tray tighter. 'I can do it.' 

There was a light summer breeze drifting in through the kitchen door that carried the faint smell of the ocean. The glass in the door still hadn't been replaced, so it was really only an empty aluminium frame. Sarafina knew she'd have to save money to fix it before the summer was over. 

She watched Eva carefully walk towards the door, her eyes locked on the water in the jug. She wondered how much of her ordeal with Gareth she remembered, and how much was an impenetrable sedative-induced haze. Eva still hadn't said anything about it. It was as if she had boxed the memories away and stored them in some long neglected attic in her mind. 

From outside, Sarafina heard a snap and a yelp of pain. She smiled and followed her sister out onto the porch. 

Behind the house was a small patch of grass. Regan stood in the centre of it, holding an extendible baton, which Sarafina had loaned to her. She held the baton negligently as she watched Forester drag himself to his feet. 

'You're afraid of getting hit, so you hesitate.' 

Forester picked up his wooden sword from where it had landed, a few steps away. He massaged his hand, where a red welt was already forming. 

'I wonder why.' 

'When you stop being awful, you won't get hit so much.' 

There was a bruise forming under Forester's eye and his jeans were streaked with grass stains. He scratched the back of his head. 

'You're too fast. I can't get around your guard.' 

Regan's mouth twisted into a sneer. 'Don't be so weak.' 

Sarafina saw Forester preparing to throw back a sarcastic response, and cleared her throat quietly. 'Eva brought out some water for you.' 

Forester looked at the tray, which Eva was carefully sliding onto a table on the porch. His face became an expression of palpable relief as he dropped his wooden sword and jogged up to get a drink. 

Sarafina poured some water into a glass and walked across the grass to Regan. She approached slowly, delicately stepping around the rough patches of dry grass with her bare feet.  

'How are the lessons going?' 

Regan threw the baton onto the grass. 'He doesn't have the drive to be a swordsman.' 

'He practices for two hours every day.' 

'Swinging a sword around on flat ground at imaginary enemies isn't going to teach you to fight. If it was that easy to get good, we'd all be experts.' 

Sarafina looked up at the porch, where Forester was painfully lowering himself into a chair as Eva fussed around him. 

'Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him?' 

'He asked to get stronger. He's been weak for so long, it's become a habit.' 

Sarafina shook her head. 'He's not weak. He's foolhardy and stupid in equal measure, but he's brave.' 

'Admirable qualities in a labrador. Less so in a fighter.' 

Regan accepted the glass of water from Sarafina and drained it quickly. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 

'You look like you have something to say,' she said. 

'I've been thinking about Gareth.' 

'I wouldn't.' 

'Not like that. I mean, you said there were people who'd come looking for you if they knew you were alive.' 

'Yes.' 

'And until you're fully healed, you're vulnerable,' Sarafina caught the look that Regan gave her and rolled her eyes. 'A poor choice of words, but you understand my meaning. The fight you had with Gareth and his enforcers is going to spark the interest of certain types of people -- the types whose interest I'm guessing you'd rather not spark.' 

'You've been giving this some thought.' 

'You need to find a place to hide in plain sight. Somewhere a fighter like you won't stand out.' 

Sarafina took the empty glass from Regan and handed her a newspaper clipping. 

'Silverwater invites applications for apprenticeships,' Regan read aloud. 'Candidates should present themselves at Silverwater Barracks at the specified times for suitability testing.' 

'What do you think?' said Sarafina. 'Forester and I already work for Silverwater, so we could put in a good word for you.' 

'You want me to work as a protector? You've got to be kidding.' 

'It's the best way for you to blend in. Also, the income would come in handy. You did kind of wreck my house.' 

Regan was far too good to let anything show in her expression, but Sarafina thought she saw her eyes flick for a second to the glassless kitchen door. 

'I'll do it until I'm back to full strength,' said Regan. 'After that, I won't need to hide from my enemies. I'm going to be the one looking for them.' 

Sarafina clapped her hands. 'Wonderful! I knew you'd say yes in the end. That's why I've already arranged for you to meet Ashcroft.' 

'Who?'

***

Regan stood in the centre of the office, while Ashcroft sat at her desk and examined her over clasped hands. The silence blossomed and grew until it filled every available space. Next to Regan, Sarafina shuffled her feet awkwardly. 

'Your name is Regan?' said Ashcroft. Her voice sounded like sandpaper on tree bark. 

'Yes.' 

'And Sarafina told you who I am?' 

'You're the operations commander for Silverwater.' 

'Do you know what that means, or are you just parroting something you heard?' 

'It means you're the one everyone's trying to fool into giving them a job.' 

Sarafina's face went red, and she suddenly became interested in a patch of carpet just between her toes. 

Ashcroft carefully brushed some iron grey hair away from her eye. She had sharp, angular features, and the type of gaze usually only found on the kind of bird that circles wayward adventurers lost in the desert. Most of her hair was tied back in a bun, but she'd cut her fringe in a strange, lopsided way that covered the left side of her face. When she moved, Regan saw the rough edges of a scar. 

'Sarafina says you have reasons for wanting to stay low profile,' said Ashcroft. 'She asked me to trust her.' 

'Do you?' 

'Implicitly. It's you I'm having a hard time with.' 

Regan shrugged and looked over Ashcroft's shoulder. Through the window behind her, she could see the low brick buildings that made up the Silverwater barracks.

'You don't have to trust me. I won't be here for long.' 

Ashcroft sighed. 'Sarafina, can you please give us a moment?' 

Sarafina looked up, as if she was surprised to be addressed directly. 'Sorry?' 

'If you wouldn't mind waiting outside my office.' 

Sarafina nodded and left the room. The door clicked shut behind her. 

Ashcroft's face hardened. 'What the hell is something like you doing here?' 

'I don't follow.' 

Ashcroft unfolded her wiry body from her chair, and walked around the desk until she was face to face with Regan. 'Yes you do. You stink of blood.' 

Regan threw a cold look back at Ashcroft's single eye. 'Dog nose.' 

'If you want to call it that.' 

'What do you want from me?' 

Ashcroft shook her head. 'This place is for the type of person who wants to protect other people. You represent everything in this world we stand against.' 

'If I'm fighting for you, it makes no difference what my intentions are. I'm not asking to play happy families with you.' 

Ashcroft's brow creased. 'Do you have any idea what it means to protect another person?'

'I'm usually on the other side of that equation.'

'That's what concerns me,' said Ashcroft flatly.

'I know the difference between success and failure.'

Ashcroft looked at Regan with a gaze that went on a second too long to be comfortable, then walked past her and opened the door to her office. Sarafina entered and looked from Regan to Ashcroft with a curious expression. 

'Regan will have to go through the normal selection process,' said Ashcroft. 

'With all the other applicants?' 

'If I grease the wheels for her, then people will start asking questions.' 

'But--' 

'Relax. If she's as good as you seemed to be suggesting, she should be able to pass the selection tests.' 

Sarafina nodded, but she didn't look convinced. Regan followed her to the door and paused on the threshold. 

'What made you change your mind?' 

'I haven't, but maybe even a silencer deserves a fair judgement.' 

'That was an evasion.' 

'Yes. I know.' 

Regan smiled at the floor. 'So, I'm still on trial?' 

'Like you wouldn't believe.'

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