Dear Yves

[Alayne Lombard]

With all that had happened lately, I felt the sudden need for some reassurance from Camlach. I wasn't sure I'd want to spell out my opinions on paper – besides, some were better at it than me, so I was more than content to be lazy and to leave that to them.

I wrote the letter and took it to the barracks, and gave sweet smiles and kissing promises, until I was told it would be sent where it should.

Dear Yves,

I have no idea how this is going to get to you, or if you'll even get it, but I just had to write, to ask for news.

It's been weeks now, and rumors of battle are reaching the city. I'm sending you a little leaf as proof – names are being given and injury details too. I was relieved to see yours wasn't on it, but at the same time...

I guess I'd like to know you're alright. The bathhouse isn't the same without you. To be fair, it's also not the same without all the johns who are currently out there making a riot of themselves.

I miss you, come home safe, promise me. I've been going down to the yard in late mornings half-expecting a chat with you, and it's constantly disappointing.

Your friend,

Alayne

P.S. If you come back hurt, I'll make sure you regret it. We need you in one piece here. And I need my friend.

P.S.2. If you come across a Skaldi man, fighting on your side, be good to him. His name is Hal de Valliers, and he's been an odd friend to me - I told you about him before. I think he really means well, and he's loyal to Terre d'Ange.

Enclosed was a copy of La Voix, a clean one plucked from a door. I hadn't said what I thought of it, not openly, anyway, but I thought it was the least I could do, to make sure it went all the way to the front line.

[Yves Chevalier]

I was surprised when I received a letter from someone besides Aurianne. I had not truly expected anyone else to write to me, but it was a pleasant surprise, to know that someone else thought of me kindly.

Dear Alayne,

What a wonderful surprise it was to receive this letter! Some times the best things are the unexpected things, as I have learned over time.

I am well, I made it through the first offensive with mere scrapes and bruises, though others weren't so lucky. I can only hope that their sacrifice will not be in vain, and that we keep the Skaldi from our land and from harming any more of our people. The King himself was among the injured, though he survives, praise Camael.

I have every intention of returning home in one piece, for all of my girls, and just you watch, everything will be just as it was.

I have not met your Skaldic friend, but if I do, I will remember his kindness to you, and do what I can to keep him from harm.

It was wonderful to hear from you, and I hope that you will write again and give me news of yourself and the other women, so that I know you all are well. Be safe, Alayne, above all.

Your friend,

Yves

After I posted the letter, I picked up the pamphlet she'd enclosed, frowning as I read it over. It wasn't the sort of thing I found useful, a lot of calling people out without knowing the details nor understanding the way politics worked, but I supposed I could see how it was attractive to some. There were always those who railed against the nobility, and of course in some ways I was one of them, but I understood that the issue was a lot more complicated than that. Shrugging, I left the pamphlet on the small table in the tent I shared with several others, forgetting about it as I went out to train for the day.

[Alayne Lombard]

I didn't know if everything would be, as Yves wrote, “just as it was” - but that had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with me and how confused I was about everything in general

Still, I was so relieved to know that he was safe, that I wrote back immediately, even if the note was short.

Dear Yves,

It's a serious relief to know that you're safe and only got a few scrapes. Don't go doing anything silly in the next battle, because so help me Kushiel, if you do, I'll on your heels to whip sense into you myself.

I'm safe, and as I wrote last time, the bathhouse is pretty quiet. Elodie got a ball from a john a while ago, before you left. I got a poem. Men are very weird sometimes, aren't they? But I bet you'll tell me women are weird too.

I met a Yeshuite girl the other day – she didn't seem to be bothered by my whoring, even if I flashed it in her face pretty vigorously. Maybe she wasn't as religious as they say? I couldn't tell. Nice girl, though.

Guess I could ask, does the name Florence Danton ring a bell to you? I haven't heard a thing of him – but if you have, let me know. Someone was asking about the fellow the other day, and now I'm bored and curious, so I guess I have nothing better to do than to ask.

Take care of yourself, boyo, and don't do anything I wouldn't do,

One of your army of girls, but your fiercest friend,

Alayne