Chapter 39
Rizok leaned back against the alleyway sandstone walls and took a moment to appreciate the gorgeous sight of Tal’Qamar's star-filled night sky.
The city was still quite active despite it being midnight—a natural consequence of Tal’Qamar having a sizable population of ogres given how rarely they slept—but it was still quieter than the bustling daytime hours.
It was… peaceful. Like much of his life had been recently, between fighting off the occasional assassination attempt, flesh golems, and ogre cultists much less friendly than the [Cultists] he was used to. Even taking those occasions into account, life had been much kinder to him recently than it had been for the majority of his life.
No more marching constantly from battle to battle, leaving behind corpses wherever he went.
No more serving under naga officers who never missed a chance to remind him how grateful he should be for the rank he’d rightfully earned.
No more utter loneliness, unwilling to allow himself the luxury of completely trusting his fellow soldiers lest his true thoughts get back to the Great Houses.
Instead, he now enjoyed the chance to consistently sleep in a comfortable bed, aid the Tessik more than just by acting as a spy, and fight alongside people who he genuinely trusted.
He even had a lover! For the first time in… quite a while. He’d always found it difficult to relate with civilians and finding a lover in the military came with the same problems as finding friends, so Vidhatri felt like a blessing he hadn’t expected to receive.
She really was quite beautiful while tearing their enemies limb from limb. And more than a little captivating when she used her six arms to pick him up and…