Free Clockwork Goddess (The Lesbia Chronicles) by Loki Renard

which shocked them both.
     
    "Die! Or die trying!"
     
    The cry brought both Ayla and Vix back to the camp at high speed in case something terrible had befallen their comrades. Perhaps some invading force had rushed the encampment. Perhaps an assassin had crept in unannounced. Perhaps a vicious goddess had decided to make an appearance.
     
    None of those things had happened. Ayla and Vix arrived to discover that the cause of the chaos was the soldiers themselves who had turned on one another with great fury and assorted sentiments.
     
    It was not clear what the brawl had erupted over, nor was it clear what it was continuing for, but it seemed that those involved were taking a great deal of pleasure in it. Limbs flew and swung and twisted and writhed and loud curses filled the air whilst the musicians played on, their tunes discordant but merry none the less.
     
    "Whore face! Your face is a whore!" The insult was flung into the night, a declaration meant for the stars as much as anyone else.
     
    "Your face is one to know one!" Someone replied eloquently.
     
    "What is this?" Ayla asked the question of Kira who was standing apart from the fray, looking on with a critical gaze.
     
    "Is is a brawl," Kira said. "They will pay for this tomorrow. For the moment, it amuses me."
     
    "Where is Aeron? I would have thought she would have put an immediate end to this."
     
    Kira gestured to the edge of the firelight where Aeron's powerful frame was laid out in the grass. "Aeron has a weakness to liquor. One drink and she is done."
     
    "What would Ariadne say if she saw the state of her armlette?" Ayla's questioning was clearly intended to provoke some action on Kira's part, but it failed to have any such effect.
     
    "Probably the same thing she's been doing since this all began," Vix muttered whilst Kira shrugged. "Nothing."
     
    "Blasphemy is a disciplinary offense," Kira said sharply. "Be careful what you say."
     
    "Blasphemy is an offense, but being drunk and disorderly is acceptable?" Vix's expression was unashamedly derisive. It was a poor decision to direct that sentiment at Kira, who was not the sort of person who enjoyed being questioned, especially not by a lowly hengineer who did not have the slightest bit of fighting expertise.
     
    "Do not worry about what the others are doing," Kira said as her soldiers writhed about in a tangled heap behind her. "Worry about what you are doing. Worry about the trouble your mouth is getting you in."
     
    "I am worried," Vix said. "I'm worried that my fate seems linked to a group of drunken fanatics with the military prowess of a caterpillar's little toe who seem to think they will win against the might of an empire because an imaginary goddess is on their side."
     
    Her statement was not as loud as the cursing in the background, but it cut through all the other noise and babble, leaving Kira staring down at Vix with the the eyes of a predator.
     
    "She hasn't said three words since I recruited her," the warrior said to Ayla. "I leave her with you for a few days and look what she does. I used to think you attracted smart mouthed brats - but it is obvious that you create them."
     
    Sensing unpleasantness in Kira's gaze, Vix took a step back, putting Ayla between herself and the warrior.
     
    "Leave the girl alone," Ayla said. "You have real problems to solve, don't waste time beating the messenger."
     
    "I don't need you to tell me how to run my armlette." Kira said, ignoring the brawl as it raged behind her. It was no small thing to ignore, given that it was growing by the moment, destroying everything in its path. Plates and pots and the tables themselves were being wielded and stamped on. Some cookware was being worn as impromptu armor, spatulas and forks taking the place of swords and shields.
     
    "Perhaps you do," Ayla said, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "But it will not be me this night." She turned to the younger woman behind her. "Where do you sleep,