Barbarian Brides. Cecily Royce

showing a smile of her own. "I don't often need people like that to distract those around me from my own behavior. Talk about barbarians. If any decent, self-respecting barbarian ran into one of those girls, he'd be smart to run the other way."

      Linira laughed at that comment, but didn't add anything as they crossed to the resort building and then turned in the direction of the dining room. A handy sign had told them which way to go, and just beyond the registration area was a large room with tables. Some of the other women who had come in with them were already seated, so Casi and Linira chose a table of their own and sat down. There was no sign of the group of annoying young ladies. They were probably sleeping after partying all night long.

      The waitress brought over a pot of coffee when she came to their table, and after she assured the new guests that breakfast certainly was available if they wanted it, she filled their cups and left with their orders. Linira had joined Casi in asking for breakfast, but they got to enjoy their coffee and the peace and quiet for no more than a few minutes. That was when the group of young women appeared again, wearing nothing but tiny bikinis, showing off their mosquito bites and lack of any womanly curves. No doubt they were all in their early twenties and acting like teenagers, it was perfectly clear the girls hadn't yet used up their excess energy. Bouncing and skipping excitedly into the dining hall, they had no respect for other people. They barely even noticed anyone but they existed.

      "You know, there's really no excuse for their behaving like that," Linira said once the girls had taken tables of their own on the far side of the room. "I was never so wild in my teens, let alone my twenties. Did their parents ever teach them how to act in public? They should be ashamed of themselves!"

      "Their parents were probably not around much," Casi said, swallowing the urge to walk over to the loud mass of girls and start punching their lights out. "Or maybe they were all raised to know how 'important' they are, so they decided they can do as they please. Whatever their problem is, I have no interest in helping them get over it. If they're left just as they are they won't attract many men if any at all, and that will hopefully mean they don't reproduce and bring more versions of themselves into whatever world they come from."

      Casi expected Linira to laugh and agree, but instead of laughing the blonde woman showed desolation in her eyes again before looking down into her coffee cup. Casi hesitated a moment, then she took a deep breath.

      "Look, I really don't want to intrude, but I can see that something is bothering you," she said, speaking as gently as possible. "If you'd like to talk about it, I don't mind listening. If you'd rather keep the matter to yourself, I'll shut up and mind my own business."

      Linira hesitated longer than Casi had, and then she shook her head.

      "There isn't much to talk about, but you might as well know," Linira allowed, the words more pain-filled than grudging. "I was engaged to be married, but my intended broke off the engagement. He said some things that weren't very nice before he left, and I haven't quite gotten over them yet."

      "Now, that's lousy," Casi all but blurted, well on the way to being indignant. "It's one thing to break off an engagement, another thing entirely to be horrible about it. If you don't mind my saying so, you're lucky you didn't actually marry the jerk." Casi hoped she could cheer Linira up. Had the situation been reversed, she'd have hoped someone would have showed the same kindness toward her.

      "That's what my mother said, and I know you're both right," Linira said with what looked like a forced smile without any amusement to it. "It's just that. When you have certain truths thrown at you that you never saw before, it can hurt quite a bit."

      It was hard not to pry when Linira was only offering her bits of a larger puzzle. "What kind of truths are we discussing here?" Casi asked, her head to one side. "Most jerks may sound like they know what they're talking about, but it's been my experience that they're usually wrong."

      Linira didn't rise to the bait and immediately go into details, and then the waitress was putting food in front of them. When Linira simply began to eat and didn't go back to the conversation even once the waitress was gone, Casi just shrugged and gave her attention to her own food. Pressing the point right now would obviously be a bad idea, so later would have to do for trying again.

      By the time they had finished eating, the dining room had become a place to leave as quickly as possible, which is what the other diners had done. The young ladies had brought along a music player with them, but it was more noise than music that the player blared out. Talking around the noise was impossible, especially when a few members of the horde started a short food fight with one another.

      The rest of the girls thought the food fight was a riot, but Casi didn't agree. She gestured to Linira to stay in her chair before she got up, went over to where the rowdy girls were shoveling in food, reached to the music player, and turned it off.

      "Hey!" one of the girls exclaimed, visibly indignant. "Who do you think you are that you can touch my player?"

      "I'm someone who's been forced to listen to noise I had no interest in," Casi answered, locking eyes with the indignant girl. Had they no decency to realize they weren't the only ones who existed in the dining hall? "Since you felt free to impose on my peace and quiet, I knew I could feel free to impose on your noise. If you turn this thing on again before I leave the dining room, I'll fix it so that it can never be turned on a third time. Got all that?" She didn't fear the young girl in the slightest.

      The girl, a flashy blonde who was clearly one of the older members of the horde, glared at Casi but didn't try to turn the player on again. Casi was no more than a couple of years older than her, but Casi was no one to ignore and the girl seemed to understand that. The nearest members of the crowd all looked at Casi with surly resentment, but when none of them challenged her, she was able to turn around and walk back to her own table.

      "I don't know how you had the nerve to do that," a wide-eyed Linira whispered as soon as Casi was seated. "I don't even know why you did it. We could have just left, and then you wouldn't have risked being jumped by all of them."

      "Only their leader could have started the jumping, and their leader knew I would hurt her first," Casi answered in the same soft tone. "It doesn't take nerve to stand up to a bunch of brats, it just takes a refusal to accept their nonsense. And I did it because I like to sit for a while after a meal and drink coffee in peace, which we can now do."

      Linira shrugged with something of a smile while shaking her head, then she, too, leaned back with her coffee cup. Linira obviously didn't understand Casi, but Casi didn't understand Linira either. But Casi wasn't bothered by the lack of understanding, not when she could like Linira without understanding her.

      They sat for another ten or fifteen minutes, drinking their coffee, and then they left the dining room. They were no more than two steps into the lobby area when the blaring noise started again, but Casi just smiled and kept going. If the management of the resort wanted someone to keep the flock in line, they could offer to pay Casi for the effort. As it was, it wasn't her job to make life pleasant and easy for everyone in the world.

      Casi joined Linira in looking around at the resort, but there wasn't that much to see. Tennis courts and handball courts, a large shop that sold souvenirs as well as everyday necessities, an archery range and rifle range, and an enormous pool that narrowed down to wind all around the area of the resort. Small bridges spanned the pool at intervals, additions that were both picturesque and useful, and dozens if not hundreds of lounge chairs lined the way near every part of the pool.

      "I was thinking about suggesting that we make use of the pool, but I just changed my mind," Linira said as she and Casi strolled back toward the main resort area. "It looks like our nemeses got there first."

      "You're right," Casi agreed, also seeing that the pack had jumped into the large part of the pool. "Their jumping and splashing is chasing everyone else away from this area. Not that there are a lot of others here."

      Which was a strangeness Casi had already noticed. The resort was apparently meant to house hundreds of people, but there wasn't nearly that number anywhere around. The few people who were there looked vastly annoyed, but not a single one of them made any effort to curb the outrageous nonsense of the group of girls.