War Stories
Unused to civilian life after such a long time on an army base, Joachim preferred to dine among other military personnel when he could, and he had already realized that many of the clubs in the city would doubtlessly refuse to allow him entry. Officer or not, he was a brown man among much paler faces, and it hindered his digestion to be gawked at. The greeter at the door of the Army and Navy Club courteously saw him to a table, then left him to his own devices.
The Major ordered the braised lamb and a cup of tea, adding two cubes of sugar to the cup once it arrived. The night before he had slept halfway decently for a change, but he suspected the nightmares simply had yet to catch up with him here. Such things were not recovered from overnight. Never mind, though. As long as his heart continued to beat, he could muddle along until he was beyond this.
Henry didn't frequent the Army and Navy Club often, but periodically they served a superb Anglo-Indian luncheon on the weekend. For someone who had spent the first decade of their lives on the subcontinent like himself it recalled childhood comfort foods, and the scholar made a point to attend the club on such days. While it was normally open only to members who were active or retired military officers, Henry's aristocratic status combined with his assistance to military expeditions on a few occasions had been enough to acquire the requisite number of votes to join the club.
Arriving at the Club, Henry was mildly dismayed to find the dining room almost completely full. There were only a few seats empty, sprinkled here and there at a small number of tables throughout the room. A quick survey from the entrance showed that the average age of the tables with empty seats made his fifty years seem that of a mere stripling and his frown deepened.
Then: salvation! A young man sitting by himself off in one corner of the room, his skin being the dusky color that marked him that unfortunate hybrid of Anglo-Indian. Henry had always felt a bit of sympathy for Anglo-Indians, a foot in both worlds but fully belonging to neither. If the young man was in the club he had to be an officer in the Army, and he had to be either very good or his father was very well connected. Possibly both.
The scholar approached the table and smiled politely at the young man when he looked up. "Pardon me for intruding, but would you mind sharing the table?" He gestured toward the empty seats elsewhere. "I'd just as soon not listen to war stories on the Crimea, or God forbid, Waterloo." Some of the pensioners did appear old enough to have served under Wellington.
White teeth flashed briefly in the dark face as Joachim lowered his tea cup back to the saucer, and he replied, "Waterloo was slightly before my time, sir. But if you would not mind taking a meal with a stranger, I have no objection to sharing the table."
An Englishman, obviously, but while the younger man's formal manner didn't alter very much there was no reason for him to be churlish. He himself grew weary of war tales every now and then as well. "You are on leave?"
"Before mine as well, thankfully," Henry replied amiably as he sat down. The young man seemed friendly enough, if adhering strictly to formal manners. It wasn't that surprising really, in this environment an Anglo-Indian had to be more English than the English.
He gestured a waiter over and ordered the roast beef with peppers and cloves, along with a cup of tea. "On leave? God no, the only time I ever spent formally connected to the Army was as a dependent of my father. He served on the subcontinent when the East India Company still ruled there." The older man gestured to indicate the club and the officers dining in it. "They voted to allow me membership based on that connection, and the services I've rendered to Her Majesty's Army over the years during my travels."
Henry offered his hand. "My name is Henry Armitage. My father was Colonel George Armitage, 5th Viscount Balinbrock. He died before you were born I imagine, but you may have heard of him."
The Major accepted the handshake, found the older man's grip firm. "I believe I have, though not in recent times. I am Joachim Zahavi, and before this I was stationed in Delhi in service of the Raj. I am pleased to meet you, Your Lordship."
It occurred to him every so often that for a man such as himself to be part of the military that occupied India, it was as if he were indirectly responsible for oppressing his own people. Yet if he were not truly English, he wasn't truly Indian either, not in the eyes of some. Small wonder that he should always feel stared at, scrutinized for the slightest flaw. Still, the military was home, and it had given his life direction that it otherwise might have lacked.
"This is my first time on English soil," he remarked as his food arrived, and he savored the smell of the lamb with approval before picking up his cutlery. "If I find it to my liking during my recovery, I would not mind returning."
"The pleasure is mine Mr. Zahavi," Henry replied with a smile, also pleased by the other man's grip and manner. "It has been some time now since my last visit to the subcontinent. I spent my childhood there, my first sight of England was when I was sent to attend Eton. The climate is somewhat different from what you must be used to, but if you're like me you'll find the land does grow on you."
He'd spent quite a bit of time away from England over the course of his adult life, but he always found himself drawn back eventually. "I still prefer to be elsewhere during the winters, but at the moment my responsibilities keep me closer to home these days."
The younger man was loath to correct the gentleman taking a seat across from him, but the atmosphere he was in seemed to insist on it. "It's Major Zahavi, actually," he said, wondering how much of his ambivalence about his rank was obvious in the reply. "I am in civilian clothes for the purpose of seeing a physician this afternoon." He indicated the cane, which he'd propped against the table close to his chair. "Medicine being what it is, I've decided to give every option a chance."
Joachim returned to his meal for a moment, cutting his meat into manageable bites. He felt embarrassed without knowing exactly why. Perhaps Mr. Armitage's age had something to do with it, or it could have simply been that he was being paranoid. "I have heard that the winters leave much to be desired. Hopefully my physician will have good news, as I should not like to find myself ankle-deep in ice and snow with this leg as it is."
"Ah, my apologies Major." Henry hadn't been aware of the other man's rank, seeing as he was dressed in civilian clothes. Mister seemed a perfectly appropriate term, he'd heard officers address each other as such in the field. The younger man must be a very competent officer, to have such a rank despite his birth.
His tea arrived and the scholar busied himself with stirring in some cream and sugar before returning his attention to the young Major across from him. "You've injured your leg then? I hope the prognosis is favorable."
"My horse died underneath me. I was trapped beneath the animal when he fell."
An understatement at best, a lie at worst. Joachim could still hear the hideous sound the beast had made as its belly was opened by the claws of the things that had attacked his party. Despite his determination to know what had happened, some days he was very glad indeed that he knew as little as he did. His knife and fork made soft clacking sounds against the plate before he speared a piece of lamb and put it in his mouth. "A hazard of military life," he added once he'd finished chewing, as if it meant nothing at all. "I am sure you are well aware of the rigors, whether you've served actively or not."
"I've spent more time in the saddle than many career cavalry troopers." Henry told the younger man with a hint of pride in his voice. Indeed, his trip along the Silk Road as a younger man had him in the saddle for months at a time. The region had changed little in thousands of years, and Henry imagined it would be decades if not centuries before it saw anything resembling modern infrastructure and society.
The railroad was a relatively recent invention after all.
The young man's simple statement about how he'd been injured spoke volumes about the severity of the incident, and Henry had no doubt that there was much more to the story than the horse's death.
"I want to go back to it. Soldiering. I have been advised that I should consider other work, but there is no other path for me now. Perhaps there never was."
The source of his embarrassment revealed itself as he finished speaking, and Joachim occupied himself with his teacup for a moment to arrange his expression into something neutral. Armitage reminded him a bit of Father, though they were at least fifteen years apart in age, and he'd just realized he'd bordered on explaining himself to the man as if he were a proxy for Frederick. He must watch that, if only because it was unmanly to reveal himself in such a way to a stranger.
"You reside somewhere in the city?" he asked once he was certain he'd schooled his tone into something merely conversational. "It must be quite the change if you are used to the open countryside."
Henry raised an eyebrow at the confession, but quickly schooled his features back to something resembling neutrality. "I'm certain that isn't the case, Major, but we should try to do what best fits us of course." He certainly wasn't one to give out career advice, but there was something about the young man's eyes that told Henry there was much more to the story of how he was injured than he was letting on.
He accepted the change of subject however, and set down his teacup as he shook his head. "I would have to say I'm used to living in all manner of different types of places, from a campsite in the Caucasus Mountains, a townhouse in Oxford or my estate in Scotland. All have their quirks, though I've found my attachment to creature comforts has increased considerably since my fortieth birthday." Henry's mouth curled upwards in amusement at his own expense.
"I have a home here in London yes, by Manchester Square."
"I am unaccustomed to the ways of civilian society," Joachim said, as if that would explain his earlier blunder. "My mother was a servant in the home of an officer for many years, and I was largely raised on the nearby base. It is difficult to...acclimate myself now that I am no longer constantly among uniforms and gold braid."
The lamb was very good, and he had finished a quarter of it by the time the server arrived with Armitage's plate. He refilled his cup from the pot on the table, then added another cube of sugar before stirring it in. "You have seen in the papers, of course, about the terrible happenings lately? I had not expected to find such butchery so far from a battlefield. There is talk that the Ripper walks the streets again as a ghost." The Major shook his head, though whether in regret at the reason for such gossip or at the naivety of other it was difficult to ascertain.
"Ah." The Major's admission of his mother's status also indicated his father had been an officer himself. Henry's lips pursed slightly, not so much at the idea of a mixed race child but the fact that the father hadn't married the mother. He knew it was ridiculous to expect such a thing as it would have ended the officer's career even if he hadn't been married already. A married officer leaving his wife to marry his local mistress would have been a scandal of the first order.
At least the man had cared enough to make sure the lad had acquired something of an education and a career by the time he was grown. Henry wondered if that had caused Joachim's arrival in England, the father wanting to make certain his son recovered.
"I can sympathize," Henry finally nodded in understanding. "My childhood was surrounded by uniforms as well, it was quite an adjustment coming to England. I must say that boarding school wasn't that different than the military really, it was only run by different rules and I'd gone from officer's son to the lowest form of life as a first year student." He smiled slightly at the memories.
The mention of the recent deaths caused his smile to disappear as the Inquisitor recalled what few details they'd learned about the killings that hadn't been put into the papers. "Indeed, it is quite disturbing. I'm certain Scotland Yard is working feverishly to apprehend the killer or killers."
That single noise, that 'ah', had Joachim's own mouth tightening down at the corners, and he concentrated on his silverware until his expression relaxed again. That society had rules that were neither of his making or to his liking was not a secret to him, but his father did the best he was allowed to do under the circumstances. At least he knew who the man was, which was more than some of the children he had grown up with could say. Whatever Frederick's flaws might have been, he was not a coward.
"It is not a job I would relish, that of looking for such people," he offered. "But as you say, we all must do the work that suits us. Law and order will prevail, I am sure. Such chaos cannot thrive for long."
Henry hadn't intended to cause offense, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Hopefully the younger man wouldn't nurse a grudge. He'd had childhood playmates in Joachim's shoes, it had always been a touchy subject who their fathers were.
As far as he knew his own father had never taken a native mistress.
"It would be a dangerous job, I'd imagine." Henry mused as if he had no idea what it was like to hunt such folk. The Inquisition had lost nearly the entire founding team in the Ripper Incident, some of whom he'd gotten to like quite well. Trying to thwart such things was extremely hazardous and not for the unprepared or untrained.
"The world is dangerous, Mr. Armitage," Joachim said gravely, and he speared up another piece of lamb with his fork before adding, "Are you currently on military business? You must be well-trusted to take a hand in such matters as a civilian."
Asking the question made him think of his own future, and he glowered at the cane out of the corner of his eye. That doctor had better have some good news. Regardless of what the older man said, he felt he wasn't cut out for any other career. Active duty seemed like a distant dream, but he refused to lose hope now. He'd been through too much, both on and off the field, to give up now.
"My specialties lie in languages and cultures, mostly." Henry responded to the younger man's question. "I've spent a great deal of time in Asia and near east, and built up a familiarity with the lands and their peoples. From time to time the Army or the Foreign Office asked for my assistance in a matter and I've been happy to oblige. At the moment I'm not engaged in any business with the military."
The older man paused as his meal arrived, and Henry busied himself cutting a bite out of the roast beef. "And yourself, Major? They've mostly done away with purchased warrants in this day and age, you must be quite a capable officer to have risen to your present rank." It was a polite way of complimenting him on overcoming the prejudice against those not purely of European stock in the officer corps. The nobleman was curious as to how Joachim had managed to do it.
"I started out as a marksman," Joachim said,abandoning his food momentarily to drink some tea. "Joined the rifle corps at seventeen after gaining some extra experience as a guide leading hunters on their expeditions. It was not that much different than tracking human enemies, really, except there was much less danger of being shot at in return."
He made a due effort to be modest, but he knew he was perfectly capable. Mixed blood aside, it had been ambition and drive that had lifted him above his peers as a younger man, the will to better himself. In a fair world, he'd have earned his rank on his own, but in his occasional sour moments he reflected that was the least his father could have done for him. He would certainly never get much else from the man, like a proper acknowledgement. "I have never been as far east as Japan," he remarked, but acclimating myself to England has been difficult enough as it is." The Major smiled self-deprecatingly. "Small steps are best, I suppose."
"It is definitely an adjustment," Henry agreed, recalling his own arrival on Britannia's shores forty years earlier. In many ways it was a different country from what existed now, but the land was the same. He nodded at the explanation at how the younger man joined the military, and wondered how many favors the father had needed to call in to gain an officer's warrant for his mixed blood son.
"Unless something happens I doubt the army will be deployed to the Land of the Rising Sun anytime soon, you'll not be visiting Kyoto as anything but a private citizen. They seem more interested in the German Army for their military advisers than those from British ranks."
"I have met some Germans during my time in uniform," the Major said with a nod. "They are a reserved lot, but no more than our own officers. But yes, I do not expect to be traveling east in a military capacity any time soon. Indeed, until this leg becomes strong again I have been advised to tread very lightly, as it were."
His teacup was empty again, and he refilled it while studying the remains of his lunch. Armitage was doing an admirable job of not asking the most obvious question, and he was quietly grateful for it. It was a rare Englishman indeed who didn't look down his nose at a 'mongrel', and he grew weary of having to guard himself against scorn simply because of his dark skin.
"They will ask you later," he said in a low voice, and his head tipped in the direction of two much older men, both of them fully decked out in dress uniforms, "why you chose to sit with me. Such is the way of things. I do not wish to make problems for you, Your Lordship."
Henry's response to the young man's statement was to laugh so hard he almost cried from the exertion. He knew he was attracting attention to them but he really didn't care. When his laughter subsided into mere chuckles and he was able to catch his breath he looked over at the younger man in clear amusement. "Young man, you'll find as you grow older that the only person you have to justify things to is yourself. If the Empire is to truly survive more than a generation or two then we'll have to be like the Romans and allow the provincials into the club, and if others can't see that then it is their loss."
"In the end, my personal honor and academic reputation are more important than what polite society thinks proper." That wasn't entirely true, but Henry liked to think it was.
He had not meant to cause such open hilarity, but after a few moments Joachim allowed himself a smile. "Honor is difficult to maintain," he said. "As for being provincial, life in the field has made me rough-mannered, blunt when I could be softer-voiced. It is..."
The Major paused, giving his next words some thought. "Sometimes I am what they expect of me, sometimes I am not. I think it is that they cannot make up their minds that makes them dislike me so."
Henry had been speaking literally when it came to the term provincials. If the rulers of the Empire remained a white man's club there would be little chance of it sustaining rule over the masses for more than a generation or two.
"You remind them of their own failings lad," Henry told the younger man gently, serious now. "In a world where they were strong enough to be faithful to their vows, people such as yourself likely wouldn't exist aside from the few byproducts of mixed marriages. Combined with your obvious competence you give lie to the idea that we are your superiors in every way. There will be some who will learn to accept you as you are, others never will."
Joachim's smile widened a single notch, exposing the barest hint of teeth. "My mother wishes me to be a gentleman soldier," he told Armitage, raising his teacup as if in a toast to the absent woman who had borne him. "Though I am loath to accuse her of such motives, there is the slightest possibility that I am to be her revenge on a society that has been openly scornful of her circumstances."
The younger man put the cup down after a drink of the tea, lifted his index finger in a gesture that said 'wait'. All his life he had watched his mother hold her head up even under the most belittling stares from 'proper' ladies, women who did not have either straying husbands or children in their homes who were not theirs. There might have been other sons who valued that pride more and utilized it themselves more often, but he did not at the moment know who they were.
"An honorable woman is something we should all be so fortunate to encounter, Mr. Armitage. Especially in dishonorable situations."
Henry lifted his teacup in silent salute to the woman who'd born and raised the younger man. He couldn't argue with the logic. "Indeed, Major, indeed. It may be the only thing that would save us from ourselves in such a situation."
He took a moment to have another bite of roast beef, savoring the unique flavoring of the Indian spices and seasonings mixed in with the meat.
"She's still living, your mother? She must be quite a lady, whatever her station in the world."
"Mother is here in the city, actually. She wishes to help me recuperate, claims herbal medicine makes the body strong while bones repair themselves. At this point I am willing to at least test that theory out."
He waved a hand at the cane, felt the smile trying to sour. "And I thank you for the kind words, sir, and for the conversation this afternoon. If I am to be a provincial, it is best to have good company while I am at it."
"If they are the same herbs my old nanny used to treat my broken arm as a child, I would have to say they did have some beneficial effect." Henry responded. "And I mean provincial in the literal sense: one from the provinces, no disrespect is intended Major. The pleasure was mine." From what he could see the younger man was like an American mustang, a hybrid that had taken the best qualities of both races and combined them in a new vigor.
Henry fished out a card from his waistcoat pocket and handed it to the younger man. "If I can be of some assistance while you are in the country Major, please don't hesitate to come by or send a message. I like to see talented men rise on their own merits, whatever their starting point."
The Major's smile warmed again, and he inclined is head as he accepted Henry's card. "You offer is appreciated, sir. I am pleased to have met you this day. I do not know if I could properly return such a favor, but if so, do not hesitate to ask me."
He gave the older man a card of his own, one of a simpler style, then tucked into the last of his meal. His appointment with the physician was in another hour, and he wanted to finish the lamb before it grew cold. All in all, this had been an exceedingly pleasant day.