I sat down between Jose and Sulin, leaning my back against the cool stone of the building wall. The three of us formed a loose triangle, not quite together, not quite apart. Circumstance rather than choice.
As I settled, I noticed another group of mercenaries nearby. Three of them, and they looked like they'd been here for a while. The first was a heavyset man with arms like small tree trunks and a face that seemed permanently set into a frown. He was cleaning a short axe with a rag that was dirtier than the weapon itself.
The second was a woman, wiry and lean, with close-cropped hair and a thin scar that bisected her left eyebrow. She was sitting cross-legged and eating something from a cloth bundle, her movements quick and efficient, like someone who had learned to eat fast or not eat at all.
