by Dan Decker
Xarda had yet to speak since leaving her apartment. When she’d agreed to store most of Soret’s things with a single word, Soret had known Xarda was having second thoughts, but Soret pretended not to notice.
Soret’s mother had been the same way, brooding after large decisions, making it clear she wanted somebody to ask what she was thinking.
Mother.
She didn’t let the thought stay, choosing to focus instead on the dark reality of their situation. It was surprising that even with the Rahar backing Jorad, people weren’t more alarmed and concerned; it was as if news of the impending Hunwei invasion had been met with a collective yawn.
Don’t these fools know what is coming?
She would have loved to ask Xarda about it but didn’t dare because she hated to be the first one to break the silence that had been their companion since before they’d left Xarda’s apartment.
When they came around the corner, and the large Inner Wall came into view with the Verag gate at the bottom, Soret’s heart froze in her chest, and it was only by sheer will alone that she didn’t come to a stop.
One hundred more feet and there would be no turning back.
If you wash out, you’ll be banished from the city. That was one of the few things Xarda had said after agreeing to take Soret to enlist tonight. Xarda hadn’t offered any explanation as to why that was the case, but Soret had got the idea it was because she was a foreigner coming to join the Radim.
She was all the sudden glad Xarda had been quiet on their trip. If they had been conversing, there would have been no hiding the way Soret felt about a decision she could never recall. She would have to succeed or be forced from the city.
But if I’m ever to be my own woman, I don’t have another way forward.
She could never again trust Jorad, and even though she’d helped Tere, she had a strong suspicion the man wasn’t going to be looking her up again anytime soon, now that he’d retrieved the tablet.
But he would remember what she’d done. That might someday be useful.
Tere was not well liked and didn’t have many friends if his treatment by those in their traveling party was any indication. Xarda didn’t think like her uncle even though she respected him. Soret had never seen Karn and Tere talk in private conversation. Leron appeared to care very little about what was really going on, he seemed more focused on finding women to ogle. Even Lous before he’d died hadn’t cared very much for Tere. Tarner had been the only exception from their party, but she could say with relative certainty that Tarner didn’t like Tere so much as he respected him.
No, if that was any indication at all, the fact that she’d taken a substantial to risk to help Tere should gain her favor with the bitter man.
The gate came quickly, and before she knew it, Xarda was talking to the guard, explaining Soret’s desire to enlist. The guard frowned, and even though it was obvious the woman herself was one of the newer Verag recruits, she raised a lip disdainfully.
“This pitiful one wants to enlist, eh?” The woman spat to the side, coming very close to hitting Soret’s shoe, watching for Soret’s reaction while she did.
The Hunwei are coming, and she thinks to intimidate me with a little spittle. What is wrong with these people? They should be happy to get all the help they can.
“I will be a Radim soldier,” Soret said with as firm a voice as she could muster, glad that to her own ears it was a great deal stronger than she expected.
The guard snorted and scowled. “We’ll see about that.” Her eyes narrowed. “Foreign born don’t fare well in Verag Army. Maybe if you were in Korew or were a man you’d have a shot, but we work foreigners hard because we can’t afford to have lazy people.” She spat again. “Foreigners—”
“Come off it, soldier,” Xarda said, the tone of her voice brooking no discussion. “I don’t have all night. Take us to the recruiting officer.”
The woman went red in the face. “Yes, ma’am.” Apparently, she hadn’t realized Xarda was an officer. Or that Xarda was Radim herself. By the way the woman glanced at Soret, it was evident Soret was not off to a good start and would pay for what had just happened.
I already have a new enemy, and I haven’t even been accepted as a recruit.
For the first time since coming to Rarbon, she doubted her decision, wondering if perhaps she was making a mistake. Her feet seemed to drag as she followed the guard into the Inner Wall, Xarda took her in with a look that conveyed her doubts about Soret’s ability to succeed.
“This woman here sure about this, ma’am?” The guard asked in a far more respectful tone. “She knows we train harder than the men, doesn’t she? She might have had a brother join one of the other Radim armies, but that doesn’t mean she’s likely to succeed here.”
“She’s more capable than she looks,” Xarda said, making it clear she didn’t want any more conversation with the woman.
Do I really look that weak? Soret shook her head, figuring it had more to do with her dark hair and tan skin, than anything else. Xarda’s going out on a limb for me. If I get washed out, she’ll look bad. Soret swallowed. Perhaps that was part of the reason why Xarda had taken her to Verag army instead of Korew. It would be less damaging if Soret failed in an army apart from Xarda’s.
They turned at the wide hallway that ran through the whole of the Inner Wall, enabling messengers to travel without worrying about navigating the traffic of the city. Soret had been surprised when Xarda had pointed that out earlier when they’d gone to watch Jorad receive his punishment. It seemed less efficient than just going in a straight line, but she supposed it also allowed for soldiers to move without being seen. The stones were smooth as if rubbed of their rough edges from years of use.
They turned again when they came to another opening. Several women chatted while they approached. One sat at a desk while the other leaned up against the wall.
“We got a new recruit here.” Soret frowned at the guard’s emphasis on the word, but she quickly smoothed it off her face. The woman didn’t matter, probably the lowest of the low to have pulled guard duty at night. She was a nobody.
But so am I.
The woman behind the desk gave Soret an appraising look.
She shook her head. “Rumors of the Hunwei start flying and every confounded woman wants to join.” She let out a long sigh as she went to a bookshelf behind her from which she pulled out a ledger that she threw down on the desk with a loud bang. “This is the tenth one tonight and the fifteenth for the day. If this keeps up, we’ll have two full squads by morning.”
Xarda looked at the woman. “These aren’t rumors, soldier.”
The recruiter looked up sharply, not used to being spoken to in that fashion. Xarda stared at the woman without blinking. “The Hunwei have returned and the sooner you fools get that into your head, the better. Be glad your ranks are swelling, you’re going to need the numbers.”
“I don’t like your tone.”
“Ma’am,” Xarda said. “I’m a captain from Korew army, it is you who should be careful about your tone.” The woman went red in the face.
Confound it all! Soret thought. Is Xarda doing this on purpose? Is she trying to make it more difficult for me so they kick me out the soonest they can?
She should have come by herself.
The woman across from the desk, frowned and looked at Soret. “Name?”
“Soret Tedenhel.”
“Country of birth.”
“Neber.” It galled her to claim Neber, but that was what Xarda had told her to say. When was the last time the king of Neber sent anybody out their way? Certainly not in her lifetime.
“City of birth?”
“Neberan.”
The woman let out a low whistle. “You came from far, girl. So, let me make sure I understand. You’re just in town, hear about the alleged return of the Hunwei, and decide you’re going to enlist.” She shook her head. “I’ll give you one chance to walk away.” She looked up. “I’ll cross out your name
. It isn’t too late before you take the oath.”
“I’m not backing out.” Soret stepped forward, hoping to make it appear that she was trying to put distance between herself and Xarda. What was Xarda playing at by trying to get these women stirred up? Couldn’t she just leave well enough alone? Soret had asked for help, what Xarda was doing wasn’t helping.
“This one’s going to be a great soldier and kill many Hunwei!” the guard chortled.
The woman who the recruiter had been talking to when they arrived, cracked a smile. “Be careful Marge, if we’re getting them from Neber, won’t be long before every backwoods hayseed shows up dreaming of glory, glad to have an excuse to put any thought of a husband behind.” She looked at Soret. “Go home to your mama. Marry the merchant boy she picked out for you from the day you were born. Let us handle the fighting.”
Xarda opened her mouth, but Soret gave her an angry look that gave her pause. It rankled Soret that the woman’s words were close to the truth, but she wasn’t going to let it get to her.
“My mother was killed by the Hunwei,” Soret said as emotionlessly as she could. “I know what I’m doing. If you don’t want me, I’ll go to Korew.” Her words were met with silence, though Xarda gave her a reproving look, for what she didn’t know. She’d been a great deal nicer to these women than Xarda had been, why was Xarda acting like Soret was doing things wrong?
“I don’t know what killed your mama, girl,” the woman who’d been talking to the recruiter said, “but the Hunwei are a myth, they aren’t—”
Xarda stepped up to her, getting right in her face. “Careful, woman. You’re approaching treason.”
The woman smiled, her hands balling into fists. “I’m a captain as well.”
For a moment, Soret was certain Xarda was about to ram her fist into the woman’s chin. “That a challenge? I haven’t had a proper duel with Verag scum in months, seeing as how I’ve been out of the city, fetching our future Ghar and all.”
The woman went white. “What did you say your name was again?”
“You already know.”
The woman swallowed and gave a small bow of the head. “Sorry, no challenge. I’s just letting my mouth run, is all.”
Xarda studied her. “Sounded like one to me.” She looked at the recruiter. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
The recruiter stared at her friend. “She spoke in jest, isn’t that so?”
The woman nodded. “Yes, yes. Just playing around.”
Xarda took a step back, looking disappointed if anything. “Now you bring it up, it does seem to have been said in jest. You should be more careful. People may misunderstand you.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”
Xarda left without saying goodbye or even giving Soret another look. Once she was gone, the recruiter gave Soret a wicked grin.
“Now the fun begins.”
Chapter 27
A cold wind ruffled Daen’s hair as he turned in place, wondering if Lear had realized he was being followed and was trying to flip things around on him. The other guard had disappeared as well, but he might have just taken an early turn that would take him to the Rarbon Guard headquarters.
As Daen glanced around, he saw an alley where Lear could be hiding. There was also a tiny alcove in front of a door where the shadow was thick. Additionally, there were several doors through which Lear might have disappeared.
After checking the alley and the alcove, Daen wondered if he should unsheathe his sword. If Lear had disappeared for a moment on an errand, Daen wanted to be ready if the man reappeared.
He instead reached for a dagger that he kept inside his coat and slowly withdrew it. Holding the blade up against his leg, he moved forward a step at a time. The guard couldn’t have gone far, the amount of time between when he’d taken the corner and when Daen had caught up to him couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.
He looked back at what was between him and the street from which he’d come from. There was a tailor’s shop and a saddle shop on the right; a six-story apartment building on the left. He peeked through the small windows of each of the shops, looking for any movement. There was a light in the back of the tailor’s shop, and just as he was starting to think he’d found Lear, a woman appeared with her back to him.
He ducked, hoping he’d been right about her back being towards him.
The double doors to the apartment building beckoned him, drawing him forward like a lodestone pulling metal shavings. Just as he was about to get to the door, he heard a carriage coming from up the road. He ran back around the corner from which he’d come and saw the carriage was headed right towards the apartment building.
When he heard the carriage slow to a stop, Daen sheathed his dagger and pulled out his sword.
If it had been daytime, a carriage wouldn’t have raised his hackles. But the fact it had shown up so soon after Lear had disappeared, while going to the place he’d most likely gone, it made Daen’s insides churn.
How many of the confounded Kopal were there? He looked around on all sides, wondering if a meeting was about to happen.
He inhaled when he heard the carriage door open. Boots ground on the cobblestones, and he heard a curse word. It sounded as if a man were trying to move a heavy object.
Kneeling, he peeked his head around the corner and was surprised to see a tall woman standing to the side while several large men struggled to remove something from within. Bracing his hand against a large cobblestone, he stuck his head out a little further, angling for a better view of what they were moving.
When one of the men grabbed a leg, Daen’s breath caught in his throat. He recognized Linel’s boot. It was three on one, and the two men were massive brutes. They weren’t wearing uniforms, but he assumed they were active Radim soldiers. Their movements showed they kept themselves in shape. After one of the brutes had Linel over his shoulder, the other grabbed a large satchel and swung it over his back.
He grinned at the man holding Linel, who struggled against her bonds, kicking and hitting. She was also gagged, her muffled yell sounding loud on the street.
The woman stepped forward, clucking her tongue. “Hurry it up! We’re late as it is.”
Daen gasped when she came out from the shadow of the building. It was Ardra Morea, General of Korew army.
“What was that?” Ardra asked, spinning to look in Daen’s direction while he pulled his head back around the corner and lightly got back to his feet. He shuffled away while bringing his sword out in front of him. When he came to a recessed doorway, he ducked in, holding his breath as footsteps came his way, crunching bits of gravel against the cobblestones as they approached.
A man came around the corner and let out a low growl. “You’re jumping at nothing, Ardra.”
She hissed. “Don’t use that name!”
“Ardra.”
Daen was taken aback by the way the man spoke to her. Daen had never talked to Ardra, having only ever seen her from a distance, but he’d heard rumor she was a stickler that all Radim soldiers treat her with respect. While it was common for Radim soldiers from one army to shrug off orders or the required decorum when dealing with officers from other armies, nobody ever did that with Ardra.
The story of her taking a fresh recruit from Napael army to task while beating him with the flat side of her sword had spread through the Radim ranks like wildfire.
Clearly, the man knew this about her and was rubbing it in her face.
Perhaps the Kopal don’t recognize the same offices we do. Semal had mentioned the Kopal’s hierarchal structure, but Daen couldn’t remember what he’d said. He could only remember thinking he didn’t need to know how the Kopal worked to run them through with his sword. He wished now he had paid better attention.
As the man retreated, Daen waited for several heartbeats and returned to his place at the corner of the building, trying to figure out was going on by sound alone.
After he’d heard one of the apartment doors open and shut,
he waited because he hadn’t heard the carriage door shut. He figured that at least one of the men was still outside the building.
As the seconds ticked by without anything happening, he wanted to peek around the corner yet he continued to wait.
Finally, just when he was thinking of taking the risk, he heard the carriage door shut and the clod of footsteps moving towards the apartment doors.
After a door had shut, he came around the corner sword first and face to face with one of the men.
“There you are, you confounded little sneak.” It was the same man who’d been chiding the general. His face split into a smile, showing gaps where he had missing teeth. He held a short sword to one side and had a cudgel in the other hand.
Daen attacked, lunging fast, letting his fury power his movements. The man met his strike and lashed out with the cudgel, hitting him in the ribcage. Searing pain ran up his chest, but he ignored it.
“Thought you’d got the better of us, didn’t you? Wanna know a secret? I could smell you. I knew you were hiding around that corner as plain as if I saw you.” The man’s eyes glinted in the moonlight as Daen and the man danced around one another, their swords flashing in the night, the striking metal forming the music of their dance with death.
“Why do you want the woman?” Daen asked, his voice ragged as he attacked with a ferocity that surprised even himself. Thinking of Linel bound and tied, filled him with a fury like nothing he’d ever felt before. The man was taken off guard and stepped backward into the wall, surprise registering on his face. From Daen’s sudden furious attack or from how close he was to the wall, Daen didn’t know or care.
As Daen sliced into the man’s arm and received a scream of pain, he let out a low growl. “Why do you want the woman?”
The man spat as he dropped his cudgel, grabbing his wounded arm with a hand while continuing to parry off Daen’s attack. In short order, the man was bleeding from his other arm and had a cut on his side, only partially deflecting a blow at the last moment, saving himself from a painful gut wound that would have been certain death.