Soldier at the Door (Book 2 Forest at the Edge series)

by Trish Mercer

Fifty new soldiers and their commander rode to Edge three days before the first Strongest Soldier race. Lieutenant Walickiah, a slender and gangly man with reddish-blonde hair and a crooked nose that had experienced too many fights, saw the southernmost tower long before they approached. He shook his head in wonder.

  “He has been a busy bear, hasn’t he?” he murmured to himself.

  “Sir,” called one of the soldiers behind him. “What is that?”

  “Major Shin’s newest strategy to improve the security of the villages. According to the High General, he calls it a tower station.”

  “Well I could have guessed that,” said another soldier.

  Walickiah smirked, but since he was at the head of the line, no soldiers could see it. “Show respect, soldiers! This is your new commander you’re referring to, and many of you will be stationed at the tops of those towers.”

  “You can see for miles from that,” said a sergeant right behind him, his voice full of awe. “Brilliant! Guarders will never be able to take the army by surprise again.”

  “Yes,” Walickiah said ponderously. “Should be interesting to see how they deal with these obstacles.”

  The soldiers’ banter picked up as they closed in on the tower, and Walickiah stopped his division so they could inspect it.

  “Bit of a climb up there,” said one portly, middle-aged master sergeant, furrowing his brow. “About the height of a three or four level building, I’d guess. Think they’ll use towers everywhere in the world?”

  Walickiah shrugged. “If Shin finds them successful here, and the High General agrees, I assume every village will be building these. So if you’re thinking of putting in for a transfer to somewhere less grueling, think again.”

  The soldiers laughed as the sergeant turned pink. “I can get up that tower, sir! I’ll prove it right now.”

  “No, you won’t,” Walickiah said.

  “Yes, I will!”

  “How? Jump?” He gestured to the workers over in the field assembling long poles, obviously for the ladder that was not yet installed.

  The sergeant cleared his throat. “Guess I’ll have to prove my prowess at another time, Lieutenant. Now, I imagine the major is waiting for us?”

  Walickiah rolled his eyes. “You knew the ladder wasn’t there yet. But I’m sure I can find you a tower that is ready. Onward, men. We have a new home to get to.”

  ---

  When Walickiah arrived with his fifty that afternoon, he slipped easily into character. After Karna showed him to his new quarters, he took the captain by the arm. In a sufficiently worried manner, paling lighter than his already fair skin, he said, “Off record, Captain—what’s he like? The major?”

  Karna smiled at the apprehension of the newest officer. “You’ve experienced High General Shin, right?”

  Walickiah sighed. “Oh yes. And he was an experience. Twice my last year. He taught two courses in command. I wasn’t sure I’d survive his one-on-one final exams.”

  Karna winced knowingly. “Well, I’ve seen Major Shin be as determined, regimented, and fierce as the general. For the first few weeks after the Guarder attack, he was a real bear. No one in the command tower dared smile until we got his plans for securing the village finalized.”

  Walickiah pulled a pained face.

  “But,” Karna added, “whereas the general can’t seem to quit, Major Shin will suddenly surprise you. You never know what he’s going to do, or allow, or insist on next. Makes this quite an interesting assignment. Now that we’ve got the village towers in place, he’s been a little less fierce, but still I recommend watching your step.”

  “I heard he’s married, even has two children?” Walickiah shook his head in sympathy. “I couldn’t imagine having a Shin for a father.”

  Karna chuckled. “That’s part of his unpredictability. Just wait. You’ll see.”

  Walickiah did see, the very next day. Early in the morning he reported for duty at the command tower and experienced the major. For the next fifteen minutes the major questioned, challenged, and intimidated him. Shin was most definitely a bear.

  Then, abruptly, the major changed completely as he smiled, shook Walickiah’s hand warmly, and said, “Welcome to Edge! You’re going to enjoy your posting, I promise.”

  It was going to take time to fully understand the major and his moods. The rest of the day Walickiah could see by their faces which of his new men had just descended from the tower. They wore looks that were a mixture of shock, worry, and outright confusion.

  That evening after the major had gone home, Walickiah and Karna sat at the large desk in the forward command office going over the records of the new soldiers. Heavy footsteps coming up the stairs startled them both.

  “Captain!” a familiar voice called before it reached the top.

  Walickiah stiffened in anticipation, wondering which mood was about to appear—the bear or something else.

  “I know you and the lieutenant are still here,” Shin’s voice carried. “Let’s take a look at the tower station map again. I was thinking we need to redraw the lines for the granary district, and it would be good for the lieutenant to see our plans . . . what?”

  As he appeared at the top of the stairs, both officers were staring at him. Or rather, staring at what he was carrying.

  The major beamed. “Since Peto here is fifteen moons old now, I thought it was time to show him where I go every day.”

  The brown haired boy with pale gray eyes wore a small dark blue jacket in the same style as his father’s uniform. He seemed smaller than a normal child, probably because his father was much larger than a normal man.

  Walickiah memorized the child’s features instantly. While his hair and eye coloring were nothing like his father’s, the shape of his face—nose, eyes, mouth, ears—was all Major Shin, in miniature.

  The baby waved cheerfully at the two officers.

  They felt obligated to wave back, albeit hesitantly.

  The proud major grinned. “Pretty good, huh? Jaytsy couldn’t wave properly until she was a year and a half. She kept doing more of a slap. Could get rather dangerous if you were holding her in the wrong way. Of course, now at nearly two and a half she can wave, and also talks up a storm. Can’t understand half of it, but my wife usually can. It’ll be easier once she learns to make an ‘s’ sound. Fortunately yesterday I decoded ‘Fodder, watch—I gream!’ and covered my ears just in time. She’s going to be as loud as her mother. But Peto’s my good little boy, usually. Only has a habit of climbing everything. He made it to the top shelf of a bookshelf earlier this evening, so I decided to get him out of the house so my wife could clean it up without his help, because as the saying goes, ‘There’s no job too tedious that can’t turn terrifying when a toddler tries to help.’ So, the map? Since I’ll be in Moorland tomorrow inspecting their new fort, I wanted to make sure we get this done tonight.”

  Walickiah blinked.

  Then he blinked again, trying to figure out what the monologue was about and still puzzling out the meaning of “I gream!” It was if he was staring at a completely different man. The terrifying major from the morning was replaced with this proud papa that was . . .

  Well, certainly no one would actually apply the term to Major Shin, but if he were any other man it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he was actually babbling. The bear had turned into a veritable puppy dog as he spoke about his children.

  That was very good to know.

  Another reason, Walickiah realized later, that he was staring so hard that Karna had to elbow him three times was that he’d never seen an officer holding a child, at least not voluntarily. But Major Shin, running his fingers through his son’s thick hair to smooth it to the side, couldn’t have looked happier.

  The captain retrieved the map and brought it into the major’s office, and Walickiah followed. In his office Shin leaned over the map, but his son tried to grab it.

  “No, no, no Peto. Not this. Here.” He placed the little boy on th
e floor. “You can have . . .” He looked around, then picked up a message from the Administrators and grinned. “You can have this. Nicko Mal signed it himself. You know what to do with it.”

  Walickiah watched in horror as the major’s son put the official message in his mouth and tore it with his tiny teeth.

  “Don’t worry, Lieutenant,” the major told him upon seeing his expression. “I know what it said. Peto’s more effective at destroying paper than my dog. And he doesn’t choke on the bits anymore, he just usually spits them out. He’s fine. Now, what I was thinking over here was . . .”

  It took Walickiah another minute to focus on the map over the sound of disrespectful ripping underneath him. Since the major whipped between subjects so quickly, Walickiah found himself feeling a little light-headed. The three men pored over the map for about ten minutes, redoing station reporting territories and explaining the system to Walickiah.

  Suddenly Major Shin looked up in surprise, then down at the floor. The message from Mal was scattered in wet shreds, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

  The major looked at his officers in alarm. “Uh, I think my son’s absent without permission. The stairs!” he cried and ran out of his office, with Karna right behind him.

  Walickiah knew enough to join them.

  There was no baby in the forward office, or going down the stairs. The major groaned.

  “Need help, sir?” Karna asked.

  “Yes! He could be anywhere! He knows how to do stairs,” the major called as he ran down them. “And I gave Mahrree such a hard time when she lost him at the . . .”

  But they didn’t hear the rest because the major was already gone, his heavy footsteps sounding like thunder as he ran. Karna and Walickiah followed him.

  At the bottom of the stairs, the large main receiving area was quiet as it usually was this time of day. Most of the soldiers were either eating dinner or getting ready for their night shifts. Major Shin stood at the main door anxiously looking out into the darkening compound. A soldier saluted as he walked past.

  “Private! Did you see a little boy?”

  “Today, sir?”

  The major groaned again and turned around. “Karna, check the hallway to the barracks. Walickiah, go to the mess hall. I’ll look out here.”

  Walickiah looked at Karna who raised his eyebrows in a ‘Get moving!’ manner. Walickiah rushed out the side door down the corridor to the mess hall, not sure what he would do with the baby if he saw it.

  This was most telling, Walickiah considered. The major was nearly hysterical simply because his little boy was missing. How weak and easily panicked Shin was. He may be as large as a bear, but he was as wretched as a butterfly.

  All kinds of scenarios played out in the lieutenant’s mind. Walickiah didn’t understand why he was told his assignment would be difficult. On the contrary, it would be quite easy. So many situations were presenting themselves he would have thought that it was his birthday. And if they didn’t like the results that happened with one child, there was another at his disposal.

  What kinds of chances would a small child have in the forest, should it happen to get ‘lost’? That would make for a most interesting study . . .

  And what if two vanished, in different parts without a trace, and their mother was also—

  Walickiah was startled out of his contemplation when he saw a strapping corporal carrying the little boy coming toward him. The soldier appeared to be exceptionally young, but was surprising large in build. Perhaps it was the extreme innocence of his face that gave him such a youthful look.

  Such a carefully practiced look.

  “Sir,” the corporal nodded to him. “I’m assuming the major lost something?”

  Walickiah slipped back into character and sighed exaggeratedly in relief. “Yes! I think he’s about to rip apart the fort.”

  The corporal chuckled. “Do you want to bring him Peto, or shall I?”

  Walickiah held up his hands. “I wouldn’t know how to hold him.”

  The corporal smiled and continued walking down the hallway, Walickiah behind him. The young soldier seemed quite capable of holding the child. The baby started making an odd grunting noise that sounded like “Unk! Unk!” He wasn’t in the least bit upset or wailing.

  Walickiah took note at how the corporal held him, so that he could copy the position.

  In the main reception area the major came running in just as the corporal arrived. Major Shin’s shoulders sagged in relief when he saw the soldier with his son.

  “Unk! Unk!”

  The major smiled. “Yes Peto, you found your Unk. Zenos, thank you!”

  “I keep telling you, sir, he’s going to grow up to be a scout,” the corporal smiled. “He toddled right into the mess hall as if he knew what he was looking for. No fear at all.”

  “Looks like he made off with a part of someone’s pear, too,” the major said as he took his son and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

  Walickiah tried not to stare. Major Puppy Dog was quite the disappointment.

  “Unk!” Peto waved the pear at his father.

  Karna ran into the reception area, the anxious look on his face evaporating.

  “Unk’s pear. Yes!” Shin nodded, and turned to the corporal. “Would you do me a favor?” he said with surprising casualness.

  “Let me guess—don’t tell your wife?” the corporal responded, equally as informal, and not even adding “sir” to his answer.

  “Exactly!” Shin pointed at the corporal, while Walickiah’s eyebrows furrowed in frantic analysis of the situation. “Peto, your mother should be finished cleaning up your mess. How about we go home?”

  The major nodded good night to his men as Peto waved his little hand at them again.

  Walickiah again felt obliged and waved halfheartedly. He should make himself known to the child somehow, so he wouldn’t make undue noise in his presence in the future.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw the corporal waving like a maniac. Walickiah stared at him and dropped his arm.

  “Bye-bye! Say ‘bye-bye’!” the corporal crooned in a high-pitched voice.

  “Bye!” the little boy said softly.

  The major spun around. “Did you hear that?” His question was obviously directed at the corporal, because he didn’t make eye contact with anyone else.

  “I did!” the corporal squealed like a teenage girl. “He finally said it!”

  “Oh, good job, son,” the major kissed his baby again.

  “My condolences, sir,” the corporal grinned. “He’s going to be as talkative as his sister.”

  “I’m afraid you may be right.” The major chuckled and headed out, trying to get his son to repeat the word, oblivious to everything else.

  Walickiah turned slowly to the corporal who was still smiling at the empty doorway. His suspicion increased, and if he could verify it, his superiors would be most impressed with his efforts on his first full day.

  “I don’t think we’ve met yet,” he smiled thinly. “I’m Lieutenant Walickiah,” and he held out his hand.

  The corporal took it. “And I’m the Unk. Good to meet you!” And he jogged down the hallway.

  Walickiah’s chin fell. That wasn’t the response he was expecting. In fact, there wasn’t anything appropriate about that response, and he was sure he said his part correctly.

  He looked confusedly at Karna. “The Unk?”

  Karna nodded. “Baby tender for Major Shin,” he said offhandedly. “Uncle. Some of us think he should get a special medal for changing their dirty cloths.”

  “A soldier baby tender? For the major?” His hunch grew stronger.

  “Naturally,” Karna smiled. “I told you, this fort is a most interesting assignment. Do you want to be a backup for the Unk?”

  Walickiah thought about that. How much easier would his task be if he became the backup baby tender? Never mind that he knew nothing of children, it’s not as if he would be doing much for long—
>
  He considered the possibility too long. Captain Karna took his delay as a response. “I’m only teasing you. They wouldn’t trust their children with anyone else than Shem Zenos.”

  Lieutenant Walickiah smiled faintly and followed the captain back up the stairs, satisfied.

  How perfect. In the fort for only a day and a half, and already he had identified the Quiet Man.

  ---

  Shem Zenos walked back to the mess hall, picked up his dishes, and brought them to the washing station. Then he idly wandered back to his barracks, lost in thought and worry.

  Lieutenant Walickiah. So this was the next stage.

  Major Shin was in major trouble.

  And now, so was Shem.

  ---

  For someone who had never stolen a thing before in his life, Dormin made off quite well with the horse, he thought to himself. Maybe he did have a talent.

  What he didn’t have was more time.

  He’d already wasted too much in Idumea looking for his brother, and now he had to get back on schedule and to Winds. As he rode the black horse along the dark roads, he tried to justify what he’d done by taking the animal. The words wouldn’t come. Everything sounded either feeble, or something his brother would say, which was pretty much the same thing.

  But it was over now, he was sure of it. Sonoforen had chosen his fate, Dormin was now choosing his. But only by riding all night and day and night again would he meet his fate on time.

  He just might have to steal a few more horses.

  ---

  It was a sunny and cool afternoon in the middle of Harvest Season, the 46th Day. Perfect weather for the Strongest Soldier Race.

  “Actually,” Perrin clarified to his wife for the umpteenth time that morning over breakfast, “it’s to test Stage Three, the Tower Banner Notices, not to see who the strongest soldier is. So please stop calling it the Strongest Soldier Race!”

  “But everyone else in Edge is calling it that,” Mahrree defended sweetly.

  “Because you got them to!”

  “Yes,” she giggled, “I did, didn’t I?”

  The day should have been declared a holiday, Perrin decided later. The towers which had captured the citizens’ attention as they were constructed were now fully manned. It seemed most of the population of Edge put their work on hold to come watch the first trial of the system, especially since they heard that the commander of the fort would be racing the young Hero of Edge.

  Also probably Mahrree’s doing as well.

  It was early afternoon when Perrin approached at the village green tower on horseback from the west, having made sure the towers in that quadrant were ready for the test. Corporal Zenos was coming to meet him from the east, and Captain Karna from the south, with verification that the towers in those quadrants were readied as well.

  What the three men hadn’t expected was the festival atmosphere that greeted them by the amphitheater. Over a thousand adults and children were milling around, chatting, and even selling food and drinks as they waited for the race.

  Perrin shook his head at the unexpected scene. A cheer rose up when the three men arrived from different roads, converging at the village green tower. Major Shin nodded to the crowd and waved politely before walking his horse over to his captain.

  “Karna,” he said in a low voice, “this is madness! We posted bulletins to forewarn the citizens, not to be their entertainment.”

  The captain chuckled. “Remember Major, you’re winning hearts and minds, and that’s important since you’re now also the Administrators’ Eyes and Ears and Voice.”

  Perrin sighed. “Only a few body parts remain my own.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Karna, “You can borrow some of mine. I’m still your third and fourth hands, and second mind.”

  Perrin winked in gratitude.

  Corporal Zenos looked around nervously from atop his mount. A group of young women, with their own homemade cloth banner proudly sporting the name of ZENOS, caught his eye. They waved enthusiastically. Sareen was one of them, and Perrin noticed Zenos wincing as the silly girl giggled.

  “Major, maybe we shouldn’t do this today—the race I mean,” Zenos said quietly giving sidelong glances to the girls who called for him and waved more boldly.

  He waved timidly back.

  They squealed.

  He blushed.

  Captain Karna shook his head. “That would be a bad idea, Zenos. Those girls have been waiting for nearly an hour to see you,” he warned him. “If we cancel now we’d most likely have an angry mob on our hands. Major, perhaps that could be the signal for the purple banner?” He grinned.

  Major Shin smiled in agreement. “Then I guess you best be on your way to the fort, Captain. You have a relay race to finish setting up. We’ll be up shortly after we’ve checked the last two stations.”

  “I’ll have the surgeon waiting on standby for you two. If you’re able to complete what I’ve set up for you, neither will be walking well for a week!” Karna laughed, kicked his horse, and headed to the fort.

  Shin looked over to Zenos. He was staring at his horse’s mane trying not to notice the crowd, and especially trying not to look at the girls who kept calling for him.

  Sareen and another girl had taken off their cloaks, despite the chill of Harvest Season, and slid their short sleeves down to reveal their bare shoulders, and even a bit beyond. ‘Cleavage’ was a new Idumean fashion, a trend Perrin told Mahrree she didn’t need to adopt.

  By the redness of Zenos’s ears, Perrin knew he had seen the girls’ efforts to attract his attention. “Let’s go over to the tower to make the announcement,” he said to him.

  Zenos clucked his horse to match the major’s gait. The men made their way to the twenty-foot perimeter of low rocks ringing each tower to remind the children—and their curious fathers—that they weren’t allowed any closer.

  “I understand your concerns, Corporal,” Major Shin said leaning over and patting him kindly on the back. Now that they were out of earshot, he could gauge the corporal’s readiness in relative privacy. “Not feeling up to it? No problem. Just concede defeat now. You did look a little tired on the sofa the other night.”

  Zenos narrowed his eyes and gave him a stern look. “I was tired, sir, because you and Mrs. Shin didn’t get home from inspecting the Moorland fort until well after midnight. I was sleeping.”

  The major glared at him. “Sleeping on my favorite pillow!”

  Zenos matched his glare. “The one your wife gave me, when she warned me the two of you would probably be late. She said you had two more. And,” he added smugly, “it was quite comfy, sir. I enjoyed drooling on it.”

  The major fought a tug at the side of his mouth. “So that’s why you stayed there all night?”

  “You could have woken me up, sent me on my way,” Zenos said, his face starting to twitch.

  “No I couldn’t. I tried! Your sergeant was right. You are impossible to wake unless you smell breakfast cooking. Besides,” his face became as soft and mushy as he could make it, “Mahrree thought you looked so sweet sleeping there.”

  When Perrin said ‘sweet’ he knew he was starting to lose. The smile he meant to provoke on Zenos was sneaking around his mouth instead.

  Zenos saw it and likely thought he could seal his victory. “Just how ‘sweet’ did I look, sir?” But it was too much. He snorted.

  Perrin pointed at him and grinned. “You did that to yourself! No noise, remember? Ha! That’s not the first thing you’ll lose today, Zenos.”

  Shem laughed. “It was ‘sweet’ that did it. I saw you starting to lose too!”

  “Doesn’t matter who starts losing, it’s who actually loses. That was your rule, remember?”

  Over the past several weeks this competition had become almost an obsession with the two men. The day after the major interrogated the corporal in his office, a timid Shem came over in the evening. During dinner—and with Mahrree’s prodding—Perrin and Shem t
alked over the ridiculousness of their confrontation the day before. Soon they were re-enacting the incident for Mahrree, this time with laughter and teasing about who should have broken down first.

  Somehow over the next few days a competition evolved to see who could stay sober the longest, no matter what the other said. They were becoming adept at watching each other’s eyes and faces for clues that one of them was about to break into a genuine smile or a laugh. At first Shem lost quickly, but in the past two weeks his ability to match the major’s glare had improved. It was that skill that allowed him to remain sober while challenging the major to the race. But he still struggled with stifling his laughter that always insisted on coming out as a snort worthy of Mahrree.

  “Well, Major Shin, we’ll see who loses next.” His corporal tried his glare again. “Go make your announcement.”

  Perrin nodded, got off his horse, and climbed the tower until he was about fifteen feet off the ground.

  Everyone gathered at the green quieted when they saw him.

  “Citizens of Edge,” the major called to them, “I appreciate your coming out, but I’m not sure why you’re here. The race will include each of the towers and, from what Captain Karna has revealed to me, even some of your homes. Apparently certain ‘disasters’ will be visiting you. Besides the corporal and me, that is,” he added.

  The crowd began to laugh.

  “But if you’re all here, who’s going to be ‘in danger’ and give Corporal Zenos or me our notes proving we reached you?”

  The villagers looked at each other and nodded in understanding.

  “So I ask that each of you return to your homes. Zenos and I will be starting the race in less than an hour, beginning at the fort. In order for us to accurately determine the effectiveness of this new system, I ask that none of you impede our progress—”

  He glanced down at Shem.

  “—even if Corporal Zenos agrees to try your cookies. Once he starts, he just doesn’t stop.”

  Insulted, Zenos exclaimed, “It was only two cookies, sir! And they were different kinds. And I was far ahead in that race anyway!”

  Edgers laughed and a few patted Zenos on the leg.

  The major grinned. “Mrs. Reed? I trust Captain Karna didn’t put you on the route this time. And if he did, remember—no baking.”

  The older woman in the middle of the laughing villagers blushed and waved at the major.

  “We will accept drinks of water, however,” the major continued, “but nothing else. Mr. Arky, I’m talking to you, sir.”

  The crowd roared again and Mr. Arky nodded guiltily. His exceptionally potent ‘secret’ mead batch—and its effects on Mr. Arky, several innocent bushes, and one unfortunate and now balding cat—had been the talk of his neighborhood for the past week.

  “Now if you’ll all head home, I promise we’ll do our best to reach each of your areas. Don’t make me order you!” he added with a slightly cheesy smile.

  The crowd cheered and started to leave.

  Major Shin climbed down the tower and climbed back on his horse.

  “Winning hearts and minds, Major. You could teach all the lessons,” Zenos chuckled at him.

  “Basic diplomacy, Shem—emotionally manipulating your audience,” Perrin said quietly. “What my wife once called ‘officers charm school.’ The trick is to get them laughing. If someone laughs with you, then they assume you’re their buddy. They don’t realize you’ve already gained the upper hand.”

  Shem grinned. “I’m going to remember that, sir.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you already knew that.”

  And Perrin was quite sure about that. The corporal was far cleverer than he let on, almost as if he was embarrassed by his quickness. And that was also why Perrin kept him close, just as Hogal had told him. He needed a boy like that on his side in everything.

  The two soldiers walked their horses toward the edge of the green, but a cluster of young females pushed their way through dispersing crowd like a flock of gibbering geese, and rushed up to Shem.

  “We’re cheering for you, Corporal! Make us proud!” Sareen winked and giggled.

  Perrin didn’t bother to stop his horse as Corporal Zenos politely did, but nudged it out of the way of Sareen’s flock, he decided it might be called, that had grown larger and didn’t even notice the second horse and rider.

  “Don’t mind me,” he muttered quietly as he guided his horse around the sudden obstacle. “Only the commander here, trying to secure Edge. Certainly don’t want to get in the way of something as important as flirting . . .”

  Sareen’s friends—half a dozen now, and all looking strangely similar because females this age tended to preen together—started giggling at Shem, as if senseless giggling were also a new fashion trend. Out of the corner of his eye, Perrin caught the motion of two of the girls hurriedly sliding their sleeves off of their bare shoulders. He immediately looked away, and chuckled in pity for his corporal.

  Behind him, Perrin heard Shem’s pained grunt before he addressed the gaggling assembly. “I’ll do my best not to disappoint you ladies,” and he chirruped his mount to catch up to major.

  Perrin glanced back and saw the girls giggle yet again and wave in unison as Shem’s horse trotted away from them.

  The young soldier looked rather desperate.

  Perrin considered the situation, and when his corporal caught up to him a moment later he said, “You know, Shem, I do allow my soldiers to marry. I encourage it, even. Lot of advantages to marriage, you know.”

  Shem shrugged and nodded halfheartedly. “Someday I’ll find the right woman, sir.”

  “There are quite a few around here who’d like to volunteer for the position.”

  “I’m not sure they’re my type, Major.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. One type had blonde hair, another black, another brown—”

  Shem chuckled. “I mean, um, they aren’t . . .” He fumbled for the right words before trying a different tactic. “Major, I want a girl that would . . . that my sister and Mahrr—Mrs. Shin would both like.”

  Perrin noticed he started to say Mahrree again, but fixed it. Only someone that was his would feel such a familiarity, and also feel the need to conceal it.

  Shem continued as if he hadn’t slipped. “Someone they would be friends with. Back home there were a couple of girls that, well, if they’re still around in a few years . . .”

  “Ah, I see,” Perrin said slowly. “I don’t recommend waiting too long, Shem. I was lucky Mahrree was still single when I came here. But you can’t wait around simply hoping.”

  “I know.”

  “So you really don’t think any of those girls with their Zenos banner—”

  “Sir, would you have wanted to marry your wife if she were . . .” Shem paused to try to phrase it correctly, “minimizing her clothing in public to get your attention?”

  Perrin chuckled. “Mahrree was never that kind of girl. At your age she was still scaring off men, not trying to attract them. There’s much more to her than her looks.”

  “That’s what I mean! I want more than just looks, but all they have is—” Unable to find the right words, he instead wiggled his shoulders like Sareen had and rolled his eyes in disgusted embarrassment.

  Perrin winced in agreement. “Rather relieved you’re not interested in her. That giggling—I never knew a sound to be so grating. And I’m stuck hearing it every evening as she cleans up after the boys. I’m afraid Jaytsy might start picking it up.”

  Shem chuckled. “Sareen’s incredibly persistent. I don’t want to be impolite, but—”

  “Keep being polite,” Perrin advised. “Rudeness simply isn’t your nature. But also be very brief. Eventually she may lose interest when she realizes you’re not expressing any.”

  “Did that work for you?”

  Half of Perrin’s mouth lifted into a smile. “Now what makes you think I ever had young women infatuated with me?”

  “Just stands to reaso
n,” Shem shrugged. “I imagine that with your father’s position and that fact that you’re . . . um, I suppose that women found—or rather, still find you . . . What I mean is—”

  Perrin chuckled as his corporal grew red. “Enough digging your own latrine, Zenos. But yes, there was a girl or two. And occasionally you have to firmly tell one that you really aren’t interested, but usually they pick that up on their own.”

  Shem sighed. “I sure hope so. She’s getting a bit annoying.”

  “To put it politely,” Perrin said. “Well, there are some nice girls at Luntings’ congregation.”

  Shem nodded reluctantly. “I’ve seen a few. But it’s hard to meet them. Rector Lunting doesn’t have those smaller meetings like Rector Densal had. Everyone’s just packed into that large barn now. Maybe we can convince a third rector to move here, with smaller meetings again, or get Mr. Metz to come back and start a congregation?”

  Perrin looked down at his horse as it plodded to the next tower station. “Shem,” he began hesitantly, “I think the problem may be Mahrree and I. Maybe you shouldn’t sit with us, or take the children out when they fuss. Since we’re the only soldiers there, maybe we should spread out a little. Let some of those girls find their way next to you?”

  “Actually, sir,” Shem watched his horse too, “sitting with your family is the best part of my week.”

  Perrin would never admit it out loud, but it was his favorite part, too. If ever he’d had a little brother, he would have been exactly like Shem.

  “Sir, I’d hate to sit alone,” the corporal said. “Besides, most of the girls aren’t really listening, always passing little notes to their friends,” he murmured. “They’re not quite right either. What I want is a girl that thinks, that cares, that talks to me like . . . like . . . like . . .”

  “My wife?” Perrin suggested carefully.

  “Yes! But probably younger, sir. Oh,” Shem cringed, “that did not come out right—”

  Perrin laughed. “It’s all right, Shem. I’d be more concerned if you didn’t say that!”

  Shem glanced at him to make sure the major’s amusement was genuine. He sighed in relief. “And someone like my sister, sir. She and your wife are so alike. And their opinions are very important to me. Almost as important as yours.”

  Perrin smiled. “She feels the same way about you, you know. Mahrree thinks of you as a little brother.” He didn’t feel the need to admit anything more than that.

  “I know sir, and I appreciate that. It makes being away from home easier. I never had a mother that I remember, but my sister took care of me the same way your wife does.” He chuckled. “A few weeks ago when I visited them, my sister gave me my brother-in-law’s pillow to sleep on!”

  “Ah, so you’re used to stealing other men’s pillows,” Perrin glared at him playfully. “How old is your sister?”

  “About the same age as you and Mrs. Shin.”

  Perrin nodded thoughtfully, surprised to finally hear something about Shem’s family. “That’s quite a range between children.”

  “Not that much. Ten years. But it turned out well. My sister helped care for me after my mother died when I was two. I often thought the Creator did that span in our ages on purpose. Still, my father complains he had to wait ten years to get his boy.”

  “Patient man.”

  “Usually, yes,” Shem said. “But when I went home on leave he said, ‘Waited ten years for my boy, and now he lives as far away from me as he can! Where have you been all this time?’” Shem laughed, a bit sadly.

  Perrin stared straight ahead, a thought forming in his head that he didn’t like at all. But it would’ve been dishonest to not share it.

  He cleared his throat. “Zenos, the fort in Flax will be completed in the next few weeks. I know the colonel who’s taking it over. He’s still looking for men. If you want to transfer closer to your father, to those girls . . . Consider, you could always transfer back here again later—”

  Shem had turned abruptly in his saddle halfway through the major’s proposal. “No, sir! This is where I belong!”

  Perrin leaned back in his saddle, surprised by Shem’s earnestness. “Just consider it, Shem. As much as I’d hate to lose you—and I suspect that Mahrree wouldn’t let me back into the house should I let you go—perhaps this is what your father needs.” His voice became quiet. “I can’t imagine how I’d feel if Peto left me and I didn’t have Mahrree anymore. I’d probably get on Jaytsy’s nerves.”

  Shem smiled. “Sir, I appreciate the thought, but my father’s fine with where I am. He’s just a big tease like me. He knows who you are and wouldn’t want me serving anywhere else.”

  Something in those words struck Perrin oddly. “He knows who I am?”

  Shem nodded. “By association, I mean. One year he traveled to Idumea to sell some of his herd to the army, and he ran into the High General. They spoke only for a few minutes, but my father was impressed. When I told him I wanted to reenlist long-term, he said he’d be fine with it as long as I was always under your command.”

  “Even if you could live closer to home?”

  “Especially if I could live closer to home!” he laughed, but then sobered. “Please, Major Shin, let me stay here?”

  His tone was so worried that Perrin was stunned. “Of course, of course. Wouldn’t want to upset Mr. Zenos now, would I?”

  Shem sighed. “I’m fine here, sir. Really. And if you don’t want to upset my father, you will not cheat in the relay race today. That is, after all, the only chance you have of beating me, Grandpy.”

  Perrin’s mouth dropped open, shocked at the sudden insubordination, but he immediately closed it.

  Because the game was on.

  “Thirty-one years old is hardly a grandpy, boy.”

  Zenos glared at him. “We’ll see,” he said briskly. “You’re birthday is in five days and I’ve been invited over for cake. You’ll be thirty-two, and that’s old.”

  He was already improving at stifling his snort.

  Chapter 18 ~ “All that cheering wasn’t just for you, Corporal!”