Forgotten (9 page)

When he last saw the sky, it was full dark. Kaie slid out of the wagon without any sign of notice. He didn’t head out into the desert. The Ninth Rit was close, but without Kissa’s note there was no guarantee of safety. The letter was his shield and without it the desert only held death. It was the same with the outpost. The wagon was going to be his salvation.

He pushed the doors closed, sliding the long metal rod across the opening, latching it closed.
A quick tug, to make sure.
Just like he watched Tovan do every night, back when they thought he was another Hollow. Then he retreated to the long shadow it cast in the half moon. He waited.

More counting.
More seconds.
More hours.
The fresh air wasn’t as clean as he remembered; the smell clung to his stolen clothes and even his skin. The night grew darker. Kaie started to wonder if he was wrong, if the old man wasn’t a traitor. It was possible he misread the situation, that the old soldier was just being cautious with an unknown.

His eyes were heavy and were just starting to droop when the scuffle of boots on sand brought him back to himself. Kaie’s attention was instantly riveted to the shifting shadows, separating him from the rest of outpost. This time he didn’t need to wait long.

The old man shambled out first, his gait irregular. Kaie scoffed. The man was drunk. And there was no sign of any others around. He was actually embarrassed for the soldier. He expected so much more.

The old man tugged the latch back, struggling with it more than was necessary. He nearly fell, jerking the right-hand door open. The man climbed back to his feet, making a noise that seemed a cross between laughter and gagging. The latter was something Kaie understood well. The stench was strong enough that he could smell it over his own reek, even from where the shadows. Then he stumbled into the wagon, mumbling something under his breath.

Kaie didn’t waste a second. The instant the old man was inside, he darted forward and shoved the doors closed, slamming the latch into place.

It didn’t take the old man long to figure out the situation. He started banging on the heavy wooden doors, calling for help and shouting obscenities. Kaie sucked in a long breath of relief. It was a simple plan, and it worked.

“That you out there Kale Whoreson?”

Kaie jumped, startled by how close the old soldier sounded.

“Are there so many people out there wanting to lock you in a wagon that you need to ask?”

“More than a few.
You’re making a mistake, son.”

“Oh? Should I have let you kill me?”

“Wasn’t ever the plan.
Not mine, anyway. Think I’d come hunting you half drunk? I
ain’t
bright, but I
ain’t
stupid either.
Wouldn’t go after a Thorn half anything.”

Kaie snorted. “I’m supposed to believe you’re not planning to kill me tonight, because you aren’t drunk enough?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m less than convinced. So what mistake am I making, old man?”

“The one where you think I’m who you want locked up in this wagon.”

“You’re the one who put me in there. It seems fair from where I’m sitting.”

“Sure, I can see why you’d think that. But you’re supposed to be smart. I put you in here to keep you from the boy. He’s why I’m here. He’s one of the Ninth Rat’s men.”

“You’re going to have to run that by me again, because I’m still not seeing the part where I open these doors and we hug our way into a life-long friendship.”

There was a thud, and the door rocked. For a second, Kaie was worried the man was just distracting him with this conversation, while enacting some larger scheme. But no other noises followed, save the grating voice.

“I thought you assholes were supposed to know everything. I figured you were sent to finally put a stop to the mighty Sir Gregor Ironist’s insurrection.”

“The Ninth Rit is the traitor, then? Sure. That makes sense.” Kaie filled his voice with as much sarcasm he could muster. He wasn’t sure what to do with any of this. He was regretting defending that little girl more and more every day. His needs were simple. This was complicated.
“Much less far-fetched than the soldier coming to kill me.”

The old man swore again. “Look, I can’t give you any proof.
Just what I know.
And that is that too damn many men loyal to the Empress go out first in raids, and too few come back. He’s sacrificed entire squads to preserve ‘as many local lives as possible’ and he
don’t
even pretend otherwise. He’s got half as many Hollows as he’s supposed to, and no one knows where they go. Us loyalists, we know what all that adds up to. How about you, Thorn? Can you do the math? That’s why I got myself put on this detail. Figure out what’s happening to the damned Hollows, and keep my eye on this boy he’s got making the rounds. Make sure they all get to the front lines and keep as many of my men alive as I can.”

Kaie froze, thinking he heard the sound of shifting feet over sand, somewhere in the shadows. But there was only silence. After a moment, he relaxed. He only needed to last until the Rit arrived. Then Tovan could confirm the presence of the letter in the old man’s possession, and he could go to sleep.
Couldn’t be more than a couple more hours.

“It’s not my job to do those calculations. Maybe you’re right. Maybe a Thorn is coming to learn the truth about Ninth Rit Gregor Ironfist. But that isn’t me. Now shut up and be grateful I chose a scenario where no one has to die tonight.”

“Funny you should say that…”

The footsteps again.
Kaie was sure this time. And just to banish any lingering doubt, a man walked out of the shadows, holding a slumped figure and a knife that flashed in the moonlight.

“The only safe thing to assume about a
soldier that makes it to my age
is that we know w
hat it takes to survive. I know
son, and I’m not going to shy away from it just because it’s a shade distasteful. You see my age, you’ll be the same. I don’
t imagine you’ll last that long
though. You tipped your hand a few days back, getting up in
a lather
over that little Hollow girl.
Show
ed your soft, fleshy parts.
Now
I’m hoping we come to an understanding without any manly displays, but I’ve come prepared to drive a stick into those soft
bits
just in case.”

It was the girl the large stranger was holding in his arms. She stared at Kaie blankly, oblivious of the knife pressed against her unresisting throat. The girl wasn’t reacting to her
situation at all, but his mind lent her the ability to scream. He heard a child, lost and terrified, trying to understand the blood splattering across her shirt.

Except she wasn’t bleeding.
Not yet. A growl built up in Kaie, eager to be unleashed on the world. His act was a fragile thing. Any prolonged interrogation would expose his fraud. He was lucky that both soldiers believed him so absolutely. That wouldn’t last, if this scenario unraveled like it was looking to. He needed to remove this new man from the game if he was going to last until the Ninth Rit arrived. He couldn’t afford to react to this ploy, to worry about saving the girl.

“This is not the way to win me to your cause, old man.”

“We’ll see,” the voice from inside the wagon fluted. “How about you let me out of here, before Levi gets over-eager with that blade of his?”

He needed to let it go, to call the man’s bluff. It wasn’t his problem. The Hollow wouldn’t even notice. By the Abyss, she’d be better off dead. At least then whatever part of her mind was still alive, the part that sought him
out,
would be free to be reborn. No doubt her suffering in this life earned her a nicer one for the next cycle. He just needed to let it play out.

Kaie ground his teeth as he slid the latch back and let the doors fly open.

The old man cackled as he leapt the step from the wagon to the ground. “What’d I tell you, Levi? Hunting, fucking, extorting, it’s all about timing.” He tottered over to Kaie, still showing all the signs of drunkenness. There was some comfort in the knowledge that it wasn’t an act, but not much. “Now how about we start again?”

The
man reeked of booze, and now piss
. Kaie’s fingers ached to wrap around the soldier’s throat and squeeze until the girl was free.
Maybe a little longer than that.
“You’re out. Let her go.”

“Not just yet. First, you’re going to tell me what that letter I’m holding for you says.”

Kaie shook his head, stalling for time, hoping for a request he could answer. “You read it.”

The old man scowled at him. “I told you, I
ain’t
stupid. I know it’s in code. What’s it really say? Is it new orders?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Because he’s a fucking traitor!
He’ll turn ‘
em
to get more loyal men killed, or he’ll ignore them all together!”

“That sounds like it would better serve your cause,” Kaie said lowly. “Assuming you want the Empress to believe your claims about one of her most trusted warriors.”

The soldier spat. “Didn’t you hear the part about loyal men dying? Listen here, you little shit. Revealing him as a traitor is your job. Mine is to keep my men alive. So tell me what the damn letter says!”

He couldn’t. Not even if the old man dropped the letter down in front of him. It was all squiggles and gibberish to him. “It isn’t meant for you, old man.”

The soldier’s face flushed and his eyes transformed into tiny slits. He spit again. “You truly are the son of a whore.
Fine then.
Just remember, it didn’t have to go down like this. Levi?”

Kaie was on his feet in an instant, flying toward the man with the knife. The distance wasn’t long, the wagon was parked just outside the line of tents that made up the outpost, but it was too far. He wasn’t going to make it before the
blade
bit into the girl’s dirty flesh.

“Devin! Stop him!” He was aware the words burst out of him only in the most detached sort of way. Kaie was too focused on making it to her to give it much attention, cursing as time raced past while he plodded forward.

The girl blinked and, for the span of a heartbeat, there was
a sharpness
in those hazel eyes that didn’t belong to a Hollow.
Then the whole area around her erupted.

Kaie skidded to a stop, sand shooting up from his feet to join the vast cloud of it that swallowed the girl and her captor. He stumbled, the traction far different than anything he could remember running in before. Kaie caught himself with his hand, wincing as the sensation of a hundred tiny needles digging into the flesh of his palm caught him by surprise.

The old man was on him that very instant. The twisted old hand wrapped in his hair, jerking Kaie’s chin forward and warm metal pressed against his throat.

“If you won’t save the girl, save yourself!”
The man’s breath was just as foul as last time, and came out as hot bursts against Kaie’s ear. “Serve the Empress you’re sworn to! Save my men! Tell me what the letter says.”

“I can’t!” Kaie growled.

His fingers scrambled through the sand, searching for anything to get himself out of the soldier’s grip. There was not even a stone much larger than a pebble, and flinging a handful of the stuff into his enemy’s eyes would accomplish nothing while the man held him.

A weight dropped onto Kaie’s shoulders, then something wet trickled down his right shoulder. For one horrible heartbeat, Kaie thought it was his own blood, spilling out over his shirt. But the angle was wrong, and there was no pain. He scrambled out from beneath the mass pressing him to the ground.

It was, as he expected, the old man. But what he was unprepared for was the length of steel thrusting out from between the man’s shoulders. It was the soldier’s blood spreading down his shirt. Blinking, Kaie’s eyes came to rest on the new addition to the scene.

Tovan was standing between the body and the wagon, breathing hard and pale as death. There was enough blood splattered across the boy’s shirt and hands to put the pieces together without any explanation. Still, it took Kaie more than a minute to realize that he was safe, and that the shaking boy in front of him was to thank for it.

One problem resolved
,
Kaie spun back to where the storm of sand was spinning seconds ago. The cyclone was gone, but he couldn’t see the Hollow or her captor. His stomach heavy with dread, he finished his short trek to where they were.

At first he couldn’t make any sense of their absence. When the sand flew up there were two people, and now there were none. But as he walked a slow circle around the empty spot, he noticed the slight hill that he couldn’t remember being there before. Dread heavy in his stomach, Kaie dropped to his knees and started digging.

It didn’t take long to find them. Two
bodies,
both buried so well that if he weren’t looking, the
y
might never be found. Levi was the first Kaie dug up. The man could not be more than two minutes dead, but his time beneath the earth already changed him. Where he was all dark colors before, now the desert seemed to have leached all the color out of him, painting even his hair and eyes the color of sand. No matter how he shifted the corpse, Kaie could find no cause for the man’s death. Part of him was grateful, suspecting the answer would bring him no comfort.