Forgotten Soldiers (32 page)

Damaris pulled her hands away, her cheeks going rosy.

I cleared my throat. “Where’s Nason?”

“He said he was going to get one of your friends to come talk some sense into you. He asked me to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“Oh. Who’s next?” I asked.

“No one here.”

I gave her a puzzled look. The streets of Denu Creek were eerily void of people, a stark contrast to the morning when it seemed like beaten earth was the place to be for the dying and dead to reside.

Gods, I guess I was more tired than I thought.

“Where is everyone?”

“Home. Most needed food, water, and sleep since they were in too much pain to do those things before you helped. Some also needed time to clean up since they were unable to move and accidently soiled themselves.”

I turned back to the young man in the street who I left by his grandmother.

Damaris’s father, Sivan, was at the boy’s side. I overheard the faint prayer he led to Xank, the God of Death. It seemed the only time people ever prayed to Xank was in the time immediately following the death of a loved one, hoping he might watch over their soul. A part of me wondered if people quit cursing him during their days and prayed to him instead, if he would stop taking so many lives.

Such a thought seemed contradictory to my incessant cursing of Molak. I wondered if instead of devoting most of my swears to him, maybe I should give Ao her due.

I let out a sigh.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Damaris.

“Since I don’t know your religious inclinations, I’ll keep that to myself.” I turned away from Sivan. “I guess I must have gone into a trance because it seemed like there were more people who needed my help.”

“Well, there was. Jareb and several of his people weren’t as affected by the explosion as others. Or at least they recovered quickly on their own. They convinced quite a few people not to come to you. They blame you for what happened, saying everything in town was fine until you showed up. They keep talking about some curse on your family.”

My hands balled into fists, remembering what Myra had said about such nonsense. “That’s ridiculous.”

I cursed Molak. Then I cursed Ao. They took an old woman who meant everything in the world to her grandson, but let Jareb and his goons not only live, but barely suffer.

“I know. They’ve holed themselves up in the Soiled Dove where the physician is looking after them.”

“Is he well enough to even care for them?”

“He was one of the first people you healed today. Apparently, he suspended his prejudice toward you just long enough to suit his needs.”

“That’s usually how it works.” I shook my head. “I should have done more sooner. Jareb might not have been able to convince them that I was the problem if I had.”

She stepped in front of me, grabbed my chin and pushed it up where I had been staring at my feet. Up close, our difference in height became more noticeable. The top of her head barely reached my chest.

“You can’t dwell on that. You saved a lot of people today.”

I grunted, suddenly uncomfortable with taking credit for what I had done. It felt insincere to become puffed up with something I should have done sooner and without convincing.

“One thing has been bothering me all day though.”

I inclined my head, curious by the shift in her tone.

“You left last night before I had a chance to ask you why you helped me and my father. All we did was sell you clothes.”

“You didn’t treat me or my children differently. After all Myra and Zadok had been through and everything I had experienced since leaving the army, that meant something to me.”

“Well, thank you.” She smiled in a way that made me suddenly aware of how close we stood to each other. I took a step backward.

Dizziness returned to me the second my foot found earth. Damaris reached out to steady me once more, but was a second too late.

I fell. Hard.

“Gods be cursed, Ty. What’s the matter with you?” Ira’s voice rang out as footsteps pounded the dirt.

Rough hands reached under my armpits and yanked me to my feet where they held me firm.

“Nason said you were pushing yourself, but I didn’t realize you were this bad off.” Ira flung one of my arms over his shoulder. “Let’s get you back upstairs.”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, I bet.” Ira leaned in and whispered as we walked away from the feed store. “Not many people can say they literally fell for a woman, Ty.” He snorted.

“Gods, that was bad even for you.”

“You’re just tired. After a few hours of sleep, you’ll wake up laughing.”

“Not likely. Tell Dekar the line when we get upstairs and see what he thinks.”

“What would be the point of that? The moment’s passed. Besides, you can’t judge the quality of a joke by his standards. The man barely smirked that time we got Caleb drunk and tricked him into wearing that old dress we found.”

“Caleb? Man, that’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile.” I chuckled. “It was pretty funny though.” A sigh followed.

“What was that for?”

“Just thinking about Caleb now.”

“Oh?”

“He was a good soldier.” I felt a tickle in the back of my throat. “Then the fool had to go and save my life. Now, he’s dead like thousands of others. Just another name that only a few will ever remember.”

Ira swore. “You sure killed my mood quick.”

“Sorry. It’s just aggravating that so many like him won’t be remembered. Everything they did will be forgotten.”

Ira spat. “I ain’t going to forget. I doubt you will. And you know good and well Dek won’t. That man remembers what we had for breakfast twenty years ago to the day. I’m not sure what happened to Hamath or what’s going to happen to your sister, but I reckon they aren’t the kind of people to forget a man like Caleb either. I guess it’s up to us to make sure others hear about their deeds so they live on. Right?”

I nodded. “That’s some deep stuff coming from you.”

He laughed. “Dek’s been my brother for almost thirty years. The man’s bound to have an influence on me after that much time.”

We reached the porch in front of the inn and our boots hit the wooden planks with a thud that reminded me of my Pa fixing boards on our barn when I was a kid.

I froze as a thought struck me. I threw Ira off and turned back toward Nason who was talking to Sivan and Damaris in the middle of the street. My footfalls came quickly thanks to a sudden burst of energy.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ira, coming up behind me.

“The farms!”

“What?”

My shouting caught Nason’s attention and he hurried over.

He eyed Ira. “I thought you were getting him upstairs.”

“I tried to but—”

“Do you have enough healthy animals to pull a wagon?” I asked.

Nason started. “Maybe a couple.”

“Get them harnessed. We’ve been so busy worrying about those here in town, we’ve forgotten about the farms.”

He swore. “You’re right. I’ll try to organize some people to pick up those really bad off and have them brought in.”

I thought of the old woman I lost. “No time for that. They could be too far gone to heal by then. Just take me to them.”

“You’re in no shape to travel,” said Nason.

“I can sleep in the wagon.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re swaying on your feet now. You need more than a few minutes of rest in the back of a bumpy wagon.”

“Molak be damned, Nason! You talked me into helping these people. Don’t try to talk me out of it now.”

Something happened then. I’m not sure what. One moment, I was all set to get into a shouting match with Nason, the next my eyes opened to Ira slapping my face. I was on the ground.

“All right, stop. I’m awake.”

Ira hit me again, this time harder.

“By the gods, I said I was awake!”

“I know,” said Ira. “That was for being so hard headed. I’ll drag you upstairs if I have to, Ty, but you’re not going anywhere until you get some rest. I’m not about to have you pass out again.”

“But by then it could be too late . . .”

“I’ll go.”

All heads turned back toward the inn. Zadok stood on the edge of the porch looking at us.

“I thought I told you to stay upstairs,” said Ira.

“You were taking too long. I was worried about Pa. And Aunt Ava is doing all right without me.” He left the porch and walked toward us. “I heard what you said, Pa. Let me help those people on the farms. I know my resistance isn’t as strong as yours, but it’s better than nothing.”

I shook my head. The thought of Zadok going off without me made me sick to my stomach. If he went off into the country, I’d have no way of knowing how he was doing until it was too late. “No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Too dangerous? What’s dangerous about riding in a wagon and putting my hand on people who need my help?”

“A lot can happen.”

“A lot can happen here too. I could trip and fall. The inn could burn down. There could even be an explosion,” he said, gesturing toward the ugly sky that hovered in the direction of Hol.

My son, the jester.

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because if something does happen while you’re at the farms, I’ll be too far away to help you.”

“I’ll go with him, Ty.” Ira’s face had taken on a look of stone. “I promise not a hair on his head will be harmed as long as I’m breathing.”

Ira didn’t make declarations like that often and when he did, he took them seriously. Still . . .

“Please, Pa.”

I sighed, realizing he was right. “You can go, but so help me you better not do like I did. You need to take breaks to eat and drink.”

Zadok gave me a brilliant smile. “I will.”

“Don’t worry, Ty,” Ira said. “I’ll be as much of a nag to him as you can be to us.”

I shook my head. “All right, Nason. Go get a wagon. I’m going to see everyone off before I go upstairs.”

CHAPTER 19

Lasha stood at the foot of the bed and slowly undressed, exposing the fullness of her dark, smooth skin. She wore a smile she saved only for me when the kids had gone down for the night and the house was quiet.

My heart raced and blood flowed to places I had no control over.

Her smile grew wider as she began to glide around the bed, stretching and pretending that she had no clue what she was doing. She looked down and noticed my excitement. “Oh, were you expecting something?” she asked, teasing me as she liked to do.

I loved every minute of it.

I started to speak, ready to fire back some bit of witty banter for her to play off of, but found I could not open my mouth. I attempted to bring a hand to my face, but my arm did not move and neither did the other. I was strapped to the posts of the bed. Looking down, my legs were bound similarly.

I pulled, jerked, fought to break free of the constraints without any success. Lasha stood as naked as her name day at the foot of the bed, smile growing wider by the moment.

The door to our bedroom swung open. Jareb entered. He said not a word. In fact, he didn’t even acknowledge me. Why would he? I saw the lust in his eyes. I knew what he wanted. He pulled Lasha to him, kissing and touching her in ways that only I had ever done. Bile crept into my throat and tears filled my eyes. The entire bed shook, creaking as I pulled as hard as I could against my binds. I felt the straps dig into my skin, cutting my wrists and ankles. Still, I pulled. I could not let him do that to my wife.

My Lasha.

She turned to me. Her eyes met mine and she whispered. “You weren’t here for me.”

My head slammed back against the pillow as the fight left me. I closed my eyes. Regaining control of my mouth again, I screamed.

* * *

“Tyrus! Xank be cursed, wake up!”

My eyes shot open and I sat up covered in sweat, chest heaving. I swallowed and winced at the grating rawness in my throat.

“What happened?” asked Dekar, hands still gripping my shoulders as if he let go I might slip back into the hell he shook me out of.

My eyes darted about, blinking. I saw the chairs, the dresser, the big window. I was back at the Hemlock Inn.

“A dream,” I said.

“About the war?”

I shook my head.

He noticeably relaxed.

In the army, some soldiers began to lose their minds as the things they had seen in the war began to haunt them. It started out while they slept, but over time, they began to dream of the horrors even in their waking moments. It couldn’t be predicted who would be affected. A grisly old veteran was just as susceptible as the young recruit. And the worst part was that none of the healers knew how to treat the ailment. Several of the men affected ended up taking their own lives rather than experience those memories over and over.