Steel and Sorrow (20 page)

“I can’t think of anything. Enjoy your night.”

“I will.”

Elyse sat at her desk and opened a book as the door closed. She found her place from the night before and started to read, but her mind began to wander as she eyed the flower Kaz had given her at the gates of Lyrosene. It sat in a thin vase at the edge of her desk.

“I’ll always come back,” he had told her.

* * *

Kroke watched Elyse’s servant glide down the hall with her head down. The blonde had caught his eye on more than one occasion, though she wasn’t really Kroke’s type.

Too timid.

He leaned back in his chair and rested his head against the cool stone wall. He’d be stiff in the morning again, but saw little alternative to his position. He wasn’t about to stop looking after Elyse simply because of nightfall. Since only one door led to the queen’s chambers, he took up residence there.

Besides, it’s not like I can sleep in her room.

A flood of thoughts that Kroke had tried to circumvent all day came at him. He swore under his breath.

Chapter 16

Even after several weeks on the march, Kaz continued to push the army’s pace. In his mind, they were behind schedule. First, Krytien took longer than planned when returning from Estul Island. Then Elyse’s grand departure from Lyrosene cost them another day. He understood, but disagreed with her reasons for the fanfare.

The soldiers know they may not make it back. No need to remind them of what they’re leaving behind.

He had seen too many hard men shed a tear as loved ones reached out to them during their departure. The images filled him with his own conflicting emotions. Anger, because his men would show their emotions so easily. Sorrow, because Kaz knew they had every right to do that. Jealousy, because they had something they loved so dearly.

To help remove those thoughts from his soldier’s minds as well as his own, Kaz maintained an almost frantic tempo for the two days that followed their departure from Lyrosene. By the end of the second day, the army’s demeanor changed into the hardness he knew they would need in the months to come.

After they crossed the Tyreseos River, smaller raiding parties began harassing his long columns. The first attack took the army off guard since they were so close to the city of Namaris which was held by the crown. In response, Kaz redistributed his light cavalry with his scouts and moved several companies of Yanasi’s bowmen to the back of the columns to better guard the supply lines. At night, he doubled the number of pickets. The attempted raids continued, but never posed any real threat.

Or so I thought.

Kaz called a halt after another attack on the baggage train. From what he gathered, it had been the largest and most calculated strike thus far. He rode to the back of the columns while barking orders to the officers he passed.

Kaz reined in beside General Grayer and Yanasi. Yanasi looked ragged.

“Give me the details,” said Kaz.

Grayer saluted. “They had a couple of mages with them this time, Commander. We lost the equivalent of three squads.”

“In their entirety?” asked Kaz, his voice rising.

“No Commander, but two of the squads hit will need to be redistributed.”

Kaz nodded. He turned to Yanasi. “Captain, what happened?”

“It was like General Grayer said, Sir. We were caught unaware. Their mages concealed their spot in the forest and they waited until the main body passed before striking.”

Kaz swore in his native tongue.

Yanasi looked up and cleared her throat. “Sir, I’d like to make a request.”

“Go on.”

“I want permission to command a platoon of our heavy cavalry along with spare mounts to transport three squads of my archers.”

“Is that all?” he asked.

“No, sir. I’ll want two of our green mages as well.”

“And why should I grant this request?”

“So I can hunt out the remainder of Tomalt’s men. I’m sick of them picking us off.”

Grayer chimed in. “It’s not a bad idea, Commander. The men are growing more frustrated with each attack. They’re tired of being targets.”

Kaz scowled. “Then I’ll need to speak with the officers to get a grip on their men. They can grow frustrated all they want, but they’re not to leave the main body and pursue anyone. Not now anyway.” He turned to Yanasi. “Captain, your request is denied. Tomalt is trying to hamper our pace and I won’t allow him to do so. We’ll continue on as before.” He met both of their eyes. “I’ll see that their raids are taken care of.”

Kaz left them without waiting for an answer. The news had put him in a more sour mood than before. He rode to the front of the column where Rygar waited.

“What’s your report?”

“All clear for miles around, sir,” said Rygar.

Kaz shook his head. “You’ve missed something. You need to go out again and retrace the same ground.”

“But as I said—”

“I heard you. But Tomalt’s men just attacked us and used mages to conceal their movements. You missed them, so who’s to say you didn’t miss anyone ahead? Take Krytien with you and go back out.”

“But Krytien’s never been very good with a horse. He’s liable to slow us down.”

“You need his sorcery, not his skills with a horse.”

Rygar gave Kaz a hurried salute and left.

* * *

“Pick up the pace, you pieces of garbage! I’m sick of watching each and every one of you move like we’re on a stroll through the streets.” Raker spat a brown wad and raised the bottle in his hand. He took a long pull at its neck. “Senald! What do you think you’re doing? Do I need to put my foot up your rear to wake you up? You know better than to manhandle that piece of equipment.”

The mercenary turned, face sour. “I know what I’m doing. We’ve been running these drills for over a year and a half.”

“Then act like it. You look like an amateur. I’d figure by now I could trust you to do something right.”

Senald turned back to the equipment and mumbled something under his breath that Raker couldn’t make out.

“What did you just say?” asked Raker while taking a step forward.

Senald turned around and threw the rope he held to the ground. “I said I’m surprised you can see anything through that bottle you keep your head in. The only time you take it out is when you’re looking to yell at someone.”

Raker noticed the sudden silence around them as all eyes turned his way. He spat and took another drink. Raker moved forward, forming a fist. But as he closed in, a hand grabbed him by the arm.

“We need to talk,” said Drake.

Raker tore away from Drake’s grasp. “Get your hands off me. I’m in the middle of something.”

Drake grabbed his arm again. “That’s what we need to talk about,” he said in a low voice. “Now.”

Raker stared down at the kid through narrowed eyes.

Kid’s getting too big for himself. I’ll humor him this once.

“Fine. Let’s take a walk.” He turned back to Senald. “Get the rest of the equipment off the wagons. And it better be done right by the time I get back.” Senald grunted a response as Raker turned away.

Not even a ‘Yes, sir.’

“You better have a good reason for interrupting me like that.”

“I do,” said Drake. “You need to get a hold of yourself and your drinking.”

Raker spat. “You trying to tell me I can’t hold my liquor. I can drink anyone here under the table.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. You don’t know when to stop. All that whiskey is feeding your miserable state of mind.”

“Says who? I’ve always been this way.”

“Yeah, but at least before when you’d yell at someone, there was reason behind it. Now, you’re just yelling out of spite. Senald’s a good soldier and you’ve got no reason to ride him like you do.”

“Don’t try to guess the reasons for what I do. You don’t know me.”

“I know that Jonrell’s death affected you harder than you want to admit. His death affected a lot of people, but you don’t see others drinking themselves to death.”

People cope in their own ways.

But Raker wouldn’t admit that to Drake. His eyes narrowed. “Kaz keeps giving you all these projects to do instead of giving them to me. You think that makes you special? I could do most of that stuff too.”

“If you weren’t always drunk, you could. What are you going to do in the next battle?”

Raker took a drink and pointed at Drake with the bottle. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve been doing this since before you were sucking at your momma’s teat. I may drink and I may even be a drunk, but when the fighting starts, I’ll be ready.”

* * *

Drake stormed off. He just couldn’t get through to Raker these days.

Not that it had ever been easy.

Drake passed by the engineers and gave Senald and the others a word of encouragement. He could see Senald growing more disenfranchised with not only Raker, but the entire Hell Patrol.

I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t quit.

By the time Drake left, the engineers’ spirits had lifted, but he couldn’t say the same for himself.

He made his way through camp with head down, kicking up dirt with each step. Lost in thought, he failed to notice the giant wall that stepped in front of him until the collision knocked him to the ground.

Drake stared up at Crusher. The giant turned and chuckled. “You need to watch where you’re going, kid. You didn’t even have a book in your hand this time.” The Ghal reached down and yanked Drake to his feet.

“Yeah, yeah. Real funny.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Drake thought he saw what appeared to be a look of concern on the giant’s face.

“Nothing. Look, I’ve got things to do.”

Crusher frowned. “I hope one of them is removing that stick you got shoved up your rear. You’re starting to become as sour as the veterans around here.”

Drake sulked off without responding.

What do you know? This is all a game to you. You’re not even in charge of your own squad. All you have to worry about is taking that big club of yours and knocking over as many men as you can with each swing.

“Drake!” a ragged voice shouted over the noise around him.

Drake saw Hag staring in his direction from the chow line.

“Quit looking at me like I’m a ghost and come over here and get your dinner,” she shouted.

“I’m not hungry,” Drake yelled back and started to walk away.

Hag pushed aside soldiers in line and waddled into his path, carrying a bowl of stew. She shoved it into his stomach, nearly splashing the contents over him. “I ain’t asked you if you were hungry. Now take it and eat! I won’t have you lagging behind on the march tomorrow because you’re weak from a lack of food.”

She left him without waiting for a response and slapped some soldier aside who thought to give her lip for slowing down dinner. Drake’s stomach growled as the rising steam reached his nostrils.

I guess I was hungry after all.

He shouted out his thanks, but Hag waved him off and went back to dishing out meals.

Drake ate as he walked to the southern edge of camp, ignoring the bustling activity around him. He settled down on a newly raised mound of dirt. Patrols moved back and forth some hundred yards away. A flickering glow from the dancing campfires behind him cast shadows that stretched into the night. Away from the rowdy games of dice, he finally felt like he had a moment to work things out on his own.

“So, what’s bothering you?” asked a voice to Drake’s left.

He jumped and whipped his head around. Rygar lay on his back, no more than a few feet away, staring up into the starry sky. “One Above, I didn’t even see you there.”

“Figured as much. That’s why I assumed something was bothering you. This seems to be the place for it.”

Drake heard the sad tone in the scout’s voice. He reclined on the rough ground and brought his hands over his head. “So, what’s eating you?” he asked.

“I asked you first.”

Drake blew out a puff of air. “Raker.”

“The drinking?”

“It’s getting out of hand.”

“Yeah, I heard some of the engineers grumbling about him. To be honest, I’m too busy scouting to notice much. Usually when I see him, it’s late in the night and he’s not the only one drunk then.”

“I just wish I knew how to help him get his act together,” said Drake. “Since Jonrell died, each day is worse than the day before.”

Rygar grunted. “Yeah, Jonrell’s death sure made people forget themselves. It wasn’t so obvious at first. Everyone was too caught up in the campaign after Cathyrium to dwell on his death, but once we got to Lyrosene for the winter, I guess people had time to think.” He sighed. “Now it seems that some people can’t stop thinking.”

“You mean Yanasi?”

“Yep.”

“I was wondering why you weren’t with her. No offense, but you two are usually joined at the hip, especially when you make it back to camp after scouting.”

“That’s generally the truth. Or at least it was. But same as Raker, Yanasi still hasn’t moved on from Jonrell’s death. She may not be drinking, but I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to hear her sobbing next to me. She makes up some excuse, but I’m not dumb. He was like a brother to her. She practically worshipped the man.”

“Have you talked to her about it?”

Rygar snorted. “I’ve tried, but it’s no use. One moment she’s clinging to me, the next she’s pushing me away. Especially since we left Lyrosene. She won’t admit it, but I think she feels like I don’t understand what she’s going through since I didn’t know Jonrell as well as she did.” He paused. “She’s right to a point. I didn’t know him as well or as long as others. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t think he was a good leader or a good man. Besides I’ve had more than my fair share of losses too. We all have.”

“Raker’s pretty much the same way when I try to talk to him about it.”

“Too bad he and Yanasi can’t talk it out themselves,” said Rygar.

“I don’t know how effective that conversation would be. I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before Yanasi would slam her bow between his legs.”

The two started laughing. “You’re probably right.”