“So, what are your orders?”
“Keep doing what we’ve been doing. Avoid people as best as we can until it’s time to start dropping people off at their homes.”
“And what do we do if things are just as bad at those places?”
He sucked his teeth. “I really don’t know. That will be up to the individual to decide. Stay, or move on to a place where they’ll be welcomed.”
“The thought of returning home is the only thing that has kept most of them alive all these years. To not be welcomed there, well. .”
He sighed. “Yeah. I know.”
The singing got really loud just then. We both turned our heads.
“Sorry, sir. I may not be religious, but the priest looked pretty bad off.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “No worries, Sergeant. I would have done the same. And if nothing else it seems the men needed him just as much as the priest needed a meal and a ride. We’ll let him stay with us for a bit. When we part, we’ll give him some supplies to take with him.”
I nodded.
“And, Tyrus.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Let’s not mention what I said about that town to the others just yet. No reason to bring them down again.”
“Of course.”
“Good. Then I’ll leave you to your thoughts. After a day of hard riding, I can put up with some off key singing if it means a full stomach.”
CHAPTER 8
Over the next week, Kehat went his own way and we continued to shun any large communities we passed. That practice changed as we reached several smaller towns that were the final destination for several in our group.
To ensure the safety of those we dropped off, Nehab sent half a dozen men into town as an escort. He didn’t want to send in anymore, so that the locals weren’t threatened by us. The six men selected as escorts were never the same, rotating men out here and there so everyone at least got a brief taste of civilization.
Reports from those who returned to the group were mixed. Some were surprised to see soldiers returning, and asked questions about the war in a more curious than accusatory manner. However, many locals cast sour looks, even crossing the streets to avoid contact. Still, no one tried to raise arms against us like in Damanhur so we at least had that going in our favor.
Since the hostilities seemed minimal, every soldier we dropped off chose to remain in their home town, just as I expected they would.
Several men who returned after one particular trip into a passing town tried to look at the positive, explaining the looks and behavior of the people as just being cautious of strangers. The pessimists of our group felt it proved that many in the world no longer wanted us.
I hadn’t decided which side of the argument I fell.
After another night of debating the same thing, Dekar changed subjects. “Hamath, don’t you live somewhere around here?”
He threw a stick he had been fidgeting with into the fire. “Yep. We should make it there in a few days.”
“You don’t sound excited,” Dekar said.
Hamath shrugged. “Not especially.”
“What about Bilhah?” I asked. “You aren’t happy to see her again?”
He snorted. “She got married years ago.”
I blinked. “What? You never told me that. When did you find that out?”
“It was in that last batch of letters we all received before the army quit delivering messages.”
Shortly after Wadlow Hill, Balak had called for all outside communications to cease. Things were bleak then, and he was worried about our dwindling resources. He didn’t want to deplete them further by ferrying personal messages back and forth across country.
“Why haven’t you said anything before now?”
He threw another stick in the fire. “Because I knew how much it meant for you to talk about your family. I didn’t want to make you feel guilty about it just because I no longer had anyone waiting for me.”
“That’s a heck of a thing she did to you,” said Ira.
Hamath shrugged again. “She waited more than five years. That’s more than I thought she would considering we were only betrothed.”
“You gonna kill the guy she married?” asked Ira.
“Xank, no.”
“A beating at least? He took your woman,” Ira pushed.
Hamath shook his head. “She always wanted kids, and she was tired of waiting. I can’t fault her for that. Lavi be cursed, I was never sure if I even wanted kids.”
“Still, I know I couldn’t let someone get away with that. I’d have to at least-”
Dekar cut his brother off in a low voice. “Let it go.”
Ira clamped his jaw shut while the rest of us stared at the dancing flames. I spared a quick glance at Dekar and saw the worry lining his face, most likely thinking of the wife waiting for him.
We were all more apt to dwell on the possibility that there wouldn’t be much good waiting for us on our return. It was one thing not to have a job, or friends. But to lose your family, your woman. .
My chest clenched for any man who had to go through that.
* * *
We set out late the next morning. Despite the desire to get home, Nehab demanded we all take a few extra hours of rest. No one argued. We had been pushing hard and it showed.
I sat at the back of the trailing wagon, legs over the side, listening to the clattering wheels as we rolled along. Staring at the beaten road, my mind wandered in a hundred directions-thinking of my stint in the army, the men I lost under my command, and what Ava was learning in Hol. I wondered what those idiot High Mages were doing with the Geneshan artifact. Maybe they had wised up and buried the thing as our enemies had said to do. That would be the day.
Most of my thoughts went back to Denu Creek. How much would it have changed in the last ten years? Would I recognize any of it? Would anyone recognize me?
The conversation from the night before got me thinking about how Lasha would greet my arrival. She wouldn’t have found someone else. I doubted that would happen even if she thought me dead. We had talked about that scenario the night before I left home. I had been adamant she find another man to marry.
“Fine, Tyrus. I’ll try. I’ll try to find someone who makes my legs weak with just the slightest of looks, who makes my heart race with the barest of whispers. I’ll try to find someone who treats me better than I have any right ever to be treated and loves his kids like no man I’ve ever met, including my own father. However, I have a feeling that no one will ever live up to the standard you’ve set. But, if it will ease that worrisome mind of yours, I promise to do my best if you don’t make it back.”
That was all a moot point. I wasn’t dead, and she knew that. Before Balak cut off communications with the outside world, he allowed all soldiers to write one more letter home stating that another letter would only come to announce our death. Until then, our family had no reason to believe we were dead.
No, what I worried about was how we’d act together after so much time apart. I knew her letters said she loved me, but saying something and acting the same way were two different things. Would the fire between us burn immediately, just as it had before? Or would it need to be rekindled, stoked over time, until it ended up greater than it had ever been? I guessed it didn’t really matter how things fell into place as long as they eventually did. And with everything I knew about my wife, I had to believe they would.
The kids though. .
The wagon rolled over a rough patch of dry road, sending dust into the air. A violent coughing attack seized me, jarring me from thoughts I probably shouldn’t have been dwelling on anyway. I reached for my canteen, took a swig, and swallowed. The water was warm, but satisfying. I blinked away the tears in my eyes from coughing and nodded at Captain Nehab as he approached.
“Captain, what are you doing back here?”
“Looking to have a word with you in private, Sergeant. You mind hopping off and walking a bit?”