‘Maybe we’re broken.’
Again, that voice he couldn’t quite place. Fiddler scratched his beard and shook his head. ‘You’re not broken. The walking dead don’t break. Still waiting for that to clunk home, are ya? We’re going to be the Adjunct’s little army. But too little – anyone can see that. Now, it’s not that she wants us dead. She doesn’t. In fact, it might even be that she’s trying to save our lives – after all, where’s she taking the regulars? Chances are, wherever that is, you don’t want to be there.
‘So maybe she thinks we’ve earned a break. Or maybe not. Who knows what the Adjunct thinks, about anything. She wants what’s left of the heavies and the marines in one company. Simple enough.’
‘You know more than you’re saying, Fiddler.’
‘Do I, Koryk?’
‘Aye. You’ve got the Deck of Dragons.’
‘What I know is this. Next time I give you all an order, I don’t expect to have to wait all day to see you follow it. Next soldier tries that with me gets tossed to the regulars. Outa the special club, for good.’
‘We dismissed, Captain?’
‘I ain’t decided yet. In fact, I’m tempted to make you sit here all night. Just to make a point, right? The one about discipline, the one your friends died for.’
‘We took that point the first time, Captain.’
‘Maybe you did, Cuttle. Ready to say the same for the rest of ’em?’
‘No.’
Fiddler sat down on a boulder at the edge of the basin and settled until he was comfortable. He looked into the night sky. ‘Ain’t that jade light pretty?’
Things were simple, really. There’s only so much a soldier can do, only so much a soldier needs to think about at any one time. Pile on too much and their knees start shaking, their eyes glaze over, and they start looking around for something to kill. Because killing simplifies. It’s called an elimination of distractions .
Her horse was content, watered and fed enough to send the occasional stream down and plant an island or two in their wake. Happy horse, happy Masan Gilani. Simple . Her companions were once more nowhere to be seen. Sour company besides; she hardly missed them.
And she herself wasn’t feeling as saggy and slack as she’d been only a day earlier. Who knew where the T’lan Imass had found the smoked antelope meat, the tanned bladders filled to bursting with clean, cold water, the loaves of hard bread and the rancid jar of buttery cheese. Probably the same place as the forage for her horse. And wherever that was, it was a hundred leagues away from here – oh, speak it plain, Masan. It was through some infernal warren. Aye, I seen them fall into dust, but maybe that’s not what it seems. Maybe they just step into another place .
Somewhere nice. Where at the point of a stone sword farmers hand over victuals with a beaming smile and good hale to you all .
Dusk was darkening the sky. She’d have to stop soon.
They must have heard her coming, for the two men stood waiting at the far end of the slope, staring up at her the instant she’d cleared the rise. Masan reined in, squinted for a moment, and then nudged her mount forward.
‘You’re not all that’s left,’ she said as she drew nearer. ‘You can’t be.’
Captain Ruthan Gudd shook his head. ‘We’re not far from them. A league or two, I’d wager.’
‘We’d thought to just push on,’ added Bottle.
‘Do you know how bad it was?’
‘Not yet,’ said the captain, eyeing her horse. ‘That beast looks too fit, Masan Gilani.’
‘No such thing,’ she replied, dismounting, ‘as a too-fit horse, sir.’
He made a face. ‘Meaning you’re not going to explain yourself.’
‘Didn’t you desert?’ Bottle asked. ‘If you did, Masan, you’re riding the wrong way, unless you’re happy with being strung up.’
‘She didn’t desert,’ Ruthan Gudd said, turning to resume walking. ‘Special mission for the Adjunct.’
‘How do you know anything about it, sir?’ Masan asked, falling in step with the two men.
‘I don’t. I’m just guessing.’ He combed at his beard. ‘I have a talent for that.’
‘Has plenty of talents does our captain here,’ Bottle muttered.
Whatever was going on between these two, she had to admit to herself that she was happy to see them. ‘So how did you two get separated from the army?’ she asked. ‘By the way, you both look a mess. Bottle, you bathe in blood or something? I barely recognized you.’