The Boy in the Field (12 page)

“We should go to Kinta.” You took his hand. “Trust me on this.
If we go to Hijara, you
will
do something stupid and you
will
lose your job. I might lose mine too.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Noah sighed. “What would I do
without you?”

“You’d get yourself into a lot of trouble. That’s what.” You
grinned. “Jut promise you won’t go off without me.”

He laced his fingers through yours. “Is it time to forget?” He
swallowed and stared at the floor. “Is it time to give up hope?”

You shrugged. “Perhaps. Maybe only time will tell.”

* * *

It was a lot less time than you were expecting. Once your
training was over, you left for Kinta. Your mission was to search out Taatar
spies rumoured to have infiltrated the city. Their army had swept through the
country faster than the Kinn forces had anticipated, taking over each town they
raided and gaining new information all the time.

Rumours abounded that they were working with a group calling
themselves ‘Liberationists’. They claimed to be working against what they said
was a ‘Serloran Invasion’, but in reality, you could see that it was only
hampering both the Kinel army and the Serloran attempts at pushing the Taatars
back to their deserts.

You and Noah had an evening mission in one of the
Liberationists’ frequent tavern haunts, eavesdropping on conversations, trying
to identify the true dangers within their organisation. You had been there for
over an hour when you spotted a familiar face amongst the drinkers. Ethan.

“We need to go,” you whispered to Noah. “Our cover is about to
be blown. Put your hood up and don’t look behind you.”

He nodded and followed your instructions, waiting for you to
give another signal. Ethan came closer and you turned towards the bar,
shielding your face from his view to put your drink down on the bar. Noah
reached out for your hand and hissed in your ear as Ethan passed.

“That’s him!”

“I know.” You glanced back. “We have to go before he sees us.”

Noah shook his head. “No! I’m not losing him!”

“Noah, please. Think this through.”

He stood up. “I’m not losing him.”

Choice:
79. Stop Noah
or
80.
Confront Ethan

“Noah, wait outside.”

You ushered him out of the room while a senior medic took over
caring for the man. You assisted, giving pain relief and cleaning up blood as
the other medic worked. Nothing either of you did seemed to be helping. The
third time he stopped breathing, the senior medic rolled him onto his back and
pulled the sheet over his head.

“He’s gone.” He glanced at the clock. “Eight twenty-three.”

You helped a nurse carry him out of the ward, looking for Noah
as you went. He was gone, no longer in the corridor and you didn’t see him
along your way to the mortuary. If there hadn’t been so many people awaiting
attention, you would have looked for him, but the medicium was crammed.

You worked all night, your only breaks coming when you washed
your hands between patients. Volunteer porters brought mugs of highly caffeinated
drinks around the wards, most of them cold by the time you got to consume them,
but the extra energy they gave you kept you going.

“Excuse me, Medic.” A soldier called for your attention. He
didn’t seem injured.

You smiled. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for some people.” He held out a sheet of paper.
“Do you know where I can find any of them?”

Your eyes scanned a list of names, many unfamiliar to you, some
your colleagues and one your own. You frowned and pointed.

“This is me.”

The man took the list back. “Ah. Then I’m afraid I have some
bad news.”

He took you away from the busy corridor to a quiet corner of
one of the wards. Another porter brought you a drink and the soldier sat down
with you.

“I’m afraid we have recovered bodies from the barracks. One of
them appears to be Noah Wicker. You are listed as his next of kin.”

You shook your head. “No. That’s not possible. He wasn’t in the
barracks. He was here not long ago.”

“I’m sorry,
laraki
.” The man made a note on his list.
“He was found with another soldier who we believe is Ethan Wicker. Were they
related?”

You continued to shake your head, a nervous laugh escaping your
lips. “This isn’t happening.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “Did you know Ethan Wicker?”

“They’re twins. I grew up with them.” You laughter turned to
tears. “He was here. He was safe!”

You stood up and left the room, pushing through the crowds in
the hallways. You couldn’t breathe. It was too much. The soldier was following
you. A nurse was talking, at your side. You couldn’t hear what they were
saying. The cold night air stung your face as you left the medicium. People
tried to get your attention but the soldier pushed them back, making space for
you.

“You should go home,
laraki
,” he said. “Would you like
an escort?”

You shook your head. “No. I want to be alone. Are you sure it’s
them?”

“Identity documents were found on both bodies.” He smiled. “Go
home. I have your address. I will be in touch.”

When you got home, you sat in stunned silence on your bed. The
apartment had never felt so empty. You had never felt so alone.

The coroner’s report said that Ethan and Noah both died at the
same time, most likely from the smoke. The body of a fire fighter had been
found in the same room, killed by a ceiling caving in, trapping the twins. You
wondered if they spoke before they died, if they had made peace with one
another. No one would ever be able to tell you.

The End
(Back to start)

You ignored Noah’s shouts and protests as you concentrated on
keeping the man alive. When the senior medic took over, you assisted, giving
pain relief and cleaning up blood as he worked. The third time he stopped
breathing, the senior medic rolled him onto his back and pulled the sheet over
his head.

“He’s gone.” He glanced at the clock. “Eight twenty-three.”

“No.” Noah shook his head. “You have to keep trying. He knows
something about Ethan.”

“I’m sorry, Noah. He’s gone.”

“But… Ethan!”

You put your hand on his shoulder and escorted him to a chair
at the side of the room. He didn’t notice that you’d given him a mild dose of
sedative until he sat down.

“I have to find him!” he protested, struggling to keep his
focus on you. “What did you do to me?”

“You’ll be fine in a few minutes, so long as you promise me you
won’t go into that building.”

“But I have to find Ethan. If he’s there…”

“You’re not a fire fighter, Noah. If he’s there, they will find
him and he will come here,
hai na?
So promise me you won’t do anything
stupid.”

“I promise.”

* * *

You didn’t see Ethan that night and the fire fighters didn’t
recover his body from the building once the flames had been extinguished. Noah
refused to come home when you were relieved from work by another medic and it
took a dose of another, stronger sedative to remove him from the medicium.

When he woke the next day, he insisted on visiting every
medicium to which the casualties of the fire had been taken. You went with him,
hoping to find some answers that would satisfy him. The first four medicia
turned up nothing, but at the fifth, you found him.

“He’s stable, but unconscious,” the nurse said, as he led you
to the ward. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

The ward was eerily silent, all eight beds in the room occupied
by unconscious men. Ethan was in one corner, his skin wrapped in bandages. Noah
clutched your hand as he approached the bed.

“What do I do?” he asked, his voice wavering.

“Speak to him. You never know if he can hear you,” you replied

“And say what?” He shook his head and wiped his eyes. “
Ja
mara
.”

You sat at the bedside until the nurses told you that you had
to leave. Every day, Noah went back, waiting for the staff to tell him that his
brother would be okay or that he wouldn’t ever wake up. His work began to
suffer through his lack of sleep. Something had to change.

Choice:
83. Ask Them to Wake Ethan
or
84. Ask
Them to Let Ethan Die

“They are invading our country, Noah. It’s not about helping
us; it’s about expansion. They’re colonising us, Noah.”

“We don’t live there anymore. Ethigos is our home now.”

“It’s not much of a home,” you replied.

“So let me try out for the peacekeepers. We’ll be able to live
a better life.”

From the corner of the room, the other woman laughed. “My
svamina
tried out to be a peacekeeper.”

“Then how did you end up here?” you asked.

“He never came back.”

You twisted to face him. “Noah, please don’t go.”

“He won’t find work anywhere else, darlin’. No one wants
lowtowners in their employment. But they’re always keen for cannon fodder at
the palace.”

“Noah?”

He shook his head. “I will do it and I will protect you. And
mother. And I’ll find Ethan and we’ll go home.” He smiled. “I’ll be okay. I
promise.”

* * *

“They accepted me,” he said the next day, when you went to
meet him from the recruitment office. “I start training in two weeks.” Noah
smiled as he took your hand. “Soon,
parahe
. Soon, I’ll get you and
mother out of lowtown.”

You smiled. “You shouldn’t call me
parahe
.”

He frowned. “But you are. You’re my
parahe
. You’ve
always been my
parahe.
”

You shook your head. “I’ve been your
parahi.
Parahe
is for if there was more than one of me.”

Noah smiled. “You’ve been letting me call you that for years.
I’ve been getting it wrong the whole time?”

You nodded. “I didn’t like to correct you. It was so sweet,
hearing you speak my language. But now it’s also the language of your
colleagues. I don’t want them to laugh at you.”

“
Parahi
.” He shook his head. “I love you, you know
that?”

Instruction:
107. Noah Begins Work

“You would really do that for us?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “And once we have enough money to afford a
place of our own, you can work in a shop or something. And we’ll buy mother
wool so that she can knit clothes or we can send her to a lace-making school.”

From the corner of the room, the other woman laughed. “You
think it’s that easy? Peacekeeping ain’t easy,
laraka.
You’ll be lucky
to last a week.”

“Don’t listen to her,” you interrupted. “I think you’ll be great.”

“Yeah.” He kissed the top of your head. “I would do anything to
protect you. You know that, right?”

Only too well
, you thought to yourself. You had already
seen him kill two people while trying to protect you.

* * *

He went the next day. You walked with him to the recruitment
office. He spoke to the men at the desks while you looked at the posters on the
walls, encouraging the young men of the city to take up a career in
peacekeeping or magistry.

It was the poster of the magister that held your attention the
longest. The man in the image wore plate armour studded with coloured stones
like the radust that Adina had used on you that time. You could imagine Noah in
that armour, patrolling the streets and upholding laws. You looked back at him.
The men were handing him a pen, asking him to sign something.

Choice:
85. Advise Him To Try As A
Magister
or
86. Keep Quiet

“So we have to keep moving?”

Ethan nodded. “I don’t think there’s any choice. If we’re to
have any hope at all of surviving, we need to get away from here.”

“Where will we go?”

“The capital.” He took a deep breath. “Kinta. They’ll be
looking for new soldiers if the Taatars are invading and because the King’s
there, it will be safer. They will defend Kinta better than they defend any
other town or city. You’ll see.”

“You want to be a soldier?”

Ethan shrugged. “If it keeps us safe, I’ll do anything. They’ll
train me and we’ll find a place to stay and if anything like this happens
again, I’ll be ready. I’ll keep you safe. You and baby.”

* * *

Getting to Kinta wasn’t difficult. It had taken less than a
week and you had found places to stay along the route, in old barns and cheap
inns. Ethan’s idea to join the military was the right one, the recruiters even
helping you find a place to stay until he had saved enough money to afford the
rent on an apartment of his own.

You stayed with an elderly couple named Mr and Mrs Devis. At
first, they had been reluctant to accept you both, but Ethan convinced them. He
told them that his brother, your ‘husband’, had been killed in the Taatar raid
and that you were expecting his child. In their eyes, Ethan was suddenly a
gallant warrior and you needed to be protected.

You were glad of their company during the long months that
Ethan was away training with the army. Mrs Devis told you everything she felt
you ought to know about being a mother while her husband reassured you that
Ethan would do well in the army, himself a former soldier, now retired. Mr
Devis had encountered the Taatars himself and had the scars to show it.

Mrs Devis became like a mother to you, just like Adina had
been. You supposed that made Mr Devis like a father, although he was nothing
like your own father. When you went into labour, he was the one to fetch Ethan
and the medics. Your own father would have beaten you for making too much
noise.

Mrs Devis talked you through every step, relaxing, and
breathing and pushing. When Ethan arrived, he held your hand, regretting the
decision as you squeezed hard enough to reduce his bones to dust – or at least
that’s how he told the story later. It was nine hours before your baby was
born, an eight pound boy with the same yellow-brown eyes as his father. You
looked at Ethan and grinned.

“He’s beautiful,” Mrs Devis said, grinning. “What are you going
to call him?”

“Noah,” you replied. “After his father.”

“Aww. Noah.” She cooed and wiggled her fingers in front of his
face. “Little Noah.”

* * *

Ethan adapted well to life in the army. His brilliant
swordsmanship made him a desirable teammate and his clever, tactical thinking
made him popular with both his superiors in the field and his peers in a pub.
Although he was sometimes gone for long stretches, he spent every moment that
he could with baby Noah, taking the place of the father he would never have.

You leaned in the doorway sometimes, just watching him smiling
and pulling faces at the little boy as if there were nothing more important in
the world. They looked so alike that you sometimes struggled to believe that
Noah wasn’t his son, or that Ethan wasn’t the one that you had lost. You always
looked away before he could see you cry, but this time, he saw.

“Whatever’s the matter?” he asked.

Choice:
75. “I Miss Him”
or
76.
“I Think I’m In Love with You”