The Boy in the Field (18 page)

You moved out of the inn after Noah finished his second week
in training. The peacekeepers were paid for their time spent in the training
grounds. Although by the standards of the city, his pay was relatively low, it
was enough to afford a private room in a shared house.

The building you moved to was not much better than the inn. You
still had to share the apartment with one other family, but at least you had
separate rooms, you, Noah and Adina in one room, the other family in a second
room and a communal bathroom and kitchen between them. The room was no bigger
than the one at the inn with two small beds, a rickety table and three chairs,
each with legs missing.

“It's better though,
hai na
?” Noah asked.

“
Haa
.” You nodded and kissed him. “I miss you, Noah.”

“I miss you too,
parahi
.”

“How’s your training going?”

“It’s okay.” He sat down with you on the bed as Adina returned
from the bathroom.

“It’s not home,” she said. “I worked hard to make that home in
Landia.” She shook her head. “This isn’t…” She leaned on the windowsill and
stared out. “Where’s Ethan?”

“I’ll find him, Ma. When they send me to Kinel, I’ll find him.
I promise.”

Adina leaned her head on the glass, her breath catching. You
looked away. She cried all the time, determined not to let you or Noah or
anybody else see, but she couldn’t hide it. Noah stood and put his hand on her
shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay. I won’t be gone forever.”

* * *

Adina didn’t improve. She rarely slept and when she did it was
restless. Some nights, you heard her talking in her sleep, calling out the
names of her boys as if frightened that they were going to leave and never
return.

But that
was
what had happened to Ethan. And now Noah
was about to become a peacekeeper, preparing to go out into dangerous places,
battling with people who wanted him dead – or that didn’t care if he lived
through the night. You shared her worry, but you didn’t let it show, reassuring
her that Noah’s teammates would always look out for him, that his training was
good and that he could take care of himself.

“Ethan used to look out for him. Who has he got now?” Adina
picked at her fingernails. “You never had a family. You don’t understand what
it’s like to lose them. Those boys were close. Best friends.” She huffed. “At
least, they were before you…” She shook her head.

“I didn’t make Ethan go, Mrs Wicker. This isn’t my fault.”

Adina closed her eyes, fighting back tears. “I’m sorry.” She
took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I love Noah, Mrs Wicker. I do. And I loved Ethan too, like he
was my own brother. Yeah, I might not have had a family of my own to lose, but
for a while, I had yours. He was not blood, but he was my brother. I lost him
too.” You took her hand, but she snatched it away.

“You
drove
Ethan away. Those boys were always close.
Best friends. You ruined it. As soon as you started hanging around with Noah,
Ethan had no one.”

“Adina, I—”

“Don’t speak to me like we’re friends!” She shoved you in the
chest.

You stumbled back a few paces, frowning. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I hate you.”

She reached behind her, snatching a glass of water from her
nightstand. You barely had time to duck before she launched the object across
the room at your head. The glass smashed against the wall, showering you with
tepid water.

You stared at her for a second with your mouth slightly open.
“You don’t mean that. You’re just tired.”

“Believe me, I know when I mean something.” Her lip curled.
“Disappear.”

“Whatever you think of me, Mrs Wicker, I do love your son.”

“Get out of my face!”

You turned and slipped out of the door, leaving the house and
strolling a few paces down the street. You knew you were going to cry, but you
wanted to get as far away from the house as possible before you did. She would
not see you cry. No one that made you cry would ever actually see you cry. They
didn’t deserve the satisfaction.

You stopped outside a factory where the street kids were
playing with a ball they had made from bits of rubbish compacted and tied with
broken bootlaces. Just like you, they had nothing. Maybe some of them had
families or maybe they had no one. You would have once offered to help them
out, but now, you were no better off. They might have been younger, but they
were just the same.

“Parahi?”

You looked up. It was Noah. He must have finished working.

“Are you crying? What happened?”

You looked away. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not.” He hopped up onto the wall beside you and took
your hand. “What happened?”

Choice:
127. Tell Him
or
128. Lie

You left Kinta and started a new life on the road, working
whenever there was work available and sleeping wherever there was shelter. It
was a nomadic existence, but you began to like it. Hundreds of other Kinns were
living the same way, forced out of their homes by war and unable to settle
anywhere. You shared stories with them, celebrating their triumphs and mourning
their losses. Sometimes, you even shared supplies. But most of the time, you
walked alone.

You were somewhere south of where Landia used to stand when you
found a small camp. You called out, so as not to surprise whoever was living
there. The fabric shelter of the tent flapped as the person inside moved.

“Go away. I work alone.”

You frowned, recognising the voice. It was male, gravelly.
Drunk. A voice you hadn’t heard in years. You took a few steps back and drew
your blade.

“Come out where I can see you,” you called, keeping your eyes
fixed on the tent.

“I ain’t sharing nothing.”

The man crawled out of the tent, a bottle in one hand and a
blade in the other. He was scruffy but young – about the same age as you. His
hair hadn’t been washed and his clothes were stained. He looked up at you and
squinted, swaying as he tried to focus.

“You ain’t…” He scowled.

“Noah?”

He tried to stand and fell, the contents of the bottle spilling
onto the ground. You crouched at his side, moving the knife out of his hand. He
sniffed and swayed again, his head hitting your shoulder. You caught him.

“
Parahe?
Is it you?”

“What are you doing out here?” You shifted and put your arm
around him. “I thought I’d never see you again. Where have you been?” You put
your hand to your mouth and shook your head.

“But you’re dead. They’re all dead. I saw them all die!” He
leaned on you and put his arm around your waist. “So you’re a ghost? And you’re
really here which means I’m a ghost too? I’m dead too? We’re all dead.” His
breath trembled.

“You’re still alive,
hani
. And so am I.” You pulled him
into your lap. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“
Parahe?”
He buried his face in your chest and cried.
Right then, you felt like crying too. “I saw you die.”

You wiped your eyes and guided him back to his tent. “You need
to get some sleep,” you said, helping him crawl inside. “Sober up.”

“No!” He grabbed your hand, his grip like a vice. “No, if I go
to sleep, you’ll be gone when I wake up. You can’t leave!”

You smiled and ran your fingers over his hair. “Then keep
holding on. How can we lose each other if we both hold on tight?”

“If you’re gone, I’ll kill you!”

“I’ll be right here. I promise.” You pulled his blanket over
him with your free hand and lay back in the grass, fingers locked with his.

He wasn’t the first drunk you’d found on your travels and he
wouldn’t be the last, but he was the only one you managed to help. The
knowledge that there were Landians still alive out there was enough to give him
the impetus to pull himself together and that Ethan was one of them gave him
the drive to get clean. But it was you who gave him the strength he needed to
get through. You saved his life.

The End
(Back to start)

You left Kinta and began to search for the life you used to
remember. You read the name on every gravestone in every cemetery, searching
for his. You returned to Landia, where your father’s house still clung to its
foundations, much to your surprise. The roof had caved in, but the walls
remained, sewn together with strands of ivy climbers.

The town itself was deserted, the wreckages of old houses home
only to rats and street pigs. Noah’s house was burned to the ground. You picked
your way through the rubble, looking for any clue as to where he might have
gone – or where he might have died.

You found Adina in the basement, the remnants of her corpse
clinging to a blanket, huddled in a corner. Starved, you suspected. The trap
door had been buried beneath heavy rubble.

You left the house. You left the town. He wasn’t there. You
didn’t know where else to look, but you kept walking, kept asking, kept
searching.

The End
(Back to start)

“Please, Ethan. This isn’t a skirmish with some Taatars
anymore, Ethan. This is a war against the whole of the Serloran Empire.”

“I won’t be at the front.”

“I’m scared that I will lose you, Ethan. I don’t want to lose
you.”

He crouched beside you. “Then I will retire. I will go to the
court tomorrow and I’ll tell them that I want to retire. I’ll tell them
whatever they want to hear. And if they don’t let me go, we’ll run again. We’ve
run from wars before.”

You laughed. “Yeah. But that time, you weren’t a soldier. They
weren’t looking for you. If you run now…”

“I will do whatever you want me to do, darling.”

Choice:
129. Ask Him to Retire
or
130.
Prepare to Run

“I know, but…” You shook your head and sighed. “I’m just
scared that I’ll lose you.”

He crouched beside you. “I’m not going to be at the front. I’ll
be safe. I’ll write every day. You have nothing to worry about.”

* * *

He left a week later and you began to receive his letters a
few days after that. Each one filled you with relief, especially when the first
post arrived after a weekend and the silence was broken. Those silent days you
spent scouring the newssheets for reports.

And then came the week with no letter. His face was sketched on
the front page of that morning’s paper. The headline read, ‘Peace broken by
Traitor Captain.’ Your shaky fingers turned the pages as you looked for the
full story, convinced there was a mistake.

In the late hours of yesterday evening, peace was to be
signed with the Serloran Empire at the Kinta Council Chambers. Within minutes
of the King entering the room, a rogue Kinel captain stormed the room,
identified as Captain Ethan Wicker by members of the council. The King was
fatally wounded before the traitor could be subdued. Wicker is being held in
Serloran custody until he can be sentenced.

Tears filled your eyes, blurring the page and causing the ink
to run as they fell onto the sheet. You shook your head. He couldn’t have done
something like that, could he?

Choice:
131. He Could
or
132. He
Couldn’t

“Yes. Why?”

“If you’d like to face the wall and put your hands behind your
back…” He gestured for you to turn around. “You’re under arrest for treason.”

“What? Why?”

“We’ll speak about that at the station. Turn around.”

Choice:
133. Resist
or
134. Co-operate

“No. It’s not. Why?”

“Perhaps you’d like to explain why we’ve just seen you climbing
out of one of its windows then? Empty your pockets.”

You forced a smile, remembering the notes that Ethan had
written for you, still in your pocket waiting to be burned. “I’d rather not.”

“Then perhaps you’d like to face the wall and put your hands
behind your back so I can arrest you for burglary?”

Choice:
133. Resist
or
134. Co-operate

“Why are you here, Noah?”

He moved around the room, flicking his eyes over sheets of
paper. “I could ask you the same question. I thought you were supposed to be in
Itarsi.”

“You know about that?”

He nodded. “I fed them the information about the target. I
suppose I should be pleased you didn’t want to go.”

You cocked your head. “Why?”

“Oh. I see. It wasn’t your choice, was it?” He smiled. “Perhaps
they thought you couldn’t do it.”

“Noah, I don’t understand.”

“My name isn’t Noah anymore. It’s Magister Vapasi. And
I’m
their target.”

“But you said—” You stopped. It made sense. “You wanted to raid
the house for evidence, right?”

“Something like that. But I found more. I found you.” He moved
across the room and sat down on one of the dining chairs, his armour scraping
the wood. “Do you think I’d find enough evidence here to have you arrested?”

You shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“The truth is that I don’t need to look, do I? It’s all up
here.” He tapped the side of his head. “Do you remember?”

You narrowed your eyes, trying to think what he meant. Since
joining the Liberationists, you were sure your paths hadn’t crossed – although
in his full armour, he was impossible to identify. You wondered if he had seen
you do something before you realised he was in the house, but as far as you
recalled, you had been still, doing nothing incriminating.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have you on murder. And I have Ethan on obstruction.” He
smiled. “Your father never got up. Ethan moved his body. That’s why he never
went back. That’s why he never found you. He was dead. You killed him.”

You straightened your back against the wall and shook your
head. “No. You’re lying. Ethan wasn’t there. How could he have known?”

“He knew.” He crossed his arms. “But it seems a very petty
thing for which to go to jail, doesn’t it? A murder committed in the heat of
the moment many, many years ago. So I’m going to make you an offer. You tell me
the names of everyone you know in this ‘Liberation’ group and I won’t
accidentally let it slip that I watched you kill a man. Fair?”

Choice:
135. Tell Him Everything
or
136.
Keep Your Mouth Shut