The Boy in the Field (26 page)

“Who are you?” You held the knife firm and spoke through your
teeth. “Prove it.”

“It’s me. Ethan.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I’m your husband.”

He held up his hand, but there was no ring. When you looked
back at his face, it was different – far too skinny and pale, as if he was
someone else. The bones were visible in his fingers. His eyes were cloudy and
grey.

Choice:
181. Stab Him
or
182.
Slam
the Door

His hair was long and tangled, his face unshaven and his
clothes filthy, but you couldn’t mistake those eyes. You reached forward and
pulled him by the arm into the house, closing the door behind him. Neither of
you spoke; neither of you knew what to say. You put your head against his
chest, feeling his heartbeat.

“Ethan…”

“Masuki…”

He leaned heavily on you and put his hand to the wall to
support himself. You lowered him to the floor and sat beside him. He was too
thin, as if he had not eaten in weeks. You stood again, moving towards the
kitchen to fetch food and water. Upstairs, you heard a floorboard creak.

“Here. You look half-starved.” You put a plate of bread and a
flask of water on the floor beside him. “I’ll be right back.”

You bent and kissed him on the cheek. For a second, he stopped
chewing and froze, like a startled animal staring at a hunter. You pretended
not to notice, just like you pretended not to notice the taste of sweat and
dirt lingering on your lips. Just like the startled animal, he could flee at
any moment. Instead of lingering, you went upstairs and retrieved Noah from his
hiding place.

“You must be as quiet as the air,” you whispered as you held
his hand down the stairs. “Can you do that?”

He nodded, staying a step behind you, unsure of who was in the
house. When he saw Ethan, his eyes grew wide and he pulled away from you,
rushing to his side.

“He’s hurt, mummy,” he whispered. “You must find a medic.”

Ethan held his breath, pulling Noah into his lap and wrapping
his arms around him. He kissed the top of his head and tried not to look at you
as he wiped his face on his hand.

“I’m fine, little man,” Ethan said. “You mustn’t worry about
me.”

“Was it the pirates?”

Without missing a beat, Ethan nodded. “Yeah. Those pesky
pirates.” He glanced up at you and you couldn’t help but smile.

* * *

It wasn’t until the next morning that you saw the true extent
of his injuries. By daylight, scars became clear, some angry and red, others
with the silver trails from repeated radust use. You did your best to help heal
a nasty gash across his stomach and a stab wound in his side, both of which
were recent and ill-dressed. Noah helped, fetching clean water and towels,
doing everything he could for Ethan.

It would be a long time before Ethan’s wounds healed fully and
the scars would never fade, but at least he was alive. He didn’t sleep well for
weeks. Every time he heard a noise in the night, he would be on alert, ready to
hide. You kept thinking that at any moment, someone would knock on the door
searching for him and if he didn’t get caught, he’d run and you would never see
him again.

Until you got the letter.

Dear Mrs Wicker,

We regret to inform you of the death of your husband in
Kesene Prison. We are sorry for your loss.

Our condolences,

Nyako Pasavir on behalf of the staff of Kesene Royal Prison.

You showed it to him and he smiled. No one was coming for him.
You were going to be okay.

The End
(Back to start)

“I understand,” you said. You rolled over, leaning your head
against his chest. “When will you be leaving?”

“In two weeks. That gives me enough time to put my affairs in
order before I go.” He wrapped his arms around you. “I’m sorry this didn’t work
out.”

You nodded. “Me too. I’ve missed you. And now I’ve found you,
you’re leaving again.”

“At least this way, we don’t have to betray each other. We
don’t have to watch each other die.”

“Ethan still never mentioned you, when he came back from
Itarsi.” You ran your fingers over the muscles of his arm. “Do you think he
would have done it?”

“I don’t know. If he had tried, I would have defended myself.”
He sat up. “Just don’t think about it. If it happens, it happens.” He kissed
you.

“If it had been me?”

“You don’t want to know the answer to that.” He smiled. “But
that was before. Now, if you ever need help, if you ever need to escape, find
me. When this war is over, find me. If we ever stop being enemies—”

“Find you?”

He nodded. “I’ll wait for you. Just like I always have.”

The End
(Back to start)

“Is there anything you can do to change their minds? Anything
I can do to change
your
mind?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. You’d need to change the
game.”

You swallowed hard and looked away from him. You could see all
the cards. You knew you had a winning hand. All you had to do was tell him…

Choice:
188. …About The
Liberationists
or
189.
…That You’re Pregnant

You woke with a start. Another of those awful dreams. You
rolled over, freeing yourself from Ethan’s arm and flicking on the lamp on your
nightstand. Ethan stirred, sitting up as you took the notebook.

“Another one? Really?” Ethan yawned and sat up, resting his
cheek on your arm as you began to write. “Why don’t you just turn it into a
proper book? You’re always saying you want to write.”

You shook your head. “I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s ready
yet.”

“You’ve been saying that for ten years. Maybe it’s time you
chose your own ending?”

“Huh?” You smiled. Now
there
was an idea.

The End
(Back to start)

“Ethan, don’t.”

Ethan looked across at you and smiled. “I won’t.” He sat back
against the wall of the cell. “If you want my uniform, you’ll have to come in
and get it yourself.”

Noah smiled and pulled open the door to your cell. “Get up.”

You shuffled away. Noah came towards you and grabbed you by the
front of your shirt, pushing you up against the wall. He held his blade to your
throat.

“You know I'll do it,” he said, looking at Ethan. “Now take off
your clothes.”

“Ethan, don't.”

Noah pushed the knife against you until you felt the blade burn
against your flesh.

“Don't hurt her!” Ethan slammed his hand against the bars.
“Please. I'll do anything you ask. Just don't hurt her.”

Noah let go. You put your hand under your chin, feeling the
sting of the cut as he turned away. Ethan removed his clothes. Noah switched
them for his own, leaving the bloodied garments on the floor of Ethan's cell.
It was all the evidence the court would need.

You were kept in the cell until Ethan's trial was over, Noah
using your son's life as a bargaining chip to ensure your silence. Ethan was
found guilty, the court finding nothing to suggest his innocence. When you went
home, Noah Senior was waiting with Noah Junior – a reminder to you not to speak
to anyone about what you’d seen. You wondered how he could be so cruel.

Instruction:
190. He Is A Traitor

“I’m going back to Kinel. The fighting is getting worse and
they’re sending in more soldiers. The Kinel army is losing its fight.”

He had been a magister for a little over a year. The fighting
had been flaring on and off in Kinel the whole time, both sides pushing each
other back by turn once a month. Serlora was preparing to send more soldiers in
to fight against the Taatars. Noah had volunteered to go with them.

“Are the Taatars winning?”

“Yeah, but it’s worse than that. The army’s fractured. They
spend as much time and effort fighting us as they do fighting the Taatars. The
Emperor has decided to station permanent troops in Kinta.”

“Permanent?”

He smiled at you and took your hand. “I’m only going for two
weeks. We’ll go, spend one week getting set up and settled in and the second
instructing the few Kinn soldiers who actually want to win the war against the
Taatars. Then I’ll come back.”

But it wasn’t so simple. The presence of Serloran troops in
Kinel only served to fracture their army further, one branch focussed on
driving the Taatars back to their deserts and the other on expelling the
Serlorans. Every time he came home, he would be sent back almost immediately.
He was gone longer each time.

You had lunch one day with the wife of one of Noah’s
colleagues, a woman named Mrs Fatila. She showed you a letter from her husband,
telling of the assassination of the King of Kinel by one of his own. Serloran
forces had taken control, using deadly force to subdue the rebels and using
their own men to investigate the King’s death. He signed off, ‘see you in ten,’
which Mrs Fatila explained was when he was coming home – ten days.

The story was in the news the next day, but you had still not
heard from Noah. Part of you was worried that he had been chosen to join the
investigation and was unable to communicate, but you thought it unlikely; he
had never mentioned training in that capacity. The thought that he might not
return immediately made you consider the possibility of his death, which in
turn made you feel sick.

You accompanied Mrs Fatila to the Centrum Market Square on the
day her husband was due back. All soldiers arriving back in Ethigos City would
pass through Centrum before taking the various transports back towards their
homes. You found yourselves a good spot on the wall outside the courthouse,
high enough to see over the heads of the people in front, but close enough to
push through when you saw your partners.

The crowds clapped and cheered as the bulky forms of the heavy
transport beasts came into view, each one grey-skinned and as wide as three
therins, their powerful muscles capable of pulling several times their own body
weight. Lines of soldiers began to disembark, the magisters’ carriage the first
in line. You sat up as straight as you could, scanning the faces of the men,
eager to see if Noah’s was amongst them.

He came towards you through the crowd like a shovel through
snow, his kit bag knocking people aside. You grinned and threw your arms around
him, making him stumble under your weight. He dropped his bag and lifted you
off the ground.

“
Parahi
, I missed you,” he said, kissing you on each
cheek and then the mouth.

“Not as much as I missed you.” You grinned. “I’m so glad you’re
back. I didn’t hear from you and—”

“So you don’t know what’s happened?”

You shook your head. “What happened?”

“So much.” He picked up his bag and took your hand. “We have to
stop by the armoury on the way home,” he said.

“Were you injured?”

You stopped, frowning at him. There were only two reasons why a
magister would ever drop his armour in to the armoury. The first was to have
repairs. The second was when they were promoted and the armour needed to be
recast in new colours.

“I wasn’t injured.”

You laughed and grinned. “Are you serious?”

“Completely.”

“Magnus Vapasi.” You put your arms around his shoulders and
kissed him again.

He shook his head. “
Superius
Vapasi.”

You stared at him for a moment, unsure at all what to say. If
he was to become Superius Vapasi, it meant he had been promoted twice and
double promotions were rare. You wondered if maybe he
had
been a part of
the investigation team after all. Maybe he had single-handedly solved the
murder
and
caught the culprit. Maybe he had saved the life of one of the
King’s sons at risk to his own.

“I’m so proud of you.”

He winked. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home. First,
the armoury.”

* * *

“So what did you do to get a double promotion?” you asked,
placing two cups of tea down on the low coffee table in your living room. With
the money Noah had sent home, you had furnished and decorated the house, making
it more comfortable and welcoming.

Noah smiled and nodded in approval at the items you had
purchased since he had been gone. “I ended the war. You’re welcome.”

You laughed. “What, you hunted down all the Taatars by
yourself? And then stamped on the rebellion?”

“Almost. The Taatars have overstretched themselves. They were
too far from home and we had them surrounded. No supplies in. No fight. We
offered them a choice. Die or go home. Most of them went home.”

“And the rebels?”

“The
Liberationists
, they call themselves. We showed the
Kinn soldiers what the rebels were like. They watched one of their own kill
their king. It didn’t take much for them to start a purge.”

You frowned. “So how did you get promoted exactly?”

He grinned and winked. “I was the rebel soldier.”

You moved back, your smile lost. “You killed the king?”

“I thought you were proud of me?”

“That was before I knew what you did.” You stood up. “We
are
Kinns. Remember? We came
from
Kinel.”

“Kinel failed us. Kinel let us be attacked by Taatars without a
single man to fend them off. Kinel would have let them rape you or don’t
you
remember?” He pushed his hair back from his face. “Ethigos is in my blood.
That’s why I survived. That’s why I could save you. And now, I’ve saved Kinel.”

You turned away from him, your stomach knotted. “What did you
do, Noah?”

“Please, don’t call me that. I hate hearing it.”

“What – Noah? It’s your name.” You looked over your shoulder at
him.

He shook his head. “I hate it. No one calls me that anymore.
It’s what Ma used to call me. And…
him.
”

“So what do I call you instead?
Superius Vapasi
?” You
laughed. “Do you wish for me to call you
Your Honour
when the full title
seems inappropriate?” You felt a prickle of dread roll over your skin. “When we
make love, am I to call you
sir
? If we marry, am I to have a husband
with no name?” You could feel tears stinging at your eyes. You turned away and
covered your eyes.

“
Parahi
, I gave up my name to protect you. It is a small
price for peace.”

“You didn’t do it for me. You did it because they’re looking
for you. Because you’re wanted for the murder of King Sadin.”

“But they
don’t
want me.” He put his hand on your
shoulder. “They have their man.”

“Oh, No…” You hesitated, his name on the tip of your tongue.
Not his name. The name of someone who was slowly slipping from your reach. A
dying ghost of a boy you had loved. “What did you do?”

For a moment, he didn’t speak. You almost wished he never
would. Inside, you knew exactly what he had done. He was a twin, one of an
identical pair. If he committed a crime but the Kinns thought they had their
man, a man they knew was one of their own…

Choice:
192. Leave Him
or
193.
Listen to Him