Serovek shrugged. “His body? No. His soul? I wish I could say no to that as well, but I think it otherwise.” Guilt and regret seeped into his words.
She turned fully to meet his eyes, so dark against his winter-pale skin. “It wasn’t your fault.”
He went rigid once more. “I never said it was.”
“You didn’t have to. Many who escaped the razing of Haradis are eaten alive with guilt over their own survival, even when they know there was nothing they could do for those who perished.”
Serovek’s breath steamed from his nostrils on a long exhalation. “Sometimes I think we stand easier under the yoke of our own sacrifices than we do under the yoke of someone else’s.”
How well she understood that sentiment. The image of his expression at the moment she had stabbed him to trigger the magic that would turn him eidolon remained emblazoned in her mind. Agony, shock, even when he knew what to expect and joked about it until the moment the sword entered his body. She remembered the feel of severed muscle clenching involuntarily around the blade as she drew it out, the weight of his body when he collapsed in her arm, the hot gush of his blood saturating her midriff as she held him.
He had never forgiven her for that violence because he had never blamed her for it. She carried enough self-blame for them both. He had saved her once. Her gratitude had been brutal.
Footsteps entering the barn intruded on her dark thoughts. The tread didn’t belong to Pluro Cermak. It was confident instead of diffident, and without fear.
Janner, one of the High Salure soldiers, appeared at the doorway. His gaze flickered briefly to Megiddo before settling on Serovek. “The wagon is right outside, margrave. We’re ready when you are.”
Serovek nodded. “Let’s get to it then. No need to linger here any longer than necessary.”
The room was too small for more than two people to maneuver the bier and carry it through the doorway. Serovek didn’t question whether or not Anhuset was strong enough—for which she was most pleased—only instructed her to stand at one end of the platform while he stood at the other and lift.
They carried the bier into the main part of the barn where Serovek’s men waited to take a position on either side and act as pall bearers. Anhuset gave up her spot to one of the soldiers to follow them outside where the wagon was parked just beyond the entrance.
Except for a clutch of hens loitering nearby in case someone chose to scatter feed on the muddy ground, the yard was empty. She eyed the manor house and caught a glimpse of faces peering from the windows in both the ground floor and upper stories. Servants, most of them, but Anhuset would have bet her favorite horse that Pluro Cermak and his skittish wife hid among the watching crowd.
They put Megiddo’s bier into the back of the wagon and strapped the platform down with rope so it wouldn’t move as they traveled over rutted roads. One of the men brought a large blanket and cast it over the monk. The fabric didn’t fall directly onto his body but draped above it as if Megiddo lay within a box whose sides and lid the blanket now covered. Serovek spoke briefly to the wagon driver for a moment before turning to the rest of their escort.
“Mount your horses. We’re done here.”
Anhuset guided her horse until it stood alongside Serovek’s. “No farewells for Megiddo’s brother? He hasn’t even seen fit to come out and bid you good journey or thank you for making the trip.”
The margrave’s upper lip lifted in a sneer as he raked the manor house with a hard stare. “He’s probably too busy trying to find where he misplaced his spine. Gratitude and good wishes from a sniveling coward like that is worth less than his silence.” He tapped his heels to his horse’s sides, and the animal stepped high into a brisk walk. “We ride,” he called to the group.
By unspoken agreement, the riders arranged themselves into a chevron around the wagon with Serovek taking point lead and two riders behind him and in front of the wagon. Anhuset joined the remaining three soldiers in the back. Megiddo, his bier strapped down securely in the wagon, slept undisturbed.
They traveled the road that wove back and forth across both Kai and Beladine lands until it curved toward the banks of the Absu to run parallel to the shore. The remains of a wooden bridge stood on either side where the river was narrow, its piles cut away by ax or saw where they would have supported the pile caps, stringers, and deck.
The soldier riding in front of Anhuset spoke. “I think every bridge that crosses the river has been destroyed. I’ll bet some of Cermak’s men turned this one to kindling when they were running from the galla.”
The land on this side of the Absu had been protected from the galla invasion by the river itself. Water acted as a barrier against the demons, and the only way they could cross was by bridge, either natural or man-made Cermak’s farmstead had lain on the wrong side of the river, vulnerable to the galla. Their household had been lucky to escape with their lives. Anhuset was surprised that Pluro had returned to re-establish his farmstead, even knowing the Wraith kings had rid the world of the demons’ threat.
They rode past the bridge’s remains. Farther down the river, a small towboat and barge serviced the small farmsteads in the area. It was large enough to transport the wagon and its cargo down the river along with its escort in two trips. It was at that crossing they’d stay the night in the Beladine village of Edarine.
Taciturn by nature, Anhuset was content to simply listen, without commenting, to the idle chit-chat the three men riding beside and in front of her swapped between them. She spent the time dozing in quick catnaps as the sunlight carved paths in the clouds overhead and warmed her shoulders. These were the hours she normally slept when she wasn’t on patrol or guard duty, and her horse’s easy gait made her even drowsier. She blinked, focusing her attention on Serovek’s broad back as he rode ahead of them.
The memory of his revelation from the previous evening worried at her. He’d been married once. To a beautiful woman who wore ribbons in her hair. Affection had laced his voice when he spoke of her, along with old grief. Curiosity for this nameless wife plagued her even now, though she’d cut out her own tongue before she asked for details. She allowed herself a tiny smile, remembering his quip when she told him she wouldn’t know what to do with a hair ribbon. He’d always been forthright in his admiration for her acerbic wit. Maybe because he possessed the same at times.
The trip to Edarine remained uneventful, though the towboat captain asked more than a few questions as to what was under the blanket in the wagon. While Anhuset considered threatening the man into silence by offering to cut out his tongue, Serovek patiently fielded each question, keeping up a steady stream of conversation without ever answering a single one of his inquiries.
Once they disembarked, they traveled a drover’s path and reached the outskirts of the town just as twilight chased the sun westward. Serovek sent one of his men ahead to secure lodgings for the night, then turned and called Anhuset to join him up front. “Edarine hosts a good market, even in the cold months,” he said. “We’ll purchase more provisions tomorrow for the trip. There’s an inn with clean rooms and a tavern that serves decent ale and food.” He chuckled at her involuntary recoil at the mention of food. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t serve you the potatoes.”
She dreaded what supper might have in store, vowing only to taste enough as a gesture of goodwill in case it was foul, which she fully expected. She gestured to wagon behind them. “What will you do with the monk?”
Frown lines marred his brow for a moment. “I’ll be guilty of hypocrisy for a night,” he said. “Carrying him into the inn so he can stay in a room will bring more attention on us than I care to have. We’ll leave the bier in the wagon and rent a stall in the inn’s stables.”
“I’ll stand guard,” she volunteered. “I can eat in the stables as well. Me at your table in a common room will draw all the attention you’re hoping to avoid.” It only made sense that she keep watch through the night. Nor did she much relish the idea of pacing the confines of a room in an inn crowded with so many humans.
“I’m happy to put you on guard duty,” he said, “I can’t think of a more vigilant protector, though you’re always welcome at my table, wherever that may be. Curious eyes be damned.”
His praise sent another of those awful, embarrassing blushes crawling up her neck to her cheeks. She gave him a quick salute and trotted back to her place behind the wagon, adopting such a forbidding expression that none of the men riding with her dared ask what she spoke about with the margrave.
Except for a cat that paused in its hunting rounds to watch their group ride past, the streets of Edarine were deserted after dusk. Lamplight filled the windows in the houses lining the main thoroughfare, and a few faces appeared behind them, curious as to who rode through the streets at an hour when the shops were closed and most travelers had found their lodgings for the night.
The inn where they planned to stay stood at the other side of the town, a two-story structure from which spilled light and music. Several wagons were parked nearby, and numerous horses crowded the yard of the adjacent stables. A figure emerged from the inn to greet them, the soldier Serovek had sent ahead to secure lodgings for them.
“They had two rooms remaining, my lord. The rest are taken. The innkeeper has said he and his wife are happy to give up their bedroom to the margrave for the night.”
Serovek snorted. “Generous but not necessary.” He dismounted and tossed the reins to the man. “I’ll speak to the innkeeper. Get the horses settled. Did you find a place for them and for our cargo?” At the other’s nod, he crooked a finger to the wagon’s driver. “Klanek, have Weson show you where to park the wagon and where to unload. Sha-Anhuset will accompany you.”
The stall reserved for them was spacious, clean, and tucked far in the back of the stables, away from the main traffic of stablehands and riders coming and going. Judging by the size and the pristine conditions of the space, Anhuset guessed Weson had spent quite a bit of Serovek’s coin for it. Fresh straw covered the floor in a thick carpet, and someone had brought in extra saddle padding as bedding, along with an extra unlit oil lamp if needed.