Part 19

The first town they came to on the sixth day had a high wall with towers and at first she thought it was a fortress.  She wasn’t very knowledgeable about the history of this region so she could only guess that war was common here.

The army stopped a half mile from the town and the Duke and his escort went to the town to negotiate.

“They won’t let us all into the town,” Ox said.

“Too many of us?”  Greza asked.

“Even cities don’t like letting us all in.  Small groups, sure. People that want to do business will come out to us.”

That was sort of disappointing.  She had been hoping to see the far off cities of the world. 

As Ox said, only the supply sergeants were let in to purchase necessary provisions.  But, Ox was also right because some of the town’s people came out to do business.  One farmer was trying to sell goats and Greza didn’t know why anyone would buy a goat on the march.  Many others were selling beer, ale and wine and some were selling what looked like useless trinkets.   

Then she saw a group of brightly dressed women come out.  They weren’t holding anything.

“Whores,” Burana said with disgust.

She had never seen a prostitute before and couldn’t believe that they’d be so brazen to come out in the middle of the day.

The army camped there that night and there was more singing and drinking.  Female soldiers snuck off into the tents of male soldiers and Greza tried to ignore it.  Years ago most of these people would have been Followers of Light.  And now they had abandoned those beliefs and morality. 

They moved on the next day and the land kept getting drier and rockier.  If this kept up, they’d be in a desert before too long.  The days were also getting warmer.  Mornings and nights were still cold, but in the day she had to take off her outer jacket. 

The tent she shared with Burana was small but at night time they’d have long conversations.  Mostly Burana spoke.  She liked to talk about the farm and village she came from and though she hated tending to pigs, Greza could tell that a part of her missed that simple life.

That night, she had guard duty so conversation was cut short.  She went to bed and was awakened by one of the guards when it was her turn.  She put on her coat, helmet and bandolier of pistols.  She lit the wicks just in case and began patrolling the camp. 

Times like these were lonely.  There were no other guards to talk to because they had to be spread out.  Even if Ox or Burana were here, she had trouble talking to them about her deeper thoughts.  For whatever reason she couldn’t be herself completely around them. 

She missed Erinad.

Greza straightened her back because Erinad would probably have scolded her on her poor posture.  He’d know everything about this region and be able to tell her of kings and battles.

Then she heard something.  Movement in the grass.  She turned and scanned the direction of the noise.  If it was an animal she couldn’t have it digging around in the army’s provisions. 

Greza adjusted her cestus and walked toward the source of the noise. 

“Who’s there?”  She called out.

A moment later a man stood up out of the tall grass.  At first she thought it was a town’s person coming in to steal something, but then she saw the uniform.  He was a young man and from what she cold see of his shadowed face, he looked frightened.  He kept glancing around and he held his head ducked down.

“What are you doing, sneaking around here?”  Greza asked, glad that she wouldn’t have to shoot anyone.

“I’m leaving.  Please let me go,” the man whispered.

In the silence of night his whisper carried almost like a shout. 

“You can’t leave. You signed a contract.”

“Damn the contract!  I’ve had enough.  I didn’t sign up for this.  All we do is march all day and get yelled at.”

“It’s a tough life, but you have to get used to it.  Now, turn around and march back to your tent.”

“I can’t.  I won’t.”

This man was weak, but it wasn’t because he was human.  His was a weakness of the will.  He was not used to hardships and discipline.  She wondered what this man’s life had been like to expect anything else. 

But she also pitied the man.  She knew what it was like to be trapped somewhere, forced to work all day and do things she didn’t want to do.  Perhaps this man felt like a slave and wanted to escape.  Could she possibly blame him for that?

“Please,” he begged.

“No.”

The man straightened his shoulders and looked her in the eye.  Then he bolted off running as fast as he could. 

At that moment she had a choice. 

She could let him run and be free of a life he didn’t want.  That was exactly what she had done.  That desire still lived inside her. 

Or she could do her duty to the Company and stop this man.  She had sworn an oath to obey. 

So had this man.  This man had sworn to serve at least a year in the Company.  He had given his word.  That was the difference between him and a slave.  He had agreed to this.  So had she.  Because she had sworn, it was her duty to stop him.  If she didn’t, she’d be breaking her oath. 

She took off running after the man.  He was slow and she caught up in no time.  The man barely had time to turn before he realized she was on top of him.  She tackled him to the ground and pinned him to the dirt. 

“You’re going back.  I’m sorry.”

“Please!”

She picked him up and held an arm behind his back as she marched him back to the camp.

“Where’s your officer?”  She asked.

When he didn’t answer she pushed up on his arm, making him grunt in pain. 

“Artillery Company.  First platoon.”

She knew where every unit was by position and quickly found the flag of the artillery corp.  The red and green background with a gold cannon wasn’t hard to miss. 

Reluctantly the soldier directed her to his lieutenant’s tent.  She was stopped by a guard and the guard went to wake up the Lt. 

The Lt. was an Elf and he came out of his tent rubbing his eyes and scowling.  His long hair was a mess and his uniform was crinkled from sleeping in it. 

“Is this important?”  The lieutenant asked. 

“Yes, sir.  I found this man attempting to run away,” Greza said.

The Elf paused and then looked over to her captive. 

“Karuno?  This true?”  The Elf Lieutenant asked.

The man only nodded. 

“That’s the sixth time this month.  If you don’t man up and …” then he looked back to Greza.  “I apologize about this, soldier.  He runs off all the time and always comes back in the morning.  He’s an indecisive little puke.”

Greza didn’t see how this officer wasn’t mad.  The man had tried to run off.  He should be punished. 

“Thank you, soldier, that will be all.  I’ll take it from here,” the Elf said. 

Greza nodded and went back to her post. 

That had been a waste of effort and time.  The man was a weak willed worm and wasn’t going to be punished.  He’d never learn until…  Until what?  Until he got a few stripes on his back?

Is that what she would have done. 

She could still feel the sting of the lash on her own back.  How could she ever allow that to happen to anyone else. 

Right and wrong were no longer clear and that was endlessly frustrating.