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armor plate. She was enthusiastic about that idea. "I'm so filthy my fleas
have lice," I said.
Must have been a real ration of guilt going around at high levels. An hour
later several soldiers showed up humping a looted stone horse trough. With
them came guys lugging buckets of hot water. I told Sahra, "We must of died
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and come back as princes."
Our tent was big enough to contain the trough and water with room left over.
Swan turned up. "What do you think of that, eh?"
"If I didn't have friends over there fighting and dying I'd ask for a life
sentence."
"Take it easy, Murgen. It'll all work out."
"I know that, Swan. I know that. But some of us aren't going to be happy how
it does."
"Yeah, well. Good night."
It was. Beginning with the bath Sahra made it clear her definition of our
relationship was exactly what others feared or suspected. She astounded me
with her ability to communicate without spoken words, amazed me that in the
midst of such unrelenting hell a flower of such beauty could bloom and defy
the night.
I slept longer and better than I had for months. Maybe some part of me just
resigned and let go.
Water in the face wakened me.
"What?" I cracked an eyelid. And popped upright. Sahra sat up as I did. "To
Tan? What're you doing, kiddo?" The little guy was leaning over the edge of
the horse trough, spanking the water. He looked at me and grinned, said
something in Nyueng Bao baby talk that sounded like "Dada."
"What's going on?"
Sahra shrugged. To Tan said "Dada" again and headed out of the tent.
Things were happening outside. I grabbed my clothes, climbed in, stuck my head
outside. "Holy shit! Where the freak did you guys come from?" Thai Dei and
Uncle Doj were seated outside. Their swords lay across their laps. Sheathed,
thankfully. Gangs of Taglians were coming by to check them out. I guessed they
had not been there long nor had they asked permission to enter camp and assume
their posts.
Swan and Mather appeared.
Uncle Doj told me, "Only one group made it out again last night. The black men
attacked. Many men were injured. Numerous rafts were damaged. But their
soldiers did not want to fight and many asked to join Bonharj."
"Who the hell are these guys?" Swan demanded. "How did they get here?"
"The rest of the family. I expect they sneaked. They're good at that.
Obviously, your perimeter ain't what it should be."
Blade shouted something from the distance. "Crap," Swan grumbled. "Now what?"
He jogged away.
Mather considered Thai Dei and Uncle Doj briefly, shrugged, followed Swan.
Uncle Doj said something to Sahra. She nodded. I guess he wanted to know if
she was all right.
To Tan climbed around on his father.
Doj told me, "You did well, and more than you were obliged, Standardbearer.
Our people are safely away and these men know nothing about them."
"Yeah? Good. What about mine?"
"They would not come out. The wizards want to pursue their vendetta with
Mogaba. They might come tonight."
Chapter 82
They did not come that night. Nor did they come the next though they sent a
lot of Taglians and Jaicuri out in place of the Company.
Two mornings later Mather finally let me in on what the excitement had been
about when Blade interrupted our discussion over Uncle Doj and Thai Dei. He
told me, "Croaker will be here in an hour or two, Murgen. You might put in a
good word."
"What?"
It was not an hour and it was not just the Old Man. Croaker was travelling
with the Prahbrindrah Drah himself. He looked like he had seen a lot of hard
road. I moved toward him in fits and starts, unsure where we stood after all
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this time.
He jumped down, said, "It is me. I'm real."
"But I saw you die."
"No. You saw me get hit. I was still breathing when you cut out."
"Yeah? The shape you was in, there wasn't no way . . . "
"Shouldn't have been, either. It's a long story. We can chew on it over a few
beers sometime." He waved. A soldier trotted up. Croaker grabbed his spear,
which was almost long enough to be a pike, shoved it at me. "Here. You left
this when you ran off to play Widowmaker."
I did not believe it. Not at first. It was the lance for the standard.
"You really need to hug it?"
"It's really it! I was almost sure it was lost." Despite what I had told
Mogaba. "You got no idea how guilty I felt. Although I did think I saw it that
one time . . . It's really you?" I looked at him closely. Having seen what
illusions One-Eye and Goblin could conjure I was not quite ready to accept the
evidence of my own eyes.
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