From Across the Clouded Range (73 page)

He said something about a revelation,
but she really didn’t want to know. They had seen so many strange
things that she did not want to grapple with any more unanswerable
questions. She did not want to think about the creatures, the
invaders, or how Dasen could suddenly sprint five miles through the
forest. She just wanted to get away from the madness, to find
something, anything normal.

Then he woke up and was fine. Not only
fine, smiling. And he said he was happy to see her. In that moment,
she had thought that everything would be alright, that they could
pick-up where they left off. Then he brought up the Order-cursed
forest masters. Before they showed up, she had been sure that he
was on the verge of understanding, of seeing who she was and why
she couldn’t be the wife his books said she should be. On the
verge, but not close enough to survive the forest masters. With
them around, she would go back to being a problem to fix rather
than a person to love. It would be the Muldon’s all over again. So
she had refused to be taken by them, refused to put herself back
into that situation where her gender rather than her abilities
would define what she could and could not do. She had avoided
capture easily enough, but indecision had gnawed at her – should
she rescue Dasen, should she leave, should she join him?

Until the creatures came and gave her
another chance. She saw now that it had been an opportunity, that
she should have taken it. But indecision had made her cautious.
Then Dasen had started defending the bastard forest masters, and
her temper had snapped. She had ripped the blanket from his back in
the most cruel possible way, had derided him, and insulted him. And
all because of something a couple of rouge scouts did almost five
years ago. Because of something, Dasen did not even know about. Yet
it had reared its ugly head, and she had taken it out on him, had
ruined everything.

Now she was so mad at herself, so
tired of everything, so frustrated that she could only drive him
farther away. She had ruined it, and now it was too late. That just
left her to decide what to do when they reached the end of the
forest.

“
So how much longer are we
going today?” Dasen asked. “I haven’t seen any sign of creatures. I
think we’re probably safe, and I’d love to get out of this rain.”
He tried to be casual, friendly even, but the very sound of his
voice put Teth on edge.

“
What, do you see a house
around here somewhere? Because barring that, we’re going to be wet
either way.” Teth’s response was short, biting.

Dasen sighed. “Do you have any idea
where we are?” Obviously, he didn’t get the hint.

"Of course I know where we are,” Teth
nearly yelled. “Do you think I've been leading us in circles or
something?" In truth she had no idea where they were. She hadn’t in
days. She also knew that wasn’t what he had meant, but she was too
tired to control her dark mood, could only spew vitriol because
that was somehow easier.

Dasen let out a huff. “I just meant
generally. By the Order, what’s wrong with you today? Every time I
say something, you take my head off. Maybe you should have just
left me with the forest masters. Even those creatures seem welcome
compared to this.”

“
Well, next time, I will.
In fact, I can leave right now if you’re so anxious to be rid of
me.” Teth had turned, was facing him, yelling though he was only a
few short feet away. Even as she said the words they cut through
her.
Wrong, all wrong
, she thought but could not stop herself, could not contain
her temper once it was engaged.

Her words seemed to catch Dasen
unprepared. His head snapped, and he stammered. “That’s . . .
that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean . . .
.”

“
You better be sorry. Your
precious forest masters are gone. I’m all you’ve got. You’ve
already shown that you can’t do this on your own, so you better
learn to appreciate what you’ve got.”

“
By the Order, Teth, why
do you have to be like this? Why does it always have to be so hard
with you? I don’t want the forest masters. I want you.” Dasen
stopped and tried to look at her but couldn’t hold up to her hard
stare. His eyes fell to the ground, and he continued, uncertain. “I
want things back to the way they were before the Muldon’s. I was
stupid, okay. I was wrong. I realize that now. Sitting in the
forest master’s camp, the only thing I could think about was you.
All I could do was worry that you had left me, and it was
terrible.” He took a deep breath but did not bring his eyes from
the ground, did not see her cold façade melting. “I also realized
what you’ve been trying to tell me all along. I understand that
this is who you are. I see that you can no more become a typical
wife than I can become a woodsman. And for me to expect otherwise
was cruel. You deserve better. I know that, but I hope you can
forgive me, that you will give me another chance. I can’t promise
that it will always go smoothly, but I promise I’ll
try.”

“
You stupid boy,” Teth
sighed. She closed the short distance between them, cupped Dasen’s
chin in her hand, brought his eyes to hers, and kissed him. When
their mouths parted she held his face in her hands, pressed her
head to his then knocked their foreheads together, “Stupid, stupid,
stupid, boy,” she whispered as their heads met. “That’s all I want.
That’s all it’s ever been about. Why couldn’t you just say it
sooner?”

Dasen drew a long breath, brought his
arms around her and pulled her close. He was cold. She could feel
the chill even through her shirt. “I’m just slow, I
guess.”

“
That’s an
understatement,” Teth laughed. “Maybe next time I’ll write it down
in a book.”

Dasen laughed, held her close. “I
think a book is what got me all confused in the first place. I
think I need fewer books and more time in the real
world.”

“
Hmmm. Sounds good to me.
Besides books can’t do this.” Teth kissed him again. They stood
there for a long time, alone in the middle of the forest, rain
dripping from their freezing bodies, warming each other, getting
more familiar with each other, more aggressive. Until, breathless,
Teth pulled herself away. “We should find some shelter,” she
suggested. “Can you walk?”

“
Um . . . yeah,” Dasen
said, dazed. “I suppose.” He cleared his throat and stepped away,
but Teth kept hold of his hand.

“
I mean do you need a
minute?” Teth looked down to make her point.

Dasen blushed, red spreading from his
face all the way to his shoulder and down his naked chest. “I think
I’ll manage. It’s your fault, you know.”

“
I know,” Teth smiled
mischievously. “I’ll consider it a compliment.”

“
So, am I
forgiven?”

Teth’s smile grew. She started walking
again, dragging him along by his hand, fingers intertwined. “For
now, but I’m sure you’ll foul it up soon enough.”

“
Speaking of which, when
we get back to the city, we need to talk about your
clothes.”

She cast him a mock scowl. “Come on.
We have to get to your precious city before you can worry about
that.”

#

They walked for a few minutes like
love-struck teens. Teth knew that she was supposed to be looking
for shelter, but she couldn’t get her head into the real world.
Dasen had finally said exactly what she’d been wanting to hear
since she got that terrible letter. She was so relieved, so happy
that she just wanted to grab him and squeeze him. She contained the
outpouring of her emotion to his poor hand, which she squeezed with
abandon as they walked. Somewhere, she reminded herself to wait. It
was one thing for him to say all those things here in the forest
and another for him to do them when surrounded by the accusing eyes
of strangers. But, for now, she was willing to take words and
promises. She’d deal with actions when they happened.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts
that she nearly walked off the cliff. She stuttered to a stop and
pulled on Dasen’s hand to arrest his momentum. Even so, he had to
pinwheel his arms to keep from tumbling down the steep hill in
front of them. She grabbed the back of his pants to steady him then
brought him in close. He did not say anything, just wrapped an arm
around her shoulder and stared out at the site before them. Teth
could only gasp.

Before them was a hundred foot drop, a
ridge that stretched to the sides like a torn page. On their side
of that page was a forest, trees as far as the eye could see. On
the other were rolling hills of green, green grass that spanned to
the horizon. Teth could see a few trees dotting the landscape, like
small green-sailed ships on an equally green sea. In other places,
the green was dotted by the brown of a house or barn. Near those
buildings, the green had been tamed into fields, but the fields
were only differentiated by the square fences that surrounded them
and the precise rows of the crops.

They had made it to the
end of the forest. Dasen had said that it would just be a few days
from there to Thoren. Teth’s stomach turned at the thought.
Would there even be a city for them to arrive at?
And if they made it there, what would happen then?
She said a silent prayer to the Order for help in
either case.

They watched the fields for a long
time before Dasen broke the silence. “Soon enough we will be
sleeping in a soft bed, eating from real plates at a real table
with as much as we could want. Warm baths, clean clothes . . . .”
He relished the luxury of it, and despite her trepidation, Teth had
to admit that all those things sounded wonderful.

That was until her eyes drifted south.
She stared for a long time to be sure of what was before her, but
there was no mistaking it now. There, weaving its way across the
sea of green as far as the eye could see, was a road, an endless
brown snake slithering across the fields. And the snake was alive.
It moved and shimmered in the hazy late afternoon sun that made it
through the clouds above. A constant stream of men marched along
that road, as small as ants from their perch but just as
numerous.

“
We are almost home,
Teth,” Dasen said, but she was not listening. She broke away from
him and pointed toward the road. The words died on his lips as he
followed her finger.

“
I hope we will both have
homes to return to” was all she could say as they watched the army
march. The invaders were ahead of them; they would never get to
Thoren before them.

Dasen found her hand and squeezed it.
She squeezed back before they silently broke away and headed into
the trees to prepare their camp. They would have one more night in
the forest, then the final run to Thoren. Teth just hoped she would
have the chance to test Dasen’s new commitment.

Chapter 33

“
Still with us, are you,
Jack?” Ipid morbidly joked as he emerged from the rows of bleached
leather tents into the open area that housed the boys taken by the
Darthur. Though he was not sure how much it helped, Ipid encouraged
the village boys to confront their misery head-on, to joke about
it, to accept it and become hardened to it rather than allow it to
grind them down.

“
So far, I am.” A tall,
slim young man rose from where he was crouched by a huge pit of
coals and jogged toward Ipid. His dark hair was pulled back into a
matted, greasy ponytail so that his hollow cheeks and sunken eyes
stood out, casting dark shadows across his face where the firelight
played off of them. His clothes were ragged, torn, blood-stained,
burned, and sweat soaked. Though he hurried to Ipid, there was a
hitch in his stride where one of his shoes was coming apart. Ipid
could only imagine the blisters on his feet from the days of
marching in those failing shoes.

“
How about the others?”
Ipid turned his eyes to scan the other boys gathered around the
cooking fires. Their frames had shriveled over the past week. They
hunched over the fire looking warily at the tents surrounding them.
Many of them already slept despite the relatively early hour. Their
bodies were arrayed in clumps near bushes or trees, in the shadows
of tents, anywhere that might afford them a few seconds to wake
before they were noticed. Those still awake stared blankly at the
fire, asleep even as they sat, or spoke in furtive whispers, eyes
darting constantly.

“
Everyone’s back from
their chores,” Jack whispered when he reached Ipid. His eyes
scanned the tents around them. He remained on the balls of his
feet, ready for anything. “A couple a fellas got a cuffin’, but
nothin’ bad.” Another look showed a long bruise on the side of
Jack’s face – he must have been one of the boys who was hit. Ipid’s
ire rose at the sight, but he knew that anger was not the remedy.
Anger would only get them killed, so he stuffed it down and held it
for a time when it might be needed.

“
Any new boys?”

“
Just six today. Seems
folks are moving out ‘head o’ the army. Not many stickin’ ‘round ta
get captured. Can’t say’s I blame ‘em.”

“
No, Jack, neither do I.”
Six more, Ipid thought, and no deaths. That brought the total
number of boys with this prong of the army to four hundred and
fifty-three. Too many but at least the number wasn’t shrinking.
Over the course of the past ten days, the boys had learned how to
survive – if you could call it that. Ipid had taught them enough
Darthur words so that they could respond to simple commands, and
they had learned what the Darthur expected of them and how to
remain unnoticed as they performed those chores. As a result, no
boys had been killed for three days now. It wasn't much, but it was
a start.