The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) (32 page)

Fortunately at that moment Rector Yung came
out of his house, saw his old friend approaching, and escorted him
home, nodding his apologies to the colonel.

Perrin just chuckled and wondered for the
briefest of moments why the Midplain rector said “admired for
years
.”

By that hour in the afternoon Perrin was
forced to make good on his promise to Peto and watch his son’s
first kickball game against a team from the south side of Edge.
While Perrin thought it would have been far more entertaining to be
on the field with his son playing with him instead of watching, he
had to agree that Peto at least knew what he was doing. He scored
the only two goals his team earned, and even though they lost, Peto
grinned from ear to ear. Perrin had difficulty in focusing on the
game when so many different strategies for Moorland were battling
in his mind like the boys dodging each other on the field.

The evening was taken up by pretending to
listen to Jaytsy describe every bug she found in the Briters’ farm,
and if it was harmful or helpful. Perrin found himself naming the
different sections of the attack after the insects. Mantis. Aphid.
Locust. Centipede. When Jaytsy mentioned “ladybug,” Perrin smugly
thought that could be a name for Thorne’s division.

Then the hour before bed was his nightly,
“Tell me about the day—
all
of it,” ritual with Mahrree. He’d
given her so many details he’d considered making her an honorary
officer. She could take over if ever he were injured. For the past
eight weeks he’d been as solid as ever, and he was considering
ending their practice so he could have some time to himself, but
Mahrree had grown accustomed to Colonel Cuddly on the sofa, and he
owed her that much.

It seemed only in the early mornings could he
find the solitude he craved in which to concentrate on the plans
without interruption. But as he reached the top stair of the
command tower that morning, he realized that his hour wasn’t going
to happen today, either.

Captain Thorne sat at the large desk in the
forward office with a thick envelope in hand.

Perrin growled softly, thinking that he could
have named Thorne’s division after ants which he loved to crush
under his boot. He wondered which kind of ant Thorne would prove to
be this morning: the sycoph
ant
, or the defi
ant
.

“
Colonel! I thought I’d
catch you this early,” he said cheerfully.

Sycoph
ant
, Perrin groaned to himself.
He would have preferred him dist
ant.

“
How long have you been
waiting, Thorne?”

“
Just a couple of minutes,
sir. From my quarter’s window I saw you arrive this early yesterday
morning, so I just assumed—” The light faded from his eyes and he
looked worried about having revealed he’d been spying on the
colonel.

Perrin wasn’t too surprised by the worried
look. It would have been good to see
if
it were genuine. But
he wasn’t convinced yet. Lemuel Thorne was to be trying to be a
different officer these past few weeks—more humble and willing—but
only when he remembered to be. Apparently this morning he was
attempting to be a perfect subordinate.

Well, Perrin thought, we’ll see just how long
this lasts.

“
You made a safe assumption
about my being here this morning, Captain,” Perrin said stiffly.
“What can I do for you?”

Thorne’s face relaxed a little. “This came
late last night, from Lieutenant Colonel Karna. In the message that
accompanied it he said that I shouldn’t wake you, but just be sure
I give it to you first thing in the morning. This
would
be
first thing . . .”

Perrin gave him a fake smile as he took the
message. He had perfected the smile so well a year ago at The
Dinner that he had decided to keep it. He used it on the
magistrate, the chief of enforcement, and on the group of admiring
basket weavers from Mountseen who “happened” to run in to him as
they slowly walked up and down every road several evenings ago.

“
Come into my office. Let’s
see what this is about.”

Perrin would have much rather preferred to
discuss this with Shem, or even with Offra or Radan, who were
pouring their hearts and souls into establishing the new
storehouses.

But no, he had Captain Thorne in front of
him, his second in command, and Perrin realized that at some point
he might actually have to start treating him as such. Perrin sat
down behind his desk and gestured for Thorne to take the chair
opposite of him.

Thorne sat carefully, not too close, not too
far away, with an oddly eager smile on his face.

Perrin tried to ignore the captain, who was
almost painful to look at this morning, as he opened the thick
envelope. Karna had sent a report about missing people. It wasn’t a
complete list yet, but there was a name Brillen found interesting:
Wistacerly Riplak.

“
Riplak?” Thorne repeated
when the colonel read it out loud. “As in the missing lieutenant
from your parents’ home?”

“
Yes, seems that way. They
never did find him. Knock off a few letters here and there,” Perrin
gestured to the document, “and ‘Wistacerly’ becomes
Tace.”

“
Wistacerly
,” Thorne
sniggered. “I can see why he wanted to be known as
‘Tace.’”

Perrin didn’t reply. He didn’t think the name
“Lemuel” was anything to be proud of. Knock of a few letters, he
becomes Muel.
Mule.

“
Thorne,” he said, instead
of dwelling on the delightful possibility of muling the captain by
knocking a couple of other things off, “do you know how old Riplak
was?”

“
He wasn’t in my year at
Command School, so maybe a couple years older than me, sir. Maybe
twenty-four last year?”

Perrin nodded. “Sounds about right. He was
working in the stables at my parents’ before he went to the
university. My father thought he was living with an uncle. He must
have been in Idumea for about eight years. According to what Karna
found, his parents reported him missing at age sixteen. That makes
Wistacerly Riplak the correct age.”

“
A runaway?”

“
Another safe assumption,
Captain,” Perrin attempted to give him a friendly smile, but he
didn’t feel it. A part of him tried to remember that this
boy
was only twenty-three and still learning. He had made
mistakes, there was no denying that, but everyone deserved a second
chance, especially someone whose father was Qayin
Thorne.

But then a much larger part of Perrin fumed
every time he saw the insolent boy who thought he was entitled to
his daughter.

Captain Thorne gave him back a wary
smile.

“
Perhaps Riplak wasn’t a
runaway,” Perrin speculated out loud. “According to the report he’d
had problems with thievery in Orchards, but no other conflicts with
his parents. The runaways I’ve encountered usually are trying to
escape their parents.”

“
But what if the parents
didn’t report any problems, sir? What if they lied and told
enforcement they had a good relationship?”

Something in the way Thorne said those words
made Perrin believe he had some experience with that. “A valid
point. I’m sure most parents don’t want to admit any conflicts with
their children.”

Thorne nodded.

Perrin wanted to feel some compassion for
him. He really did. The Writings said he should. Lemuel’s family
undoubtedly expected that he would someday become the High General,
and it was difficult to live with such pressure, Perrin knew.

But as he looked at the anxious young man,
the urge to leap over the desk and punch that boy in the mouth
overwhelmed him again. He fought it down, just as he did a dozen
times each day.

“
What if, instead of
running away, Riplak was coerced away?” Perrin suggested. “What if
he was recruited by the Guarders so they could have a man on the
inside?”

Thorne nodded at the idea. “But the
university is so expensive. Where would he or the Guarders get the
money to pay for it?”

“
I used to believe that the
money came from his ‘uncle,’ who may not even exist,” Shin said.
“But I’m working on a new theory. When the Guarders, or
thieving
teenage boys
, raid houses what do they take?”

Thorne shrugged. “Jewels, gold . . .”
Understanding passed across his face. “Things of value! Things they
can sell and use for purchasing what they need, like a Command
School education?”

Perrin shook his head. “Stealing to afford an
education. I never would have imagined
that
,” he muttered
more to himself. “No one wanted their money’s worth when I was
there. We were always looking for excuses to skip class. We
actually cheered when one hated professor was sick for two
weeks.”

Thorne narrowed his eyes. “Might that have
been Berts?”

Perrin knew what Lemuel was trying to do, and
it twisted in his gut. Diplomacy. Drag your enemy to a neutral
ground, then find something in common there. Perrin had walked
right up to it. But he was curious to see where Thorne might take
him.

“
Berts was the world
geology professor back when I was there.”

Thorne nodded. “He’s still there. The man was
drier than a drought in Sands. I fell asleep in his class once.
Only time it
ever
happened in my time at the university,”
the captain insisted. “Berts was so furious that he pulled me off
my desk and marched me all the way to the garrison to my
grandfather’s office, who also wasn’t too pleased. But General
Shin?” Thorne looked down with a small smile. “Your father just
laughed. Told me to spend the day in the office if I wanted.”
Thorne lifted his head and tried to hold the colonel in his gaze.
“He got me out of trouble that day.”

Perrin felt like applauding.
Oh, nicely
done
, he thought. A dry attempt at humor, followed by bringing
in Relf, then finding a way to honor his memory. No wonder he
graduated early. He could create a whole course on authority
manipulation. Perrin didn’t even have a way to verify if the story
was true.

“
How nice.” Perrin looked
down at the report to fight the urge to break a few more of
Thorne’s perfectly straight teeth. He’d heard that the molar he
smashed had been repaired in Idumea, so it wasn’t as if Lemuel
couldn’t spare losing another one. “Thank you for coming so early,
Captain. This may be some evidence of Guarder conscription. You’re
excused until your shift begins in two hours.”

“
Thank you, sir. Uh,
sir?”

Perrin looked up grudgingly to see Thorne
appearing to be sincerely concerned about something. “Yes?”

“
Do you think I’m ready? I
mean, ready to lead the Edge contingency in the
offensive?”

This boy just won’t quit
, Perrin
thought
.
Now he’s trying to appeal to the authority he just
tried to manipulate. He looks almost pathetic. It suits him.

Despite Perrin’s eagerness to get rid of the
captain, he decided he could spare a few moments in leisurely
amusement. “No. Absolutely not.”

By the way Thorne flinched, he hadn’t
expected that answer.

Perrin leaned back in his chair. It was good
to see the boy squirm. “You have no experience and no contact with
Guarders. Have you ever even taken a life, Thorne?”

He tried to sound confident in his answer.
“No, sir. But I know how.” The squirm gave him away.

“
It’s one thing in the
practice arena,” Perrin said. “It’s quite another in real
life.”

“
How old were
you
the first time?” Squirm. “When you and Karna had your first
engagement?”

It was no longer amusing. Diplomacy again.
Dragged unwillingly to the common ground.

“
I was almost twenty-nine.
Lieutenant Karna was twenty-three—your age. I’d been a captain for
nearly six years, but it was the first real opportunity I had to
prove myself.”

Thorne nodded. “I want to be ready, sir. The
exercise with Zenos went well yesterday, I believe. You’ll have to
ask the new sergeant major what he thinks, though. I want to prove
myself to you. I respect your opinion, sir, as much as I respected
your father’s.”

Perrin couldn’t suppress his groan. There was
only so much a person could take this early in the morning.

Thorne bit his lower lip, unsure of how to
read the colonel’s pained expression.

Perrin had to get rid of him before he became
fully nauseated. “Thank you, Thorne. That will be all.”

---

After midday meal Sergeant Major Shem Zenos
jogged up the stairs of the command tower. He nodded at Thorne who
was talking with a corporal.

Thorne’s nod was so brief that Shem almost
missed it. He chuckled to himself and knocked on the colonel’s
door.

“
Come in!”

Zenos stepped in and closed the door behind
him. Perrin bobbed his head toward the wall. Shem winked, and while
Perrin finished writing on a stack of pages, he walked over to the
bookshelf, removed two large wads of cotton stashed in a hollowed
out book, took them to the wall, and slid up the detailed map of
Edge. Underneath were two fist-sized holes which, when filled with
cotton, created a thorough dampening effect.

One of these days Captain Thorne would
discover why some conversations in the tower were harder to listen
in on than others.

Shem sat down in the chair across from
Perrin.

“
New jacket looks good,
Shem.”

“
I have you to thank for
that.”