The Forest at the Edge of the World (24 page)

They felt a bit deceitful not telling anyone about their engag
ement. But now with the knowledge that the Guarders had attacked, it seemed necessary to leak the news ahead of Captain Shin’s announcement to Edge tomorrow evening about the raid in Grasses, just so that the neighbors could help keep a careful eye on Mahrree’s house.

Mahrree noticed that Perrin kept a hand close by his side where the long knife was secreted. He not only looked around at the neig
hbors, he was looking in their bushes as they walked.

There was one simple way to let the entire world know about their intentions without Perrin or Mahrree having to say anything to anyone.

Mahrree took a deep breath as she led Perrin up the gravel path along a garden that was perfectly symmetrical in its pattern of flowers, color, and rock.  She raised her hand to knock on the elaborately painted door. The lavender of it matched the lavender flowers growing in the lavender stained pots on either side.

She turned to Perrin with her hand still in the air. “Are you ready—
truly ready
—for this?”

“No, truly not,” he admitted. “But I wasn’t entirely ready for last night, either, and the results were satisfactory.”

He winked at her as he squeezed her other hand in encouragement, then quickly released it and looked around for any threats. Or maybe witnesses. 

Mahrree knocked loudly on the door and held her breath.

The door swept open a moment later and Hycymum Peto stood there with a look of astonishment on her face. She glanced at her daughter’s face, then Perrin’s, and then squealed so loudly that she made the captain jump.

“Oh! Happy day! It is, is it not, a VERY HAPPY DAY?!”

“Yes, Mother, it is,” Mahrree said hurriedly and pushed Hycymum with gentle force into the house. With her free hand she grabbed Perrin’s arm and dragged him in.

“Shut the door before the
Arkys come running from next door,” she commanded, and he obeyed.

Mahrree had once watched a fat cat scrabble unsuccessfully to climb a massive boulder, much to her amusement. She was wise enough, however, not to laugh as her short round mother tried to embrace Perrin the boulder. He remained stiff, unrelenting, and—smartly—silent as his future mother-in-law affectionately mauled him in her excitement. Only once did he glance at Mahrree with a long-suffering look that said,
Yes—I still want to marry you
.

It took nearly an hour to calm Hycymum down, then another half hour to convince her that a small private ceremony was all they wanted. They readily agreed, however, to let her organize the cel
ebration meal after. Hycymum was satisfied only when Mahrree also agreed to let her decorate the addition to their home.

But Mahrree stopped short of letting her embellish the fort, for which Perrin gave her a most grateful look.

For most of the evening he just sat silently on the lace covered sofa with a pained smile on his face, watching the two women bicker and compromise.

As he walked her home that evening in the growing dark he had only one comment. “You take after your father, don’t you? I’ll have to thank him for that when I get to the other side.”

“I suppose I should have warned you more about her.” Mahrree bit her lip. “I guess I didn’t tell you enough last night.”

He nodded. “There are probably a few things about me you
should know, too.”

“Such as, what
your
parents are like?”

“Oh, you won’t have to worry about them—they’re great.”

“Hmm,” she said, unconvinced. Her pace slowed a little. “Your father is the High General. So was your grandfather.”

His pace slowed even more. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

“I don’t know. Is it?”

He stopped completely and looked around at the dark neighbo
rhood.

Mahrree watched him anxiously. Despite the shadows she could see concern in his face.

“We’ve done this kind of backwards, haven’t we?” he said. “We probably should have discussed a few more things before we, um . . .”

Mahrree nodded. “Well, I’ve never become engaged before. I think we did that part right. It’s the ‘getting to know you’ part we kind of skipped.”

He nodded back, took her arm, and started walking back to her house. “Uh, Mahrree, considering everything, I’d understand if you now think that maybe you don’t . . . it’s not too late to change your mind, about . . .”

“You’re right,” she cut him off. She didn’t want him to say it. “It’s not too late for us to start getting to know each other.”

Then she was struck with a terrible thought.

“Unless
you
, uh . . .”

Perrin chuckled quietly. “No. I can’t understand why, but I’ve never felt more sure of a decision than this. I don’t think anyone else could stand being my wife. Just remember to lock the doors.”

Mahrree sighed and giggled. She realized giggling was now just a part of her life. “I’ll try, and I feel the same way too. You may be the only man in the world who can tolerate me. You dealt with my mother quite well.”

“In my negotiations class we learned when it’s time to step away from the conversation. Silence seemed to be the best tactic.”

She laughed. “Just remember that.”

“I have a plan,” he announced cheerfully. “Tomorrow night, when I come back from the fort, we’ll resolve this. Make a list of questions. I’ll make one too. Everything we need to know. Then we can start negotiations.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” he said as they continued to walk to her home.

“Oh, and I didn’t!” She laughed. “That’s the last time you’ll hear me call you ‘sir’.”

“Fair enough. I don’t think I could order you around. You wouldn’t obey anyway, would you?”

“Only if you’re right. If you aren’t right, well then, we go to negotiations.” 

“I should probably tell you I received my lowest marks in that class. Got the highest marks in command, tactics, training—but n
egotiations? A little worse than Officers’ Charm School, as you called it. Let’s just say I do better with a sword in hand.”

“If you’re as stubborn as I am, then tomorrow night you should maybe leave that sword at the fort again.”

Chapter 13 ~ “Love is just a cover-up.

Always is.”

T
wo men sat in the dark office of an unlit building.

The first older man smiled. “Enough information coming in for you yet?”

His partner scoffed a chuckle as he sifted through the pages on his lap. “And this is just from the first day! So many people, so many different reactions! You were right about not killing off the girl. Watching how others deal with the uncertainty of her future will yield volumes of information.”

The first man nodded his fluffy white hair. “Well, enjoy you
rself. By the time the situation in Grasses reaches a conclusion, we should have enough details to keep us occupied for half a year. And no one will be bothered by letters from that captain’s father complaining how the new herd production mandates lost him his ranch. Moving to a village isn’t so bad, now is it? Being near his son? Oh wait—I guess it is
now!
”

The first man laughed callously while the second man just no
dded.

“Ah, my friend—just show me another research project as fu
lfilling as this promises to be!”

The second man held up a finger. He put down the stack of p
apers and reached over to retrieve a document he had placed on a shelf behind him. He leaned over and handed it to the older man.

He held it up in the dim light and squinted. “What is this? Looks like a map of some sort.”

“You just said, show you another project . . .”

Out of his shirt pocket the older man pulled out a warped piece
of glass he used to make the markings on the page appear larger. “A map of Edge?”

“Yes. I have some more news for you to further improve your day. If you thought the raid was a triumphant success, wait till you hear this: Captain Perrin Shin intends to marry!”

The first man was stunned silent for nearly a full minute. “Marry?!”

“You always say he surprises you . . .”

“That can’t be right! For as long as I’ve known Perrin I’ve known he’s not been the marrying type. Before he even arrived at the university his reputation preceded him. Graduating men went to that eighteen-year-old for advice on women, but he’d never share his secrets! I have no doubt he left Vines because the women were chasing him out.”

His partner squinted. “And that’s why he requested the transfer out of Vines?”

The first man pointed. “He’s gotten himself in trouble, he has! Perrin’s become sloppy! Now he has to marry some senseless village girl to cover for his mistakes.”

“He hasn’t been there long enough to have to force a marriage,” the second man concluded. “According to the message that came with the map, he’s marrying the woman he debated in the village amphitheater. The rather vocal one? Trying to win hearts and minds, all that.”

“
Win hearts!
” the first man disparaged. “That’s not Perrin.
Break
hearts—that’s Perrin! He’s a bull in a pasture full of cows, ready to—Ah, I see it now. He’s actually in trouble in
Vines
, and using some hapless girl in Edge to cover for it. If he’s already married, no one else can lay claim to him as father of her child.”

The second man sighed. “Does it really matter why he’s marr
ying?”

“It does!” The first man pounded the padded armrest of his chair. “Every action people take is in response to something else!”

His partner shrugged. “Have you considered that maybe he fell in love—”

“Love is not involved here! Love is just a cover-up. Always is. I realize you’re married, but you must confess that at the basest of emotions, it’s the physical drives that deluded you into thinking there was an emotional counterpart. Animals don’t love.”

The second man held up a finger. “But many animals mate for life. Wolves and falcons, for example, create a bond that—”

“
Bond
, yes,” the older man interrupted. “But love? That’s the word we attach to ‘bond’ to create romantic nonsense so that women feel better for giving in to men’s basest desires.”

“And to think you never married,” the second man said, almost sincerely. When the older man only glared at him, he continued. “So I’m assuming Captain Shin hasn’t told Father and Mother about his intended. According to the message, he’s been so obvious the rumors should have flown all the way to Idumea by now.”

The first man nodded. “I’ll keep my ear tuned to the wind. And this map?”

His partner smiled, anticipating the reaction. “Notations of where Captain Shin’s intended, her mother, and Shin’s great aunt and uncle live. So that patrols can watch their houses
more closely
.”

The first man threw back his head and laughed. “Wonderful! Fantastic man we have up there in Edge, to get such vital info
rmation so quickly.”

The second man cringed. “I still have my doubts about him, considering his age—”

“But I told you, didn’t I? Didn’t I say he’d be the best fit?”

The second nodded reluctantly. “True.”

“So many new questions we can test now,” the first man mused. “Where to begin? He’s losing his edge in Edge. And I thought he’d be so much more of a challenge. Well, perhaps it’s time to see just how sloppy Shin is.”

The second man shook his head. “I don’t think we should start anything new until we see if the girl in Grasses survives. The captain and the lieutenant are taking the news harder than I expected. I’d hate to miss any details by beginning something with Shin.”

The first man shrugged. “You may have a point about Grasses. That situation could provide an intriguing contrast once Shin is married: the reaction of an
intended
losing his woman, versus the reaction of a
husband
losing his wife. Since you mentioned wolves, it’s been my observation that wolves become protective of their mates once they are acquired, and act more aggressive when they sense a threat to their pack. Perhaps our next question will be, Might Shin be a wolf?”

---

Early in the morning Captain Shin stood with his hands on his waist at the edge of the forest. He stared hard into it, trying to discern if the rising sun might expose different sections. The view would be different, though, just a little ways—

“Captain? You sent for me?”

Shin pulled his gaze from the trees. “Lieutenant Karna, yes. I want you to stand right here and record what I call back to you.”

He picked up some paper and charcoal from the ground and handed them to the younger officer.

“I have an idea,” and the captain started walking towards the forest.

“SIR!” Karna exclaimed as his commander continued into the woods. “Sir,
STOP!
”

Shin stopped and turned, about ten paces in.

“Karna, it’s just
trees.
I’ve been watching the spot for past twenty minutes. The ground’s stable, there’s no quaking or sulfur—”

Karna looked around him frantically, hoping someone from the fort would notice his panic. “Sir, you
cannot
do this! The first rule of the Army of Idumea explicitly states that—”

“‘—No officer, enlisted man, or citizen of the world is to enter the forests for any purpose.’” He sighed impatiently. “Yes, yes, yes, I know. My grandfather Pere wrote that rule. But Karna, consider this: the Guarders are adept at making themselves hidden at night, lurking in bushes, wearing all black. But that won’t work in the fo
rest. Brillen—”

The young lieutenant’s eyes darted back and forth, hoping someone older, braver—or just ornerier—would realize that the ca
ptain was violating the first rule.

“Brillen?”

Karna looked back at Shin.

The captain was inexplicably calm.

“Think about it—wearing all black
in the forest?
You know how easy they’d be to spot? And I doubt they move carefully in the trees. They know we can’t go in here—it’s been forbidden for over one hundred years. So why would they practice moving quietly in here? Bushes rustle, leaves and sticks snap—we could track them,
in the forest
, Lieutenant! We could find their hideouts!”

“Sir, please,” Karna glanced over at the fort again. “You’re making me very nervous.”

Shin marched out of the trees to his lieutenant, who began to breathe easier as soon as the captain’s boots hit the grasses.

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with the trees. I
know
it, Brillen,” he whispered earnestly. “I can prove that—”

“Captain Shin!”

The bellow made both officers spin around.

Sergeant Major Wiles was jogging towards them, shaking his gray head. “Captain, did I just see you—or maybe it was a remnant of last night’s mead—but I could have sworn
I saw you come out of the forest!”

Karna bobbed his head back and forth towards the disobedient captain. It was Karna’s lucky day. Old, brave,
and
ornery had arrived just in time.

Captain Shin sighed as if he was a child caught stealing a sweet from a confectionary shop.

“I was just trying to prove that—” Shin started.

“—that the son of the High General can get killed by Guarders too?” Wiles shouted.

Shin puffed up. “Look, Sergeant Major, I don’t need you to—”

Wiles waved an official parchment in his face. “Just arrived last night. You didn’t read it yet, did you? Allow me: ‘From General Aldwyn Cush, Advising General to High General Relf Shin. Resta
ting the importance of soldiers and officers, now that the Guarders have attacked, to STAY OUT OF THE FORESTS—‘”

Shin rubbed his forehead. “All right, all right . . . yes I saw Cush’s message. But if I had the chance to prove that—”

“Prove nothing, Shin!” Wiles shouted at the commander. “Or I’ll send a report to your father and have you shipped back to Idumea before your future bride can finish wiping her tears.”

Shin folded his arms. “You can’t do that!”

“No, but your father can! The same messenger that’s leaving this afternoon to carry your good news to him can also bring news from me about his son’s blatant disregard for the number one rule of the army.”

Shin growled under his breath.

Wiles sighed, stepped up to him and put a grandfatherly hand on his arm.

“All of us are upset about the attack in Grasses,” he said in a
soothing tone. “Fourteen houses hit? Ten deaths? Twenty-two injured? Stolen goods? It’s horrible. But this isn’t the way to fight it, Perrin. Don’t make me report you to your father, son. You wouldn’t look very good in a private’s uniform. Now more than ever it’s more important to keep you, and
everyone
, safe.”

Karna nodded so vigorously his cap shifted on his head.

Shin looked longingly into the forest. “All right, Wiles, Karna. Today you both win. I’ll sit here and wait for the world to come get me.”

Wiles shook his head and tugged gently at the captain. “No, you’ll come back to the command tower and fill out those reports General Cush wants.”

“Never knew a man who loves his reports more than Cush,” Shin muttered as the three men started back for the fort.

---

In the forest, about forty paces back, two men dressed in green mottled clothing with sticks strategically attached to their tunics glanced at each other.

Then they continued to hold still, their shoulders sagging sligh
tly in relief, and watched the fort and village beyond.

---

That night Perrin and Mahrree sat together on her small sofa after dinner, each with a list of questions. Mahrree had a few unofficial questions as well, waiting to spring at the right moment. Perrin still wore his long knife, and brought an extra one to place in a secret drawer in Mahrree’s eating table.

When he showed it to her before dinner, she was dumbfounded.

“I never noticed that drawer there before!”

“Where did you get this table?”

“It was here when I moved in. The widow’s daughter didn’t want it and said I could keep it.”

“And what did that widow’s husband do professionally?”

Mahrree thought for a moment. “I never met him, but I think he used to be a soldier.”

Perrin nodded. “Not just a soldier. An officer, I’ll bet. I noticed it the first evening I came here. Every officer has a secret drawer. Did you notice how silently it opened? Now if there’s any threat, you can pull it open and retrieve the knife.”

Mahrree shuddered. “And do what with it?” She stared at the shining blade that was longer than her hand. While it was shorter than Perrin’s mini sword, the point was so sharp she couldn’t even discern where it ended. “Give it to the Guarder and ask him to peel me some potatoes?”