The Stone Road (18 page)

Chapter 22

“One bed is empty this morning,” the camp commander said quietly as he entered the tent, “it’s his.”

“Good,” Haung turned around, away from the mirror, shaving soap still covering his cheeks, “Li, which way did he go?”

“Towards the mountains, towards home, I expect,” Commander Li responded.

“You arranged his kit as agreed?” Haung turned back and resumed shaving. The sharp blade caressing his cheeks with a silken lightness of touch.

“His armour, weapons, bedroll were all in the chest at the bottom his bed. A back pack too. He’d been filching food from the mess tent for days beforehand. It’ll be enough for a few days at least. Do you want us to pursue him?”

“No, let him go. He can’t do us any harm,” Haung said in-between strokes of the blade.

“
Jiin-Wei
, why are we letting him live?” Li asked.

“We have our orders, Commander Li, and we follow them.” Haung looked closely at his face in the mirror, rubbing his hands across his smooth chin and cheeks. “It is not always a good idea to ask too many questions.”

“No, of course not,” Li spoke hastily. “One must do their duty to their superiors, even if they do not know the whole of the plan.”

“Quite so,” Haung dabbed water on his face and patted it dry with a towel. “You have your orders, I have mine. It is the way it is. You have done as instructed with yours I take it?”

“Of course, of course,” Li waved his hands nervously, “they are ash on the wind.”

“Good, then I will be gone by the end of the day and you can return to your normal high standard of care of our war wounded without the stress of a
Jiin-Wei
operating in your camp. It will be my task to worry about the Wubei man.” Haung pulled a cotton shirt over his head, and then gave the Commander a smile, “I sometimes envy you, and the other officers, the honesty of your roles. You have my apologies for abusing yours. But when orders come down, they must be obeyed.”

“Not a problem,
Jiin-Wei
.” Li returned a slight, nervous smile, “You’ll mention my co-operation to Commander Weyl and the Lord Duke.”

“In my report, of course.” Haung bowed to Li. There would be no report. In truth there were no orders except the ones that he had forged and then burnt to cover his tracks. “We will not speak of this again and I thank you, on their behalf, for your co-operation in this. I can assure it will not go unnoticed.”

Li’s smile widened and gained in confidence.

# # #

The horse’s hooves rang loudly on the stone road leading towards Yaart. The pristine surface that he’d ridden down months before was gone, trampled under the hooves of a thousand or more horses and tens of thousands of booted feet. However, it was well built and it would be many, many years before any crews would need to be sent to repair the road.

Haung sat comfortably in the saddle as he rode in the late summer's sun. To protect his head and shield his eyes from the heat, he had purchased a wide conical shaped straw hat from a village a few days travel behind him. The shadow over his eyes was restful and allowed him time to think and for a lone traveller out on the road there was little else to do.

Yaart came into view in the early afternoon. The walls still poked up above the tent town that lay before them but the number of tents had grown since he had left on campaign in early spring. It was only as he drew closer, he could finally gauge the measure of the growth. His eyebrows rose higher and higher with each clip-clop of the horse's hooves. The grubby white of tent canvas spread all around the walls that he could see and they stretched further out along the stone road than he could recall. Before he realised it, he was amongst them. The road, still leading straight as an arrow to the city gates, was being strangled by the tents.

The heat of the summer sun, amplified and reflected by the white canvas surrounding him, caused him to break out in a sweat. The slow breeze of the plains was blocked off and the smell of so many people, unwashed and crowded, reached out and clung to his nostrils. No matter which direction he turned, the stench was there. Small, dirty children yelped and screamed as they darted through the tents engaged in some game of their own devising. Adults sat on the ground, amongst the rows of tents, in small groups. They fell into silence as Haung approached and then picked up their conversation when he was far enough away to hear their voices but not understand the words. He could feel every eye of every person, gauge him, measure him and quantify him as friend or threat. The pressure of so many stares was making him uncomfortable, his back stiffened and hands gripped the reins too tightly. He felt like a clumsy child who had just broken the best pot in the house and was awaiting his punishment.

The city gates were a welcome sight and Haung resisted the urge to speed his horse into a trot and kept his pace steady as he approached.

“Halt,” the gate guard commanded.

Haung brought his horse to a slow stop and looked at the troops. He counted seven stood in front of him. Many more than he remembered but probably needed given the tents outside, he surmised.

“State your business in Yaart.” A soldier stood forward from the rest.

“That would be my business,” Haung said, falling back into the Captain’s role, all brusque and brisk.

“Well, now I am making it mine. Seeing as how, if you don’t tell me, you are going to turn that fine horse around and trot back out into the tents. And there you can stay and rot, for all I care.” The soldier looked up into the shadows of Haung’s face, “Up to you.”

“Shin?” Haung smiled at his luck. Getting back in without travel papers just got a lot easier, he hoped. “Is that you?”

The soldier raised a hand to shade his eyes and peered intently at Haung who flipped back the straw hat.

“Captain,” Shin smiled, “good to see you again. As you can see, I am alive and well. Truth is, most of the original troop are doing well, them that survived at any rate.”

“Indeed, considering the predicament, something of a surprise, I expect,” Haung smiled back at the soldier, “Would you believe that, in all the confusion of the battle at Wubei, all the details and paperwork about the hearing and judgement were lost?”

“Now, that is a real shame, Captain.” Shin’s smile broadened.

“Shin, you can only imagine how upset I was,” Haung said with mock sadness in his voice.

“Oh, I share your sorrow, Captain.” Shin laughed, right from his belly, “Move aside, lads. Let the Captain through.”

The other soldiers all cleared a path. Haung bowed to Shin, who, still laughing, returned the gesture of respect and then Haung's horse carried him back into the city of Yaart. 

# # #

Haung tucked into the bread, cheese and meat on the plate before him. The inn was packed with other diners though he ate alone at the table. Food, he knew, even basic fare like this, would run out soon, so he savoured every bite. The cost was the other consideration, inflation had already raised its ugly head and this simple meal had cost double what he would have paid before riding out in the spring time. However, it was worth it. Just to be out of the castle, away from the soldiers talking about how many they had killed during the battle and what they had done for fun afterwards. Constant reminders of the war. The talk amongst the normal folk of the city still centred around life, death and survival but they were a step far removed from the scenes of violence, of two dead children and a sobbing mother, of a man breathing his last on the tree of death. Those memories brought him sleepless nights.

“Haung.” The soft voice carried a barb.

He looked up into the dark eyes of the young woman who stood on the opposite side of the table, next to the empty chair.

“Jiao,” he nodded.

“Are you not going to ask me to sit and join you?” She did not release his gaze.

“Jiao, why are you doing this? I told you, before the army left, that there could be nothing between us. Not now.” He forced himself to drag his eyes back to the food on his plate. The scrape of chair legs was clue enough that she had sat down.

“I have heard of married
Jiin-Wei
before. Why should you be any different?” she asked.

“I just am. This isn’t the right time, Jiao.” He put the chunk of bread down and looked at her. So beautiful, he thought and felt the breath catch in chest. “My life isn’t my own any more. My decisions are not mine to make. I took an oath when I became a
Jiin-Wei
and nothing can or will change that. Don’t you understand that?”

“Yet, there are
Jiin-Wei
with wives and children in the stories and legends,” Jiao said. “There is no consistency between your words and stories. I choose to believe the stories.”

“Jiao, the world has changed. I’ve changed. You’ve seen the refugees in the tents and still they come. This isn’t a world for soft thoughts and warm nights, it’s a harsh world of survival. You and I, together, would not be a good idea at the moment.” Haung heard the words as if someone else was speaking, they were not his. They lied with each consonant and vowel.

She reached out and picked a small wedge of yellow cheese from his plate. With delicate fingers she raised it to her lips and took a small bite.

“It would be better if you left, Jiao. I am sorry,” Haung said his voice calm.

“Perhaps, but this isn’t the end, Haung. I told you, a long time ago, that I meant you to be mine.”

He could not take his eyes off her as she stood and gave him a smile before she turned and walked out of the inn.

“I’d start running now, if I was you,” the inn-keeper said with a smile as he placed another bowl of rice wine before Haung.

“I’ve been running, for a long time,” Haung said with a sigh. “She is just faster than me.”

“They always are,” the inn-keeper said.

# # #

“Haung, had enough rest?” Commander Weyl said.

“Yes, Sir,” Haung bowed in respect. Weyl’s office had not changed since his first visit. The central table and the maps were still there.

“Good, good.” Weyl stood up and walked over to a small table on which were two glasses and a flask of wine. “Drink?”

Haung accepted the glass of wine and took a small sip, “Thank you, Sir.”

“After your excellent service during the recent excursion to Wubei, the duke has requested your skills again.” Weyl took a sip of his own wine and gave it a small smile of appreciation. “With the increase in refugees coming to the city, the chances of civil unrest are increasing. It won’t be long till the first food riot breaks out. The resources we liberated from Wubei will keep us going and, in a month or two, the crops can be harvested. It will be tight but Administration has worked with the figures and is suggesting that we have enough, just.”

“That is good news,” Haung replied.

“Indeed it is. However, some of the refugees are not as poor as others. The business owners and traders who arrived have formed an agreement. They are using their considerable influence to cause some difficulties for the duke and his staff. Complaints, petitions, accusations - that sort of thing. All minor at present, however, the duke has a mind to put them in their place. Use them as an example, to keep the others in line.”

“We all need to work together to survive the coming winter. Don’t they understand that?” Haung asked.

“I imagine they probably do, they just want to make sure they have a better chance of surviving than everybody else. Business people tend to have an intrinsic level of greed and selfishness greater than other people. Anyway, the duke is concerned that once he strikes there will be reprisals and I agree with him.”

“What do you want me to do, Sir?” Haung asked, a puzzled look on his face. “These business leaders need persuading to back off?”

“Nothing so blunt, Haung. The duke must act within the law here, and they haven’t truly done anything wrong. No, he will strike when the time is right but with the wealth they control they may, just may, employ people of,” and Weyl paused, “certain special skills to take revenge on the duke. He wants you, and again I agree, to take control of his security within the castle.”

“A great honour, Sir,” Haung bowed.

“Indeed it is. You will report directly to the duke. I want copies of everything, though, and should you uncover anything important I want to be the first to know. The resources of the
Jiin-Wei
may be needed to ensure nothing untoward happens.”

“Of course, Sir,” Haung responded.

“You’ll be back to being Captain Haung, hero of the war on Wubei. Let Marbu know by tomorrow of anything you need to perform this role. It is likely to last throughout the year and may be beyond. Give it some thought, but we need to move you into position as quickly as we can.”

“Yes, Sir. I will, Sir.” Haung bowed and turned to leave, “Commander Weyl?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Could a part of my cover include taking a wife?” Haung asked cautiously.

“Why would you want to?”

“A wife speaks of settling down, of a connection to the city. It shows permanence, stability, and most of all it gives respectability. Add to that it distances me from any rumours of being a
Jiin-Wei
. It would be a normal thing to do. It also opens the door to invitations to dine with others of rank and many men speak their minds more openly in the comfort of their own home. It was just a thought, Sir,” Haung spoke in a rush.