The Forest at the Edge of the World(39)
The lieutenant then saw a hole in the thin inner board that separated the office from the forward room. It was the size of a fist, and partly edged in blood.
Karna squinted and took a closer look.
“Something you want to say, Lieutenant?”
Karna swallowed hard and stood back up to face his new commander. “The reputation of the Shins is well known, sir. Stories abound about your—”
Shin held up his right hand to stop him. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Karna thought that was convenient, since he wasn’t sure what it was himself, and didn’t know where his nervous rambling was headed. All he could remember right then was how a shouting High General Shin could leave a class quaking in their boots. His son was more amiable, but evidently stronger and with an odd manner of testing the structural integrity of his office.
“Don’t worry,” Shin said. “I won’t be requiring my number two man to practice his ‘number two hand’ hitting technique on the walls.”
Karna noticed Shin’s left hand was still in a fist, and growing redder.
“Mainly because I trust you only with a bow, anyway,” Shin said with a hint of teasing. “This was entirely personal, Lieutenant. Not professional.” Then muttering to himself he added, “Not in the least bit.”
Karna dared to smile ever so slightly.
To his surprise, Shin grinned and winked at him.
“Uh, sir? You may not be aware of this, but the hospital wagon arrived early as well. Two surgeons’ assistants came with it and were hoping to surprise you by stocking the supply room before morning, when they were to officially present themselves.” His eyes kept darting to the white cloth, now mostly red and dripping occasionally on the new wooden floor.
Shin didn’t seem to notice the mess.
“Sir, perhaps it would be a good idea to go acquaint yourself with them right now. I’m sure they’ll be quite eager to show off their skills in uh . . . uh . . .”
Shin slapped him on the shoulder. “I see why my father recommended you. Observant, loyal, and with an eye for the obvious which is shockingly absent in most people. Perhaps I will go introduce myself before heading to bed. Claim your quarters tonight, Karna, get some sleep, and then be ready for tomorrow morning. We have an entire village to win over, and I seem to be making the job a bit harder each day.”
Shin started out the door, but paused and put his good hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder.
“And Karna, don’t believe every story you hear about Shins.”
---
The slender man in black chuckled to himself all the way back to the forest. It shouldn’t be this easy. The targets shouldn’t present themselves so obviously. He needed some kind of challenge, didn’t he?
Then again, maybe this was just the cosmos rewarding him for his decades of patience waiting for his skills to be required again. Not since the glory days of Querul the Third had he felt so alive.
It had been that stupid General Shin—the first one, appointed by Querul the Fourth—that cut his fledgling career short. And now, in the marvelous twists of fate only Nature could create, decades later he was called back into service.
If only General Relf Shin had a clue, he’d be riding his fastest horse to Edge, panicked.
The man in black quieted his chuckling. No sense in giving himself away already.
---
Two men sat in the dark office of an unlit building.
“More reports are coming in,” said the first older man. “A little spottier than I’d like, but not unexpected considering they have no idea to whom the reports go, or who’s at the top. But so far I’m not displeased. However, I do have a question: why would he choose to stay in cold, dull Edge when he has the choice of any village? Coast. Waves. Flax. Somewhere warm that’s far more interesting for a single man.”
“Speculation,” answered the second middle-aged man. “He’s been ordered there. He upset the High General and now Father’s banished him to the dreariest place in the world.”
The first man shook his white head. “No, it seems he actually requested that posting. Now why would he do that?”
The second man shrugged. “Not enough evidence to form a proper speculation. But this development makes him far more intriguing. There’s no obvious logic to it. Women in Edge wear far more clothing than they do in hot humid Waves,” he said with a sly smile. “Maybe he doesn’t know that.”
The first man chuckled. “He does. He’s one of the few that has been all over the world. But I agree with your analysis—we don’t have enough evidence.”
“There’s something more,” his partner said. “According to the last report, he may also be interested in a woman.”