The Forest at the Edge of the World(40)

“Oh, how lovely.” The first older man smirked. “This wouldn’t be the first time for him, you know.”

“She’s rather outspoken, too,” the middle-aged man warned. “The report was that she’s been quite vocal about the Administrators. Uh, in the negative.”

But the older man shrugged that off. “Women have never posed a real problem.”

“Tell that to the victims of Oren’s grandmother,” his companion reminded.

“She was an anomaly.”

“So might be this teacher in Edge.”

“No,” the older man said confidently, “the only entanglement I foresee is the one she’ll cause to Shin. She may make him softer than I was hoping, but that also may provide another level of observation. Will he behave more aggressively if he senses a threat to his latest interest?”

The second man pondered that. “But if he secures her as a mate, won’t his responses to a threat be more pronounced?”

“Secures?” his companion cringed. “Are you talking about marriage? Do you how old he is? I realize you know very little about him but trust me—he’s not the marrying kind. He’s the womanizing kind. Stories about him have been floating around for years. Maybe that’s why he went north—he upset too many women in his last posting in Vines and had to get away from them!”

The second man shrugged. “We have a similar situation developing in Grasses. A lieutenant there has a young woman he’s been seeing for a few seasons. Here’s a suggestion: we first test him by utilizing her, then we can see what Shin may be up to. Perhaps we should send another to watch him more closely, stay on top of developments?”

The first nodded. “A few messages have been received about that captain at Grasses. Complaints from his parents, actually. Administrator of Loyalty has been disturbed. Not that it takes much to disturb Gadiman.” The older man sighed. “But some messages will be sent in response. Now as for Edge, they’ll be receiving soldiers soon, and he’ll be busy with getting them situated. We can focus on Grasses for now and check on Shin later when the fort is settled. Until then, we have enough eyes in the area. However, I see nothing wrong with sending that young woman a subtle warning.”

The second man nodded. “Whatever you decide—it’s your world.”

“Yes it is.”

---



The next day Captain Shin forced himself to stare into the forest to record every potential hazard. That’s what a disciplined soldier does—ignores all distractions and focuses only on the threat at hand. As he remembered that, he began to progress again along the borders of the trees. But he never saw another living creature, except for the ground that bubbled and groaned and occasionally rumbled underfoot. Land tremors were common here, he reminded himself as the ground shifted under his feet three times that afternoon.

He had to find the Guarders—that was his purpose in life. Nothing else.

Besides, she hated him now.

And why wouldn’t she? He was starting to hate himself for the way he was treating her.





Chapter 7 ~ “You’re just afraid of my blob and what it may represent.”





There seemed to be nothing else in Edge to talk about except the very public argument the night before. And Mahrree heard about it everywhere—in school, at the market, even from her mother who had attended. She had told Mahrree she’d been there to see if the captain had the same look in his eyes that her daughter had the night of the first debate. She was sure that he did, when his dark eyes weren’t shooting arrows at Mahrree, that is. Everyone had an opinion, and everyone was eager to share it.

Their debate two nights later could have been much more volatile, but Mahrree vowed that she would be the very model of poise and calm. She was sure to say nothing derogatory about the Administrators, which proved to be quite difficult, given the topic. She wondered if Rector Densal was trying to get her in trouble.

The topic was the mandates issued by Idumea over a year ago about herd and crop production. The administrators over agriculture and commerce sent out decrees detailing to each village what they were to produce and in what quantities. Many ranchers in Edge were upset that instead of raising cattle, they had to take on hogs and chickens as well. Some wheat farmers had to now plant more corn to feed those hogs, and some barley famers were forced to now grow wheat to compensate.

It was all confusing, pointless, and out of Mahrree’s realm of interest.

But she’d heard about the complaints in the market when the change occurred, and she spent the past two days interviewing families to find how to debate it without inflaming her suspicions about the Administrators.