The audience immediately rose to its feet and applauded thunderously.
Mahrree would have applauded too, but that wouldn’t have been appropriate. Besides, his words couldn’t have been all his. She stood with her arms folded, smiling faintly at the praise he received.
He glanced over at her and seemed just a little embarrassed, and Mahrree suspected why. She looked down at Rector Densal who glowed proudly at the captain.
Something was going on between them.
The rector was probably trying to help the captain be more readily accepted by the village, because that was the kind of person Hogal Densal was. He would see a need and do all he could to help. He must have been coaching the captain for days, and now he had found a way to connect to every citizen of Edge.
Every citizen except one, who stood in obvious defeat on the podium.
At least she had the satisfaction of knowing it took the combined efforts of both the wisest rector of the village and a university educated army officer to defeat her.
When the applause died down Captain Shin turned to Mahrree and leaned in so close she could hardly breathe.
“Besides, Miss Peto, as much as you may love your blob—and I hope you and ‘my brother’ will be very happy together—”
Mahrree tried to ignore the sniggering in the audience as she blushed again.
“—you mentioned before the notion of mythological elephants holding up the world. You and I both know that if one element of an idea can’t be true, then none of it is. Elephants aren’t real. Besides, you don’t really believe that either.”
It was his third and last wink that completely did her in. She turned red and couldn’t form a retort.
When Rector Densal declared Captain Perrin Shin the winner, she wasn’t surprised at all.
Chapter 8 ~ “Uhhh, sometime I am available should be fine, when we, uh you, can make it.”
Late at night, in the forests outside of the large village of Grasses, several men stood in a thick stand of trees. Two young men wore the village’s garb, while the rest were dressed in dark clothing that allowed them to blend into the woods. They had been watching all evening, timing the patterns of the soldiers who rode by on horseback at regular intervals.
When all was clear, the largest man pointed to the two young men.
They nodded, then stepped out of the forest and started their brisk walk towards the village.
In the morning, the fort at Grasses would receive new recruits.
---
The captain in charge of recruits at the large fort of Grasses evaluated the two young men who stood at attention in the command office that morning.
“You’ll need to pass the first three weeks of training before you can be officially called soldiers,” he warned them. “Our colonel can’t use men that can’t run, ride, or fight.”
“Sir, you and your colonel will be impressed,” one of the young men answered confidently. “We’ll qualify to be soldiers for the Army of Idumea. We already know how to do those things, and more.”
The captain nodded once. “I’ll hold you to your promise. So, why did you choose to leave Orchards to come north?”
The other young man shrugged. “We just find the north more appealing, sir.”
“Well, then . . . Welcome to the fort of Grasses. We have a long and prestigious history, dating back to the Great War. I expect you will help forward that. The lieutenant will see that you get uniforms and show you your bunks. Training begins at dawn.”
---
As Mahrree walked to the marketplace to gather her evening’s meal, her thoughts circled on just one thing: Captain Perrin Shin. The fourth debate had been several days ago and tomorrow would be their fifth. The closer it came, the more she thought about him—
That was a lie, Mahrree admitted to herself as she crossed a road and continued south. There wasn’t any way she could think more about him. He seemed to be everywhere that week, walking past her school, in the neighborhoods, at the village green, around the amphitheater. And every day she heard reports of him from others, since everyone felt the need to tell her of their encounters with him. He even went so far as to go to Rector Densal’s congregational meetings.
On the first Holy Day he attended, right after their second debate, he caused a mild panic. Everyone wondered why a uniform was there, although the rumor was that he was trying to appear penitent for his dismissal of The Writings.
Mahrree had seen him when she first entered the meeting. He was already seated on a bench on the right side of the building, with adequate space around him provided by the stunned parishioners who didn’t want to risk getting too close. She stumbled over her feet for a moment, then made a bee-line for the other side of the building and sat down on a still-empty pew.