THE SOLDIER
4
- KAILU -
J ust hours ago, I had a beautiful female next to me. Not that I plan on a repeat. After everything I’ve been through, I don’t ever plan on opening up my heart to anyone. It’s safer to not know them for longer than a night. I’m not interested in anything beyond that. Once feelings get involved, everything turns to shit.
Now here I am, following behind Captain Thelos as we ride to the Outskirts, the small refugee camps the king and queen built, just outside the city of Percius. Anxiety has been coursing through my blood since the moment he informed me of the missing soldiers last night. Each time we are forced to deliver news like this to a family, a piece of me withers and dies. From what I’m told, Elion Bowman only has one sister, so hopefully this won’t be too painful.
The captain stops in front of a small stone cottage, the door painted a cheery shade of sunshine yellow. The front yard is in need of tending, the grass tall but full of beautiful wildflowers of various colors decorating the yard like paint splotches. I squint against the fading sun and take in the two women across the road who have turned to face us. One is blonde while the other has dark brown hair, the color rich like chocolate.
Recognition jolts through my body, stunning me into silence.
It’s her.
The woman from the ship almost a year ago.
I’d recognize those blue eyes anywhere.
The air seems to leave my body as I watch in slow motion while she approaches the captain, who now stands knocking on her cheerful colored door. I pray that Elion is not her brother, but I remember a man with her that day. At the time, I thought he was maybe a husband.
The fear in her eyes alone tells me I was wrong.
- ALANIS -
Maryanna let me go home early today, claiming I was too tired and my brain was useless mush. Since I got back, I have been helping Hannah with her garden, my eyes heavy from lack of sleep. But I enjoy the act of planting seeds, of gently coaxing carrots out of the ground, of ensuring each earthworm has a good home.
Hannah squeals, jumping up from the dirt and flicking a giant worm off her arm.
Giggling, I reach for the poor worm where it landed near our basket of green beans and show it to her.
“It’s just a harmless worm, Hannah. Look how cute it is.”
Her face blanches. “I hate worms. They freak me out. They just wriggle about and are slimy.”
Shaking my head, I laugh and set the worm into a new home far away from Hannah.
The sound of hooves beating into the ground draws my attention. A plume of dust forms as the horses trot towards us, the roads here made of dirt unlike the cobblestone streets in the city.
Simultaneously, we turn towards the noise. Soldiers of the crown ride in our direction, their horses slowing in front of my home across the way. My stomach tightens painfully, my chest constricting with a gnawing worry as one soldier dismounts, heading towards my door, and without needing them to say a word, I know why they’re here.
Eli.
I slowly approach, my sights set on the dark-haired male now knocking on my door, only for my gaze to be drawn to the male with cropped blond hair standing beside him. Gods, he is handsome, with dark emerald eyes that stand out against his pale skin. The gold buttons on his deep blue jacket glint in the sun. His gray trousers are covered in a layer of dirt, yet his black boots are polished to perfection. A gold badge is pinned to both breast pockets, making me wonder his station in the King’s Guard.
It’s him. The soldier from the day we arrived. He had the same surly expression on his face, his eyes sharp as they stared at me for longer than was normal, but I didn’t mind. He was the first person I saw when I entered the realm, and what a sight he was.
“Miss,” says the blond soldier, “might you be Alanis Bowman?”
I hear the words, but their meaning remains murky and muffled. Hannah, who has followed me over to my home, nudges me in the ribs, and I shake my head to break through the fog that had overtaken me.
“Yes, yes I am.”
The soldier gives me a pitying smile. “I apologize that I am the one to bring this news, but your brother Elion has gone missing during one of his scouting missions for the kingdom.”
Maybe I am delusional or just naive, but I immediately exhale in relief and chuckle. “Oh, thank the Gods, he isn’t dead.” The soldiers and Hannah look at me like I’m insane, and maybe I am. But if he is only missing, then there is a chance he might still be out there. “When was the last time he was seen? Where was he? What are you doing to find him?”
The soldier clears his throat, glancing to the male beside him, who doesn’t look eager to speak. “Your brother was last seen two nights ago while patrolling the northern border of the Sinwood Mountains. We have a small group of guards searching for his patrol.”
“How many men went missing?”
He rubs the back of his neck, almost like he isn’t sure whether or not to tell me more details. In the end, he sighs and says, “Half of your brother’s patrol, which makes six in total. I can assure you that we’re doing everything we can to find them.”
Shock reverberates through me, no matter his assurances. How can six men simply disappear ?
I feel the panic begin to claw up my throat, and my hands shake as breathing becomes difficult. That same numbness when I lost my parents begins to engulf me as I struggle through the blackness closing in around me. At least then I had Elion. Now I have no one. My heart beats an erratic rhythm in my chest, my pulse jumping and stuttering as I swallow past a lump in my throat. “That’s not enough!”
The group of men give me a sad look.
“Miss,” says the blond, “with all due respect, not many men are found alive when they go missing in those mountains. I think it best that you prepare yourself.”
The other soldier smacks his comrade in the arm.
My mouth drops open, my heart beating hard enough it might break clean through my ribcage. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
He winces. “Kailu.”
I scoff. “Well, you really need to work on your bedside manners when bringing news to soldiers’ families. In all honesty, you’re shit at it. My brother is not dead, I would know.” At least, I really hope I would know, and yet my stomach churns as doubt creeps in. The silence feels horrifyingly unsettling, and I can’t help but imagine Elion’s dead body, torn into pieces by monsters or enemies or worse. “If you won’t do everything you can to find him, then I will.”
I turn on my heel to head back to my cottage, but Kailu’s voice stops me in my tracks. “You can’t seriously be thinking of going after him,” he says. “You wouldn’t even know where to start. You will end up killed.” The other soldiers stand at attention, awaiting orders, while the captain steps forward to interfere in mine and Kailu’s disagreement.
I raise my chin. “I don’t see how that’s any concern of yours.”
“With all due respect, you are making an unwise decision. You dying won’t help your brother. You need to let the soldiers do their jobs. They are the best at what they do.”
I scoff. “Obviously not, if your track record is not finding most alive!” I try to tamp down my frustration. Logically, I know they’re doing everything they can, but I truly can’t let myself even consider the possibility my brother might be dead. He’s the only family I have left. And if I went missing, I know he’d look for me.
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I wrench my front door open and storm inside. I can almost feel the soldiers gawking after me. I’m sure they aren’t used to a five-foot-five human arguing with them.
I lean against my closed door, doubts creeping in. Before I can talk myself out of this harebrained idea, I head straight to my room and start packing clothes into a small satchel. I grab the emergency money from under my bed and head to Elion’s room. Elion keeps emergency coin as well, so I pocket that and duck into his closet to pull up the floorboard beneath which he keeps spare knives. We have never faced danger since we moved here, but teaching me how to fight with a blade was a precaution we thought was best after everything we left behind. I slip the two daggers and the hunting knife into sheathes I strap around my legs, then return the floorboard and go to find a tent, canteen, and emergency medical kit in the hall closet. After being all but chased out of our home, Elion and I know better than to be unprepared.
By the time I return to the front hallway, Hannah is there, blocking the door with her arms crossed over her chest. I sigh. “Hannah, I have to find my brother. I can’t just leave him out there. I mean, he’d come for me.”
She gives me a long, hard look, then says, “You’re going to need food. And if you think I’m letting you go alone, you are absolutely insane.”
I blink. “You want to come with me?” Exploring with me is one thing, but this is a rescue mission that will definitely have dangers.
“You’re my best friend, so I’m not letting you go without me. And you know I have a knack for healing remedies. I’ve studied all the herbs and plants needed to make ointments, medicines, anything you might need.” She pauses, as if weighing her words, and then says, “Let me help. You don’t have to do this alone.”
An overwhelming sense of relief floods through me. I have never been more thankful for Hannah than I am in this moment. She truly has been the best friend I have ever had, apart from my brother. I feel as if a weight has lifted off my chest, and I can finally breathe again. We may not have Elion back, but I won’t sit aside and let him suffer. He would rain hellfire down on this world to save me. He’s been there for me more times than I can count, so now it’s my turn to be there for him.
“All right then, we better get you packed.”