The Stone Road by G R Matthews

Author:G R Matthews [Matthews, G R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Occult, Legend, Fantasy, Horror, Sorcery, Myth, science fiction, Asian, Sword
ISBN: 9781493741717
Google: DTv6oAEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 21996457
Publisher: Createspace
Published: 2013-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

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.

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