Veil of the Deserters by Jeff Salyards

Author:Jeff Salyards
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Veil of the Deserters
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

At the bottom of the hill, everyone was finding a place to bed down in the brush, eating what rations they had on them, all in silence as the dark came on.

I was scouting out the best spot myself, which was to say the least worst spot with the fewest roots or rotten foliage, when I spotted Braylar and the recently relieved Vendurro standing together apart from the rest.

I approached slowly, reluctant to interrupt if they were deep in conversation, and when it was obvious they weren’t, cleared my throat.

Both men looked at me, and Braylar said, “One thing you will learn traveling among soldiers—always bed down or close your eyes when you have opportunity, as sometimes it can be quite hard to come by.”

“Well,” I replied, smiling, “Being soldiers yourself, you aren’t doing a very good job of leading by example.”

“Ha! True enough. A failure of leadership on my part. Do you have something on your mind?”

I wasn’t certain this was the time or place to raise the question, and hesitated.

“Don’t be coy, archivist. I cannot abide it, and we have less time than you might think. Speak directly or not at all.”

“Well, the death of your father,” I began slowly, fully expecting him to cut me off. When he didn’t, I continued, “That seems a seminal moment. A defining moment, if you don’t mind my saying,”

“I believe I do. What of it?” he said, short, but not hostile. Yet.

I glanced at Vendurro, who was watching me carefully, curiosity on his freckled face, though whether to see how wildly I was about to misstep or how much the captain would reveal, I couldn’t say. “What happened after?”

“The vows, do you mean? The broken pledge I made before the eyes of gods and men to avenge my father? Or the other, to protect our people from the Syldoon scourge many years later, equally fractured?”

I nodded slowly.

“Those,” the captain said, “I will not tell you about just now.” I nodded again, a bit disappointed but not surprised, and at least glad to have escaped a verbal beating. But then he went on. “But I will tell you of what immediately happened after my father died.” He added quietly, almost to himself. “I am not entirely sure why. Who wishes to relive a moment of both grief and shame? I have never spoken of it, and only two others know what occurred. One, my wretch of a sister. So it might be good you get the account from me. Or perhaps I am merely melancholy. Or maybe we will all die on the morrow, so what difference does it make. Who can say?”

Vendurro said, “Aww, Cap, if it’s something you’d rather not…” But it was half-hearted at best, as it was obvious he wanted to hear it as badly as I did.

Braylar waved him off. “Days passed after my father was murdered. I don’t know how many. I’m sure I ate and shat and slept, but again, I have no recollection to support this.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.