Griffin's Shadow (21 page)

Jelena cried out as he staggered, momentarily weak as a kitten. She clutched at him, trying to hold him up while he willed his knees to lock and take his weight. The weakness passed, but he knew the ache in his head would linger for hours.

“Ashinji!” Jelena whispered fiercely. “Ashi, look at me!” He met her eyes and winced at the intensity of her gaze. “Ashi, you promise me that you’ll come back to me—
to us!”
She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her belly. “This is your child in here, a child that needs its father! Promise you’ll come back!”

He closed his eyes.

“
Promise!”
she cried.

He kissed her, and though he tried, he could not keep the desperation out of it. Jelena sobbed once, then with a mighty effort, stifled her tears. When at last she lifted her head, she had fully regained her composure.

“I swear, my love, that I will do everything in my power to return to you and our child,” Ashinji murmured. Jelena nodded, and as she reached up to touch his face, he grabbed her fingers and pressed them to his lips.

“
Captain Sakehera!”
Sadaiyo bellowed. Ashinji sighed and turned to face his brother, who approached the steps on the back of a bay stallion. “You’ve had long enough to make your farewells! Get to your horse and give the order to form up!
Now!”

“Go,” Jelena said, pulling herself up straight and proud, like a true princess.

“Lord Ashinji, your horse!” Homan, first sergeant of Peregrine Company and Ashinji’s aide, came forward, leading Ashinji’s favorite black charger Kian. Homan held the animal’s head while Ashinji mounted, then handed up his captain’s helmet. Jelena moved over to stand at Ashinji’s foot. She rested a hand on his stirrup. He looked down into her beautiful face.

“We’ll be waiting for you,” she said. He pulled the helmet down on his head and buckled the chinstrap, glad his face was now hidden from her. He did not want her last memory of him to be one in which he wept.

Toward A Dark Horizon

Misune made her appearance just before Sadaiyo gave the order to ride out. Lifting the hem of her bright yellow gown, she swept down the steps and strode briskly towards Sadaiyo’s horse, golden lion’s eyes flashing and mouth set in a petulant frown.

Ashinji felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

She is a skilled warrior, after all,
he thought,
and if she weren’t pregnant, she’d be riding out with us.

Ashinji watched from a discreet distance as his brother and sister-in-law exchanged a few tense words. He couldn’t hear what they said, but from the looks on their faces, and by the way Misune stomped off, he deduced their parting had been less than tender.

He took one last glimpse of Jelena, who had moved to stand between his father and the king, before urging his horse forward into place beside his brother.

The grille of Sadaiyo’s helmet obscured his facial expression, but his movements as he readied himself to ride were sharp and angry. Ashinji refrained from any comments; long, bitter experience told him that to say anything now would only invite a vicious verbal attack. Instead, he checked his gear and waited for Sadaiyo to give the order.

At last, Sadaiyo was ready. He raised a gloved hand in the air and swept it forward. Shouts ran up and down the lines as the signal passed through the ranks. The army began to move.

The grinding crunch of gravel beneath hundreds of hooves, the mingled smells of horse and leather, the hard blue sky above—all of Ashinji’s senses were heightened, the knowledge of his impending death acting as a stimulant to his nervous system. Every scent, sound, and color seemed impossibly acute, crystalline and pure. The urge to look back over his shoulder to see Jelena one last time proved almost too much to bear, but he dared not.

I might not be able to leave,
he thought.

The army snaked down through the city, making its way toward the gates. The people lined up along both sides of the street, watching somberly as it passed, over eight hundred strong. Ashinji, seeing the apprehension in their faces, realized they knew this represented only the beginning of what could prove to be a brutal, devastating war.

Sadaiyo remained silent until they had ridden beyond the outer gates and out on the broad road leading east toward Kerala. “So, Little Brother. Our father has finally found a way to force us to work together.” His tone, as usual, dripped with sarcasm.

“You are in command, Brother. I’ll follow your orders because that is my duty,” Ashinji answered. “All I ask is that you don’t allow your feelings for me to get in the way of your judgment. Too many lives are at stake.”

“If you mean my deep brotherly love for you, don’t worry,” Sadaiyo retorted. He urged his mount forward and soon, his bigger, faster stallion had pulled ahead of Ashinji’s black gelding. Ashinji was content to let his brother ride ahead.

As the morning wore on, the sun climbed higher and the day grew unseasonably warm. A late fall heat wave was not uncommon this far south—one last taste of summer before winter’s chill descended upon the land.

I know what a chicken roasting in an oven must feel like
, Ashinji thought. He finally loosened the chinstrap and pulled his helmet off, resisting the urge to hurl it away from him. Instead, he hung it from the pommel of his saddle.

Looking over his shoulder at the ranks, Ashinji saw how the troops slumped in their saddles, wilting beneath the merciless sun. He made a decision.

Sadaiyo still rode a slight distance ahead with his aide, forcing Ashinji to urge his horse into a jog to catch up. As he moved alongside, Sadaiyo acknowledged him with the merest flicker of a glance.

Ignoring the implied slight, Ashinji spoke. “Perhaps it’s time to call a halt, Sadaiyo,” he suggested. “We’ve been riding steadily for at least three hours, and in this heat, the troops and horses will need more rest and water.”

“No,” Sadaiyo answered. “I’ve got to get this army to Kerala in ten days’ time, and unless I push hard, we won’t make it.”

“The troops will be in no shape to fight if they are pushed to exhaustion and they start dropping from the heat,” Ashinji pointed out. He kept his voice calm and reasonable. “Call a halt, Brother. It needn’t be a long one.” From the corner of his eye, Ashinji saw Sadaiyo’s aide staring intently over the tops of his own mount’s ears, pretending not to listen, but Ashinji knew better. The last thing he wanted was a public disagreement with Sadaiyo. Morale would suffer if the troops witnessed their leaders at odds.

Ashinji couldn’t see his brother’s face, but by the slump of his shoulders, he knew Sadaiyo had reconsidered and given in to good sense.

“Very well,” Sadaiyo answered through clenched teeth. “A brief stop. Give the order.”

The relief of the troops was palpable. The air rang with laughter and shouts as they pulled off their helmets and many upended water bottles over sweating faces. Ashinji poured water into a leather cup and held it up to Kian’s muzzle so he could drink. The horse eagerly sucked the cup dry and nosed Ashinji’s hand for more. He allowed the gelding one more drink before putting the bottle to his own lips.

Sadaiyo had removed his own helmet and now stood in the shade of a large old oak tree beside the road, deep in conversation with a man dressed in the plain garb of an estate worker. As Ashinji approached, he heard Sadaiyo tell the man to convey his thanks to his mistress. The man, after bobbing his head several times, turned and hurried off. Ashinji saw him mount an ugly mule and set off at a cumbersome trot down the road.

“Who was that?” he asked, pointing at the receding figures of man and mule.

“A servant from Enzan Estate,” Sadaiyo answered. He took a drink from his water bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Enzan’s only about another three hour’s march down the road. The Lady sent him out to invite us to camp on her lands. She’s even promised to feed all the senior officers...and put you and me up in the manor.”

“Amazing how quickly news of an army on the move travels,” Ashinji commented. He dropped to the ground and lay in the tough grass, folding his arms behind to cradle his aching head, still sore from mindspeaking with Jelena. “It will be nice to eat something other than camp food, but I’ll be sleeping under the stars tonight with my company,” he stated.

Sadaiyo rolled his eyes. “Suit yourself,” he replied. “I, for one, won’t pass up the chance to sleep in a real bed.”

“It will be strange, sleeping without my wife beside me,” Ashinji said quietly. Sorrow struck at his heart like a hammer blow. An image of fire obscured his vision for an instant. Sadaiyo said nothing. “You must feel the same way,” Ashinji added, looking up at his brother’s handsome profile. “I know it’s none of my business, but…” He paused, trying to read Sadaiyo’s mood, then decided to forge ahead. “I couldn’t help but notice that you and Misune parted on less than happy terms.”

“You’re right. It is none of your business, but since you are so curious, I’ll confide in you. Misune was furious that she had to stay behind. I tried to reason with her, but…” Sadaiyo threw up his hands in exasperation. “There’s just no reasoning with her sometimes! She’s like… a thunderstorm or a whirlwind!”

Ashinji hid a smile behind his hand. Clearing his throat, he offered words of sympathy. “I’m sure once she calms down she’ll realize that a campaign is no place for a pregnant woman, not even one of her considerable skill at arms.”

Sadaiyo snorted. “I doubt it…But what of your wife, Little Brother? How did the princess handle you leaving her?”

Ashinji thought he detected the slightest hint of distain in Sadaiyo’s voice when he said the word
princess.
“Jelena is strong, and incredibly brave. She’ll be all right. She has the king and our father to support her. And she’ll need their support, especially…after whatever happens… happens.”

Sadaiyo’s eyebrows lifted in puzzlement. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Ashinji looked away, out over the stubbled fields shimmering in the midday sun. “Nothing. I just meant…we’ll be risking our lives in battle. Anything could happen.”

“I don’t know about you, but I plan on coming back alive,” Sadaiyo stated. “I’ve got a son on the way, and I intend to be there on the day he’s born.”

“A son?”

“That’s right. The child’s a boy. Misune can already sense his Talent. He’s going to be a grand mage, I’m sure of it.” Sadaiyo grinned. Ashinji felt his throat constrict with tears he dare not shed, tears for his own child who might have to grow up without a father.

Damn it! Visions are shades of what might be, not of what will be! I can’t give in to this! I’ve got to fight to change what I’ve been shown!

Ashinji rolled over and climbed to his feet. Restlessly, he paced around the hoary bole of the ancient tree, rubbing at his temples.

Sadaiyo regarded him with mild curiosity. “What’s gotten into you?” he inquired. “Nervous about facing the humans?”

Ashinji shot his brother a withering glance. Sadaiyo never missed an opportunity to needle him. “No,” he replied and turned to walk away toward the road where his sergeant Homan waited, holding his horse. He felt the strain of keeping a lid on his anger slowly but steadily wearing him down, and an entire day had not yet passed.
How will I survive another nine?
he thought.

“You look troubled, my lord,” Homan commented. “Anythin’ I can do to help?” The sergeant spoke with the slow drawl of the Arrisae Islands. Ashinji trusted him completely, but certain things were too personal to share, even with a trusted officer.

He shook his head. “Thank you, but there’s really nothing you, or anyone other than myself, can do about my particular set of problems.” He gazed down the dusty road. “There’s a good meal waiting for us at the end of our day’s march, I’ve heard.”

Homan grimaced. “Field rations are only for keepin’ the body from starving. No one really likes ‘em. A hot meal’ll be welcome. I s’pose there’ll be a soft bed for you and Lord Sadaiyo, eh?”

“I’m certain my brother will take every advantage of Enzan’s hospitality, but I’ll sleep with Peregrine Company.”

Homan nodded in approval. “You’ve always shared everythin’ with us, Cap’n. The good and the bad.”

Ashinji shrugged. “I’m a soldier, just like the rest of you.”

But not really,
he admitted to himself
. Not since Jelena’s ascended to her lofty position and pulled me up with her.

Even though they all tried to pretend as if nothing had changed, he could sense the difference in the way the men and women under his command viewed him, now that he had become Keizo Onjara’s son-in-law.

Before, he had shared an easy camaraderie with his company, the Peregrines. They followed his orders, not only because they had to, but because they genuinely liked and respected him. Ashinji knew none of that goodwill had changed, but now a distance existed between him and his troops that had everything to do with his new social status. Though unavoidable, it still saddened him.

Homan snapped to attention, and Ashinji turned to see Sadaiyo approaching, dangling his helmet carelessly by its chinstrap.

“Time to go,” he said as he brushed past, signaling for his horse.