37
The first two things Akella noticed when she woke up were: (1) she was desperately thirsty, and (2) her head was ringing like a struck brass gong. Only after processing these two pieces of information did she notice a third thing – or person, actually: Megs. The first sergeant sat in a wooden chair to the side of Akella’s bed, a mug of something steaming in her hands.
Akella tried to turn her head in Megs’s direction, but the motion made her feel like either her head would explode into tiny little bits or her stomach would empty its contents. Or both. She aborted the attempt halfway through, moving only her eyes towards Megs instead.
Besides the hot mug she held, the sergeant was wrapped in a thick woolen blanket. Wind whistled somewhere outside, making the canvas walls of the tent they must be inside slap against the tent posts. Through the haze of her throbbing head, Akella pulled up a memory of the snow coming harder and heavier as the battle had progressed. Megs’s prediction of a big snowstorm must’ve been right.
Akella also guessed that bringing a hot drink to the ally who’d saved her from a mountain man’s sword must be Megs’s way of apologizing for being so curt in the mess hall earlier.
“Is that …” Akella started, but even the sound of her own voice threatened to shake her skull apart. She cleared her throat as gently as possible and tried again, pointing her eyes towards the mug in Megs’s hands. “Is that for me?”
Megs looked confused at first, but then she followed Akella’s gaze to the little cloud of steam curling up from her lap.
“My tea? No.”
“Oh.”
Tea. Everyone in the Empire seemed to drink the stuff. She’d even seen the Empress’s precious Commander Joslyn drink it, which was unusual since most Terintans drank coffee. Personally, Akella didn’t like either one; Adessians generally didn’t drink anything hot.
She would’ve drunk it anyway, if Megs had been the one offering it.
Akella couldn’t smell the tea, though, which struck her as odd until she realized how swollen her face was. Her face was a water skin someone had overfilled and then capped tight. With each heartbeat, Akella could feel the tangible presence of blood thrumming just beneath the surface.
Megs regarded Akella with those serious (beautiful) dark eyes of hers. Akella found herself wishing the sergeant would smile. Then that dimple on her left cheek would appear again.
Megs sipped her tea. “Pretty stupid of you, charging a mountain man three times your size.”
“I’ve been known to do stupid things sometimes,” Akella said, remembering to whisper to keep her head from screaming in protest. “But I don’t remember what happened.”
“To you? The tribesman you provoked knocked you out cold. Sent the butt of his axe right into the side of your head,” Megs said matter-of-factly. “Frankly, I’m a little surprised the blow didn’t kill you.”
“I’m notoriously hard-headed.”
“I’ve figured that out,” said Megs drily.
“How did I … get out of there? After he knocked me out.” Akella suspected she already knew the answer to the question, but she wanted to hear Megs say it.
“We went back for you,” Megs said. “You saved Brenn’s arse, so it was only fair to return the favor.”
“Brenn is … Brenn’s the boy who…?”
“The one who fell, yeah,” Megs said.
“And he’s alright?”
Megs nodded. “My whole squad made it through, thank Mother Moon.” She frowned. “Can’t say the same for all the other squads.”
“We’re still here, so I take it we won,” Akella said.
“We did win, but at a price.”
“How high a price?” Akella asked, and she was surprised to find she was actually worried to hear the answer. She’d definitely been in the Empire far too long.
“Seventy dead. That many again in the infirmary, by the time all was said and done.” Megs grimaced. “The Brothers have had their work cut out for them – the Wise Man surgeons, too.”
The words raised an alarm inside Akella. “The sorcerers didn’t touch me, did they?”
Megs considered her for a moment. “No. They almost did, but then they decided you’d pull through without any help – you just needed to sleep it off. They wanted to focus their attentions more on people … well, on people closer to death.”
Akella relaxed. “So how long did I … sleep?”
“It’s been about two days.”
“Two days?” Akella asked, forgetting to whisper. The pounding in her head immediately grew so severe she couldn’t speak or even think. She closed her eyes and swallowed, waiting for the raging storm of pain to subside. She remembered to whisper when she spoke again. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“What, posted at your bedside waiting for you to wake up?” Megs laughed out-loud. And at last, there it was: the dimple in her left cheek. Even if it had made its appearance at Akella’s expense, it was nice to see it again. “Believe me, I have better things to do with my time,” Megs said. “Not to mention that the camp’s been busier these past two days than it was the past two months.”
“You’re here now. Sitting across from me.”
Megs lifted a shoulder. “I’ve checked in on you from time to time. Once or twice, when we’ve had a break from rebuilding the palisade wall.”
“Does this mean we can be acquaintances now?”
“Of course not,” Megs retorted. “This – being inside the infirmary tents while the injured moan and cry for their mothers? This is exactly why I don’t make acquaintances. Everyone I make friends with ends up in an infirmary. Or in the ground.”
“Not me,” Akella said. “Still above ground.”
“Still in an infirmary. Look around.”
Akella would have looked around to learn more about where she was, but that would require lifting her head. Even turning her head. Lifting and turning her head would probably trigger enough pain and nausea that she would black out again. And if she blacked out, Megs would probably leave.
Akella did her best to use her peripheral vision to take in the surroundings. There were layers of blankets covering her, and on either side were cots holding shapes covered by more blankets.
“I might make a visit to the infirmary now and again,” Akella whispered, “but I won’t die here.”
“You can’t know that. No one can.”
“Ican.”
“If I had a copper penny for every soldier who swore he’d survive the war and make it home to see his family, I’d be rich enough to never work another day in my life,” Megs said.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m neither a soldier nor a he.”
Megs shook her head and looked away, but Akella didn’t miss the fact that she was almost smiling. Almost.
“Regardless. My death lies elsewhere,” Akella said. “Far from the East. Far east of your so-called East.”
“There’s nothing but wilderness east of the Sunrise Mountains.”
Akella started to chuckle, but chuckling hurt. She let it die off. “Oh, the Empire. It occupies only the better part of one single continent, yet its people believe it to be the whole world.”
“So what’s east of the Sunrise Mountains, then?” Megs challenged.
“My crew,” Akella said simply. Belatedly, she added, “The Kingdom of Persopos. Have you heard of it?”
“It sounds vaguely familiar. An ancient civilization that no one’s heard from in two hundred years. Or something like that.”
“Something like that,” Akella agreed. “That’s where I’m going to die.”
Neither said anything for a long few seconds. Now that she was feeling more alert, Akella could hear the moaning patients Megs had mentioned earlier. She hoped she hadn’t ever moaned like that in her sleep when Megs had come by to check on her.
“Fine,” Megs sighed. “I’ll take the bait: What makes you so certain that you will die in an ancient civilization?”
“A seer told me,” said Akella. “I didn’t seek her out,” she added quickly. “Preyla commanded that her followers shun the shadow arts, but this sorceress found me in a dream anyway. Told me I needed to sail east, back to the last place I saw my crew alive. She said they’d come home but I wouldn’t.” Akella paused. “See? That’s why I know I won’t die in this war.”
Megs studied Akella, expression saying that she wasn’t quite sure whether or not the other woman was joking.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why there’s an Adessian rizalt mixed in with the Imperial Army?” Akella went on. “The Empress hired me to take her army to the Kingdom of Persopos.”
Megs scoffed. “The most powerful woman in the world requires the aid of a pirate to sail to an ancient civilization no one’s heard from in hundreds of years?”
“Yes. I’m the only one who’s seen Persopos and lived to tell the tale. The only sane one, anyway.”
“I don’t think I believe you,” Megs said.
“You don’t have to. But can you think of another reason why I would be here?”
“Adventure. Thrill.”
Akella started to laugh, remembered too late that laughing hurt, and let the laughter die in her throat. “I prefer the Adessian Sea for that. At least I’m warmer when people almost kill me.”
“If you say so.” Megs stood up, pulling the blanket off her shoulders and dropping it onto the wooden chair. She did it so easily and automatically that Akella wondered how many other times she’d sat in that chair, wrapped in a blanket and holding a mug of tea while she waited for Akella to wake up. She had to have done it at least one or two other times, because she knew exactly how long Akella had been unconscious for.
The thought made Akella smile.
“I should get back to work. I’m … glad you didn’t die,” Megs said gruffly. “Maybe I’ll see you around in the mess tent again sometime. It’s harder to find in the snow, but I’m sure by the time they let you out of here, most of it will have melted off.”
“And if I do see you in the mess tent, and I sit down across from you again, will I be allowed to talk? More importantly, will you talk back?”
“I’m not making any promises.” Megs fussed with the blanket, refusing to meet Akella’s curious gaze.
The grin stayed on Akella’s face for at least an hour after Megs left. Yes, she’d almost died again, but as usual, it had proven worth it.