table of contents – (spoilers)
Brother Barrelmender came to the army compound shortly after Peep and Pinch left. He was armored up, with the black robes of the Brothers of the Holy Stone overtop. Choke quickly filled him in on the details of their meeting with the lumberjacks and Corporal Lenny’s desertion. Barrelmender seemed to listen, but showed no reaction.
“I shall keep my eyes open for him on the road, and inform Father Morrenthall in Spitzer,” he finally said. “But I expect Otilla was right, he no doubt took the Tanglefoot. Now, please get me a horse; I should be going.”
Choke had already saddled the best of their spare horses: the mare they had taken from the horse thieves that raided the church on their first night in Bristlenook. In his armor, Barrelmender took some time to mount up, but managed it by himself.
“Today is Sunday, Lieutenant, and the flock have been distraught lately. If you could take it upon yourself to give them a sermon today, I am sure they would appreciate it,” Barrelmender said as he fidgeted in the saddle, getting his robes settled properly around his legs.
“Absolutely, Brother. It would be my honor.”
“I am sure. I have your report. I shall have it delivered to the fort. I will return as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Brother. Take care, and may Stron bless and protect you,” Choke said.
Barrelmender nodded curtly and spurred his mount, heading for the south gate. As soon as he was gone, Choke pulled Knuckle and Corporal Dom outside away from the men, who were eating breakfast in the barracks.
“With what has happened, we are going to be staying within the palisade today,” Choke said to them. “After breakfast, I am going to be giving the sermon for Sunday Mass at the church. Sergeant Theodas: I know that Sergeant Nikolas’ squad is the next up for watch, but I want you and yours to take it. I need you to keep Reece and Oscar with you. I don’t want them mingling with the men and stirring up more trouble. Don’t worry about town square and the south gate. I’ll keep an eye on that. Keep your squad together at the north gate. Better yet, send Reece up the tower alone. He won’t be able to get in any trouble up there. One would hope.”
“Yes, sir,” Knuckle said, nodding smugly in approval.
Knuckle turned to Dom: “Corporal: with Otilla and Sergeant Nikolas out running Lenny to ground, I am going to be relying on you more than ever. I understand that you are in a difficult position with this. As to your position here with us, I appreciate your earnest effort and the leadership you have shown the men. It has not gone unnoticed. I assure you that I do think that Lenny’s betrayal of his oath and his duty reflects upon you. However, I do understand that whatever happens with him will be difficult for you. It is most likely that Otilla will bring back his head. If he is brought back alive, he will be flogged. At a minimum. Fifty lashes and execution by hanging is what Captain Edison told me to do to the first deserters. You need to reconcile yourself with whatever happens. And I need you to stand fast as an example to the men. Can you do this, Corporal?”
Dom stood for a long moment with his eyes closed. When he opened them, he met Choke’s gaze steadily enough.
“I think I can, sir.”
“Good man. I appreciate it. Now,” Choke said, addressing both Dom and Knuckle, “shortly, all the men not on watch will attend Mass at church. Following this, they may all take the morning off. However, they must stay in the military compound. After lunch, I shall dispense the week’s pay. Then, we shall do more fight training. Do either of you have any questions?”
Knuckle shook his head, but Dom raised his hand.
“Sir, are ye gonna address the men about Lenny?”
“No. Not yet. I need to prepare my sermon, for one, so there really isn’t time. Besides which, they all know the truth of it by now, and I won’t have anything worthwhile to say on it until he’s brought back. Or not. Either way, I need to know what’s become of him before I can speak to it. If I bluster about it and he gets away, that’s only going to make things worse. Anything else?”
“No, sir,” both Dom and Knuckle said.
“Good. I will be in the dining room with my Holy Book. In a short while, Corporal Dom, you and I will take the men to the church for Mass. Sergeant, as soon as breakfast is over, your squad has the watch, as we discussed. Dismissed.”
***
The church was crowded that day for Sunday Mass; standing room only. Of course, the platoon were there, standing at the back of the church, as well as Mariola and the Holy Fire Wailers. Babs and Balan were there with all their children, as well as the lumberjack Daeg with his wife, Lila, and their adult son, Will, and three younger children. The merchants and their people were in attendance, as was the goatfucker Theon and his family.
Choke thanked them for coming before briefly explaining that Brother Barrelmender was off to attend Church matters in Spitzer and would soon return. He then went through his selected reading of Holy Book passages that had previously found to be popular with common folk. He ended things with a series of psalms that were well received. Finally, he offered the congregation his blessing.
“Otilla of the Holy Fire! Where’s Otilla!” called a shrill voice from the Holy Fire Wailers.
“Otilla is on a mission presently. She will return soon,” Choke answered.
“And what’s going on with the goblin invasion? Every night with the gobo dreams!” a man shouted.
“We have seen no sign of any goblins,” Choke answered. “Several weeks ago, the Baron sent a force under Captain Fairchild to the north to investigate. When they return, we shall hear about it. Until them, be vigilant. Watch out for any signs on danger, and report to us anything you see.”
“The gobo flood is coming to punish the sinners, right? Why are we getting the dreams when the sinning heathens of Bristlenook are free and easy to rut like swine in filth?” an older woman yelled.
“I couldn’t tell you what dreams they might be having, ma’am. In any case, Stron shall be their ultimate judge, rest assured of that. We must mind ourselves,” Choke returned.
Following this a general babble rose from the congregation, as multiple people sought to express themselves on all manner of topics. Seeing that this would soon get completely beyond what he was willing to deal with, he raised both palms in the air.
“People!” she shouted in his loudest voice. This quieted them. “I understand you are worried. We are doing everything we can to prepare for whatever might come. You must let us do it. Attend to your affairs. Rest assured that by coming here today, you have done the best you can in this world to prepare for the next, whenever that might come for you. We all shall have our judgement day, and those of us with Stron need not fear ours. Stron bless all of you!”
“Hear my confession, Father! I have sinned! I must confess!” a woman in the front pew called. There were a number of laughs at this from folk that looked as though they knew all too well what might be burdening her.
“I am no priest!” Choke shouted as several more people rose up to supplicate for confessional. “I cannot hear your confessions! You must wait for Brother Barrelmender’s return. Now, please! You may stay in the church as long as you wish, but I must now attend to my men. Thank you!”
It took almost half an hour for Choke to make is way through the crowd to the church’s main doors where Corporal Dom was waiting with the men. Almost every interaction he had on his way was entirely pointless. By the time he reached the exit, Choke had gained a profound sympathy for Barrelmender’s general attitude towards his flock.
Choke and Dom had the men form up to march back to the military courtyard. A good number of the congregation followed them and then hung around in the street watching. Choke had Knuckle and his squad join the rest of the men at attention so that he could address them.
“Men! I can only assume what you’ve been hearing from each other about Corporal Lenny. I will not comment on it until he has been brought back so that we can get to the bottom of it. As for you: tomorrow we’ll have been here a week. You have all done very well! I am proud of you! So, this morning you are free to do as you please until lunch. However, you must stay here, in or around the barracks. After lunch I shall issue your first week’s pay. You have earned it. Then, this afternoon, we shall work on more fight training. That is all for now. Dismissed!”
The seemed generally in good spirits as they fell out. Most of them went back into the barracks to their bunks, with others choosing to lounge around outside against barrack’s walls or the inside of the palisade.
Choke signaled for Knuckle and Dom to join him.
“We’re not keeping a watch at the south gate, sir,” Dom asked him.
Choke shook his head. “No. All three of us need to stay here to mind the men. The town should be safe enough for today. We haven’t seen any signs of danger. That much is technically true, at least,” he finished, muttering to himself.
“What d’ye want us doing, then?” Knuckle asked.
“Mingle with the men. Keep an eye on them. But, if they seem inclined to talk or include you in whatever they’re doing, join them. Take this time to develop a relationship with some of them, if possible. Don’t force it, of course.”
“So ye want me to be their buddy now?” Knuckle asked with a sneer, his hand stroking the jailer’s cudgel in his belt.
“Do as you feel, Knuckle. You are their taskmaster, first and foremost, of course. But if you can have some of them liking you without undermining that, so much the better. Respect is about more than fear.”
Knuckle shrugged and stood still, looking over to Dom, obviously waiting for him to leave so that he and Choke could be alone.
“Do you have any concerns or questions, Corporal?” Choke asked Dom.
“No, sir. I’m sure yar on it. But, we’re gonna need another corporal, or maybe two soon, right?”
“Yes. Any thoughts on that?” asked Choke.
“I don’t know, sir. I’ll give it some thought, though.”
“I appreciate that. Okay, then, Corporal. Dismissed.”
Dom saluted both Choke and Knuckle, who returned it. Once he was gone, Choke sighed deeply and let his head roll back on his shoulders.
“How was church?” Knuckle asked with a grin.
“Terrible. No. I mean, I suppose they liked what I did well enough, for what that’s worth. But they are scared and upset and looking for so much more than I can give them. What are we supposed to do for these people? If things go as badly as it’s been foretold, what can we do?”
Knuckle shrugged. “Nothing, man. If the shit hits like that we’re all dead anyways. Right? It aint like they’re any worse off than they were with fuckin Dixon here, right? At least with us, we’re putting on a show for them. Fuck it. Yar doing a good job, man!”
Knuckle grinned and clapped Choke on the shoulder before giving him a friendly shake. Choke returned the gesture before pulling Knuckle into a brief, but strong, hug.
“Thank you, Knuckle. I needed to hear that.”
“No problem. Fuck it, it’s true, right? We do our best, and if we all die anyways then what else could we a done? But I did have one, I dunno… I guess question? About the rest times. These breaks the men get,” Knuckle said, definitely with something important to him in mind.
“Okay, then. Go ahead,” Choke said.
“Well, the men are on their break, but you me and Dom are working, yeah?”
“Yes…”
“So, when’s my break? I wanna get some time myself to, ye know, do what I wanna do,” Knuckle said.
Now spotting the horny gleam in Knuckle’s eye, Choke realized exactly what he was getting at. He wanted to visit Annica and Mya to engage their services. Choke began to respond with this realization front in his mind, but bit this off as he realized it was none of his business.
“I understand, Knuckle. We will all get our own time of rest. As we discussed, the morning after a night watch is your break rotation. As well, as an NCO, if things are settled and you don’t take too long, you could attend personal business on occasion after dinner. If you are not on watch of course. But right now I need you with the men. You understand that, right?”
“Yeah, of course, man! But, yeah, okay. I’ll check in about getting some time later. No problem. Thanks, sir.”
“No. It’s fine. Ahm, but while we’re talking like this, there is something else we need to discuss,” Choke winced.
“Yeah?” Knuckle said, his eyes narrowing.
“If Peep and Pinch bring Lenny back alive… you understand what has to happen,” Choke said, looking at Knuckle significantly.
“What? No. Whad’ye mean?”
“He has to be flogged.”
“Yeah. So? Ye said that to Dom already. I know,” Knuckle said, looking askew at Choke like he was being very stupid.
“I just wanted to check with you about that. Someone has to do the flogging. At the keep you seemed like you wouldn’t mind doing it. But that was before we watched Horace get flogged almost to death. I just wanted to check that you were still comfortable doing it.
Knuckle shrugged. “Well, yeah. I mean, it’s gotta be me, right? I’m the guy that knocks them around. Who the fuck else is gonna do it?”
“Alright, then. Good. Thank you. I just wanted to check in with you about it.”
“Thanks, I guess. Anyways, it aint gonna come up. When has Peep ever missed a chance to kill somebody? She’ll be bringing his head back, and that’ll be that.”
“You’re probably right, Knuckle. Okay then, you go and be with the men. I’m going to saddle up our horses and give them a bit of a ride. Just in town between here and the south gate. That might steady some of the villagers.”
“Yes, sir,” Knuckle said, giving Choke a proper salute before heading towards the barracks.
***
It was just mid-afternoon when Peep and Pinch returned with Lenny. Choke and Knuckle were in the courtyard with the men training. They had split the platoon into two squads: one under Knuckle, and the other under Corporal Dom. The squads were fighting each other with practice spears within loose shieldwall formations. Choke was mounted on Nike with a practice lance, riding around the melee, poking men here and there to focus their attention. A good number of villagers were still loitering about, watching the soldiers at their training.
Pinch rode through the north gate first. He was followed shortly by Lenny, who was holding his own reins with his hands bound in front of him. Peep followed a little back with her shortbow held loosely across her saddle in front of her.
Upon seeing them, the villagers immediately commenced a hubbub. The news of Lenny’s desertion had spread, and the folk were very excited to see him. Hangings are always popular.
Peep said something to Lenny, who reined up and dismounted just inside the gate at the edge of the courtyard. He passed his horse’s reins up to Pinch, who led it around the edge of the courtyard, heading towards the stable on the other side. Another word from Peep, and Lenny started walking towards Choke and the soldiers at their training, his shoulders slumped and his head bowed. Peep followed him on her horse, keeping pace with him about five meters back, her shortbow now in hand. Her wolfhead cloak was up, putting her face into shadow in the afternoon sunshine.
“Well I’ll be dipped in dog shit! She brought him back alive!” Knuckle exclaimed.
Choke watched the men carefully as they noticed Lenny and broke off their mock combat to stare at him. Most simply seemed surprised, without any real show of emotion either way. A few seemed pleased and soon began jeering him with their fellows. Others could not hide their dismay at his return. Reece, in particular, flinched and turned away with a stifled curse.
“I fuckin told ye,” someone muttered near Reece. Choke could not be certain, but he was fairly sure it was the troublemaker’s burly mate Osgar who said it.
“Alright men! Stand down!” Choke ordered loudly. “You have done well. You may take a rest. Go have a drink of water. However! Before you do, I would say to you: that man there is a deserter! Further, in his desertion, he left the north gate unguarded while we all slept! This might have gotten us all killed! He is now a prisoner! You are not to speak to him! Dismissed!”
The men broke from their rough combat lines and spread out, but they did not head back to the barracks. Instead, they clumped up with their usual mates to watch Lenny approach, muttering quietly to each other as they did.
Choke left the men to it, and turned to Dom and then Knuckle:
“Corporal: stay with the men. Sergeant: you’re with me.”
Choke then rode away from the men towards Peep and Lenny, leaving Knuckle to follow on foot.
“Where we putting him, LT?” Peep asked when Choke go close to them.
Lenny stopped walking and stood, trembling, staring at the ground at his feet.
While he had not expected Lenny to be captured alive, Choke had been aware of the possibility of it, so he had already given this some thought. Neither the church or the military compound had a jail of any sort. However, against the stable wall nearest the barracks there was an old kennel. At some point it had been reinforced just enough to be serviceable cage for a human prisoner.
“The old kennel, I think,” Choke answered.
Peep nodded with a grunt. “That’ll work. He’ll need to be guarded.”
“Indeed. Also, if I remember correctly, there are some shackles in the church’s basement, along with chain. We’ll use that, too,” Choke said.
“Please, sir. I—” Lenny started, his voice trembling.
“Shut up!” Choke snapped. “You will have your chance to speak. Now is not it!” He then turned to Knuckle, who had joined them, his cudgel in hand. “Sergeant: take the prisoner to the old kennel beside the stable. Search him and strip him to breeches and jerkin. No boots, belt, or anything else. Then put him in and guard him until we return with the manacles.”
“Yes, sir! Ye heard him, scum! Move it!” Knuckle shouted, stepping up to give Lenny a swat across his back with the cudgel. Lenny stumbled with a sob and almost fell. Knuckle hooked his elbow and dragged him upright by his bound arms before shoving him towards the stables.
Choke turned to Peep. “Let’s go to the church together. You can fill me in on the way.”
Muse Vassal 