The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) (53 page)

“No, I missed that, fortunately.” Gadiman
watched the two young people dancing in and out among other
couples. Lieutenant Thorne was far more poised on horseback, but
somehow his stiff movements drew a giggle from the Shin girl.

“Well,” Thorne bristled, “she was most
forward and overly confident. Even though she was at the table
behind me, she disrupted my explanation as to the particulars of
increasing security at the Trades gold mine.”

Gadiman’s nose wrinkled. “How so?”

“No one could hear my conclusion over the
laughter from the Shin table!”

“Laughter?”

“It gets worse,” Thorne groused. “Those
seated around me at Cush’s table wanted to know the source of the
amusement, as did those at General Shin’s table. So the High
General invited his granddaughter to stand up and retell her story
for everyone!”

Gadiman, used to eating alone at the same inn
each night, tried to discern if this was normal behavior or not.
“So, she . . .”

“Got up!” Thorne exclaimed. “Went to the head
of her grandfather’s table, and told everyone in very lively terms
how something called ‘The Strongest Soldier Race’ was run last
year. Apparently up in Edge they’ve turned the running training
into something of a contest between Colonel Shin and an enlisted
man.”

Gadiman, who understood about officers and
enlisted men’s places, cringed in revulsion.

“Not only that,” Thorne continued, “Major
Karna is the one who sets up the race each year. And Cush was just
speculating that it was time to give Karna his own command!”

Gadiman sniffed in disappointment, which
seemed appropriate.

“So it seems,” Thorne droned on as he watched
his son dancing with the presumptuous teenager at the other end of
the room, “Karna sets up challenges for each stretch of the race.
One stretch required Shin to deliver a chicken.”

“Why?”

“Part of the challenge,” Thorne scoffed. “Had
to deliver it for someone’s dinner.”

Gadiman shook his head. “He could have easily
said he ate it. It was delivered, and was someone’s dinner—his!” He
beamed at his own idea.

“It was a
live
chicken!” Thorne said
loudly in Gadiman’s ear.

“Ah,” said Gadiman flatly.

Then, “Wait, that’s ridiculous.”

Then, after yet another moment, he ventured,
“He
ran
with a
live
chicken? What, tucked under his
arm? Do chickens enjoy that?”

“Apparently not,” Thorne sighed. “Part of the
amusement of the story. It seems that chickens have strong pecking
and clawing instincts when someone sprints them away from their
coops. The other supposedly humorous part of the story came when
Miss Shin described the enlisted man’s challenge—a man she called
initially ‘Uncle Shem.’ He was to navigate his way through a
pasture filled with several dozen she-goats—”

“Simple enough,” Gadiman said, growing bored
with the conversation.

“—into which half a dozen lonely billy goats
had been released only moments before? It seems that while the
colonel was dealing with a combative chicken,
Uncle Shem
was
being mistaken for an attractive female by the largest billy
goat.”

Gadiman tried to imagine the scene. “I don’t
get it.”

“No,” Thorne exhaled loudly. “You
wouldn’t.”

“Wait a minute,” Gadiman turned to the
colonel. “What’s an Uncle Shem?”

“Took you long enough to ask. He’s your gift
for the evening,” Thorne said, his eyes still focused on his son
and his dancing partner. “Although I don’t see why you deserve
it.”

Gadiman saw the pieces in front of him, but
struggled to put it all together.

Thorne noticed. “You really should’ve been at
The Dinner. That’s when you would’ve picked up on that tasty morsel
I just gave you. The colonel had to remind his daughter—rather too
kindly, I thought—of how the man should be referred to in such a
public setting. ‘Uncle Shem’ is a master sergeant, and a favorite
of the Shin family. Shem Zenos has been like their uncle since the
children were very small. He used to be their baby tender.” Thorne
gave him a deliberate look that dared him to not be so dense as to
not figure it out.

Gadiman’s eyes grew large. “Baby tender?
Wasn’t the baby tender once suspected to be—”

“You, my dear Administrator, are as slow, and
obvious, and useful as mudslide coming down the Idumean River. Do
watch yourself,” Thorne breathed. “It’s your sloppiness that held
you back in the past. Don’t let it be your downfall now that things
are growing interesting again.”

Gadiman squirmed. He knew Colonel Thorne knew
things, but he didn’t know if Qayin knew whose idea the failed
attempt on High General and Mrs. Shin’s life was many years ago. He
fidgeted more at the assumption that he was “sloppy.” The failure
was not his fault! It was someone else’s. It was . . .

“Name was Shem Zenos, you said?”

“Do you know it?”

“I will
.
”

Thorne’s son and the Shin girl twirled past
them.

Thorne smiled encouragingly to the couple,
and then his smile slid into a sneer. “She even acted out the
tale,” he recalled. “It seems that all Shins enjoy audiences. And
her father just grinned at her, as if she was something remarkable.
Almost as insufferably as he looked at his wife.” He cleared his
throat in disapproval. “A man can’t think properly when under such
influences.”

Gadiman nodded in agreement. The lieutenant
and the girl stepped past them again in a wide circle. “And still
you approve of this?”

“My father’s a most excellent horse breeder,”
Thorne said. “He always told me one can’t be too particular about
what kind of package the bloodlines come in. Perhaps the coloring
is off, or the height isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but if
it contains the right blood, don’t discount it. It can still
produce a remarkable offspring.”

Gadiman shrugged, not entirely following
Thorne’s meaning as he eyed the Shin girl. “How old is she,
twelve?”

Thorne chuckled mirthlessly. “No, just turned
fifteen.”

“Girls get married at that age?”

“Usually a little older. I married Mrs.
Thorne when she was seventeen.”

“So he has a couple of years to . . .”
Gadiman wasn’t sure of the word. It had something to do with the
law or—

“Court her
,
yes,” Thorne grumbled the
pointless phrase. “Even though he’s seven years older than her, I
don’t see that as a hindrance. I’m almost six years older than my
wife. Still, he should go to Edge while Shin’s there. He met Shin a
few days ago and seemed to respect him enough.”

“Where’s Colonel Shin, anyway?” Gadiman
asked, looking at the crowd.

“Not dancing. He’s over there, by the doors
to the terrace. The man looking utterly wretched with the fake
smile on his face?” Thorne snickered. “This isn’t his kind of
thing. He suffered through dinner well enough, but as soon as the
tables were removed, you would’ve thought they’d killed his
favorite horse and served it for dessert. For the opening dance, he
ducked out to the back terrace and left my in-laws to begin the
music.” Thorne sniffed. “He returned with two corporals and two
girls, and pushed them to the dance floor. Said he understood it
was his job to ‘get the party started.’ That’s not behavior fitting
for a future general.”

“Agreed,” Gadiman said, pretending he
understood the appalling breach in protocol Colonel Shin had
committed by not beginning the dance himself with his wife since
his father couldn’t.

Gadiman spotted the colonel on the other side
of the Hall standing stiffly a few feet away from anyone else. He
seemed to be trying to find his daughter, while unconsciously
patting the new brass buttons on his uniform. Gadiman couldn’t tell
if he was making sure they were still there or trying to cover them
up.

“Two corporals you say? Here?”

Thorne exhaled in disgust. “He invited more
than a dozen enlisted men. From the corporal who got them through
the traffic when they arrived, to the sergeant who led the search
for his father. And when Snyd showed up with Sergeant Oblong, Shin
sent out an entire platter of food for him and his private.” Thorne
shook his head. “Those kind don’t belong here.”

But then he chuckled coldly and folded his
arms. “I think the only thing that would make Shin more wretched
was if someone tried to get him to dance. I don’t know where his
wife vanished to. She seemed to avoid the floor just as quickly.
Versula was intending to coerce Shin into asking her to dance, but
she’s busy with somebody’s child somewhere.” Thorne sounded
disappointed. “To think, some people even brought their young
children. Yes, it’s for the families, but seriously—look at Colonel
Nelt’s son over there, the lieutenant? See him trying to figure out
why his wife can’t calm down that baby?” Colonel Thorne shook his
head.

But Gadiman’s eye was caught by Colonel
Shin’s movement. He was heading straight for Lieutenant Nelt and
his wife who were sitting at a small table near a wall. Gadiman
nudged Thorne, but the colonel was already watching.

Colonel Shin walked up to the young couple,
smiling broadly. They were so involved with trying to calm down
their squalling baby that they didn’t notice his presence until he
put a hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder and said something to
him.

The lieutenant looked at his wife in
surprise, and she looked back at him, stunned. Her dark complexion
flushed even deeper, while her husband’s brown skin seemed to pale
to almost as light as Shin himself.

Asked them to leave, Gadiman thought to
himself. Finally the colonel wields some power—

But to his astonishment—and judging by the
gasp from Colonel Thorne, to his surprise as well—Colonel Shin
lifted the baby from his mother’s arms. Then he did something that
made half of the officers in the room open their mouths in dismay:
he rubbed noses with the infant.

The tiny child stopped crying and stared at
the strange large man holding him.

Colonel Shin nodded to the lieutenant.
Reluctantly the young officer stood and took his wife by the hand.
She went to protest to the colonel, but he just smiled and waved
her off, then turned the baby so he wouldn’t see his parents walk
to the dance floor of the Grand Hall.

Colonel Shin carried the baby, still staring
transfixed at him, over to a set of unoccupied chairs in a quiet
corner by the open doorway to the terrace.

Nearly all of the eyes in the Grand Hall
stared at him and conversations quieted. Several other people from
adjoining rooms opened for the evening came to see what was causing
the silent commotion. Even a few of the couples dancing strained
their necks for a glimpse.

Colonel Shin was oblivious to it all. He sat
with the baby on his lap and watched as he bat clumsily at the
colonel’s medals. Shin removed the largest, shiniest medal, secured
the pin in the back, and handed it to the little boy.

Gadiman and Thorne stood speechlessly.
Finally Thorne choked out, “The Medal of Valor! He was the youngest
recipient, and now that baby’s drooling on the Medal of Valor!”

General Aldwyn Cush came up behind the two
men and put his arms on both of their shoulders. With a laugh he
said, “I think Colonel Shin is looking forward to becoming a
grandfather, wouldn’t you say?” He squeezed his son-in-law’s
shoulder meaningfully. “I think we can help him out. Don’t you,
Qayin?”

Mrs. Versula Thorne sidled up to them and
took her husband’s arm. “Goodness, Qayin, look at Perrin. That baby
is drooling all over—”

“The Medal of Valor!” Thorne said again, this
time with contempt.

Mrs. Thorne shook her head. “What do they
do
up there in Edge?” she said in silky tones. “Soldiers
taking care of babies?”

“Well, if what Miss Jaytsy said at The Dinner
is to be believed,” Cush said, “Uncle Shem?”

Mrs. Thorne nodded once. “Yes, I caught that
too. A master sergeant baby tender. You would think Perrin’s son
would be more eager to join the army with an upbringing like
that.”

The four of them, along with most of the
guests in the Grand Hall and on the staircase who weren’t dancing,
watched as the colonel beckoned to his son. He spoke to him for a
moment, then the small teenage boy nodded and went to the food
tables against the opposite wall.

He took a plate and eyed the contents of the
leftovers table thoughtfully, taking items from different trays.
His mother, still keeping watch, pointed out a few suggestions
which her son added to the plate. The song ended and the lieutenant
and his wife hurried back over to the colonel who was completely
absorbed in holding their little boy and squeezing his chubby brown
cheeks. Their baby, still content with gumming the medal, didn’t
notice their arrival. The colonel gestured for them to go back to
the dance floor.

The Nelts looked at each other hesitantly
then went to the floor, casting backward glances at their son on
the colonel’s lap.

Mrs. Cush joined her husband, daughter,
son-in-law, and Gadiman. “Why, isn’t that charming!” she gushed
when she saw Colonel Shin smiling down at the baby now leaning
against his chest. “So that must’ve been his plan. Joriana said he
refused to learn to dance and insisted he’d find another way to
prove he was civilized.”

General Cush chuckled, but Colonel Thorne
gave her a disagreeing look. Versula Thorne simply raised a
precisely plucked eyebrow.

But Gadiman sneered. This behavior was most
unexpected, and most undignified. He’d heard of people in the north
“going local,” and now he had a perfect example in front of him.
This was a mental condition Dr. Brisack should’ve been watching,
not Gadiman.

The Shins’ son had now returned and his
father was pointing to various foods, shaking his head at some and
nodding to others. From a distance it seemed as if they decided to
give the baby a hard cracker. The baby grabbed it eagerly, then
alternated between gumming the medal and chewing on the cracker.
Colonel Shin grinned at the baby and finally raised his head to see
the looks of amazement of his guests. His grin hardened as he eyed
the crowd.