The Mansions of Idumea (Book 3 Forest at the Edge series) (74 page)

“It’s not like that at all, Perrin,” Shem
said diffidently. “You’ve given me everything. You’ve given me a
family in Edge.”

“As long as that satisfies you, Shem. You’re
a man who doesn’t ask for much.”

Shem squirmed. “Perrin, I mentioned that
night when you were hurt so long ago not because I wanted you to
compliment my desperation to feel like I belong to a family, but
because I wanted you to remember that time. I was as worried about
you as Mahrree was. She said that injury was worse than what you
suffered when your back was slashed in the forest almost five years
earlier.”

“But that scar’s more impressive,” Perrin
said in a pitiful attempt to be light-hearted.

Shem chuckled obligingly. “It is, I agree.
But that gash to your liver cause you so much pain, and there was
nothing we could do for you but stay by your side and be with you
while you suffered.

“But you made it through, Perrin,” Shem said
earnestly. “You endured it, and eventually improved. The last time
I saw your scar, it was barely visible. Tonight’s a lot like that.
You’re enduring a tremendous pain, and I’m terribly worried about
you. But you’re a strong man, and you’ll get through it. I wish I
knew more of what to do to help you, but no matter what, I’ll stay
by your side until you heal.”

“I know you will,” Perrin whispered. “Thank
you. I have to confess I was hoping you would follow me.”

“And stop you?”

“And help me. Again,” Perrin said darkly.

Shem stiffened. “Help you with what, Perrin?
What do you want me to do?”

Perrin was silent for a moment before he
said, “Keep me safe. Take care of my family.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the
past fourteen years.”

Perrin stared up at the roof of the barn for
a few minutes. Eventually he rolled over. “Wake me in three hours,
all right?”

Shem would’ve done it, if he hadn’t fallen
asleep himself. When he awoke with a start, it was because the
sunrise was pouring in through the cracks of the barn and hitting
him in the face. He looked in front of him and saw the impression
in the straw where the colonel had been.

“PERRIN!” he yelled as he scrambled to his
feet. He rushed outside and found the two horses with Perrin
adjusting the straps.

“Just getting everything ready,” he said
easily. “Thought I’d let you sleep a few more minutes. Trust me,
all right?”

“I’m trying to,” said Shem, leaning against
the barn wall and massaging his eyes.

“It’s less than an hour to the
Administrators’ Headquarters from here. Are you still ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Good. Now Shem,” Perrin said as he climbed
onto his horse, “when we’re there, that’s when you should
stop
trusting me.”

“I’m ready for that, too.

Chapter 23
~
“Once she even caught a falcon.”

M
ahrree woke up with
a start, immediately recalling every horrible moment that had
transpired the endless night before.

She looked around, a bit disoriented, before
remembering she was on the sofa. Jaytsy was curled up on one side
and Peto was on the other. Their faces were still blotchy from
weeping. At what time they finally succumbed to the brief respite
sleep offered, she didn’t know. But all the pain was back again, in
full pounding force.

She sighed and slouched back on the sofa.
Through Peto’s open door she spied Major Karna asleep on Peto’s
bed, with his sword on the floor and at the ready. Mahrree
remembered her mother had gone to Jaytsy’s bed to lie down in the
middle of the night.

She looked over to see Jaytsy’s door open,
but heard a soft shuffling in the kitchen behind her. For a moment,
Mahrree’s heart leaped in hope, until she identified the sounds as
her mother trying quietly to cook breakfast.

Mahrree rubbed her temples with her fingers
and muttered the same prayer she’d been saying all night. “Please,
dear Creator—help Shem find Perrin. Let them both come home safely.
And please, somehow, help our hearts heal.”

---

“Where is he?” Mal demanded as Brisack came
into his office.

“Someone just spotted him coming to the
Administration Building. But there won’t be any time to interrogate
him before the meeting.” Brisack sat heavily in a chair. “But don’t
worry—I have three men that will be waiting at his office, and four
more to tail him should he leave to go elsewhere. We’ll pin down
Gadiman and find out
what else
he’s ordered.”

Mal shook his head. “Unbelievable,” he
whispered and glanced quickly around his large office. Since they
weren’t in his library—the unexpected events of the past day and
night hadn’t allowed for any private meetings—Nicko Mal felt just a
little anxious. Never did they discuss
such matters
outside
the privacy of the former throne room, but the urgency of the
crisis meant they had to figure out something, and fast. “I can’t
believe the weasel finally pulled it off.”

“About twelve or thirteen years too late,”
Brisack murmured back. “But he did it. Relf and Joriana Shin are
dead. I saw their bodies myself and still it’s . . . unbelievable.
That’s the only word.” He shook his head, still numb and
incredulous. “So, given any thought as to who will replace
Shin?”

“There’s only one choice,” Mal whispered,
also immensely distracted. “The only one with the access and
connections we need right now.”

Brisack nodded once. “And his assistant?”

“Also already chosen. He’ll be the highest
man we’ll ever have had placed. Great potential, now.”

“Potential to do what, though?” Brisack
sighed and gestured lamely. “Who’s left to challenge?”

Mal’s eyebrows went up. “Who’s left? You
seriously asked that? Perrin’s left! You think he’s just going to
roll over and accept this? He might even come for the burial.”

Brisack shook his head. “Surely not. Perrin
will be on his knees, ruined. Slag!” the good doctor swore and
stared out a window filling with early light. “I wanted to be the
one who did it! I wanted to crush him, but that stupid weasel beat
me to it.”

“What did you have planned?” Mal asked with a
hint of a smile.

“Nothing firm,” his companion admitted. “But
I had several options.”

“Keep those options, Doctor. Perrin won’t
crumble that easily. Just watch. He’ll be here, in grand fashion
like a raging bear, and certainly not on his knees.”

Brisack folded his arms. “Then I speculate
against you. Perrin’s a sobbing mess somewhere, broken.”

“Remember, he has ways of surprising us.”

“No,” Brisack said, “he always has a way of
surprising
you.
”

“Have you already forgotten how much he
surprised
you
while he was here? But don’t worry, my good
doctor; you’ll still get your opportunity. Trust me.”

---

Instead of appreciating the massive
buildings, houses, and shops of Idumea, Shem kept glancing over at
Perrin, trying to read his face. He was very practiced at it, and
what he saw there wrenched his heart.

Perrin regarded everything as if it were
betraying him. All the snow was melted in Idumea, revealing vibrant
green grasses and an almost obscene amount of flowers; life,
bursting out everywhere. But all there was in Perrin’s eyes was
death and pain as even Nature seemed to mock him.

As he rode, Shem looked furtively around at
the people dressed in fashions and finery far more ridiculous than
anything in Edge, and noticed they were all staring back at him,
alarmed. He glanced down and saw for the first time how much muck,
straw, and dried blood dirtied his uniform.

Perrin was just as deplorable, but on him it
worked, making him all the more terrifying.

“Which route do you usually take through the
city?” Perrin asked as they turned down another road. The horses
were slowed to maneuver around a tipped wagon and the carriages
stalled behind it.

“I don’t. My first time here,” Shem
confessed.

“But you grew up south of here. You go home
every year.”

“But I always avoid Idumea,” Shem explained.
“My father made me promise never to come here, so I take the long
way around.”

That was one of his conditions Papa had
required before he agreed to sign Shem’s form verifying he was of
age to join the army.
“Don’t ever go to Idumea. You know how I
feel about that place.”

When Shem was twenty years old he never
intended to break that promise.

Actually, until last night he never intended
to break that promise. He felt dishonest about letting down his
father, but it was for a good reason.

Not like it was the first time he’d ever been
dishonest, or betrayed anyone. Certainly wasn’t going to be the
last—

Perrin nodded once. “My apologies to Mr.
Zenos for making his boy break his promise.”

“He’ll get over it,” Shem said, “but I see
why he hates the place. It’s so crowded I wished I could fly out of
here.”

As the horses made their way past the
wreckage in the road, Perrin leaned over to Shem. “Then let’s get
this over with and get out of here.”

He kicked his heels into his horse and Shem
joined him, galloping toward the Administrators’ Headquarters.

People scattered out of the way as the two
filthy men rode through the crowds. They stopped abruptly at the
white steps of the large orange and red stone building, slid off
their horses, and handed the reins to a startled page at the
hitching post.

Perrin looked up at the white steps and drew
his sword. A woman nearby screamed, but he ignored her as he
marched up to the doors.

Shem reluctantly drew his sword as well,
received another scream for his effort, and followed Perrin.

The pages at the doors glanced uneasily at
each other. The usual crowd traveling the stairs parted quickly
with cries of surprise as the colonel and the sergeant took the
steps two at a time. Colonel Shin scowled at the two young pages,
and immediately they pushed open the doors and stepped out of the
way.

More gasps and shouts greeted them as Perrin
marched unimpeded through the large and polished hallway and down
to the right, Shem on his heels. He prayed he didn’t have to use
his weapons today, because there was only one person on whom he
would, if necessary.

Scattering like turkeys before a farmer with
a hatchet, Idumeans made plenty of room for Colonel Shin to blaze
straight to the waiting area of the Conference Room. He didn’t even
hesitate when he saw the closed doors.

Shem glanced over to the recording desk where
two men in short red jackets sat. One of the men raised his brow in
astonishment as he caught Shem’s eye.

Shem did his best to quickly communicate
there was about to be
a bit
of a problem
. The other
man in red leaped to his feet to protest.

“Sir, you don’t have an—” was all he got out
before Colonel Shin kicked open the doors and startled the entire
body of the Administrators.

“Good,” Shin said as he barged into the room
and stepped up to the table. “You’re all here.”

Half of the Administrators scrambled to stand
up.

Master Sergeant Zenos, who followed Shin,
promptly closed the doors behind him and latched them. A tumbling
noise on the other side of the doors suggested several men crashed
into them: the Administrative Headquarters guards, arriving just a
moment too late. There was muffled shouting behind Shem, calling
for the guards to find another way in.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” cried an
administrator.

“That’s what I came to find out!” Colonel
Shin told him. He looked at each of the men in the room and paused
when he saw the unanticipated faces of a general and another
colonel standing behind the Chairman. “Cush. Thorne.”

The officers nodded once back.

Shem swallowed and stared straight ahead
across the immense table, surprised to find himself facing the most
powerful man in the world. At least, Mal
thought
he was.

Perrin’s gaze also shifted to Chairman Mal
and he threw his sword on the polished table. Its clattering echoed
in the tall room. “It stays right there, until I get some answers,”
Shin explained. “If I don’t hear the truth, I get to use it.”

The Chairman hid his surprise well, Shem
thought. His relaxed-and-in-control demeanor had vanished as soon
as the colonel stormed through the door, and now he leaned forward
on the table, his hands clasped so tightly together that his
knuckles were white.

The Administrators that were still standing
nervously sat back down, as if worried they presented too easy a
target.

Mal glanced over momentarily to the man who
was the Administrator of Family Life, according to the gold and
wood plaque in front of him. Then Mal shifted his gaze past the
colonel to Shem. “Master Sergeant, your sword?”

“Is to defend you, sir,” Shem announced,
grateful that his voice was so steady, “and the other
Administrators. In case the colonel forgets his promise.”

The Chairman nodded once and Shem thought he
suddenly seemed paler.

“What happened?” Colonel Shin demanded. “All
that wretched little message said was that the house was invaded
and they were killed. That’s all you could spare for the High
General and his wife? No more ink than that?”

General Cush lumbered hastily around the
table. “Perrin, Perrin! We sent another message, just an hour
later, with much more information. The first message was brief
because we thought you should know immediately. It’s terrible news,
no matter what. I’m so very sorry.” He reached Perrin and tried to
put a hand on his shoulder.

But Colonel Shin shrugged it off. “Where were
the soldiers?” he asked the room. “How many Guarders? Were they the
same that attacked our caravan?”