The Prince's Boy

THE PRINCE'S BOY: CHAPTER 28

28: Jorin

In the morning a commander came, and he and two other officers supervised our march from the camp. They hadn't given us weapons yet, or orders, and I wondered how far we would be going. Not far on foot, it turned out, as they marched us down to the river and loaded us onto a barge. We were twenty four men in total, including the commander and his second, and two bowmen who took turns on top. From the way the other men eyed them I knew they were less there to protect us from the enemy than to shoot any of us that tried to flee.

We were on the barge all day, traveling on the river, and when night fell, the commander gathered us together to speak of our "mission" and of the pardon we would each be given for our crimes if we did this service to the crown.

If we survived, of course. He did not say that part, though I think every man there knew it well enough. I saw others casting their gazes about as if looking for escape, but there was none with the archers watching us from the barge roof. I overheard them talking about how most of the army was being mustered to the east, and lamenting that we were not joining them. In the morning we would draw near Tiger's Mouth, they told us, and we would be armed once we reached the encampment after sunrise.

We bedded down on the deck of the barge, and I found the motion of the boat and the rushing sound of the water enough to lull me to sleep.

I was wakened by the sound of a scream. I felt a jolt as if the barge had run around or struck something, and there were men running on the roof, shouting. In the darkness the lanterns cast very little light, but a sudden bright plume of fire lit the night just off to one side. I saw the silhouette of men being flung back from the blast in the split second before I closed my eyes and shielded my face. If I had been on my feet I would have been knocked down, surely.

I did not wait to see if the next ball of fire would explode on the deck itself. In the dark and with the archers all too busy with the chaos, I slipped over the side and into the river.

I had not expected the river to pull me away from the side so quickly but the barge was stuck where it was and once I was in the water, I was not. I paddled hard, trying to keep my head above the water, which was fortunately not very rough or that might have been the end of me. I kicked off the boots they had given me and then I could swim a little better, but it had never been a skill I'd cultivated. The rough uniform I wore weighed me down, but I didn't dare stop paddling long enough to try to shrug free of it. Luckily, my struggling in the water took me toward the bank and I was able to get myself up onto a pebble-lined shore without further danger. I could still hear the shouts and saw another gout of flame go up into the sky.

Was it the Night Riders? There were the rumors about them taming a dragon to do their bidding. Sergetten had said there was no such thing as dragons (at least, not any longer) and I believed him. If not for that fire I might have thought the commotion merely my fellow conscripts in revolt. But it seemed more likely that the transport was under attack.

All the more reason for me to get away as quickly as possible. If only I could catch my breath. My limbs felt leaden after how hard my blood had pumped as I'd swum. I forced myself to crawl out of the open and into the brush, so should the barge break loose and come downriver, no one would see me.

I lay there under the broad leaves of some bush in full summer bloom, listening in the dark, the scent of the flowers overwhelming the wet odor of my uniform. I could hear nothing conclusive. I decided to wring out what I was wearing, to have some hope of it drying. I took it off, wringing out the shirt and pants and then hanging them in the branches of the bush.

The scent from the blossoms I brushed as I moved was heady and sweet. Not falla but some flower I didn't know. I lay back down to rest and wait for my uniform to dry and for whatever might happen next. Surely if it was the Night Riders taking the barge, it would soon be moving again, toward Tiger's Mouth where their stronghold was? Or would they just destroy it where it was?