Tomas sighed heavily. “Although I am sure that I will not like what I am about to hear, this break is welcome nonetheless.” He leaned against the large gacha wood table in the center of the room and faced the others. “So, what is it?”Jarda told the king everything that had happened that morning, from the fight between Frank and Ricard to the interrogations and confessions to the meeting he, Tero, and Phransa had had in his office.The king grew angrier by the moment as Jarda talked, but he stayed silent until the narrative was complete. By the end, he was pacing the length of the table and clenching his fists. Jarda was glad the scowl on his king’s face was not for him.“And you say this has been going on for a year, Jarda? How is that possible? How did no one know what was happening to these boys?”“I do not know the answer to that question, sire. All I can say is that the boys who did this were very careful, and they scared the younger boys enough that they told no one of the abuse

Phransa gazed at Jarda with pleading eyes, but Jarda gritted his teeth and shook his head once. “I am sorry, Captain. I cannot.”“I know, sir,” the captain said, once again trying to pull the boy to his feet. “I understand.”Juston had a strong grip on Jarda, and Phransa was unable to pry him loose. Tero came to help, and between the two of them, they pulled the boy free.“No! No, please, no!” Juston struggled as they dragged him to the post and secured him to it. “No, please! Please, General, please let me go home!”Phransa took a deep breath and picked up the scourge. He released the breath slowly, reared back, and struck. The shriek that came from the boy was heartrending, but the captain controlled his voice.“One.”Each lash produced another shriek, and by the sixth, the boy had started calling for his mama. Jarda looked out over the assembly and saw that most of the Chatra had either turned away or had dropped to the ground, covering their heads with their arms. A sour stench fi

Frank stood before the bag, thinking. Then he nodded. “That makes sense. If you did not punish them, others might do the same thing later.”“Exactly. Now, do you want to try the bag?”“Yes, sir.” The little boy’s hands clenched into fists. “Will it be like when I hit Ricard?”“Somewhat.” Jarda gestured toward Tero who was watching two guardsmen practicing with blunt swords. The guardsman walked over to his general and stood at attention.“Yes, General?”“Help me lower this bag, Guardsman. My son needs to hit something.”The corner of Tero’s mouth quirked upward, but he quickly acknowledged the order, and the two men adjusted the chain until the bottom of the bag was just about a span off the ground. At Jarda’s dismissal, Tero left, but when he reached his former position, Jarda saw that his eyes were not on the swordsmen.Suppressing a smile, Jarda knelt behind the bag to hold it steady. “Go ahead, Ga’briyel. Take your anger out on the bag.”The next half hour disappeared quickly as F

“In that you are wrong, Ga’briyel,” Dinton said. “They are everyone’s problem.”“Not in the same way.”“What do you mean by that?”“For you to deal with the Asabya, it would be justice. For me, it is revenge, and I guarantee that your justice and my revenge could not be more different.” Frank did not want to elaborate, so he kicked Kumar into a trot and tried to put some space between himself and the other men. They were not about to let him, though, and they quickly closed the distance between them.“You cannot leave it there, Ga’briyel,” Dinton said with a frown as he guided Shala next to Kumar. “What is going on?”When Frank stayed silent, Tero said, “We have a right to know, Captain Mistri. A right to know what we are getting ourselves into.”Frank reined Kumar in to a stop, and the others turned their horses to face him. “Does a captain question his general, Tero? No. Although we do not wear the uniform of the Guard right now, think of me as your general. This is my responsibilit

“Fine.”The camp was silent for a while except for the metallic clang of spoons against plates.“Where exactly are we going?” Dinton asked as he shoveled in the last of his porridge.“We will cross the Parbatas at the Ghata Pass. It is a three day ride from here. It will take us about that same amount of time to cross the pass into the plains. After that, we will travel north to Grama, their town. Once there…”“Yes?” Tero asked.Frank shrugged again and stood to pack up his things. “I am not sure. I know that I will make them pay for what they did, but I do not know how yet.” He whistled and Kumar trotted over to him from the stream. He readied the horse to ride, and after a few moments, the other two did the same.The next sennight passed rather uneventfully. They traveled to the pass, stopping once at a fair-sized village to restock their provisions, and they spent four days crossing over the mountains. It was summertime, so there was little snow even at the summit, but the chill wi