Empire of Ashes

Chapter XXXIII - Rank and File

All four warbands watched on as the Brakin corps leaders swore their fealty. The traditional oath ended with, "What would you have of us, Ragnyr?"

And Temris just smiled. "For now, nothing. You have today and tomorrow to do as you like. Solstice begins in a few hours. Enjoy."

That earnt him another cheer from the men. Free time was apparently enough of an incentive to keep them cheering even as their leader made his way over to where we stood. To my surprise, he walked straight past the Iyrak, and in full view of the hushed army, he took my hand and led me away.

We walked back to the same fire-pit. I was beginning to suspect this might be the campfire that the corps sat around every evening, even if it was currently deserted. There were layers of cold ashes beneath the current blaze, and a few dirty cookpots from last night's supper were strewn around the edge.

We all formed a ragged circle on the grass. I ended up between Temris and Samira, rather unsurprisingly. Before I had even crossed my legs, Bevan began passing a skin of ale around. I took a deep swig and felt the alcohol immediately go to my head.

"To that treacherous prick," Anlai toasted. "Good riddance."

We drank happily to that, but Temris seemed solemn. "He didn't deserve to die."

"Come on, Ragnyr. The man tried to fillet you with an illegal blade," Fendur pointed out. We could all see the tear and smear of red on his shirt where Yarrow's dagger had grazed him. It was across his ribs, a handspan above the scar from his father's challenge.

He shrugged. "It wasn't a very good effort. The pommel was showing — I noticed it before we even began fighting."

It had looked like a damn good effort from where I was standing. But then again, I was merely an ignorant peasant, oblivious to the ways of battle.

"That's all well and good, Tem. He did manage to get a few hits in, though," I said as I used my waterskin to soak a scrap of cloth. He didn't resist when I tipped his face towards me and wiped the blood from it.

Yarrow's punch had split his lip in more than one place. I slipped a hand around the back of his head to hold it in place while I cleaned the gash and inspected it. The bet only counted for romantic advances, apparently — he had touched me several times already today.

"I think I'll live, little one," he told me. "Now here's the plan. Tomorrow at dawn, we leave for Canton. So try not to get too hungover. Command in my absence goes to you, Sami. You may share the burden with Hallos and Bevan if you so choose. March the army to Taiga, take it with minimal loss of life and then return home in time for harvest."

"Me?" Samira asked incredulously. "Not Anlai?"

"You," Temris confirmed. "Should anything happen to me, you have my blessing to compete in the melee."

I couldn't help but smile. He had made the right choice and named a successor who might genuinely want the position. Samira was young, but by the gods, she could fight.

She choked. "You can't be serious. There's never been a female Ragnyr. Not in all of history."

"Then it is about time we changed that, don't you think?"

Samira smiled as well. She still didn't quite seem to believe it. "Thank you, brother."

"Don't thank me — I'm not doing you a favour," he drawled. "You earnt this."

Before long, Temris got dragged into a discussion about melee tactics with his cousin. I quite happily turned to my other neighbour and asked the question I should have asked days ago. "So, what is Solstice, exactly? Why does everyone love it so much?"