The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,128

silence as Eric was no longer able to speak clearly. Will sat beside him, feeling numb and dead inside. The only comfort he could offer was an arm around Eric’s shoulders.

When Will finally returned to the tent, the first person to approach him was the last one he wanted to speak to. Dave grinned at him. “I saw you with your girlfriend over by the latrines. When will the happy day—” The thief stopped when he saw the expression on Will’s face.

Will’s fists were balled up so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Deep down, he hoped Dave would go on so he could vent his anger on the man, but the ex-cutpurse surprised him.

“Whoa, sorry. I didn’t realize it was something important.” That said, the other man backed away and went to his bedroll. Corporal Taylor walked over and began whispering into Dave’s ear, explaining what he knew of the situation.

Everyone left him alone until lights out.

Chapter 40

The next couple of months went by slowly for a couple of reasons, the first being that Will was anxious to get back to Barrowden. Aside from Eric’s family, there were a lot of people he was worried about, like the Tanners—or Annabelle Withy. He tried to be rational. Chances were most of them were dead, but it ate at him not knowing.

The other reason time moved so slowly was that he was miserable. The constant drills and training had taught him new things about fatigue and exhaustion. His body had adapted, so it wasn’t as bad anymore, but the constant supervision and lack of freedom was beginning to drive him slightly mad.

Once his first eight weeks were finished, he was told he was no longer a trainee, though he didn’t feel any different. He had paid off his debt for the spear and shield and had six silver clima in his purse, more money than he had ever personally possessed in his entire life. Unless one counted that time when he had briefly held the gold crown that he had used to pay his aunt.

Since he was no longer a trainee, he was entitled to one day of recreation every two weeks, which seemed rather pointless since he didn’t know anyone in Branscombe. Free days were arranged by squad, which meant he could go into town with Tiny, but Eric was in an entirely different company, so their days would never line up.

The first time he had the opportunity, he declined Corporal Taylor’s offer to go into Branscombe together. He could tell his decision disappointed Tiny, but Will had one thing to do that came before everything else. Starting early, he visited the town’s market and bought everything he thought Sammy and his mother were probably missing: salt, sausages, cabbage, lard, flour, dried beans. He even bought certain perishables, like milk and butter.

No matter how long he thought about it, he felt certain there were things he probably hadn’t considered, but he did the best he could, and when he was finished his purse was empty. Heavily laden, he left town, keeping a close eye on the road behind him. It wouldn’t do for any of his fellow soldiers to wonder about his destination. Then he went home.

The journey was short and unremarkable, taking only a matter of minutes, but when he reached his grandfather’s house he hesitated. Maybe I should just try and leave everything on the porch, he thought, dreading the idea of facing his mother.

He nearly jumped out of his armor when he heard Sammy scream from the direction of the garden. Turning around, he barely managed to angle the hilt of his sword away so it wouldn’t hit her in the stomach before she slammed into him at a full charge. She was slightly taller than he remembered, but that hardly mattered as she clung to him, repeating his name over and over. “Will, Will, Will… Do you know how worried we were? How could you do that? I thought you’d be dead for sure! Then Dad came back and we knew you weren’t dead, but I was still mad! And your mom! Aunt Erisa nearly lost her mind. What’s all this stuff?”

He had dropped his bags to catch her.

“Is that your shield? Your face looks so skinny. Why aren’t they feeding you more? Is Eric all right? Dad said he hadn’t seen him since they were conscripted. Is anyone picking on him?” The questions kept tumbling out of her at such a pace that Will