The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,182

had passed. He dropped the ruse and returned to the street after they passed by.

He didn’t go far before he saw why they had bought the bread. Isabel was giving it to the old woman. Goddamn it. Why can’t she just be evil? It would be much easier for him to understand her if she wasn’t so complicated. Will started back toward the camp.

Sergeant Nash was waiting for him when he reached Company B’s tents. “You’re relieved of your duties, Cartwright,” said the sergeant without preamble.

“I had the day off, Sergeant.”

Nash sighed. “I know that. I mean you’re permanently relieved. You aren’t in Sixth Squad anymore.”

Will gaped. “But—”

The sergeant held up one hand. “Let me finish. You’re being assigned to Doctor Guerin, to assist with medical duties. Apparently, they think you’ll do better there.”

He could almost hear Sven’s warning in his mind, “Never volunteer.” One good deed and now he was being sent away from what he really wanted to do. “Shit.”

Sergeant Nash looked almost sympathetic. “Grab your gear, Cartwright. The doctor will have a place for you to sleep. Give the armband to Shaw. He’ll be the new corporal for Sixth Squad.”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

Will went inside. His squad mates were still out, laboring at whatever duty they had been given for the afternoon. He felt some relief at that. At least he would be spared any awkward goodbyes. Moving quickly, he rolled up his bedding, grabbed his kit bag, and hefted the oiled sack that held his mail.

As he walked toward the medic tent, he kept thinking about Isabel and the beggar. He had no illusions about his new duty. He wasn’t being assigned to Doctor Guerin; he was being claimed by Isabel. He paused as the bread reminded him of something Sven had once said.

“An army marches on its stomach,” Will repeated to himself. The biggest problem in the current war with Darrow was that they held Barrowden and the pass, making their supply line invulnerable to attack. Even if the king showed up soon enough to save Branscombe, it would be bloody. Unless something happens to their supplies.

Will began walking again, picking up his pace. He was almost to the tent when he heard Isabel’s voice, talking to one of her patients. Damn, she’s back already. He most definitely didn’t want to see her. Skirting the tent, he went past the smaller tent that had originally been the main medic tent and found Isabel’s. Even though she wasn’t there, a guard stood by the door.

He walked up to the man and held out the oiled leather bag that held his mail. “I brought this for Isabel.”

The man looked at it suspiciously but took the bag. “What is it?”

“Something I borrowed,” said Will. “It belongs to her.” He turned and started walking away.

“Who do I tell her left this?” asked the guard.

“Just tell her I’m sorry,” said Will without stopping.

Chapter 54

Will was already on his way to the hidden spring when he heard hoofbeats on the road behind him. Looking back, he saw a rider galloping toward him.

Damn it! He started to run off the road when he felt the ground tremble. He turned in place and saw massive flows of turyn coming from the rider and entering the earth. Then his view was cut off as the soil at his feet erupted skyward. Within seconds, he was encased within an earthen dome with only a small amount of light coming in from a hole far above his head.

Several minutes ticked by, during which Will was painfully aware of how easily he could die by suffocation. A small change in the shape of his prison would cut him off from any source of air. The last time he had felt so helpless had been when his grandfather had paralyzed him while he was sure he was dying from the effects of the spell-cage around his source. “It doesn’t speak well for my life thus far that I’m getting used to moments like this,” he said to himself.

The opening above widened and the sides began to separate as the earth peeled back like a flower opening its petals to the sun. Isabel stood just beyond; her horse tethered to a bush not far away. She fixed him with an angry stare. With both hands, she lifted the bag that held the mail shirt. “What’s this?”

Will crossed his arms, which he soon regretted. “I’m returning it.”

With a heave of her shoulders, Isabel threw the bag. Arms crossed, he failed to catch