The Forest at the Edge of the World (32 page)

“I should start keeping track of my wins against you,” Perrin smiled smugly when she told him over dinner the next day that the bed was, indeed,
adequate
.

It was on their wedding night that the debating began again. The evening started off promisingly when Perrin carried Mahrree easily up the stairs to their bedroom and set her down on the new bed.

He winked and she giggled nervously.

He removed his sword—part of the dress uniform, he assured her that morning when she saw he was wearing it for the cerem
ony—and stood it sheathed next to the bedroom door. Then he undid the top button at the throat of his dark blue dress uniform while his bride, trying to give him a flirty look, apprehensively bit her lip instead.

He smiled confidently at her, stepped up to the bed, then pulled out the chair from the small desk and slid it over next to the bed.

Mahrree stared, bewildered, at the chair which now blocked the narrow passageway in their bedroom.

Perrin squeezed past the chair to his new wardrobe which was wedged into a corner, and pulled out one of his regular uniforms that he’d placed in there the day before.

Mahrree furrowed her eyebrows. This really wasn’t what she thought would be happening next.

“Uh, what are you doing?” she asked as he positioned his reg
ular trousers on the chair at a precise angle.

He flashed the grin that always unfocused her. “Getting ready for bed,
Mrs. Shin
.”

She got up on her knees to watch him as he eyeballed the angle of the chair to the bed and shifted it slightly.

“And so the surprises begin,” she murmured.

He ignored her comment as he placed his every day boots slightly skewed at the end of the bed and checked the angles.

“Perrin, remember how I said you were the most perfect man in the world?”

“Mm-hmm,” he said, shaking out his jacket.

“Right now you’re being
a little odd
. I know you like to have things a certain way, but—”

He put the jacket over the back of the chair just so and winked at her again. “You married the commander of Edge
.
I’ve trained myself so that every time I undo my top button, I remember to prepare my clean uniform for my next shift.”

Her eyebrows went up. “
Trained?
Did Professor Nicko Mal experiment on you, too, as part of your animal behavior course?”

“He only manipulated horses and dogs. Never humans.”

“Are you so sure? Perrin, you can’t have the chair
right there
. Now there’s absolutely no room left!”

He nodded once. “Sure there is. I measured for the chair. And as the commander of the fort, I have to be ready for anything. Each night I place my uniform in such a way that I can be dressed and out the door within fifteen seconds.”

“You can’t be serious. Perrin, it’s our
wedding night
. Wiles’s on duty, Karna’s there, your father’s even at the fort! Should something happen, I seriously doubt any of them would come bother you
tonight.
”

“Mrs. Shin,” he said gravely, “Guarders don’t care when som
eone gets married, or gets injured, or has other plans. They’ll attack whenever they want. If I’m needed, they’ll send for me. I pledged my duty to the army before I pledged myself to you. You know that, Mahrree.”

She slumped down in resignation. “So the chair’s going to stay there?”

“The chair stays there,” he said firmly. “Tonight and every night. With my uniform waiting on it.”

“On the side of the bed
I
usually sleep on.”

He raised his eyebrows. “No, that’s the side
I
sleep on.”

“You could sleep on the
other
side.”

“I’ve practiced getting out of the bed and getting dressed in the dark on
this
side.”

She squinted. “You practiced getting dressed in the dark?”

He folded his arms. “Yes. It will be easier for you to get used to sleeping on the other side of the bed.”

They stared at each other for a moment before they both began to smile.

“Leave it to us,” said Perrin as he stepped up to the bed and took her face in his hands, “to spend our wedding night debating.” He kissed her.

“I’m done arguing,” she whispered. “Are you?”

“This is my side of the bed,” he whispered back. “If you can accept that, we can stop arguing. Besides, you owe me one.”

“What? Why?”

“Our first debate. Hogal told me to win over Edge by going easy on you.”

“But you quit.”

“I was to concede. To win you over.”

She giggled. “That you did! All right, as my wedding gift to you, you can have your side of the bed.”

“See? Already we’ve got this marriage thing figured out,” he said as he pushed a lock of hair off of her face. “Just always agree with me, and our marriage will be perfect.”

She laughed. “Don’t count on it!”

“Just stop talking and kiss me.”

That’s what Mahrree was trying to do when he suddenly said, “Like the back of a turtle.”

She paused in mid-pucker.

“
What?
”

“I figured it out. Your eye color,” he said, just inches from her face and staring deeply—analytically—into her eyes. “Like the back of a turtle—grayish, brownish, greenish. Maybe if the turtle were more of a honey color, though, then—”

“Are you trying to be . . . romantic?”

“It’s our wedding night,” he explained, and Mahrree thought she heard just a touch of nervousness. “I thought it would be appr
opriate.”

“First mushrooms, now turtles? Your descriptions of my eyes are starting to sound like one of my mother’s more unusual recipes. Forget the sweet talk, Perrin. I’ve realized we do better when we a
rgue.”

“No, I really don’t think—”

The only way to shut him up and prove her point was to kiss him.

“Hmm,” he mumbled as he kissed her back, “I have to admit, you just might be on to
somethi—”

Fortunately the forest was quiet that night and ever since then, but even so she begged him to demonstrate how he could get dressed quickly in the dark. He refused.

“I don’t do any kind of performance unless I’m in the amphitheater. But when the time is right, you’ll be glad I can move so fast. No one’s faster than me.” 

So for the past two weeks of married life they deliberately a
rgued about everything, just so they could get to, well . . .
resolving the issue
. That was the most discreet way to refer to it. 

As she stood staring at the crates that afternoon, she wondered how she could use them to start another debate. She got so caught up
in the details of her planning that she didn’t even realize she’d been daydreaming in her front yard for several minutes. When she finally came to herself, she was sure she was blushing. She glanced around to see if any neighbors could read her mind or see her reddened face, and went back quickly into the house.

Perrin wasn’t due back from the fort for another hour, so she had some time to figure out where to place the rest of his posse
ssions. When Perrin unloaded the shipment yesterday, he hadn’t realized he had so many things stored at his parents’ home. Much of it he tossed to the rag bag and kindling pile; he wasn’t sentimental about his lieutenant’s uniform, or any of his clothes or school writings from when he was growing up.

But Mahrree knew that he was most anxious about the shipment arriving today. He had a collection of old books and maps that he treasured because no one else did. His rescuing old writings from the trash heaps of the garrison was one of the many things she loved about him, and every day she discovered something new. All in all, being married was one amazing, intriguing surprise after another.

“But surely, this will be the last surprises,” she smiled as she looked at the many waiting crates. “After this past season and a half, how could anything be even more exciting?”

---

It was just the beginning of Harvest Season, two and a half moons after their wedding, that an urgent knock came at their back door late one night. Perrin scrambled from the bed into his trousers, landed into his boots and threw on his jacket in just seconds.

“Wow,” Mahrree whispered, duly impressed.

He barreled down the dark stairs, somehow simultaneously buttoning his jacket while fastening his belt holding the sheathed sword around his waist. Before she could get her bed clothes covering on to follow him, she heard the back door slam.

She was all alone, and the sky was black.

-
--

“Ambush, sir! Two of the soldiers on patrol by the forest. Suddenly they were cut down,” the private hurriedly related. He and the captain mounted the horses the private brought with him.

“How long ago?” Captain Shin demanded as he wheeled his horse around and kicked it into a run towards the fort.

The private followed. “Unsure of when the initial ambush happened, sir.”

“Unsure?! How can you be ‘unsure’?”

“Well, one of the wounded thought they were hit maybe . . . ten minutes ago, by now.”

Captain Shin tried not to swear under his breath, but a few words slipped out anyway. “Unacceptable! Is anyone in pursuit?!”

“Just about the whole fort, sir! Lieutenant Karna has sent everyone out in fours. He’s stationed himself at the edge of the forest.”

“Ten minutes,” Captain Shin whispered to himself. “
Ten minutes!
”

---

Mahrree heard the two horses galloping away. She made her way down the dark stairs and sat on the little sofa to wait his return. In all the years she lived there she never noticed before how shadowy and silent the house could be late at night. She secured each door and sat down again, suddenly feeling cold although that night was the warmest all year.

---

“Lieutenant!” Captain Shin barked a few moments later as his horse stopped abruptly in front of Karna at the edge of the woods. “Report!”

“Captain, they’re everywhere!” Karna cried, slightly panicked. “Nothing’s secure! Reports of at least four, maybe up to six groups. Guarders, we’re sure.”

“And how are you sure, Karna?” Shin said sliding off his horse and drawing his sword. He looked up into the dark forest to see any movement, and heard shouts coming from the west.

“Uh, well, who else would it be, sir?”

“Descriptions!” Shin demanded. “Give me descriptions!”

Karna nodded quickly, remembering. “Dark clothing, dirtied faces, and from the wounds on the soldiers, jagged blades.”

“Condition of the wounded?”

“Surgeon thinks they’ll survive, sir.”

Captain Shin growled and looked at the trees.

“Now what, sir?” Karna asked.

“We find them! No more wounded, and certainly no fatalities!” he announced, marching straight north.

“Captain! Where are you going?”

“Where the Guarders are. Wiles,” Shin called to the sergeant major, jogging up from the fort. “You will replace Lieutenant Karna as point commander. Karna, you and I are going to put a stop to this, right now.”

“But sir,” Wiles exclaimed. “We’ve been through this before! You can’t go into the forest!”

Karna nodded in agreement.

“Says who?!” Shin challenged.

Wiles held out his hands helplessly. “Your father, for one! The rules of the army state—”

“There are
rules?
” Shin stopped, turning to face the two men. “Rules for when to attack? How to cut my soldiers? Who’s allowed where?”

“Well, sort of . . .
expectations
,” Wiles spluttered.

“Expectations?
I
didn’t expect this!” Shin shouted. “Did you, Wiles?”

Wiles swallowed hard and shook his head in surprise at the a
ccusation.

“I will require no one else to enter the forest,” Shin promised, “but Karna, you’re with me now!”

“Yes sir,” the lieutenant said feebly and jogged up to the captain. He drew his sword and together the two men disappeared into the trees.

Wiles stood frozen in place.

Eventually he covered his mouth with his hands.

“Not supposed to enter the forest . . . not part of the plans . . .” he mumbled. “Never drilled for that . . .”

He stared, horrified, into the darkness.

An uneasy private stood loyally nearby, trembling at the shouts for help he heard coming from the west. He didn’t notice that the old
sergeant wasn’t staring worriedly at the origin of the shouting, but at the point in the forest where the captain had gone.