The dedication Quinn’s friends had to him ran deep, back into childhood. She couldn’t help but feel it drove them all to please him now, even when his orders weren’t pleasant. Though now he was forcing only minor lies and deceptions, it likely wouldn’t stop there unless someone stood up to him.
Ash turned his face to her. The sunlight hit his dark eyes at an angle, making them shine with a rich mahogany color. “So the short answer is: at Charlie’s age, we didn’t do those things. What a missed opportunity.”
Sage caught that Ash had been a page and squire himself, yet he wasn’t an officer. She was about to ask why when he said, “How about you, Lady Sagerra? Did you get in any fights as a child? Or did you just throw pinecones down on your enemies?”
He was teasing, but she answered truthfully. “Three fights, actually. I lost the first. Father said I was being honorable with a boy too cowardly to pick on someone his own size. So in our next matchup I used my left knee to great effect. I don’t think he walked straight for weeks.”
Ash cringed. “And the third?”
“It was more a contest of wits against an unarmed opponent.”
“You cannot leave me hanging with that.”
Sage shrugged. “He was an empty braggart, talking down girls, points of which I mostly agreed with, but when he said he could beat any girl at anything, short of weeping, I challenged him to Kimisar arm wrestling.” Ash had never heard of it. “That’s because I made it up,” she explained. “I would try to pull his arm down while he resisted with his elbow levered on a table.” She held her arm out with her fist facing her to show him.
“Sounds like you had the easier part.”
She nodded. “That’s what he said. So I asked what was he afraid of, being he was so much better.”
“Who won?”
“Depends on your point of view. I only pulled his arm down about so far.” She opened her arm to a wide angle and turned to Ash with a wicked grin. “But then I let go.” She snapped her arm back, demonstrating how he punched himself in the face.
Ash burst into laughter, startling their horses and everyone around them. After the initial blast, he worked to bring himself under control. Sage thought for a moment he might actually fall off his horse. The other soldiers stared, but he waved them off as he gasped for breath and tears rolled down his cheeks. He finally calmed down and wiped his eyes with his gloved hands. “Oh, I can’t believe you did that. It’s positively diabolical.”
“I couldn’t believe it worked as well as it did,” Sage said, shaking her head. “It knocked him right out of his chair and cut his lips on his teeth. There was blood everywhere.” Ash started snickering again. “The best part was his face.” She put her fist to her mouth again and made a comical expression of horror. “Of course, Uncle William didn’t think it was so funny. Nor did the boy’s father.”
Ash clutched his sides like he was holding himself together. When Sage heard her own peal of laughter, it struck her she hadn’t truly laughed in a very long time.
*
Their first stop to rest and stretch made Sage realize a problem her clothing presented. An outside observer would assume she was a common man, so she couldn’t sit with the ladies. She would’ve taken her breaks with Ash, but he had important matters to discuss with the officers and firmly insisted she couldn’t be anywhere near them. Sage decided eating alone was a small price to pay for the privilege of riding.
When they stopped for lunch, Ash excused himself, mentioning he would take a turn on patrol as soon as they were back on the road. Sage had already established she neither needed nor wanted any assistance dismounting, so Lieutenant Casseck waited until she was on the ground before approaching. He also looked to be over the shock of seeing her dressed and riding like a man. “My lady,” he said. “I have a request from Captain Quinn concerning his brother, Charlie.”
She glanced over at Quinn leading his horse to where another officer and Ash gathered near a makeshift table with a map spread over it. “Why can’t he ask himself?”
Casseck shrugged. “It’s my job to carry out his ideas.”
Sage rolled her eyes. She’d faint of shock the day Quinn did something himself rather than give orders. Or perhaps he was too embarrassed to face her after making Ash lie, in which case he wasn’t lazy, he was a coward. “Go ahead, then.”
“You’re aware our situation has developed a degree of danger. The captain feels if he puts Charlie under your supervision, he’ll have less to worry about. Charlie will still have page duties, but he’d be assigned partly to you and the other ladies. Carter can’t ride at your side all day, nor can he eat with you, but Charlie can.”
She tilted her head up to meet Casseck’s eyes. “Am I correct in assuming if we’re attacked, Charlie is less likely to be harmed if he’s part of the women’s group?”
The lieutenant grimaced. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we expect such an attack.”
He might be telling the truth. That morning the soldiers were alert but not as nervous as before, though all had been fully armed. She opened her mouth to ask what they did expect, but Casseck cut her off.
“My lady, you asked how you can help us, and it is truth when I say this will allow us to focus more on understanding the threat. This isn’t a minor request. Captain Quinn doesn’t give up control easily, especially over his brother.”
Sage sighed and nodded. “I will for Charlie’s sake.” She felt a little patronized, but the fact that Quinn was concerned for Charlie’s safety gave her chills. Who out there would harm a child?
33
SAGE WATCHED ASH ride ahead on his patrol after lunch. He seemed confident he’d be back by the time they stopped for the evening, but the way Casseck frowned as he watched him go concerned her. Why would Quinn send Ash out alone? The captain strutted around giving orders as they prepared to move on.
She settled into the saddle and turned to Charlie beside her. “Your brother looks like a man of action, always in a hurry.”
Charlie nodded. “Father says he assigned him this job to learn patience.”
Sage stifled a laugh. Perhaps his father knew he wasn’t quite as wonderful as everyone thought.
“Want to see my knife?” Charlie asked. “Mother had it made special.” He unhooked the dagger belted at his waist, proudly displaying the gold initials inlaid on the hilt. It looked huge in his small hand. “My brother has one, too.”
“My father gave me my own knife when I was your age,” Sage said. “But I lost it.” She told him how she had run away and when her uncle had found her and carried her home, the knife was left behind in the ravine.
Charlie’s brown eyes widened. “Why did you run away, my lady? Was your uncle cruel?”
“At the time, I thought so.” She smiled sadly. “My father had just died, you see, and when someone you love is in trouble or dead, you don’t always think clearly.”
“Father says clear thinking is an officer’s most valuable asset,” said Charlie solemnly.
“I imagine he knows from experience,” she replied with equal gravity.