Soul of the Fire

Other times, when people approached, it was easy enough to tell they were harmless. Traders with a cart, some of the nomadic people of the wilds wanting to trade with the soldiers stationed at the border-Beata never let them through- merchants taking an unusual route for one reason or another, even some special Ander guard troops returning from far patrols.

Those Ander guard troops weren't regular army soldiers. They were special. They were men only, and they looked to Beata like they were used to dealing with trouble of one sort or another. They paid no heed to regular Anderith soldiers, like Beata.

She'd ordered them to stop, once, as they approached. Beata knew who they were, because Captain Tolbert had instructed her and her squad about the special Ander guard troops, and told them to let the men pass at will if they came by. She'd only wanted to ask them, being fellow soldiers and all, if they needed anything.

They didn't stop when she ordered it. The man leading simply smirked as he rode past with his column of big men.

These people who approached, though, were not guard troops. Beata didn't know what to make of them, except they had.the look of a serious threat. She could make out hundreds of mounted soldiers in dark uniforms spreading out as they halted.

Even from a distance, it was a formidable sight.

Beata glanced to her side, and saw Carine drawing back the striker. Annette seized the shaft to help strike the Dominie Dirtch.

Beata sprang toward them and caught the shaft of the striker before they could swing it.

"No order was given! What's the matter with you? Stand down."

"But Sergeant," Annette complained, "they're soldiers- a lot of soldiers-and they aren't ours. I can tell that much."

Beata shoved the woman back. "They're giving the signal. Can't you see?"

"But, Sergeant Beata," Annette whined, "they aren't our people. They've no business-"

"You don't even know their business yet!" Beata was frightened and angry that Carine and Annette had almost rung the weapon on their own. "Are you crazy? You don't even know who they are. You could be killing innocent people.

"You're both going to stand an extra duty tonight and for.the next week for not following orders. Do you understand?"

Annette hung her head. Carine saluted, not knowing how she was supposed to react to such discipline. Beata would have been angry at any of her squad trying to wrongly ring the Dominie Dirtch, but deep down inside, she was glad it was the two Haken women, and not one of the Anders.

On the horizon, a person on horseback waved a white flag on the end of a pole, or lance. Beata didn't know the distance the Dominie Dutch could kill. Maybe if Carine and Annette had rung it, it wouldn't have harmed the people out there, but after what happened to Turner, she hoped never to see the weapon rung while people were in front of it- unless they clearly were attacking.

Beata watched as the strange troops waited where they were while only a few people approached. Those were the rules, the way Beata and her squad were taught. People had to wave a flag of some sort, and if there were many, only a few were supposed to approach to state their business and ask permission to pass.

It wasn't a risk to have a few people approach. The Dominie Dirtch could kill an enemy even if they were only one step away, out in front of it. They would still die. How close people came was really irrelevant-so was the number, for that matter.

Four people, two on foot and two on horseback, came forward, leaving the rest behind. As they got closer, she could see it was two men and two women. One man and woman rode, another pair walked. There was something about the woman on horseback…

When Beata realized who the woman had to be, her heart felt as if it had leaped up into her throat.

"You see?" Beata said to Carine and Annette. "Can you imagine if you'd rung that thing? Can you imagine?"

The two, jaws agape, stared out at the approaching people. Beata's knees trembled at the thought of what had almost happened.

Beata turned and shook a fist at the two. "Put that thing away. And don't you dare go near the Dominie Dirtch! Do you understand?"

Both saluted. Beata turned and raced down the steps two at a time. In her whole life, she never imagined anything like this.

She never imagined she would actually meet the Mother Confessor herself.

She gaped, along with the rest of her squad who came out to see, as the woman in the long white dress rode forward. One man rode to her right. A man and woman were on foot. The woman was pregnant. The man on foot, on the Mother Confessor's left, was dressed in loose clothes of no particular style. He had a sword, but kept it sheathed.

The man riding on the Mother Confessor's right was something else entirely. Beata had never seen such a man, all dressed in black, with a golden cape billowing out behind. The sight took her breath.