Page 15 of 1000 of You
At the man’s remark,Muambreathed deeply, and caught a strong whiff of what theman meant. The air was thick with the unholy smell. Why hadn’t he noticed itbefore now?
“You there! Guards!”
A man strode toward them. By hisbearing and the scowl on his face,Muamknew he wasan officer of some type. Automatically, he rose to his feet and glanced over tosee the man who’d been sitting next to him give a salute, which he quicklycopied.
“You two. Report to the front gateimmediately.” Without waiting for a reply, the man left.
Muam’scompanion gave a sigh. “The gods must have overheard me, and sent the commanderover to make sure we do our duty.”
Rather than ask the man any furtherquestions,Muamgave a nod and followed his friendinto what looked to be barracks. While he wondered which area was his, someresidual memory guided him over to one. He propped his shield against alow-slung bed and grabbed the helmet sitting on the blanket. He was alreadyaware of the sword sheathed on his right hip, and a long dagger on his left.Even though he was sorely tempted to draw and examine both weapons, herestrained himself for the moment. Hopefully there would be time later to dothat.
They left the barracks and headeddown a small street where they encountered more men dressed as guards.Muamchecked the few men and women they passed, the oneswho had to be ordinary villagers, by their simple clothing. That, or slaves.None of the townspeople dared to look directly at the soldiers striding throughthe town. Many scurried away at the sight of them.
“Can you believe it? This is thethird day in a row I have been ordered to remove carcasses,” one of the othersoldiers griped.
“Better to remove them than to be oneof them,Toriset,”Muam’scompanion quipped, earning him chuckles from the other guards.
Torisetthrew the man a dark look. “Go ahead and make light of it,Ramestes.But you no more care to be covered with the stench you bring back to ourquarters than we care to smell it coming off of you.”
They soon arrived at a pair of tallmetal doors embedded in the wall. Four guards slowly opened one of the doors,and the squad of soldiers filed outside. Two wooden carts sat nearby, justoutside the gate. As there were no horses attached to the carts,Muamfigured they would have to pull it using manpower.
The squad automatically split intotwo groups, each taking a cart to begin trundling down one of the streets.Muamhurried to joinRamestes,along with three other soldiers. They hadn’t walked very far whenMuampaused in shock.
Four bodies lay in their path.Bodies which had been dumped there, arms and legs akimbo, as if hastilydiscarded. But it wasn’t the sight of the bodies which repulsed him. It was thesight of their bloated and blackened skin, which turned his stomach.Muamclenched his teeth to keep himself from retching.
“What are you standing around for,Samanus? Bend your back like everyone else!”Torisetordered.
Not knowing if the man was hissuperior or not,Muamchose to obey. Reaching down,he grabbed one of the corpses under the arms asRamestessnagged the feet. They hefted the body into the cart, then made their way downthe street to where the next one lay.
The task was appalling andsickening, butMuammanaged to shut his mind off,making his movements automatic. He quickly learned to hold his breath againstthe stench. If there was anything to be grateful for, it was the fact that thebodies were freshly dead. In spite of their grotesque appearance, they didn’treek.
They had gathered six corpses whenTorisetcalled a halt. “Let us dump this load.”
Grabbing a side of the cart,Muamhelped to push it through the streets until theyreached what appeared to be the outskirts of the town. A large cloud of darksmoke rose from the horizon, and as they walked directly toward it, the putridsmell became more pervasive.Muamsoon discoveredthey were taking the bodies to a large pit which had been dug into the ground.There, they dumped their load. As they departed, several slaves scurried overto throw burning bundles of dried grass onto the carcasses.
He was numb inside, barely aware ofthe work he performed. Flashes of light kept appearing in his mind, teasing himwith glimpses of things that had been. Places he’d been. People he’d known.
Gova.
He slowed, andRamestesgave him a shove from behind. “Let us get this over with,” the man remarked.“The sooner we are done, the sooner we can return to the barracks.”
Muampicked up his pace, but the vision of her beautiful face continued to haunthim. Now that he’d remembered her, more of his past returned. He recalled withvivid clarity the day they were to be married. He sawTeyhasstanding before them as he gave his blessings. He sawKolisinterrupt the proceedings, declaring that the marriage was unlawful, thenclaiming he was takingGovaback becauseMuamhad sold him a defective sword.
Muamflinched. The memories were as fresh as if they’d happened yesterday.KolisgrabbingGovaandthreatening her with the broken sword.Muamhad triedto save her, but the soldier had turned the weapon on him at the last second,and the shattered blade had pierced his heart. He fell, unable to stop the manfrom slamming his fist into her chest. He’d heard the crack of bone, thenwatched in horror as she fell.
He had no memory of what happenedtoKolis. His vision dimmed and his body grew cold asGovamanaged to crawl next to him. He heard herwhispered confession of love. Then the shaman had bent over them, promisingthem that they would meet again in the afterlife. That they would have theirmoment of love.Muamhad promisedGovahe would love her, no matter how long it took. No matter if…
Athousand lives.
A shudder went through him. Athousand lives?
“Sobe it.”The last words he’d heard, spoken byTeyhas.
And then…oblivion.
“By the gods, I will be glad whenthis plague is over,” one guard grumbled.
“If you live that long,”Torisetcountered.
