Soldier at the Door Read Online Free

quite a distance.”
    “It’s not really that far, sir,” Zenos suggested.
    Shin turned his attention to boy. “About fifty miles in a canoe isn’t ‘that far’? Few people would agree with you, Zenos. Anywhere more than ten miles away might as well be one hundred.”
    Zenos swallowed. “Sir, you said you’ve been all the way south, so you’ve travelled, right?”
    “Yes,” Shin said slowly.
    “Surely you would agree that travelling one hundred twenty miles isn’t that much harder than travelling ten miles. Just . . . do it longer. Most people have never tried it, so they don’t know. You simply keep going. You don’t die from it. You rest, eat, walk, sleep. Every village has a market with food, and there are inns and taverns to stay in. Even some barns if no one’s looking,” he confessed, a little uncomfortably.
    Perrin smiled.
    The boy’s demeanor changed significantly when he confessed to sleeping in barns. He didn’t have to reveal that information, but apparently he didn’t know how to hold back on the truth. So, likely, he did come from a long distance.
    The next question then was, why.
    “You’re right,” Shin said, “I don’t understand why people fear travelling, but then again, now that I’ve settled down, I’m rather content to be where I am. Why leave home when all that I want is right here?”
    “Yes, sir,” Zenos looked down at his hands and started rubbing them as if trying to remove unseen dirt.
    Shin noticed the boy’s previously confident manner vanished completely, replaced by guilty behavior.
    “Well, we’ll provide you a horse to chase Guarders with, but it may be rather dull here for a time. Been exceptionally quiet for over three moons now. More recently they hit Trades again, just north of Flax, out of the forest about there.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “You could have stayed near home to find Guarders,” he hinted again.
    Zenos swallowed again. “But I also wanted to see the world. Saw most of it walking north, sir!” he chuckled anxiously.
    “And a very long way to walk it is, Zenos.” Shin smiled genia lly.
    Zenos smiled cautiously back.
    In the same casual tone, Perrin got right to the point. “Trouble at home, son?”
    Zenos shook his head rapidly. “No, sir. None at all. Not really.”
    Shin put down his quill to show he wasn’t about to record anything more. “Was she pretty?”
    Zenos’s eyes grew big. “Sir?”
    Shin raised his eyebrows in suggestion. The boy needed to hide for two to three seasons. Long enough for anything that might be developing to arrive.
    Zenos blushed a deep shade of red. “Sir, no girl! I promise! I’ve never, never —”
    Shin raised his hand to stop the young man’s frantic defense. He didn’t need that much honesty.
    Zenos bit his lower lip to silence it.
    Perrin considered him. There was no deceit in his clear blue eyes, so there must have been something else. While Zenos’s body was surprisingly broad and muscular, his smooth, almost gentle face looked like it belonged to a twelve-year-old.
    “Do you have your parents’ permission to be here?”
    Zenos furrowed his eyebrows. “Sir, I don’t have a mother anymore, and my father wasn’t too happy about me leaving, but he’s getting over it.”
    “I may need a signature, Zenos.”
    Zenos’s mouth dropped open. “Sir, I’m of age! I’m twenty. My birthday was at the beginning of the season!”
    Shin smiled dubiously. “Really.”
    Zenos rubbed his smooth chin. “My father can’t grow much of a beard either, sir. I assure you, I am of age. Have been for two years.”
    If a single hair emerged on his chin, the boy probably would have thrown a celebration.
    “Well, no crime in not growing a beard. Saves you some time each morning. While the rest of the army is shaving, you’ll be first in line for breakfast. But if you choose to sign up later, I may need a verifying signature from your father.”
    Zenos shifted uneasily. “Would take some time to