Haunts."
The Scirranish waited respectfully, bowing as Tris's entourage passed. Tris promised the group of survivors that he would go out to yet another of the killing fields, to a clearing a day's ride from the palace in the farmland around Huntwood. There, half-buried bones and quickly-dug mass graves were grisly evidence of a massacre.
Soterius gave the signal to move out, and the soldiers fell into place. Tris and Soterius rode in the middle, with Coalan behind them. They rode in silence until they were outside the palace gates and on the road headed north.
"Do I need to mention that Zachar didn't think this was a good idea?"
"Should I be surprised?"
"Twenty guards isn't a lot."
"It seems ridiculous to march a regiment out here just to turn around and go back home again."
Soterius shrugged. "Army training is full of pointless maneuvers. Dig a hole and fill it in. Build a wall and knock it down. Marching out and back is one of the saner things we do."
Tris watched his friend. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Soterius did not answer immediately. "I don't think I'll ever be ready," he said finally. "But I have to give them their rest." His voice caught. "Danne said that father died thinking me a traitor. I would give anything to set that straight." Coalan's expression was stony, but his eyes were painfully unguarded. "Danne and Anyon will meet us there. They've been trying to get some crops in. I sent them all of my share in the reward money from King Staden to rebuild, but it's been hard. Barely any men left around there to help with the farming, let alone to rebuild the house. Some of Mikhail's brood have been doing what they can-Jared slaughtered their kin as well."
With an early start, they would reach the killing fields by twilight, when the line between the realms of living and dead stretched thin. The soldiers carried provisions for a night in the field, and the Scirranish had brought their own supplies.
"I actually feel safer now than in Shekerishet."
"Oh?"
Tris inclined his head toward the rag-tag band that followed the soldiers. "The Scirran-ish are as close as kin. They found each other while they searched through fields looking for bodies. They support each other-food, clothing, looking after orphans. By losing a family member to Jared they gained a new family- the family of the disappeared ones. A stranger among them would be noticed as quickly as an outsider in a hill country village."
"Which would be when they were a day's ride away."
"Exactly. No one in the kingdom has more reason to keep me alive and keep Jared's supporters off the throne."