The Forest at the Edge of the World (53 page)

“And he succeeded!” Brisack bellowed. “Even against fourteen!
 
Just as I predicted!”

There.

Brisack claimed victory, which meant Mal had only one option as he gripped the armrests of his chair. “You invalidated the study by influencing the test subject with your interference.”

“You created an unnatural situation,” Brisack countered.

“
All
of this is unnatural, Doctor!” Mal gestured to the shelves of his library packed with notes and writings. “But I never cheat to see a result I want!”

“You have Wiles’s map! You told them exactly how to reach the house!”

“We did the same thing in Grasses, with the captain’s sister and parents! Why is this any different than Grasses?” Mal leaned back with a smug expression. “I see it now, Doctor Brisack.
You’ve
lost your objectivity. Couldn’t stand to see him lose the mate and litter, so you gave him a little hint. You know Gadiman found your message.”

“Obviously,” Brisack said steadily. “I’ve told you, he’s as subtle as a twister in Weeding Season, and just as damaging, throwing around his glares thinking no one notices. I don’t regret warning Shin. And considering how successful he was, I rather suspect he didn’t even need my warning.”

“There will be no evidence gathered or analyzed concerning this raid,” Mal decided. “The test was compromised, so no information will be worth our effort.”

Mal wouldn’t even evaluate his failure, and Brisack gloated about that later.

“Anyway,” Mal’s shoulder twitched, “Perrin’s now out of the army, so—”

“Wait a minute,” Brisack interrupted, “What do you mean,
out of the army?
”

“
Neeks’s report stated that the captain stepped into the forest—” Mal began calmly.

“Only a few paces!”

“Nevertheless, Captain Shin knew what would happen if he violated the first rule again,” Mal clasped his hands in front of him. “He would be relieved of duty, and—”

“You haven’t done that, have you?!”

“Tomorrow morning I’m going to visit his father,” Mal said.

“No you won’t. You couldn’t bear to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You already would’ve done it if you were serious,” the doctor pointed at him, “but so much of what we do is because of him. And to lose him, already? Oh, no. If you let him go now, he’d be a reg
ular citizen and all your connections, ability to watch and test him would be reduced to almost nothing. In a way, he’d win.”

Mal’s shoulder twitched again.

Brisack began to smile. “That’s it! He wins no matter what. Yesterday you didn’t push Relf about what happened, because you suspected Perrin went back in the forest, and that would kick him out of the army and your experiments. So he wins by doing what he wanted
and
by staying in the army. You’ve lost twice, and the captain doesn’t even realize the size of his victory!”

Mal glared his best, but Brisack was in far too good a mood.

“We have other matters needing attention,” Mal said abruptly. “We haven’t fully evaluated the information from the past raids, especially in Trades. Who died there, and what were the effects?”

“Just that easily, eh?” Brisack shook his head. “Just replace one citizen with another? One didn’t die here, but oh good—a few died there. Let’s get to analyzing!”

Mal rolled his eyes at the doctor’s attempt at sarcasm. “Citizens die every day. More are born to replace them. We can study one just as easily as another—”

“They’re not
horses,
Nicko. They’re
humans!
People are not interchangeable!”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Mal’s patience finally wore out. “That’s the whole purpose of this study—the animalistic nature of humans! I’ll agree that there are subtle differences in personalities, responses, whatever. But when you get right down to it, you can use any mule to pull a cart, any woman to birth a baby, any man to wield a sword. Just teach, manipulate if you must, bridle, threaten, and control, and it will perform.”

“And one will not out perform another, through sheer will or determination or desire?” Brisack pressed.

“No!”

“And that’s why you’re invalidating the study on Perrin Shin,” Brisack suddenly snatched the upper hand, “because he proved everything you just claimed to be completely false? He’s defied your every attempt to control him, and he keeps succeeding!”

Mal opened his mouth, but no words came to it. A moment later he spoke. “New procedure. I want the forts to have a set of eyes
in
them.”

Brisack squinted. “
In
them? None of our officers in Command School—”

“Not officers,” Mal said. “What I have in mind are enlisted men. Shy boys requiring the frequent attention of their fort co
mmanders to ‘bring them up’ a bit, take them under their wings, so to speak.”

Brisack let out a low whistle. “That’s never been done before.”

“Neither has been using the Administrators’ messaging service to send a warning from a Guarder,” Mal intoned.

“I’m not one of
them,
” Brisack declared. “Only an observer.”

“You swim in the same pond, Doctor.”

“There’s a great difference between the swans and the leeches, Nicko. And just what are you hoping to accomplish with this?”

“Keep an eye on the commanders. Nudge them back into place from time to time.”

Brisack shook his head. “You’re talking about putting in mere boys, Nicko. They aren’t nearly understated or experienced enough to pull off something so complex. They’ll be found out within days, especially if they’re trying to send messages.”

“I wouldn’t require
constant
messages,” Mal waved that off. “Only communication in times of extreme situations or unexpected opportunities. They could be successful once or twice a year.”

“Hmm,” Brisack considered, in spite of himself. Research was research, after all. Who was to say what was acceptable and what wasn’t?

Well
they were
, of course. They
made the rules.

“You know,” the doctor mused slowly, “if just the right men are placed, they
could
deliver a wealth of information. How many forts will you begin with?”

Mal’s mouth formed a suggestion of a smile. “For now, just
one
. Training for this new position begins as soon as the right man is located.”

“But I haven’t sent any messages—”

“No,” Mal cut him off. “Only I do that now.”

Brisack bristled. “May I at least know which fort is receiving this new procedure?” he asked coldly. “Might it be Edge?”

Calmly Mal said, “Yes, to understand what makes him
Perrin Shin. My good doctor, I will prove
to you that he’s just another horse,” he continued with the determination of a man who would never be proven wrong again. “He may be more stubborn and willful than average horses, but I have yet to meet an animal I couldn’t break. It just takes the right amount of force. And the right man!”

---

“Are you comfortable?” Mahrree asked Perrin as she tried to find a way to cover his still-oozing wound with the blanket. Realizing the weight could irritate his stitches, she instead tossed a few more logs on the nearby fire.

“I’m comfortable—and warm—enough,” Perrin assured her. “You need to sleep too, my darling wife.”

Mahrree nodded grudgingly and crawled into bed between her husband and daughter, who whimpered briefly in her sleep. Mahrree smiled at her and thought, I’ve been wanting to whimper all day, Jaytsy.

“It’s sadly funny,” Perrin said as she tried to get comfortable, “you’d give anything to sleep on your stomach, and I’d do anything to sleep on my back.”

“We’ll never be satisfied, will we?” she sighed dramatically. “By the way, I saw the plans you drew for the new baby’s bedroom.”

“I think I should be able to start working on it in a few weeks when my stitches are fully healed.”

“You could get help,” she suggested. “Your plans are so detailed, anyone could follow them. Three layers of cross-hatched planking, with a space between two of the layers? Should regulate the heat much better.”

“I’ll add the extra layer to Jaytsy’s room first. It just gets too cold in there for a baby, especially on nights like this.”

“And if it works well, perhaps you could . . .” She paused. She knew he wasn’t going to like her idea, but she was feeling desperate that night.

Actually, that entire day.

Ever since she saw that horrible gash on his back—

“I could what?” he prompted.

“You’d be an excellent builder, Perrin. You’re strong, meticulous, creative—”

“What are you getting at, Mahrree?”

“Why don’t you be a builder instead of a . . .” She hesitated again.

“What, a
destroyer
?!” he snapped.

No, he wasn’t coming over easily to her idea at all. She sighed.

“I was deciding between saying ‘captain,’ ‘officer,’ or ‘commander.’”

“Which probably all mean destroyer to you!” he exclaimed qu
ietly so as to not disturb his daughter. “We’ve been through this. No one else can keep Edge safe, and have you considered—”

“Have
you
considered,” Mahrree interrupted evenly, “that there are other commanders in the world? Idumea churns out a new crop of officers every year.”

“None that I trust to keep us safe!”

“If you weren’t the commander, you wouldn’t be a target, Perrin,” she pointed out. “I’m not stupid, you know. Your injury is a result of your job. And if you had a different job—”

“I’d still be a target, Mahrree. And so would you and our chi
ldren.”

“How?” she demanded, beginning to lose patience with his stubbornness. “Why? We could drop out of sight, live a quiet little life, and no one would care about us. We’re nothing special, Perrin. It’s not like . . .”

She had to say it, just to see how he’d react. Her own little test of him.

“It’s not like . . . . the world’s out to get us,” she declared.

“And how can you be so sure?” he challenged.

Mahrree swallowed hard. “Because . . . because . . .” she fa
ltered.

Someone just failed the test. She suspected it was her.

Then she felt her husband’s large hand tenderly caress her cheek.

Oh, and he was passing it so well, too.

“Don’t you ever get the feeling the world
is
out to get us, Mahrree?” he said gently. “And I thought you said you could handle be married to an officer. It’s what I was before I met you, what I planned to be ever since I was a child.”

“When I was a child, I planned to find Terryp’s land,” her voice quavered. “Sometimes we have to change our plans.”

He groaned quietly. “It’s just not that easy, Mahrree. This is what I
have
to do.”

She propped herself up to see him better. “Are you sure? Just explain to me why.”

“I can’t,” he whispered, his eyes pained. “I just know that we aren’t safe, nor might we ever be, no matter what I do.”

Mahrree rolled her eyes in frustration. “What a comforting thought to consider right before I go to sleep.”

He chuckled. “You’re so funny sometimes.”

“I wasn’t being funny.”

She hesitated again, and knew exactly why. She’d been feeling
him
near her all day, reassuring her that her husband would eventually recover, and trying to keep her calm so her belly wouldn’t tighten.

He also wasn’t pleased that she tried to push away his last mo
rtal advice to her. He was waiting patiently—on the sofa it seemed—for her to come clean with the truth he told her long ago, and what he still told her frequently.

“Perrin, I suppose I should tell you. The night of our first d
ebate, I heard my father whisper in my ear and . . .”

She sighed again, unsure of how he would respond to such an odd revelation.

“He said the world
is
out to get me. Actually, I thought he was alluding to
you
at first,” she gabbled on hurriedly, until Perrin’s loud exhale interrupted her.

“Will you believe
him
? And me?”

Mahrree didn’t expect that. She actually thought he’d squint at her warily and begin inquiring about the state of her mental health. That he so easily accepted that his father-in-law still communicated with her—

Well, maybe he was willing to take any ally he could get tonight, even one that resided in Paradise.

She got the impression that the
someone on the sofa was grinning in appreciation before he faded away.