Sheepfarmer's Dauther

own reasoning. “This story fit her injuries better than Korryn’s. Paksenarrion has been, until this, an outstanding recruit, honest and hardworking. Korryn has a grudge against her; she has refused to bed him.”

“What is her background, Sergeant?”

“She’s a sheepfarmer’s daughter, from the northwest. She ran away from home to join us.”

“And this—uh—Korryn?”

“He joined us in White Creek; claimed to have been in Count Serlin’s guard, but wanted more—action, I believe he said.”

“And his record?”

Stammel frowned. “He has not done anything that would require his expulsion.” The unsaid “yet” trembled in the air. “However, he has been the subject of complaint by Corporals Bosk and Devlin, and Armsmaster Siger.”

“That’s not fair!” Korryn’s face twisted in anger. “You favor her; you always have! A pretty face—I’ll warrant one of you has bedded her—”

Bosk and Devlin each took an involuntary step forward; Stammel was rigid and white with fury. Before he could say anything, Kolya Ministiera stepped toward Korryn and looked him up and down.

“Hmmph!” she snorted. “A fine—man—you are.” She spat at his feet, and turned back to the captain with a swirl of her brown robe. “I suppose we must hear his testimony, just to keep things straight.”

“He’s out, whatever he says now,” growled Stammel.

“Nonetheless,” said the captain. “He must speak. And keep to the truth—” he said to Korryn, “—if you can, recruit.”

Korryn’s eyes slid from side to side. “It is the truth—what I said. She went crazy, and started hitting this corporal, and I thought he could take care of her, and I guess he did hit her a few times. Then she got a grip on his throat, and I decided to help him out and pull her off. He’ll tell you—” Korryn gestured at Stephi. “I—I thought it was just a bit of fun at first, and then—I did what I thought was right,” he said, pulling himself erect. “Maybe I made a mistake—but you can’t punish a man for doing what he thinks is right.”

The captain and witnesses received this in tight-lipped silence. “Is there,” the captain asked Stammel after a pause, “any other witness to all this?”

“That recruit we met coming out of the door—the one who said he was going for help—he should have seen something.”

“Where is he?”

“Corporal Bosk,” said Stammel. “Escort Jens to the front, please.”

“No!” came a squeal from behind Stammel. “I—I don’t know anything—I didn’t see—I—I just came out —”

“He’s a friend of Korryn’s,” said Stammel, as Bosk half-dragged Jens out of formation to the front.

The captain beckoned to two of the guards. They took Jens’s arms and forced him upright. “Now then— what’s his name, Stammel?”

“Jens, sir.”

“Jens. I expect you to tell us the truth, right now. Did you see a fight involving Paksenarrion, Korryn, and Stephi, or any two of them?”

“I—” Jens looked frantically from side to side; when he met Korryn’s fierce gaze he flinched. “I—I saw a little tussle, sir—sort of—”

“A little tussle? Be specific now: did you see it start?”

“N-no—I was—was—uh—cleaning my boots. Sir.”

“Did you see any blows struck at all?”

“Well—I saw—I saw Paks and that man rolling on the floor, and then Korryn said—said go look at the door—” Jens was staring at his feet.

“At the door?”

“Yes, sir. He—uh—said I should—should look for the sergeant, sir.”

“Oh? And did you?”

“Yes. I looked, but I couldn’t see him—I mean, until you came.”

“And just what did he tell you to do if you saw the sergeant, eh?” asked Kolya. She moved to his side and jerked his head up. “Look at me! What did he tell you?”

Jens began to tremble. “He said—he said to tell him.”

“Tell who, the sergeant?”

“No. Tell him—Korryn—”

“If you saw the sergeant. I see.” Kolya backed away. “I don’t know about your Corporal Stephi, Captain, but that recruit—” she jerked a shoulder at Korryn, “is lying in his teeth.”

“Agreed,” said the captain.

“And the other one isn’t much better,” she said with distaste, looking at Jens.

“They’d both better go under guard,” said Sejek. “Captain Valichi won’t be back for several days, so they can’t be confined under ban the whole time, but until tomorrow morning—”

“But—but ask him!” interrupted Korryn. “Ask the corporal! He’ll tell you I’m not lying.”

The witnesses turned toward Corporal Stephi, who had stood silent through everything. But the captain intervened.

“Before you question him, I want to tell you what happened this morning.”

“Very well, Captain,” said the mayor.

“This morning when I woke, I had a message from the surgeon. Stephi woke last night, and wanted to see me, but they did not call me because it was so late. This morning I went to see how he was, and found that he had no memory of the events last evening. None at all. I did not want to suggest things to him, so I told him only that he would be examined by witnesses about some trouble. The surgeon could find no physical cause for his loss of memory, and as you can see, the blood I saw on him yesterday was not his own. I must say that since he’s been in my cohort, he has always been a competent, sober soldier and a good corporal, with no faults against him. I cannot imagine what caused his behavior, but I can swear that it is not typical.”

“Is it likely that he would pretend a loss of memory, if he had done wrong?” asked the mayor.

“I think not,” replied Sejek. “He has always been honest, in my experience.”

“Hmm.” The mayor turned to Corporal Stephi. “You have seen the evidence of the injuries suffered by you and others, and you have heard what testimony has been given. What is your understanding of what happened?”

“Sir, I have no memory from just after supper last night until I woke in the infirmary. When I woke I felt strange—dizzy—and of course my hand and the bruises hurt. I asked the surgeon what had happened, but when he found I had no memory, he would not say anything, only that I had been found hurt. I—when I heard this morning —and saw that girl—Sir, I’ve never beaten a woman so. I’ve never forced one to bed. I don’t understand how I could have—but I saw her injuries. Someone hurt her, and if it was—if I did such a thing—I know what you must do—” His voice trailed away.

“Why did you ask to see the captain last night?”

“Because I was frightened. I wanted to know what had happened—I thought the captain would tell me. And—and I couldn’t remember.”

“But, Stephi,” said the captain, “you must remember something—maybe just the beginning—you must be able to say whether this recruit is lying.” The witnesses stirred but said nothing. Stephi looked at Korryn with distaste.

“Sir—Captain—I cannot remember anything. But I’ll tell you, sir, he must be lying. What we’ve seen and heard—”

“You say that even if it condemns you?”

“Yes. Sir, it’s obvious. That girl didn’t beat me up—and honestly, sir, there’s no way she could have.” Stephi conveyed all the confidence of a senior veteran, sure of his own fighting ability.

“But you can remember nothing?” prompted the mayor.

Stephi shook his head. “No, sir, I don’t. But I don’t expect you to believe that. You’ll want to test me, I’m sure.”

“You must remember,” yelled Korryn suddenly. “You must—I told you yesterday—” He paled as they all looked at him, and he realized what he had said.

“You told him, eh?” said Kolya softly. “You told him what?”