60

It would have been too obvious to assemble the entire battalion, so Barone ordered Totti to gather his “best men.” Once that small but formidable group had been brought together before the general, they formed up and marched to the section of Kleiner where Reyes and his Viajero troupe were camped.

The late-afternoon sun cast the turbulent, cloudy skies of Kante in a liquid gold. The wind had picked up, pulling at Sebastian’s hair and uniform. It gave him some relief, cooling his cheeks, which were flushed from the troubling idea that he might have to inflict harm on men who were supposed to be his allies. No matter what, he promised himself, he would not lose control. No one would die that day by his hand.

Reyes was sitting among a group of his Viajero and they were passing around a bottle of something, no doubt enjoying a well-deserved rest after laboring all day to recover from the previous night’s attack. Reyes said something to his men that Sebastian couldn’t hear, but he saw many of them laugh and nod. Reyes had always seemed like a man who was much loved by those under his command.

Reyes took a sip from the bottle being passed around. As he handed it to the man beside him, he glanced over and saw the formation of soldiers marching toward him. His head cocked to the side, more curious than concerned, and he stood.

“General? Has something come up?” he asked casually, though he didn’t come any closer.

Barone lifted his hand and the formation came to a halt, still twenty feet or so from the troupe of Raízians.

“I’m afraid so, Captain,” he called across the open space between the two groups. “We just received orders to return to Magna Alto with all possible haste.”

“An emergency at the capital?” Reyes’s pose remained calm, but his sharp eyes scanned the group of men before him, perhaps intuiting their tension.

“A great deal of turmoil, in fact,” said Barone. “Some of it stemming from violent unrest in Colmo.”

Reyes was silent for a moment, then he said, “I see.”

“You have a lot of family in Colmo, don’t you, Ernesto?”

Sebastian found it strangely discomfiting that the general would choose to use the captain’s first name in that moment, and Reyes seemed to feel similarly, because his posture straightened, and his eyes narrowed.

“I do.”

“We have fought side by side many times.”

Reyes nodded. “Indeed we have, Paolo.”

“I hope I might appeal to our many years as allies when I ask you to willingly place yourself and your men under custody during the journey to the capital.”

Reyes was again silent for a moment, his face unreadable. Then he asked, “And what crime is it we’re accused of?”

“No crime, Ernesto. But the empress understands the difficult position you and your men are in and doesn’t wish to take chances with the lives of any of her men. So until she can judge where your loyalties lie, she has asked me to safeguard against any potential sympathizers within your troupe.”

Reyes’s expression darkened. “After everything we have done for the empire, and for you, this is greatly disappointing, Paolo.”

“I won’t deny that the situation is troubling,” said Barone, his tone becoming harder and less conciliatory. “But I have my orders, and now so do you. Stand down and allow yourself and your men to be restrained until we return to Magna Alto. As a soldier and officer of the imperial army, you are sworn to obey.”

Reyes glanced at his men. Some of them looked alarmed. Some looked openly angry. Sebastian would have been furious as well. No matter the justification, it seemed like the empire was betraying them after their years of loyal service.

“I may be a soldier, but I am a person first,” said Reyes. “A person with integrity who doesn’t cast aside years of friendship to appease the will of privileged royalty who have never known a day of true hardship and sacrifice in their life.”

“Do not disparage the empress,” Barone said coldly. “No amount of friendship would allow me to forgive such a thing.”

The two men glared at each other in silence. Both groups were tense, with hard expressions, stiff postures, and hands hovering much too close to their weapons. Sebastian supposed that the underlying tension between the Aureumians and the Raízians had always lurked beneath the surface. He’d caught brief glimpses of it now and then. The Aureumians thought the Viajero were arrogant and snobbish, and the Viajero thought the Aureumians were coarse and insensitive. And now that buried animosity had risen to the surface with potentially disastrous consequences.

At last Reyes spoke. “In the interest of avoiding violence, I will surrender myself into custody.”

“And your men,” said Barone.

“I will not order my men into unjust captivity,” Reyes said flatly. “I cannot. Nor can I stand idly by if anyone tries to capture them by force. You have only me, or no one at all.”

“I see.” Barone turned to Sebastian. “Captain Portinari, subdue the Viajero and their captain.”

Sebastian stared at the general. Why must it be him? What about all the men behind them bristling with swords and hostility? When Sebastian turned to Reyes, he saw the look of scathing judgment in his fellow captain’s eyes.

“Do as your conscience dictates, Captain Portinari,” said Reyes.

Sebastian felt the shame burn in his chest. First, the willful neglect of wounded prisoners of war, and now the betrayal of allies who had done nothing to provoke distrust. This was not what he had joined Barone’s battalion for. It was not what he had come to Kante for.

“Captain,” said Barone. “You are a soldier of the imperial army. You have your orders.”

“Come on, Sebastian…,” muttered Marcello. “You know how this is going to end one way or another, so don’t be on the wrong side of it.”

Sebastian felt his stomach churn as he took hold of his gem.

“So be it,” said Reyes. He raised his hands. “First Movement! Begin!”

The Viajero began a complex combination of dance and song that Sebastian had seen before in treating severe pain for a large group of injured. In moments it would render Sebastian and all of Barone’s men insensible for several minutes. Long enough for Reyes and his Viajero to escape, or if they were angry enough, kill them all.

But Sebastian had read imperial history. He knew that the reason the Viajero hadn’t participated in the Winter War was because the cold interfered with their ability to cast magic. So he drew the heat out of the air around them. In moments their movements became stiff and their voices faltered. Even the graceful Reyes found himself shivering uncontrollably and barely able to stand on his feet.

“Colonel Totti, the Viajero have been rendered temporarily powerless,” Barone said. “Move in quickly and restrain them.”

Totti gave a sharp, eager salute. “Yes, sir!”

“But,” said Barone. “Bloodshed is no longer necessary. I will view any acts of brutality as disobedience.”

“Yes, sir.” Totti seemed slightly less eager, but he motioned his men to move. They quickly bound and gagged Reyes and his men.

Barone turned to Sebastian. “Good work, Captain. You did what was necessary without causing unnecessary loss of life.”

Sebastian felt so ill he could not bring himself to respond. Reyes’s words echoed in his mind. Do as your conscience dictates. Mere hours after criticizing Marcello for following questionable orders, Sebastian had done the same.

Marcello gripped Sebastian’s shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look. “We all have to follow orders we don’t like sometimes.”

His friend probably hadn’t meant to twist the guilt deeper, but he did.

“Indeed,” said Barone. “Even I must follow orders I am uncomfortable with, Portinari. Such selflessness is the fullest expression of being a soldier.”

If that was true, thought Sebastian, perhaps he should not be a soldier. Perhaps his father and sister had been right all along.

It was a painful thought, one that made his innards writhe. But he was done avoiding painful lessons. He was done hiding from difficult truths.