Drenai Series 08 - Winter Warriors Read Online Free PDF Page A

battles,' she admitted, not knowing where the conversation was leading. 'Come back to bed.'
    'It's a lot of battles, all right. I've been wounded eleven times. Now they don't want me any more. Eighteen hundred of us. Thank you and goodbye. Here's a bag of gold. Go home. Where's home, eh?' With a sigh he moved to the bed, which creaked as his huge frame settled upon it. 'I don't know what to do, Palima.'
    'You are a strong man. You can do anything you want. Go anywhere you want.'
    'But I want to stay with the army. I'm a front ranker! That's what I am. That's what I want.'
    Sitting up she cupped his face in her hands. 'Sometimes - most times - we don't get what we want. Rarely do we even get what we deserve. We get what we get. That's it. Yesterday is gone, Bison. It will never come again. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet. What we have is now. And do you know what is real?' She took his hand in hers and lifted if to her naked breast, pressing his fingers to her flesh. '' This is real, Bison. We are real. And at this moment we are all there is.'
    His hand fell away, then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He had never done that before. In fact she couldn't remember the last time a man had kissed her cheek. Then he rose. 'I'd better be getting back,' he said.
    'Why not stay? I know you, Bison. You'd feel better afterwards. You always do.'
    'Aye, that's true. You are the best, you know. And I speak from a lifetime of having to pay for it. But I have to go. I'll be on charges. The Watch is probably looking for me.'
    'What have you done?'
    'Lost my temper. Tapped a few soldiers.'
    'Tapped?'
    'Well, maybe more than tapped. One of them laughed at me. Ventrian scum! Said the army would be better off without the greybeards. I picked him up and threw him like a spear. It was really funny. But he landed on a table and broke it with his head. That upset the Drenai soldiers who were eating there. So I tapped them all.'
    'How many were there?'
    'Only five or so. I didn't really hurt no-one. Well, not badly.' He grinned. 'Well, not very badly. But I'll be on charges.'
    'What kind of punishment will you get?'
    T don't know . . . ten lashes.' He shrugged. 'Twenty. No problem.'
    Palima climbed from the bed and stood naked before him. 'How did it feel when you were tapping them?' she asked.
    'It was . . . good,' he admitted.
    'You felt like a man?'
    'Yes. I felt young again.'
    Her hand slid down over his leggings. 'Like a man,' she whispered, huskily. She felt him swell at her touch.
    'And how do you feel now?' she asked him.
    He let out a long sigh. 'Like a man,' he said. 'But they don't want me to be one any more. Goodbye, Palima.'
    Without another word he walked out into the night.
    Palima watched him from the window. 'A pox on you and all your kind, Drenai,' she whispered. 'Go away and die!'
*
    Banelion, the legendary White Wolf, gathered his maps and carefully placed them inside a brass bound chest. Tall and lean, his long white hair tied at the nape of the neck, the general's movements were swift and precise, as he packed the chest with the expertise of a lifetime soldier. Everything neatly in its place. The maps were stacked in the order they would be needed during the 1400 mile journey to the western port. Alongside them were notes listing the names of tribes and their chieftains, way stations, fortresses and cities along the routex As with everything else he undertook the journey home would be planned meticulously.
    Across from the broad desk a young officer in full armour of gold and bronze stood watching the general. The old man glanced up and gave a swift grin. 'Why so sad, Dagorian?'
    The young man took a deep, slow breath. 'This is wrong, sir.'
    'Nonsense. Look at me. What do you see?'
    Dagorian stared at the white-haired general. Leathered by desert sun and winter winds, the White Wolf's face was seamed and wrinkled. Beneath bristling white brows his eyes were pale and bright - eyes that had seen the fall of empires, and the