I awoke somewhat later on a cot in the infirmary. The Superius Frater himself
was dozing on a chair beside me. He told me he'd found me lying in the middle
of the road on his way back from the town. He asked me what had happened,
but for some reason I didn't want to tell him, at least not until I'd had
a chance to think about it for a while. So I pretended I couldn't remember
anything since before he left for town that morning.
After a day or so I was able to resume my duties, and it was then I learned
that Gig had disappeared. The stratioti acted more irritable than usual
-- each had to pull double-shifts to cover Gig's absence -- but they also
were frightening the younger brothers with stories of trolls lurking in
the woods. And of course the off-duty stratioti would want to hunt for Gig,
and would press anyone they could into service.
|
|
|
|
Complete version available from
