Kapitel 17: | The Walls of Stone (Part II)
The military aide talked too fast and in a strange accent. Soo-Ah barely understood what he was saying but she nodded nevertheless, so as to not appear slow-minded. The man's uniform was tinted gold and she tried to remember what region her grandfather said was represented by that color. Did gold stand for the outer territory of Baekje?
They must be gathering men in the army from all around their realms under the Red Banner.
No matter the region, the shape of their eyes, or the slight tint in their skin, she knew what color these men's insides were painted in. It was black.
In the end, what she could comprehend was she was meant to wait her turn in line, then present herself in front of the cooks and they would feed her. All that it took to get dinner, no questions asked. The aide asked once if she understood. As soon as she nodded, he left her there and headed to the other side entrance of the keep, while she bit her lips, watching him go.
At this hour, soldiers were flocking to queue in line for their supper. The first ones to sit after Soo-Ah gave her the looks and then shoved her behind them, taking her place. And the next group did the same until she found herself again at the back of the line. When another pair of strange hands grabbed her arm, she violently shoved them away.
Annoyed and cussing, the men pushed her hard enough to make her land in the dirt. She did look like a dirty pageboy, unworthy of much consideration. Soo-Ah dusted herself and struggled to slither past them to reclaim her spot, but the men did not budge and shoved her harder.
"Hey! Did nobody teach you to wait your turn?" An annoyed hoarse voice barked close to her, and she was prepared to give him a mean look before tears would overflow her face.
She was hungry and had no power here.
But the man simply took Soo-Ah by the shoulder and moved together further in the line, passing the impolite soldiers, and stopping where her place was supposed to be. He turned and cursed through his teeth at those who had brutalized her, then stood to watch to make sure no one would shove her away again. And no one dared to because the slightly tall, bright-faced and hooded eye man seemed to command a kind of respect beyond that which was clearly not enforced by his physical appearance.
"It's alright laddie. You fought hard and well for your spot. Now you gonna be rewarded with a nice meal. You look famished." And the man patted her back a little too hard, as if for encouragement. "What's your name?"
Soo-Ah still looked at him with scared eyes. "Soo..." she cleared her voice to deliver a believable reply. "Soo-Yun. Soo-Yun of Hansanju," she clumsily introduced herself. " I give you my thanks, Big Brother."
"Neah! Big Brother, Little Brother. We are all Sillian brothers of the Red Legion here, though some of us seem to forget," he grabbed his red-colored collar pointing it out to those who were too impatient to allow a kid to have a meal. Then he threw another bashing stare in their direction.
"I was named Duri, from the Village of Jeju." He offered her the gentlest of smiles she had ever seen on a stranger's face.
"Big Brother Duri," Soo-Ah respectfully greeted him, mostly as gratitude for his help.
"Ha-ha, I missed having someone calling me that. My little brothers are still back in my village. And some are for sure older than you. How are you here, laddie?"
"My grandfather brought me." she offered as a curt reply, anxious to start spinning the web of lies her grandfather devised.
"By the ten courts of hell! Is he that old that you were the only able man in your family to be drafted? I'll be, those of true blood ruling over us from the capital have no mercy. What they wouldn't do these days to put more meat on the army's bones. We'll fatten you up, no worries." He again patted too hard at her back.
Soo-Ah was at a loss for words because she was now facing the servers behind the counter and the spicy aroma of food overtook her senses. Delicious looking, hot kimchi and roasted pork, dumplings and mouth-watering fried vegetables like she had not tasted for too many days, lay steaming just beyond her reach in big pottery pots, attentively distributed by the cooks' aids.
[With a weird-looking plate and a bowl of hot soup held tight against her shirt-covered chest, in an attempt to ease the burning feeling, Soo-Ah followed Duri to find a place to sit. He took her out of the opened shed and to a more secluded spot where several other men kept each other company around fire pits.
A song was being played by one of the soldiers, as he stood up, catching the last light of the sunset and the amber sparks of the flames. Soo-Ah and Duri stopped near him, keeping their eyes on the man's serene face as the verses he sang came from his heart. It spoke of the trees from the garden, of the water from the stream near their homes, the birds in the forest and all things that they missed and that they now carried in their blood.
Soo-Ah felt a sting in her heart and for the first time missed being home. All those around were mum, listening to him because the message reached someplace deep and the singer's voice was as feathery as if it was given by the human face bird, Inmyeonjo.
At the end of the songs, everyone raised their cups in silence and then began to eat and chat. Soo-Ah turned to see Duri heading for a group of men standing on the side. She followed though she was still apprehensive to let her guard down. But Duri seemed kind, and she was hungry.
"Look at Duri! He's got himself some fresh meat. Except that one looks like he's all bones and no meat. What are you wanna do with him, partner?" A round-faced soldier expected an answer to his amusing remark.
"Found this one stumbling his way to get some food. He's alright, aren't you laddie? In the army, we need to stick up for each other."
"Um… I guess. I've never been in the army before." replied Soo-Ah, taking a seat on a round rock, with weathered dents on it.
"Never been in the army? No way! You're joking, right?" mocked round-face, before poking his colleague, both starting to laugh.
"Eat away, laddie. Here your squad is as strong as its weakest member. You will come to join our platoon, right? Take a good look at us," and he slammed the chest of the man next to him, "We are the true walls of stone. No one can pass through us." Duri laughed with pride and so did all those around their fire pit.
"What's your name, Hay-Bones?" One of the soldiers waited for a reply, with his eyebrows raised on a face that betrayed his adolescence.
"Kyu said Hay-Bones! Yeah, that sounds about right." Round-face approved and laughed wholeheartedly, his companion, sitting close, quickly taking after him as if they were an inseparable duo.
"And what are you supposed to do here? Feed the horses, or be fed to the horses?" The merry soldier kept to his mockery and turned to his companion, "Get it? Hay-Bones?"
"My name is not Hay-Bones. It is Soo-Yun." Soo-Ah snapped, drawing out a tinge of respect from her companions.
Duri talked over them and made sure he was heard. "The lad is wild. That one is Kyu," Duri pointed at the soldier who came up with the nickname. "He wants to make aide de camp for the general but he better learn to polish his words."
Kyu saluted Soo-Ah from where he was sitting and grinned, making the small scars on his face take to light and shadow.
Pointing at the round face and his companion, Duri introduced them, "That is Bong and his shadow Hyuk. Don't mind them laddie. They all good men. And good men sometimes need something foul, like a foul mouth. Other times good men are also stupid," he said firmly, putting a protective arm around Soo-Ah's shoulders.
The other men were quick to listen whenever Duri talked and respected his gesture, putting an end to their jokes. They also took a good look and observed Soo-Ah's eyes which shone in a blue hue, in awe.
"Yeah, the gods brought me here." Soo-Ah picked up some courage, thinking about how she had lived through the burning of the farm, the invaders and the difficult road. And she was the granddaughter of their general. "The gods and General Min-Jun."
The mention of Min-Jun's name left her four newly found companions frozen while taking a bite or chewing. All eyes were now on her, and she could not help displaying a smug grin.
"I am his grandson," Soo-Ah delivered the final line with pride.
"I'll be! You are a Young Master of the Kim clan. There's more than meets the eye to this lad here." Duri added in reverence, pointing at her. "You better be on your best behaviour, you lot."
The others followed his lead and greeted her appropriately this time.
Soo-Ah glanced at Duri's face, now illuminated by the fire in a familiar aura. What stuck with her was the way his companions behaved around him. They waited for him to finish talking, and prized his words. They looked at him with a certain respect in their eyes. He had that appeal she also found in Ho-Orabeoni and he turned out to be a trickster and a cunning demon. It was wise to keep wary of Duri in the future.
For now, she could be proud of herself. She offered these strangers a boyish name, she slouched in her boyish clothes and she slipped out no clue to indicate she was in disguise. Soo-Ah looked at the men around her, chewing their food, or friendly nudging one another. No one had seen through her deceit. A barely perceptible smile tugged at her lips. She could do this, she could finally rip the benefits of being a boy.
In the following days, Duri kept saluting and helping her on various occasions and she became comfortable in his presence, gradually putting to rest her initial apprehension. He had a knack for relating easily to a child's mind and turned out to be the kindest soldier she met and the only one who gave her any reasonable attention. Though she did not meet a lot of the soldiers.
Soo-Ah could say she had found a friendly face in war times.
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein