Free The Broken Jar by D.K. Holmberg Page A

back the first thought that leaped to mind with the image of the injured whore stuck in my thoughts. Baiting Baldon would do no good. He spoke from age and old beliefs. He had not been there, not battled in Pells like I had. He had not seen the brutality the soldiers from Ashon had inflicted.  
    I had inflicted.
    “The war is over. Fighting has been done for months,” I reminded, pushing away the memories. I knew I would never fully succeed. “Men still get sick from things other than spears and arrows.”  
    Baldon simply nodded. “You are just so efficient, Carter. You keep me better supplied than I would be even in Tellis!”
    Tellis. The damn capital. Were he there, he might have more coin. But there Ana would not be safe.  
    “What can you use?” I asked.  
    My words were more clipped than I preferred but that could not be helped. I needed the money. Ana needed me to get the money. Enough to leave Nys, get away from the memories, away from the insults. She deserved better.  
    Baldon tapped his fingers on the counter as he considered, then tapped at a few packets. Fewer than I had hoped. “I am sorry, Carter. This is probably even more than I can use.” He grabbed a handful of coins – silvers, not golds – and slid them across the counter as he picked the herbs he wanted, leaving me better stocked than I had hoped. “Try up in Arda,” Baldon said. “Or better yet, Tellis. You’ll sell all you can collect there. Especially with this quality.”
    Tellis was three day’s ride at best. So many more by foot. And Arda not much closer. Ana could not be alone that long and I certainly did not dare bring her along. Not to the capital city, not when such sentiment regarding the people of Pells existed, anger still so fresh. No, Ana would likely not even survive the ride.
    I told none of this to Baldon as I repacked the satchel, only nodded and pocketed the coin. Barely enough to register in the jar, slowly accumulating our coins. Even as recently as two weeks ago, the apothecary bought everything I collected.  
    Perhaps he was right. Perhaps I was too efficient.  
    But now that I was no longer a soldier, what else did I have to sell?

    I did not know what I would tell Ana when I returned. I could imagine her reaction, the way her exotic Pells eyes would hold me as she told me that it didn’t matter. She would pull me into an embrace that I did not deserve, not until we reached a place where she no longer had to hide. If only I had the coin to get us there.
    The last few months had been difficult for both of us, hiding in plain sight near the border, danger ever present for both of us. For her, because of her heritage. For me, because of what I had done. When the war shifted north, Pells pulled back, leaving Ana too far across the wrong side of the border, though neither side was really safe. Together, we used our knowledge of herb lore to collect what we could, saving slowly for a ship ride to anywhere else.
    Now we were close. Soon Ashon would be a memory. Ana would be safe.
    As much as I hated to admit it, Baldon was right; I could sell at higher prices nearer the capital, where the herbs that grew freely along the border were rare. Probably enough to finally purchase transport away from Ashon. To Telahn
    I considered how I could reach Tellis, thinking of some way to borrow a horse, when I heard the thunder of hooves. Few in Nys owned a horse; most had been procured for the war.  
    The sound made my insides cringe, bringing memories of a time I struggled daily to forget racing back.  
    I glanced up, frozen in place, my eyes turned to the gate in the massive stone wall that surrounded the village. Such fortifications were necessary during the war with Pells, especially in towns as near to the border as Nys. The huge oaken doors were thrown open, a sight that would never have been seen even a couple months ago. The well-worn road of packed dirt that stretched away from Nys and into Pells had once carried