Chapter 20.

The old women were buried together in the Ivarron family tomb, next to Colonel Cedar Ivarron.

There were voices against burying the two cooks next to Zadara, but her papers contained a will in which she demanded that they be buried next to her. That is where they were laid to rest, especially since Tiraz, the funeral director, insisted on fulfilling the deceased's wishes. The women had long since ceased to be slaves and had died as soldiers, defending their mistress, and therefore deserved a good rest. In her last years, they were Zadara's only friends - that's what she wrote in her will.

According to the same will, she bequeathed the house and all its property to her adopted son Tiraz, who had helped her all these years.

Oddly enough, the old woman did not forget Ned either - she included him in her will, giving him the house in which he lived all these days.

The most interesting thing is that the will was written on the evening of the same day when all the events on the parade ground took place. It was as if Zadara knew what was about to happen. And perhaps she did know – because the women slept with weapons in their hands and were ready for battle. Like no one else, Zadara knew her former lover Hagar well…

Shusard was not found in the estate. He urgently sailed away on his ship in an unknown direction, taking everything he could quickly gather from the house. And what he could not - domestic animals, cattle - he destroyed. The animals were mercilessly killed, and the furniture, walls, dishes - were chopped up and broken. He did not burn the house - apparently because it would have attracted the attention of the neighbors.

Sanda had a hard time with the events of the night. She shuddered when she saw Ned, got scared and asked to stay with her parents to calm down and forget about what had happened. Ned did not protest - he heard her thoughts. She was afraid of her husband, a black magician who controlled demons. She was so afraid that even his touch was unpleasant to her.

Ned thought sadly that all good things must come to an end – and this lucky streak seemed to have ended. However, they still remained husband and wife. At least for now. Officially.

Ned had a long military campaign ahead of him, so perhaps the old relationship would return with time – everything is eventually forgotten, covered in the mud of time…

The guards and the command were satisfied with Ned's story that he had killed thirty men single-handedly. He justified this by saying that he had run through the garden in the dark and killed them one by one, knowing the territory of the neglected garden well.

The mages were not called in for investigation – the bandits' death from the blade was obvious. If anyone had any questions about the nature of the wounds, they kept quiet. Everyone wanted this story to die down as soon as possible. Who needed all this noise, investigations, squabbles? The criminal was known – he was put on the wanted list. The henchmen were punished by the heroic sergeant, who was awarded the "Star of Courage" for his steadfastness in the fight against the enemy, and… that's it. The matter was closed.

Five days after the commission headed by the red-faced general left the corps, an order came to send the corps to the front, and the running around, the bustle, the economic squabbles began, in which the latest events were drowned. The main thing remained - the war, which was getting closer and closer to the capital of Zamara.

Six days later, Ned stood on the bow of a huge landing craft, one of three that were carrying the corps to the landing site, breathing in the fresh sea air with pleasure, looking out over the horizon and thinking about what lay ahead. All he had with him were his weapons, ancient scrolls, and memories – of friends and of a love he might have lost. Or perhaps never had? Who knows…