All three men turned and looked at me at once. I stepped
forward. I told them about my vision. As I spoke, Jerem Cozak’s face fell.
“Something’s coming,” I said to him, to them
all. “I do not know what it is. But I think you do.”
Jerem Cozak lowered
his eyes. He came beside me and spoke almost in a whisper. I do not think Julius
or Nogilian heard, because they had started arguing among themselves. “I am no
longer my own head,” he said. “I misunderstand the Swarm. I’ve asked them to
take the dreams away.”
“Oh,” I
said, and waited. “How long? How long has it been?”
“While you
recovered after the battle for the Profuse Hand. I’ll lead no more men astray.”
“And when did
the visions stop?”
When he
shook his head I smiled. “They didn’t,” I said.
Our warlord
sighed. “They have increased. The White Swarm has never cared for the desires
of men, only for our victory. They know what’s coming, and so do you. She was
not the only vision that you had.”
I shook my head. “That was a nightmare.”
“They are
the nightmare, and we cannot stop them.” His eyes met my own.
“But that
doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “I dreamed them. I imagined them, just as I
dreamed my dead lover.”
He shook
his head again and looked away, to where Julius and Nogilian argued, their
faces a breath apart. Julius drew back his hand, and I feared he was going to
strike.
“Men,” said
Jerem Cozak, spreading his arms. “Captains, be at peace. The soldiers look to
you. They listen to you.”
And I
looked and saw that it was true. Every head and face, every pair of eyes, fell
upon our scene at the bow. The light breeze would not have been enough to drown
out the shouting.
Julius
scowled. “Madness! He will not listen to reason! He is worse than her!”
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