Marsh Silas IIS: Squad Stories

Chapter 25

 "Hey, Lauraine's back!"

Marsh Silas spun around as the barracks erupted into a cheer. Lauraine pushed through the entrance as she manhandled a cart filled with white parcels. A bullet graze from the Port Ollan Raid left her with a bandage on her right cheek. But she looked quite smart in her dress uniform and upon the ovation, flashed everyone a flustered smile.

The Kasrkin of Bloody Platoon and Gabler's 3rd Platoon gathered around the cart. All kinds of smells radiated from the boxes, all tied up with twine. Scents of sweet pastries mingled with the aroma of savory meats and freshly baked rolls. When some of the men attempted to open them, Lauraine made a great show of fighting them off. Bouts of laughter reverberated throughout the crowd.

"Where did you scamper off to?" Staff Sergeant Werner asked as she brought the cart to the center of the barracks. Marsh Silas walked around and put his hand on her back.

"Hyram and I have news to share and we decided to celebrate in our own way. I asked if she would arrange for a delivery of fine food from the soldier's hall she works at. Although, I hadn't asked her to drag it all the way here. Throne, lass, could ye not ask a few hands for aid?"

"Well, it was asked of me," Lauraine replied bashfully. "I did not want to trouble anyone."

"Very well, very well. Alright, Bloody Platoon, help her set the tables and no snacking!"

"You too, 3rd Platoon," Gabler ordered as well.

The men eagerly created a buffet by pushing the tables together and organizing the food groups. One table was devoted to the appetizers, an assortment of buns and biscuits with various spreads. Entrées of roasted game birds, grilled Grox flanks, and fish harvested from the Torium Sea were placed on the second. Desserts of frosted cakes and chocolates shared a third table with amasec bottles.

Marsh Silas stood next to Lauraine as the Kasrkin placed glasses, utensils, and plates along a smaller table they pushed over.

"Thank you for this. It will have the greatest effect on the spirit of my dear friends," he said to her.

"Thank me not, sir. Tis a great pleasure to be in the company of such fine folks," said Lauraine, graciously. "It gives me great cheer that you treat your troops fondly."

"I like to make sure they're well-fed," Marsh Silas told her. "We never were forced to eat corpse-starch, thank the Emperor, but we all remember what it was like to grow up on hardtack, Grox jerky, and reconstituted vegetables. These warriors deserve better." With a kind-hearted smile, he placed one of his heavy, rough hands on her shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. "I am happier still that you are able to join us."

Lauraine blushed a little and smiled. "Not least of all for my dear friend Seathan," Marsh teased, "for he is in a sour mood this day. He might appear bookish, but the man's a devil in combat. Sometimes, even more so outside of it." Lauraine chuckled but quickly covered her mouth when her breath whistled through the gap of her front teeth.

There was little time to laugh. The door at the end of the barracks burst open and Hyram stomped in. All his new medals jingled and swayed on his breast above his ribbon rack. His head was down, his fists curled up, and his shoulders hunched. Bloody Platoon and Gabler's men quieted themselves and assembled in the center of the barracks.

Marsh Silas took Lauraine by the elbow and led her back several paces as Hyram stormed by. "Watch this," he whispered.

Hyram stopped in the center of the Kasrkin and placed his hands on his hips. "Today is a momentous day and not just for the news I have to deliver. My wife Isabella and my son Sydney are here to visit. Other than my brother Marsh Silas, for the rest of you, this is the first meeting you'll be having with my family since I first brought them to Cadia."