Chapter 102: Pulajanes
The graduation of the recruits was cancelled.
With our clothes still drenched in sweat from the day’s training and caked in the dust of Landi’s scorched fields, I ordered everyone to march in formation with Señor Alcántara back to the gunship anchored offshore. We were heading for Gasan at once.
Well... almost everyone.
I had given separate orders to Vicente. At first light, he would return to Kasily with the Bulakeño soldiers and escort Isabela back to Boac via the Garay, ensuring her safety. That left me with the bulk of our exhausted company, marching in silence as the sun dipped below the horizon.
I said nothing on the ride to the port. We were in too much of a hurry for small talk, and I—I was afraid to ask for more details. Part of me clung to the hope that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.
The moment we were aboard the gunship, the senior officers drifted instinctively to the prow, not far from the gundeck. The metal of the deck groaned faintly under our boots as we leaned over the railings, watching the moonlight shimmer across the sea. The warm, briny air did little to soothe the heaviness in our chests.
When Señor Alcántara joined us, it wasn’t me who broke the silence.
"When did this happen?" Colonel Abad said, his voice unusually hushed.
"I think it happened last night," Señor Alcántara replied. His tone was rushed, uneven, like the words were escaping before he could fully form them. "The news didn’t reach us in Boac until late this afternoon."