Chapter 10
Seth
Seth awoke suddenly, springing to his feet from the floor. Aroused by a clamor, his head darted this way and that as his eyes located a moving form in the darkness. Ashton had been the first to wake, but while getting himself dressed, accidentally knocked Garret’s sword over. Smiling into the darkness as Ashton shrugged an apology, Seth turned as Garret too climbed to his feet from the bed opposite Ashton. Still Ashton stood frozen, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Sorry ‘bout that guys!” he said to them sincerely.
“No problem,” Garret replied, still groggy. “We needed to get up early anyhow.”
Before long all three of them were dressed. Grabbing up his equipment, Seth waited for his companions to do the same before turning to open the door. They headed down the empty hall to the common room, from where they could hear voices echoing. They made their way back to the familiar room to be greeted by several faces they had seen the night before. Looking around Seth caught the eye of the barkeep and the large man smiled and waved them over. Nudging his brother and Ashton, Seth relayed the unspoken invitation. The three of them made their way to the bar and seated themselves where, the night before, Ashton had performed a miracle of his chosen deity.
The barkeep approached them from across the stone bar, a smile still on his face, and greeted them with his loud booming voice. He thanked them, his eyes on Ashton, for their help the previous night and graciously offered them breakfast ‘on the house’. The boys happily accepted, and the barkeep turned and disappeared through a large door behind the bar.
All three of them sat quietly for a while, taking in the room now lit with the morning sun, and realized it was quite a cheery place. Seth couldn’t help but to compare this inn to the one they had been raised in. All in all, the inns had little in common, besides the fact they both had a bar in the center of the common room and a kitchen past that. Beside that singular similarity, the two were hardly comparable. Seth, still looking around, noticed that many of the inn’s patrons were looking at them, speaking in whispers and muffled tones. Some of them pointed towards the bar when they spoke, others simply jerked their heads in the boys’ direction. Thinking that Ashton’s acts last night must have spread through the town and these were people come to see the healer, Seth glanced at Ashton to see if he had noticed as well.
It was immediately apparent that Ashton had. His head was hanging low to hide his face, and his cheeks burned crimson with embarrassment. Garret too was looking at Ashton with pity on his face. Meeting eyes with his twin, Garret gave Seth a questioning glance. Both brothers knew their friend was uncomfortable, but neither of them had any idea what they could do about it.
The door to the kitchen burst open then, and all three of the boys looked up in anticipation. Through the door came the Barkeep, head held high scanning the room, his gaze lost among his patrons before landing on the Boys at his bar. In each arm he carried a tray. Upon one tray rested three plates, the other bore three mugs. He gingerly sat the plates in front of the boys, scanning their faces to see their responses. The boys eyed the food hungrily. Upon each plate was what appeared to be a small pie, as well as a large pastry. The mugs, the innkeeper told them as he passed them out, were filled with warm, spiced cider. The trio each in turn thanked the innkeeper for his hospitality and graciousness. He nodded in response to them happily, and scanned the crowd again with his eyes, all the while telling the boys if they wanted a room again this night they could have it at half price. They thanked him again but declined his offer.
“You boys seem to have made this a popular place this morning,” the barkeep stated. “If you would like, why don’t you go have your food on the front porch? People are less likely to stop in the middle of the street to stare at you there.” He spoke the last sentence much louder than he needed to, as if to convey the message to the whole room.
Ashton, all too happy to take the man’s advice, stood up immediately thus making the twins’ decision for them. They all three slung their packs on their shoulders and snatched up their plates and mugs. The barkeep watched them knowingly, and told them that they could just leave the plates and cups on the porch when they were finished as he would collect them later. They all nodded to him in thanks, then turned and headed for the door.
The boys sat upon the top step of the porch facing the street as they ate. A couple of people passed them by, hardly giving them a second glance as they went about their business. The small pies, as it turned out, were just that. However, unlike any of the pies Seth had ever had before, these were filled with eggs, meat and cheese. They were delicious and filling, but nothing compared to the warm pastries. Obviously freshly baked, these were coated in a delicious syrup-like frosting and filled with a cut medley of sweet fruits.
The three friends sat back on their elbows, enjoying their full stomachs and the sun’s warmth. The street was fairly quiet, except for a few voices from the small shops and stalls nearby. Occasionally someone would come down the road and disappear into the brothel across the street. Seth couldn’t help but notice that Garret still watched it longingly, just as he had the night before, observing the building silently. Turning his gaze from his brother, Seth too began admiring the red curtains that hung in each and every window, playing with ideas as to what might be happening behind them at this very moment. It was an enticing daydream he was having when it was suddenly interrupted by the muffled scream of a woman. The scream was then followed by the deeper, hate-filled yells of a man. Though none of the boys could make out he words, each of them now followed the sounds with their eyes. The screams and yells seemed to go back and forth between the woman and man, and seemed to be making their way across the building. The boys continued to trace the sounds, as much with their eyes as their ears as each of them sat upon the step of the inn, looking at the door opposite them. The yells had stopped moving at this point, going back and forth from man to woman just behind the door.
The man roared something, which was replied to by a scream from the woman and followed shortly by a loud thud against the inside of the brothel door. At this sound the boys all stood, making their way to the bottom of the steps, still staring at the door across from them, their heads all tilted in an effort to hear better. Something, they knew, had just gone horribly wrong inside the building. The cries stopped altogether. Seth was walking slowly across the street to listen better when the brothel door swung slowly open. From it a figure appeared. It was the woman. She was small, almost fragile looking, and young as well. She stumbled out of the door, leaving it open. Her long black hair trailing behind her, her hands rose to wipe the tears and blood from her face. Seth continued to cross the street unsure of what, if anything, he could do to help her. She seemed not to notice his approach, instead she looked back defiantly towards the open door she had emerged from.
The man’s yell came again from inside.
“You get back here girl!” the voice yelled in rage. “I own you.”
The small woman’s face crumpled, no longer holding a look of defiance. Her features twisted, the confidence that was evident before now replaced with defeat. She stumbled again as if dizzy, and took another step, only this time it was in the direction of the brothel, as if she would indeed return. She stopped then, dead in her tracks, as the man who had been yelling came to stand in the doorway.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he mocked her. “You get back in here and clean up this mess you left on the back of my door.” He pointed to where her blood smeared wetly down the wooden surface.
It was then that Seth recognized the man. They had seen him the night before and watched him leave the inn, drunk, after bludgeoning another man nearly to death with a bar stool. It was John.
The large man stepped out into the street, his eyes on the girl, a short steel rod in his hand.
“You get your ass back in here,” John snarled at the girl, “or I’ll drag your lifeless body back in!” He continued hurling threats at her a
s he slowly staggered out of the door into the street.
Without thinking, Seth raced the short distance between him and the girl, coming to a stop beside her. He glanced at her pain-stricken face, and took the last few steps to place himself between her and the man that had attacked her. Looking John in the face, eye to eye, Seth reached down and pulled his sword halfway from its sheath, revealing to the man its deadly blade. John appraised Seth, and seeming to decide he wasn’t a big enough threat, continued towards him, raising the steel rod in his hand. The distance closed between them. Seth was certain he would have to fight. He pulled the wicked blade from its scabbard, testing its weight, and lifted it to defend himself.
It was then John stopped in his tracks, looking at Seth, then past him, then back to Seth. Absently, Seth noted Garret approaching to stand beside him, his giant broadsword in his hands. He stopped at his twin’s side and let his sword rest point down on the stone paved road, daring John to come closer, a smile on his face. John eyed them nervously now, uncertain if he could take the two of them at once. Unwilling to admit defeat, John once again turned his gaze on the girl.
“Fine then!” he yelled at her over the twins’ shoulders. “Go to Valdadore, without clothes, without food, without a single copper coin to your name. Maybe you can find a special way to repay your new friends here for their kindness. Mark my words, girl, you are nothing more than a whore, just like your pathetic mother! You'll be back begging when these boys are no longer amused by you!” With that last statement John spat on the ground and then turned and stalked unevenly back into the brothel, slamming the door behind him.
The slam of the door was all the girl could take apparently. Her knees gave out and she crumpled to the stone road, sobbing heavily. Blood tinted tears ran through her fingers as she cried, covering her face, ashamed of her weakness. The twins sheathed their swords and came to stand beside her. Ashton joined them, nodding his approval to the twins. They each looked to one another unsure of what to do.
It was Seth, like before, who acted first. He knelt down beside the girl, and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. At first she struggled as if to break free, then raising her eyes to look at him and noticing something in his face, she stopped struggling and dropped her head against his chest, still sobbing.
“Everything is going to be OK,” Seth whispered into her hair, over and over again.
Slowly, either from exhaustion or something else, her sobs eased and her breathing no longer came in gasps. She still trembled slightly in Seth’s arms, but slowly she regained her composure and stopped crying.
Seth relaxed his grip on her, afraid he might be making her uncomfortable, and as he relaxed, her body shook as if with chill. It was then he noticed her clothes. She wore a threadbare, tight fitting shirt, accompanied by a short pleated skirt. Hardly the clothes someone should be wearing with winter approaching. Even with the sun shining as it was, the air was still cool. Her body no longer shook in his arms and he looked down to see if she had perhaps cried herself to sleep. Instead he found her looking up at his face again and it appeared at least that her bleeding had already stopped. She had noticed him eying her clothes, and a look of fear was on her face as she spoke.
“John was right, you know.” Her voice, almost angelic, came as whispers to Seth’s ears.
Seth gave her a puzzled look, not knowing at all what she meant. Fortunately, she took his look for what it was and explained herself.
“I don’t own anything. I have no money, I can’t leave.” Her shoulders slumped and again her eyes brimmed with moisture as if to start crying all over again. Through her pain she continued talking, barely whispering, refusing to let the tears escape again. “I won’t make it far on nothing. Maybe if I apologize to him he will let me stay. I can work off my mother’s debt and then save to go my own way.” She spoke now more to herself then to Seth, but he caught the meaning of her words.
She would be willing to make a slave of herself to the abusive, violent drunk, probably selling her body, to repay a debt she did not owe. Just the thought of her small body being ravaged by old, drunken men put knots in Seth’s stomach. She was so small, so helpless; he had to do something. He looked to his brother and Ashton, who had both noticed that the girl had spoken but had not heard her words. Seth spoke to them, at the same time as speaking to the girl.
“We can take you with us if you want,” he offered to the girl in his arms, while giving the other boys a pleading look. “We are headed to The Choosing at Valdadore castle. We don’t have a lot of money, but I think we should still have enough if you join us. Don’t worry about anything, we will help you.” Seth said all this to the girl, but his eyes remained on his brother and Ashton.
Garret nodded once and shrugged his shoulders, telling Seth that he would agree if Seth thought it best. Ashton simply bobbed his head up and down several times happily. The girl once again looked up from Seth’s chest, tilting her head back at an odd angle to look in his eyes. He saw then a glint in her eyes that he had not seen before. Seth knew at once it was hope, the hope for a new beginning that shone in her eyes. As soon as the look arose, however, it was gone, replaced by a look of self-pity. She made a move as if to get up and Seth willingly let her go. She spun as she stood to face the three of them, and took a deep breath to steady herself.
“I’m sorry if I am bringing you undue burden, and I'm not one to take charity. I promise that as soon as I am able, I will repay you every single…”
“No,” Seth interrupted her. “Don’t worry about money, and you’re not burdening anyone. We want to help and we are already traveling the same direction so it's not as if we are going out of our way.” He said this a bit more vigorously than he intended, and he hoped his words would not hurt the girl.
Instead of being hurt, the young woman seemed to take his words at face value, and turned to smile at him and him alone. Seth stared in wonder as her entire face lit up when she smiled. Gone was the pain and grief; in its place was a look of pure gratitude, pure beauty. For the first time Seth noticed her eyes were a golden honey color, something akin to amber. Her cream skin looked nearly untouched by the sun, smooth and flawless, and as if in defiance of her pale flesh, her hair fell long and loose in a black waterfall from the top of her head. She was a beautiful woman. He realized now that he would do anything to keep that smile on her face.
“Well, I guess if you are willing to make sacrifices to have me along with you, then you should at least know my name,” she smiled, still looking at Seth. “I’m Sara. Sara Gallow.” She brought her hand up to Seth to shake his in greeting.
Seth took her small hand in his own before shaking it gently and introduced himself. He released her hand, almost reluctantly, and let his arm fall back to his side as she turned to greet his brother. Sara shook each of the boys’ hands as they told her their names. Then she glanced down the street in each direction and then back to Seth.
“So…what do we do now?” she asked him.
Seth looked from her to his brother and then to Ashton. Not finding an answer he returned his gaze to Sara.
“Well,” Seth said, “we were about to go pick up some supplies and head out of town.”
“Great!” she replied. It was obvious she wanted to get as far away as possible just as soon as possible.
Seth still unsure of what to do exactly, and not knowing what to say, again looked to his twin for guidance. Garret recognized his dilemma and so he turned, motioning to Ashton, and began walking down the road the short distance to where they had seen the shops and stalls the night before. Garret walked along the stone road with Ashton at his side joking lightly about the look on John’s face when he had unsheathed his sword. Seth and Sara fell in behind the other two, walking silently. Seth stole a few looks out of the corner of his eye at the girl beside him. He could swear that one time when he snatched a glimpse while pretending to look at something else, she too had secretly looked at him. At least he hoped so.
They
made the small trek down the road to where the different merchants sat with their wares in shops and stall of all sizes, and as they reached the first few, Garret and Ashton stopped and turned to talk. The four of them stood in a small circle, in the middle of the road, and decided they needed three days’ worth of supplies to reach Paldoon’s Keep, the next town they planned to visit.
CHAPTER 11
Sara
Sara mostly listened to the boys, not really knowing anything about the world outside Stone Haven. She absently reached her hand up to feel the lump on her head John had given her with his steel rod, and then slid her hand around to her forehead to feel the cut where her skin had torn against the door when she fell after being struck. Realizing the boys had stopped talking, previously lost in her painful memories, she looked to each of their faces. Garret looked like a statue, frozen and emotionless, staring back at her. Ashton looked concerned, eyeing her cut as a physician might. Seth, on the other hand, looked angry, and she caught him looking at the ragged cut on her head and then glancing down the road to where they had just come from as if he might go back and try to teach John a lesson. Seeing all their faces focused on her, she blushed slightly and smiled at them, hoping to wash away their concerns. It seemed to work, all their faces smoothed back out and they talked again, nominating Garret and Ashton to go purchase what food they might need for the trip, so Seth could take Sara to get everything else they might require. This would include equipping Sara more appropriately for travel. Seth seemed exceptionally happy about the decision and gave Sara a wolfish grin while asking her to join him. Not only did she do so, she reached out, taking his hand as she walked with him down the road. It was time to see what he was all about.
Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) Page 7
