THOR: Sci-Fi Romance (Far Hope Series Book 1)

by E. A. James

  Adrik sighed but otherwise remained silent.

  The other Gargan glared with disgust. “You’re serious? You’re just…you’re just going to quit after working here for a couple of weeks? That’s pathetic and unworthy of you.”

  “I’ll go to my assigned room, change, and give you back this uniform. You just get my last payment ready.”

  The other Gargan cackled, eyes wide and dulled. “Oh, no, no, no! Why in the great world of Olnorma would I allow payment to go through to a man that quits his post. We don’t allow that of the lower castes, so we can’t allow it to the likes of you.”

  Adrik pressed his hands against the desk and leaned forward, growling something that Leonie couldn’t hear.

  The other Gargan smirked. “You quit, and I can say and do whatever I want. Quitting makes you nothing more than rumnern.”

  Leonie gasped, horror freezing her blood. Rumnern was such an ugly word to call a Gargan—even from one Gargan to another. Before she knew it, the ice had melted beneath a flash of fiery rage, squeezing her lungs and clawing into her head.

  Adrik backed away, his entire posture rigid. He breathed heavily like he was choking on each inhale.

  Leonie stormed forward and slammed her hands on the desk. “How dare you!”

  The other Gargan blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re disgusting, you know that! No one deserves to be called that word. It’s based out of idiocy and insecurity of other races!”

  “Your race, specifically,” he said with a blunt chortle. He shook his head and gave her a toothy smile. “You don’t even have a caste to your person. My acknowledgment of your presence is a gift you’ll never deserve.”

  Other employees walked about and started to glance in her direction.

  Leonie’s chest burned, her facial muscles twitching as anger swallowed her whole. She was well aware of Sasawa’s caste system, a pointless societal way of giving the privileged more rights than the unfortunate. In her case, an outsider wouldn’t receive the honor of a label.

  She cracked her jaw and stared at him hard. “I know my worth.”

  The Gargan huffed. “I doubt that.”

  “The god of fate visited me just the night before, and requested that I accomplish an important task for me.”

  Adrik groaned behind her.

  The Gargan before her laughed, the sound light and joyous. “What?!”

  The other guards laughed, as well, stopping from their short ventures to turn toward her and laugh harder.

  She ground her teeth together, face reddening despite the truth of her words. She spoke her claim louder—over their laughter—and with more detail. She told them about the Mathsus’s starlight, the Fader attacking her—

  One elven guard tripped and fell to the ground, cackles bursting out of him as he rolled around.

  Adrik grabbed her arm and gently tugged her back. “Come now before you make this situation worse.”

  She followed him, her steps awkward as her pride clutched her chest. “But—but what about your payment? And what about the truth?”

  He pulled her out of the building and led her toward the other end of the village. “This uniform will be my payment, and no one else needs to hear this ‘truth’ of yours.”

  She yanked herself free from his grip, but both of them kept their pace. Not knowing what to say—blood searing, as it was—she pressed her lips together and trekked onward.

  Remarkably, in the hour it took the two of them to exit Narma and enter another forest, most of the citizens had heard of her claims in regards to Mathsus and the Fader. A few daring people even pointed at her and excitedly yelled, “There she is! The mad duchess of Asawiss!”

  Some laughed.

  Others gasped in awe as if witnessing something amazingly wretched.

  Leonie clenched her hands into tight fists. “Disrespectful louts. All of them.”

  Adrik didn’t agree or disagree with her. He just bowed his head and sighed, his hand pressing against his forehead.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “You must keep quiet about this supposed vision of yours. It’s only bringing us trouble.”

  Leonie kept her gaze forward, her boots stomping against the forest floor. Frowning, she cracked her knuckles and shifted her pack a bit. “I don’t like keeping things to myself, and this—this is important. This is probably the most important thing I’ll ever do in my life.”

  Adrik shook his head. “You’ve become the Mad Duchess of Asawiss in less than a day because of your rantings. People will only see your madness when they look at you, and they won’t help. Some things must be kept secret.”

  “Must they?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “What secrets are you keeping from me?”

  He glowered.

  “We’re traveling together,” she said. “If I’m to trust you, I should know you.”

  “You know enough.”

  “I don’t know anything about you!”

  “You know that I was a guard, a position given to those of honor.”

  “I also know you just quit as a guard.”

  “I resigned to prevent a war in my homeland.” He smiled, smugness marring his expression. “As I’ve said, you know enough. And others certainly know enough about you.”

  She opened her mouth to argue once more, but there was rationality in his words. Her pride withering, she closed her mouth and huffed through her nose.

  They made the mistake of entering another village—Kallal Village, a place made out of reds and pinks more than any other color, though a few aspects of lavender were painted into some of the shops’ framework.

  Apparently, news traveled speedily in the Kingdom of Sasawa.

  “You’re the Mad Duchess of Asawiss!” a human boy said, running up to her the moment she and Adrik entered Kallal. He grinned up at her. “My mama says you fell off the mountain. Did you? Did it hurt?”

  She fought against the glare that threatened to appear. “No.”

  “It didn’t hurt?! Amazing!” He ran back in the direction he had come from, toward a small cone-shaped house. “Mama, she can’t get hurt!”

  Adrik, gods bless him, said nothing about this, though his gaze twinkled with self-righteous amusement.

  They hadn’t reached the village square when two human men grabbed her and threw her against the slanted wall of a nearby building.

  “The Mad Duchess and her Gargan bodyguard,” one of them said, chuckling humorlessly as Leonie dusted herself off. “It’s hard enough to spread the word of Mathsus without heretics like you tainting the cause.”

  She stepped up to him, her eyes narrowed and her mouth open—ready to preach that the Trilinity religion had three gods to worship, not only Mathsus. But then Adrik grabbed both men by their calves and threw them unceremoniously to the other side of the road.

  They crashed on top of a large pile of garbage, in between two unkempt households.

  Leonie swallowed back a giggle, her lips spreading wide on their own accord.

  “Let’s go,” Adrik said, pressing his large hand against her back and guiding her down the road.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I guess Gargan strength does come in handy from time to time.”

  He smirked, gently pushing her as he quickened his pace.

  They stayed in the forests after that, walking on the outskirts of the villages. And with Adrik’s large size, it was easy for Leonie to crouch beside him and hide from potential onlookers.

  Olnorma darkened, the stark white moon casting ghostly light over the dense forest. A chilled wind caressed the foliage every so often, but for the most part, the air was still and the temperature was tolerable.

  “We should camp,” Adrik said, interrupting her as she spoke of the time her younger sister broke her finger.

  “Sleepy?” she asked with a smirk.

  “Of course. Aren’t you?”

  Her eyelids felt too weighted, her eyes aching. “I’m too excited to be sleepy.”

  “Be that
as it may, we should rest before continuing onward.”

  “If you insist.” She suppressed a yawn and kneeled, her pack falling to the ground. As she looked through it for her blankets and pillow, she noticed Adrik simply plumped beside her and leaned back against a tree. She furrowed her brow. “You don’t have any supplies?”

  He blinked. Then he motioned at himself.

  “Well then why didn’t you buy anything at any of the shops?”

  “I don’t need anything, except food. And I did buy that before eating it.” He stretched, rubbing his shoulders against the tree and closing his eyes. “I don’t require as much as humans do to survive. Though truly, humans don’t require their sleeping comforters.”

  “Our blankets?”

  “Precisely.”

  She took out her blankets and laid them on the ground. “I suppose that makes life easier then.”

  He said nothing.

  She placed her pillow on the ground, and then she rested upon her makeshift bed. Her eyelids drooped, though curiosity spiked within her. She turned to Adrik. “I wonder if my family sent anyone after me.”

  Adrik didn’t open his eyes.

  She faced the sky, blocked by several tree branches and pine needles. Guilt rose within her and clawed into her heart and stomach. She shifted. “I hope they understand. I never wanted to go against them and hurt anyone. I just…this was just something I couldn’t ignore. Not that I’ve ever been able to ignore much.”

  Adrik exhaled slowly.

  “Asawiss is really like one big family of friends, you know? We all rely on each other to survive. Some are gatherers, some are wood-cutters, some are hunters, some are builders—everyone has a role that matters. I love it, but sometimes…okay, a lot of the time, I wanted to see something more. There’s more to life than just one culture.” She placed her hands over her stomach, churning and twisting. “I thought my first journey out of the kingdom would be as Asawiss’s first ambassador. For it to be a holy calling that compels…” She sighed. “I hope my family doesn’t think I’m crazy, at least, even if they don’t believe me.” She glanced at Adrik.

  His eyes were still closed.

  She rolled her eyes, though a smile graced her lips. “You know, you’re the quiet and blunt type. And those aren’t bad things to be. I’m sorry if I’ve been making your life difficult, but I do appreciate that you came along with me.” Her heart warmed, easing her tension. She closed her eyes. “It’s nice to have at least one person wanting to help me.”

  She didn’t see it when Adrik peeked open one of his eyes.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  A growl rumbled through the air, ghosting over her face in a taut, warm wind that smelled of rot and fish.

  Leonie, half-asleep, turned away and cringed with disgust.

  The second growl had her snapping her eyes open.

  She rolled away just as two enormous paws smashed against her blankets, a roar bellowing above them.

  She scrambled to her feet—dirt and torn leaves falling off her—before dashing to the side as the bear charged at her. It smashed its paws against the ground and then turned to her.

  “Adrik!” She rolled out of the bear’s way again, kicking off one tree to propel her forward and away from her attacker. “Adrik! I need help!”

  The bear snarled, slowing as it circled her. Its beady eyes locked with hers, ferocity a suffocating aura around the beast.

  Her heart, lodged at the base of her throat, hammered. “Adrik.” She glanced at where he had been sleeping, only to discover that area vacant.

  The bear crouched, prepared to leap.

  Adrik crashed into it. Their large bodies tumbled over the ground, the bear’s claws slashing out while Adrik kept his arms around the animal.

  Leonie went rigid, eyes blowing wide and heart stuttering. And then she remembered the bow in her pack.

  The bear snarled and Adrik grunted as they fought.

  She ran to her pack. She had just dug out the bow and two arrows when abrupt silence fell upon the forest.

  She snapped her attention back. “Adrik?” she breathed, her chest icing over.

  Adrik and the bear lay limp on the forest floor. Suddenly, Adrik grunted, sliding a part of himself from beneath the bear before rising and dusting the dirt off himself.

  Leonie dropped her weapons, a shaky sigh bursting out of her mouth. “Thank the gods.” She glanced at the bear, still unmoving. “Is it dead?”

  “Yes,” Adrik huffed. “I snapped its neck.”

  She blinked owlishly at him—at his large hands. “Wow. Alright then.” Shaking herself out of her stunned state, she searched through her pack again, this time for her daggers. “We must skin it and package the meat. No life should be lost in vain, not even a predator’s.”

  “Sentimental reasoning, but it has a practical nature to it.”

  She snorted, smiling. “I’m glad you approve.” She pulled out two sharp daggers, gleaming beneath the scattered sunshine that shone through the trees. “Now, hold the bear up for me, will you? This is going to take a while.”

  Adrik nodded.

  The bear meat was gamey but filling, leaving the shops of scattered villages obsolete for their vital need of food. Thus, they continued on solely through forests until they crossed the border into the Kingdom of Sallimor, a much drier place covered mostly in sand. Where she and Adrik walked now, however, was covered with some tall yellow grass and a few dead bushes.

  Leonie glanced around, twirling slowly as she did so. Unease sank in her bones.

  Adrik sighed. “What are you doing now?”

  “Where is the border patrol?”

  “The Kingdom of Sallimor doesn’t care about its borders. All guards surround the royal family, nothing else.”

  “Really?” She faced forward again. “Well, then what about Sasawa’s border patrol?”

  “We have one guard stationed at the Southeast post. No one from Sallimor ever ventures to Sasawa though.”

  “That can’t be true.”

  “Virtually, it is.”

  “Is that what they teach you in the military? It doesn’t sound accurate.”

  He shook his head and shrugged. “It’s just something I noticed when I first came to Sasawa.”

  “From Maylorn.”

  He gave her a disapproving frown, his forehead wrinkling a little. “From Sallimor. Maylorn isn’t next to Sasawa.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know that! I meant you left home to come to Sasawa.”

  “Oh. Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “It was…” His frown deepened, gaze scattering about as he thought. “Different. No sand, not a lot of Gargans. I appreciated it.”

  “You wanted to be away from your own people?”

  He tensed, not looking at her. He remained quiet for the next few moments, each step as rigid as the previous one.

  Puzzling, she thought as she observed him. Guilt tried to flare up within her—she had clearly opened an old wound—but confusion kept all other emotions back. Leonie scratched her jaw, her mind trying to reach certain conclusions. When it couldn’t, she gently said, “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to insult you. I just…I just don’t understand. People usually want to be near their own. It’s an instinct, I think.”

  He scoffed. “Instinct? If that is so, then I was born without it. A defect, perhaps.”

  Her heart ached. “What? You’re not a defect!”

  Adrik grunted; his facial muscles stiff and eyes blank.

  “You’re not,” she repeated. “I’m being sincere. I never meant to imply—I mean of course, you’re not a defect. Why would you ever say such a thing?”

  He took a deep breath, his muscles relaxing and his eyelids lowering. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I…I grew up in a family that was very…strict in their ways of thinking. I was different from them, so to them that made me limited.”

  Defective. She winced, her chest feeling as if it had been cracked open. She tightened her grip on he
r pack and blinked hard. Before all of this, she had believed her family had loved and accepted every aspect of her. Now…well, at least the former was true.

  She inhaled shakily, the ache in her torso burning a little hotter. “They’re foolish for thinking that way.”

  He chuckled. “That so?”