The Sword Maiden

Finally Talking

We could not go any farther that day.  Simran had taken all that he could take and desperately needed to rest.  We were far enough from Baradom to be safe, at least for a little while.  

It was mid-morning when we finished setting up the camp.  And after that, I realized I had the rest of the day, during which I wasn't going to be chasing something, or running, or fighting, or even working. 

I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a day like that, and for a moment I didn't know what I was going to do with myself.  

But it didn't take me long to figure it out. 

Derrek and I still hadn't had the chance to tell each other all that had happened in the months we'd been apart.  Now was the perfect time.  

Derrek seemed to think so too, and together we headed off privately to the edge of the camp.

"You go first," I said as I lowered myself down at the base of a tree. 

"No, you go first," countered Derrek as he slumped down across from me against another tree.  

We started at each other, each wanting to hear what the other had to say more than what the other wanted to say it.  Then we cracked up laughing.  

"I'll go first," I decided.

And from then on, I told him the long, winding tale of the last few months of my life.  We laughed, cried a little, and mourned for our loss.  

"And yeah, that's it.  Now,"  I leveled my brother with a stern older sister glare, "Do tell why you thought it was a good idea to become a mole in a gang that could slice your throat."  

He flinched.  "Yeah...  About that."  

I crossed my arms and waited. 

He broke the stick he'd been fidgeting with and looked away.  "Let's start from the beginning."

"I waited for you in the tree for what seemed like forever, Ravine.  And after I was sure the Ravagers were gone, I climbed down and went into the village.  But you weren't there, and neither were our parents."  

He swallowed hard.  "So I...  To be honest I'm not sure what I did.  I was so upset that I turned and ran back into the forest.  I ran until I was so tired I couldn't anymore, and I guess I fell asleep.  The whole memory's a blur."  

"When I woke up, I found that I was by Serva creek.  So I followed it to Ladris.  I was hungry and lonely.  I knew I needed a job, but I was too  distraught at the time to care."  

"But a woman saw me."  At this point he began to smile.  "She was the blacksmith's wife.  She took pity on me, gave me a meal, and promptly ordered her husband to give me a job in the smithy."  He chuckled.  "The blacksmith wasn't too impressed at first, I think he thought I was too small to handle the work."  

"But eventually he became fond of me.  And so I worked there for awhile."

"Why didn't you stay in Ladris?"  I asked him.  

"I wouldn't have stayed at all of I hadn't thought you or mother and father might come back.  I knew you'd try to escape, if you'd been captured, and you would come to the village or Ladris."  He sighed.  "There were too many memories associated with that place.  I seemed to be in a perpetual state of grief, and I didn't think I could break out of it unless I left."  

I nodded.  "I understand that."  

"So, when I saved enough money to buy my own horse,"  at the mention of his own horse his face brightened.  "His name is Memory, by the way.  He's really young and green, but I could afford him, so that's what I bought." 

"He was the gray horse you were riding?" 

"Oh, no.  When I left, the blacksmith wanted me to take a horse that belonged to the man who was selling me Memory to him.  Memory is seal brown with three white socks.  He almost looks black from a distance."  

"Oh, okay.  Where is he now?" 

"I'll get to that in a minute."

"I left for the city of Terreth.  Like you, I was stunned by how big it is.  But I hear there's bigger.  Anyhow, as I was riding down one of the streets, there was the Mayor's family.  I don't know what they were doing out there." 

"As I rode by, one of the boys, about my age I guess, jumped and waved his arms at Memory.  Memory spooked and spun, which was just what the boy wanted.  He laughed as I was nearly thrown, and probably would have laughed harder if I had been."  

My jaw clenched as I heard this.  That was not only a mean thing to do, it was a dangerous thing.  For both my brother, innocent bystanders, and the boy himself.  

"Memory was listening good to me by then, so I was able to stop him from bolting."  At this point in the story he looked away.  "I know mom wouldn't have wanted me to do this, Ravine.  But I couldn't help myself.  I was just so angry at the world, and I guess I needed something to take it out on."  

He coughed awkwardly.  "Unfortunately that happened to be the Mayor's nephew."

I cracked a half smile at that.  

"So I stepped down off of Memory and tied him to a hitching post.  Everyone was watching me by then.  But I didn't care.  I walked straight up to that boy, with his rich clothes and smirky grin.  He said to me, "Whatcha gonna do about it, peasant boy?"  And I reared back and punched him straight in the mouth."  

He laughed.  "He did try to fight back, but I whipped him, fair and square." 

"Of course, you don't just get away with punching the Mayor's nephew.  I was arrested and brought before the Mayor.  The Mayor heard the charges, looked at me, and then had everyone else leave the room."  

"And he offered me a choice:  either go to jail for three days, or become a mole for him."  

There was one part of me that felt like shaking him for choosing what he chose.  And another part of me that completely understood why he chose it.  

"So, obviously, I chose to become a mole.  All was going well, until Corban showed up."  His face wrinkled and he spat to the side.  "I don't know what dealings he had with Megidil, but he recognized me.  And well...  He wanted to take me back to Ravagerian land with him." 

My fists clenched at the mention of Corban, and suddenly, I realized I'd never asked Redwar why he'd stopped me from running my enemy through.