The Road To Kalbakar, Wyrms of Pasandir #1

CHAPTER 6 - LYSTER'S DIG

When I opened my eyes, the world around me blurred into light and shadow.

A blob of a face bent over me. 'You're awake!'

I tried to answer, but only a croak came out.

'Drink this.' The rim of a mug touched my lips and I slurped the water greedily. Slowly, my sight cleared and with it, my awareness. I rested on a folding bed in a pleasantly cool place. Beside the bed sat a guy of my own age. He looked well fed, like the rich kids I'd seen in Seatome. Not plump, but decidedly comfortable, and clad in a fresh, white tunic and pants. He wore glasses – another sign he had parents with money, for those things cost a fortune. He was definitely not a guy who'd be scrubbing decks at two bells in the morning.

'You must be tough, to be awake already,' he said, smiling.

'W're...' I coughed and swallowed against the dryness in my throat. I struggled to sit up. 'The broomer?'

He handed me a mug and I let the sweetened water moisten my mouth before swallowing.

'My cousin's all right,' he said. 'Asleep in the next tent. After some rest she'll be as new. Our family has warlock blood; we heal quickly, you know. As to where, we're at Lyster's dig near the ruins of Atnortod.'

The names told me nothing, so I turned my attention to the guy.

'You're Chorwaynie?' I'd known several merchants who came from that archipelago, and they had the same well-rounded appearance.

'Uh-uh!' He grinned. 'I'm half a Jentakan. There's a difference, don't you know?'

I was navy; of course I knew. Jentakans were the greatest sailors in the world. They lived on the same islands as their Chorwaynie kin, but inland, in fishing villages or some such places. Had the Tipred been crewed by them, she'd be top ship among the sloops. Yet somehow, the guy didn't look like a Jentakan, either. Then I realized why. 'You don't wear a pigtail.'

He nodded. 'Only the shipbound Jentakans sport a pigtail. I'm afraid I upset my birth father Yarwan, but I take to my mother's side. The sea bores me to death.' He put his hand over his stomach and gave a slight bow. 'Naudin of Maiwar, son of Yarwan and Basil, my fathers, and of the witch Siolde, my mother. I'm a mindmage. Well, I'm studying mental magic,' he added, honestly. 'Telepathy, illusion, you know.'

My brain was still fuzzy, and I blinked, confused by his words. 'You got two fathers? Together?'

Naudin lowered his head and stared at me, his face behind the steel-rimmed glasses expressionless. 'My fathers are married, my mother most definitely not, though she obliged them with three children and moved in to help raise us. I'm my dad Yarwan's son. My sisters Ruthie and Argyra are dad Basil's daughters. It's very simple, once you know it.'

Simple? It sounded quite complicated to me. Of course, I was hardly an expert on family life, so I shrugged.

'All right by me. You got three parents and a family; I got none.'

Naudin's eyes opened wide. 'Nobody?'

I grimaced. 'I'm a foundling.' I lowered my head back in the cushions and turned my eyes to the cloth roof overhead.

Naudin touched my arm. 'Shucks, man,' he said.

My eyes went to his face, half expecting derision, but his whole face shone with sympathy.

I must have said it before; my experiences with my peers weren't good. The other kids at the orphanage had been a bunch of little thugs, running around in gangs with names like Pokey's Bashers and Littlewink's Woodlums. I always managed to keep clear of them and their petty wrongdoings but there wasn't a hint of liking between us. Teodar was the only one in my life I could relax and joke with, yet he had always been an older brother. Then I met Kellani, who was the nicest soul a guy could wish for a friend, and now this cousin of hers seemed all right, too. I definitely liked the changes.