The Troven (Kingdom of Denall Book 1) (21 page)

“I asked what they wanted and tried to calm them down. They said that they knew we were hiding a magical stone somewhere in the camp. We denied it. They said they would kill us all, one family at a time, until whoever had it gave up the stone.”

“A magical stone worth killing for?” Farin repeated, looking to Kaz knowingly. “Who are these people?”

Odon shrugged and shook his head, “I don’t know who they are, or why they thought we had anything that belonged to them.”

“What did you do?” Kaz asked.

“We told them we would show them all we had, insisting that we wanted no violence.” Odon turned away from the open field and began to lead the boys back through the camp as he related what had happened. “They tied Blade and me up over there,” he pointed, “and went into one of my wagons. They tore it apart, then after finding nothing, they set it on fire. They continued to search in other families’ wagons, throwing everything out, damaging what property they could, killing some livestock, and threatening people while Blade and I were unable to do anything. Some of their men were lining up families while others were searching wagons. They had Bodd's family lined up outside his wagon,” at this he pointed to the far end of the camp where Kaz had seen the man killed in front of his family, “He fought with the villains to keep them out of his home and they killed him on the spot. After that, more people started resisting, and a man who seemed to be leading the bandits began yelling a threat to kill us all, whether they found the stone or not. At that point I knew it was a mistake to let them tie us up, but it was too late. That is the very moment when you arrived.”

Farin looked at the ground, seemingly trying to process all that he had learned, while Kaz took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry,”

Odon smiled at Kaz, “There is no need for apologies among family.”

“I think there is,” Kaz corrected. “I saw it happening and I hesitated. I could have saved Bodd if only I had listened to Garin. I waited too long and I…”

By now they had arrived back at the make-shift medical tent where Garin and Bendar had been taken. Odon stopped walking and turned to face Kaz. He grabbed the young man in his arms and held him tight. Kaz was surprised by the man’s actions, until he whispered in Kaz’s ear, “The person they were threatening to kill next was my wife. She was being dragged away when you started shooting.” He pulled Kaz away from his body and held him at arm’s length. The older man’s eyes were filled with tears. “I am one person to whom you will never need to apologize. You saved everything for me, and I promise if there is ever anything you need, you will have it.”

“But you lost your home. How can you say I've saved everything?”

“The more time you spend with me, the more you will learn; I don't place value on trinkets and toys. I value life above all else.” He turned to Farin. “Which is why I feel so terrible about what happened to your brother. He gave his life to protect us, and we will never forget that.”

After a long, silent moment, Odon gestured to the entrance of the medical tent, but just as he was about to go inside, Farin pointed at a line of men tied up, being led to another nearby tent.

“What’s that?”

“Those are the bandits who survived the attack,” Odon replied. “We were able to grab a couple before they reached their horses, and some sustained minor arrow wounds. We got the man with the long blonde hair when he fell off his horse. It's a shame, that one,” Odon remarked with a shake of his head. “We'll have to put him down.” Kaz looked up to Odon with some alarm. “The horse,” Odon clarified with a smile. “We're going to have to kill the horse.”

Kaz gasped, “What are you going to do with the thieves? You’re not going to kill them are you?”

“Why not?” Farin asked with a dangerous look in his eyes.

Odon rubbed his forehead next to his three intellect marks. “What do you think we should do with them? They attacked our people, killed your friend, tried to kill you, and if we let them go, they will probably come back with more men. In our tradition, a person who is assaulted has the right to declare his attacker's fate. According to the laws of Denall, attacking our caravan is a crime, punishable by death.”

Kaz thought for a moment and shook his head. “I guess you're right, but it still seems so… wrong.”

“How about you?” he asked Farin. “Do you want to go over there and finish the job on those men?”

Farin glared at them and flexed his arms. Kaz could see the anger in his eyes, but he also saw after only a short moment that the anger subsided and his features softened.

“I’m not a murderer,”

Odon was smiling. “I'm glad to hear it. You're good lads.” Odon clapped Kaz and Farin on the backs. “These men are not murderers either,” Odon clarified. “You brought justice to the man who killed Garin,” he reminded, “and Kaz took out the men who killed Gefion and Bodd. Denall’s law requires that anyone who murders another must be turned in to the authorities, but these hesitated just enough at the commander’s orders that we were able to overpower them. I think there is still hope for these men.”

“What do you mean?” Kaz asked.

“From time to time a bandit group will come. They usually are looking for food, and that we give them willingly. If they come violently, we defend our homes and families and usually we take a captive or two. When that happens, we make them work for us. That group will probably start out pulling a wagon, or hauling boxes. When they are far enough from home and feeling humble they usually agree to peacefully join with us. We have a pretty big group, but we can always use a couple more strong backs to help with the heavy lifting.”

“Then what do you do?” Kaz was very interested.

“We take off their bonds.”

“Don't they run away?” Farin asked.

“Sometimes, but for the most part they find that our way of life is better than thieving. You see, most people don't like to rob and cause violence. They do it out of desperation. When they have another choice, they take it. They end up being some of our best defenses against robbers. Just last year a group of thugs came to rob us and they recognized Bill over there,” Odon gestured to a large man working on fixing a wagon wheel. “Instead of having a fight, we had a small reunion and went peacefully on our way.” Odon was chuckling while he told this story.

“I think I understand,” Kaz said, though some confusion still swirled inside of him.

“It's a lot to learn, but you'll see. Living at peace with others is the only way to find peace with yourself. Hopefully those bandits will also learn that lesson. In the meantime, let us properly honor our fallen.  There will be plenty of time to deal with these men afterward.”

Frustrated and confused, Farin entered the medical tent, ready to begin preparing his brother’s body for the funeral the next day.

* * * * *

After assisting Farin to dress Garin’s body with clean clothing that was brought to them by a group of women from the caravan, and sitting with his friend, letting tears freely fall between the two of them, Kaz left Farin in the care of the older of the two healers, Razer, who assured him they would take good care of him. Ever since the skirmish, Farin had been complaining of his head swimming, and winced whenever people spoke above a whisper.  Before leading Kaz through the partition to visit Bendar, the younger of the healers had suggested that Farin must be in shock, and they both promised to make sure Farin would get some rest.

Bendar was sitting dejectedly next to a table covered with clean cloth and medical instruments.

“How are you doing, Bendar?” Kaz asked, uncertain what exactly to say.

For a moment, Bendar could only shake his head, and then he held up his wrapped hand and said hollowly, “They told me I may never use my hand again. Every bone was broken or crushed. Syd here has made a splint and wrapped it to help it to heal in the shape of a hand, but…” he trailed off.

“Bendar, I’m so sorry,” Kaz said, taking a seat next to him.  Bendar looked up as though he was confused to hear these words. “I did this.” He said, as though annoyed that he would have to explain this to Kaz.

“What are you talking about?”

“I was the one who decided to travel this way. This was my plan…”

“No,” Kaz said firmly, “This was all the fault of those bandits. We had to come this way because they wanted to do us harm. This is the fault of people looking for that stupid magical stone. If Omer and those two people who attacked Farin in hillside hadn’t been so eager to find out about a magical stone, we wouldn’t have had to take this route either. And, the bandits who attacked the caravan and killed Garin and smashed up your hand, they were looking for a stone too.  This is on their heads, not on yours!”

“What?” Bendar said, sitting up straight and wincing as it causing his hand to shift position, “They were looking for a Stone of Power?”

“Odon, the leader of this caravan, told us that when the bandits showed up, they claimed that someone in the caravan had a magical stone.”

Just then, Farin burst into that section of the tent from the outside, Razer close behind him.

“You’re right! It is their fault!” Farin blurted out.

“What?” Kaz and Bendar asked together, exchanging bewildered glances.

“Kaz, you are right, this is the fault of those bandits.  Some of them were with that group that grabbed us on the way to Hillside, and now that I think about it, someone else looked familiar.” With that, Farin turned around just as suddenly as he had come and went hurrying out of the tent.  Kaz and Bendar exchanged one more startled glance and then hurried after him.  Razer went with them, apologetically explaining that he had been taking Farin to rest in a spare tent Odon had prepared for him, when suddenly Farin had asked why Bendar was speaking so loudly, then had stopped, and suddenly started hurrying back to them.

In a moment the group was inside the second medical tent where the captured bandits were being treated. The bandits lay in beds with leather straps holding them down. Some pushed and pulled against their restraints, while others laid still. As Farin looked across the patients in the tent, his eyes came to rest upon a well-built man with a week’s worth of a beard and blood covering half of his face. The other two boys realized after only a moment what Farin had brought them to see. Commander Aldis was tied down on the bed at the end of the tent. Farin ran across the tent and slammed Aldis in the face with his elbow.

“What are you doing?” the girl who had been helping to bandage the bandits demanded.

Farin ignored her and threw fierce punches at the man’s face, breaking his nose and splitting his lip open. When he pulled his arm back for another hit, Kaz was quick to leap forward, grabbing at him from behind, pulling him off of Aldis. Farin struggled to get free and was able to lash out with a wild kick that hit Aldis in the ribs and made him groan in pain.

“Farin, calm down,” Bendar hurried in to address him. “I know you are upset, but you cannot do this.” Bendar pointed at Aldis’ restraints and said, “He can’t defend himself. You can’t attack a prisoner. Our new friends have things under control.” Then, when Farin finally looked at him, still breathing heavily, Bendar said more quietly, “Please trust me. I will speak with Odon and we will sort this out. Something is clearly going on here, but you need to rest.” Farin struggled to free himself from Kaz’s grip once more, but Bendar said, “Please, let me handle this. Let me do something that can help to take away my agony over my part in bringing us here.” Bendar’s eyes were pleading. Farin’s anger seemed to melt away and he finally relaxed.  Kaz slowly released him, ready to grab his friend again if necessary.  By now a small crowd had gathered inside of the tent, including Odon and Blade.

“May I have a few minutes to speak a word or two with this man?” Bendar addressed the caravan men who were tensely watching the exchange between the two friends. Blade and Razer looked to Odon who looked back and forth from Aldis to Bendar several times before answering.

“You have ten minutes. All of these prisoners must be in good condition when I return. Is that understood?

As the group stepped outside the tent, leaving Bendar to interrogate Aldis, Kaz turned to Farin. “You heard mine and Bendar’s conversation from halfway across the camp?”

Farin looked at him with surprise and then a look of befuddlement as the likelihood of that dawned on him.

“That’s not so uncommon for a level four listener though,” Razer put in as he carefully began guiding Farin toward the tent that had been prepared for the boys.

“Level four? I’m only a level two,” Farin said with even more confusion.

Razer and Odon exchanged looks of amazement, and then Razer began to look around, finally pointing at Blade’s sword.

“May I borrow that for a minute?” he asked. Blade looked surprised, but removed his sword from its scabbard and handed it to Razer, who in turn handed it to Farin.

“Turn it so you can see your left ear.”

Farin looked at himself and was surprised at what he saw. Since he had left the inn in Hillside he hadn’t seen himself. Even in the uneven surface of the blade he could see that he was thin and his eyes had large bags under them. He even had the startings of a beard.

“I look scary,” Farin said out loud. Remembering then why he was given the mirror, he twisted it and leaned it back so he could see his left ear. What he saw on his ear shocked him even more than his current scruffy state. In place of two ear marks, he now had four. “What happened to me?” he asked, almost dropping the sword to the ground, then he took another look to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.