The Thorian Sagas. 1. The Trader.

They arrived in Saltash late in the afternoon, two days later, with seven tributes in that carriage, and with Erianne sitting up beside Stoker, as she had been each day they had travelled.

They were all tired, unable to go on without rest, though they had rested well in Brough; the settlement before Saltash, for the overnight stay there.

Stoker had soon accepted that he would be a day late getting to Saltash, but he would still make sure that the tributes got to Fenn on time.

They could rest here overnight in comfort and would be well fed, ready for the final stages of their journey in the morning.

They would catch up to his heavy wagons in Golden, and exchange with the Yunk driving them, before going on to Fenn.

The tributes would sit atop his load and may be able to sleep, but not if they were being attacked by a pack of desert wolves; the Frexes, as seemed to be happening more often. They would see for themselves how dangerous it was outside of their cities, and especially in the wastelands where you could see the danger approaching at a distance, though the woodlands around the cities had their own, more hidden dangers.

The hostel they were to stay at was on the bank of the river, part way out of the settlement and two miles back from the inland sea, which could be seen from the upper floor.

Erianne had been five nights and six days in Stoker’s company, either riding with him, or eating and then sleeping by him; the only place she felt truly safe.

Those days had been six brief and hectic lifetimes of learning about him, seeing deeper into his mind as he slowly relaxed to let her in.

He was being given no choice in that matter with the relentless pressure she seemed to exert upon him all of the time, though he was at that most difficult and vulnerable time in his life so he would have had difficulty keeping her out, anyway.

She’d had nothing in common with the other tributes, being from a different city, and though she ate with them, spoke with them, and retired close by them each evening, she was always with Stoker when she awoke after spending the night in his arms.

It was the only place she could sleep. This was where she most wanted and needed to be; with this man that she had grown so close to, and understood, but it was much deeper than that.

The hostel was ready for them when they drove in, as it always was at that time, and with no other guests for as long as they were there.

Others saw to their horses as the courtyard gates were closed and as another woman led the way into the hostel, bidding them welcome.

It was a large building with an open ceremonial hall; open as far as the beams of the roof, high above it. The space was hung with flags, strung on ropes from the balconies which extended around all four sides, about twenty feet off the ground, and rising in gently sweeping arcs to join with a central wooden boss, set into the peak of the domed roof.

A large stairway directly opposite the door, led to the balcony of an upper floor extending out toward the back of the hostel, situated over the kitchens, where the tributes would sleep.

Stoker and his dog would sleep across the top of those stairs, standing guard as they had done each night.

Their meals would be taken in the downstairs hall; clearly a ceremonial place where the walls, upstairs and down, were hung with weapons and brightly decorated shields arranged around the walls.

There was one long table for the tributes to sit at, and another by the door, for Stoker.

As always, and even in Saltash; his home, Stoker’s weapons were never far from him.

Everything was new for the tributes. They’d never travelled out of their cities before and had never known of this different and strange other-life out here that they had been closed off from, but it was taking them some time to learn what it meant for them. Nothing could have prepared them for this, though it had not been what they had been led to believe would face them. They had been met with only unexpected kindness, and were being well-looked after, even if they were the focus of attention no matter where they went.

As she usually did, now that other tributes had joined them, Erianne sat with them and ate, but soon broke away and went to sit with Stoker.

He always welcomed her with a smile, but he also seemed sad.

She sat opposite him at the table, with her hands pushing her tunic down between her knees. It would be safer for her if she trapped them there, rather than reaching out to him to touch him as she always wanted to do.

She sensed his mood.

“You should not be sad.” She wanted to add other words, letting him know how she felt for him, but he already must know that.

“I am not…” He realized that he could not deceive her. “I am not sad so much about this journey coming to an end. I am saddened, however, that I may have to break many more of the rules that have guided me this far. Even more than I have already broken.”

He was speaking about her; breaking rules for her.

“You broke them for me, Stoker. To help me. It was necessary that you did so.”

She gave in and reached out to take his hand to give him comfort. He did not pull away.

His dog came over and leaned against her as she scratched his ears with her other hand. The dog was on her side in this, she could sense that.

“You had no choice, Stoker. I gave you no choice. I was alone. Your protection for me was not just given by your physical presence, but by your support for me in every way when I most needed a close friend.”

Except he had got too close to her in that way. Never before had any tribute chosen to share his pallet each night, as she had done with him, even if only for his warmth, but it had become much more than that.

If she had known how close she had come to… how difficult his emotions were to control when he was near her…?

He could not bear to think about that. However, it had not gone wrong for them… at least… not too much that either of them would ever admit to.

She tried to find an excuse for him.

“Rules are meant to be tested, and even broken if they do not serve. You have broken many rules all through your life.”

It was his turn to be surprised, but he should not have been.

“How do you know that?”

She smiled at him. Had he really been unaware of how much she knew about him and his feelings for her.

“I know many things about you, most of which, I learned as you slept when you let your guard down as I distracted you; as I did that night when I asked you to kiss me. I got deep into your mind then, and have done so, many times since.”

She had always been welcomed into that place, to share his subconscious feelings. There was nothing she did not know about him now.

She blushed, still thinking of that time. He was blushing too. He was doing that; blushing, more and more often.

“Whenever I touched you, you gave in a little more each time. You tried, but you couldn't keep me out of your mind any more than I wanted to keep you out of mine. I would have let you all the way in, if you’d wanted to be.”

He’d wanted to be.

“It would have been so easy to do. And I know that you would have liked that.”

Letting their thoughts caress each other, make love. But it was already dangerous

However, if he did that, it would not be the only thing they would be sharing. She had seen all of those other thoughts too, that she should not have seen.

He knew what awaited him in there, in her mind if he did that, and he dared not do it. He needed to have his wits about him for anything that happened like that, and she made it difficult.

Difficult? She made it impossible.

“I would like that. But I must tread carefully. Once I am inside your mind, then you would also see deeply into mine, and I do not want to scare you, little one. I have many strange thoughts at this time.”

“I know. I have glimpsed many of them.” Perhaps all of them.

Most of them involved her in some strangely interesting ways.

She had seen much more than that in his mind, but she would not dare go there just yet. But there would be a time. Many of those visions had been terrifying.

She had seen him in combat with some large animal—many of those; but there had been others thoughts, many of them involving her in very personal ways, as she had forcefully pushed those other unwanted visions further into the background. She worked constantly, coaxing him into letting his guard down even more, until she was deeply inside his thoughts, seeing every secret, every feeling. Warmed by them, bathed by them.

“I see many things, and the closer we got to where we are now, and the closer I got to you, the more clearly I see them.” She had got very close indeed.

Such visions!

“Who is, Peter?”

That name caught him off guard.

“Peter?”

“Yes, you were thinking yesterday of sending him with Gareth to deliver your wagons and trading goods, to Golden to wait for you.”

“I sent someone else. Peter is my younger brother. He lives in Saltash too. He will be here soon, along with the others.”

“And who is, Homer.” Another name that caught him defenseless.

He pointed. ‘Homer’ was beside her, leaning into her. His dog that was not just a dog. She saw that too; could even get into his thoughts.

“Do you really think that you can go out into the wasteland with us when we leave Fenn? Would that be allowed?”

It was one of many things he had been thinking about for the last day.

She had seen too many of his thoughts.

She did not need to ask why he intended to do that. She knew why… because of her. He did not want to lose her, though he knew the dangers he was inviting if he did that.

Her heart threatened to leap from her chest.

It was only one of many such thoughts that had been in his mind.

“Yes, my little one. I was thinking of that.”

My little one. With emphasis on the, ‘my’.

She was totally inside of his mind again now.

There were so many things she didn’t understand, but one thing she saw more clearly than anything else.

He loved her more than he loved life or duty! She now had an inkling of what love was like and what it meant, after spending the first part of her life wondering about it, as all girls did.

If only her fellow Dorians could see and know what she could see and now knew about these terrifying Thorians; their enemies. Enemies, my foot! Terrifying? Yes, they could be that.

If only they could see how they had been misled, they would rebel, overthrow their council, break down those city walls and ….

She saw even deeper into his mind, and gasped.

There was danger there too, and it was fast approaching. Others were warning him, but she was interfering; in the way. It was a danger she had never known about or seen until now.

It was already at their gate, but neither of them had seen it with the other emotions clouding everything between them. Even the dog had not sensed it until now.

“Stoker!”

Her scream rang out in his head, jolting him back to where he should be, seeing in an instant what she was seeing.

He leapt to his feet and pointed, as he checked where each of his weapons were.

Of all the times….

“To the stairs. Take all of them with you and keep them back and out of sight. You will be safe up there.

“Others are coming and will soon be with us.”

But they were not close enough, and they would not get to them in time.

This, was what he had been born to do, and what he knew so well. This, was what life was all about! To appreciate life, it had to be lived to the full, experiencing all that it had to offer… the rough, with the smooth; the challenges to life, with the moments of unbelievable contentment.

But also, death!

He heard the outer gate splintering under the onslaught of a heavy body, as he ripped other armaments from the walls and lay them around within reach, then faced the door with a spear in his hand, ready to charge, to meet what would soon be upon them.

He did not have time to don his leather cuirass, or his helmet.

He had a job to do, and he would do it until the last breath left his body.