Rojuun (3 page)

He stayed at the window for a time before
going to bed. The covers were soft and smelled of spring air.
Tathan drew his sword and lay it down next to him as usual, but
couldn’t sleep. Getting up, he sheathed his sword and leaned it
against the nightstand. A moment later, he was resting
peacefully.

Chapter
2

“Tathan . . . Tathan . . .” He heard the
voice and wondered who was calling him. “Tathan, wake up. Breakfast
is ready.”

He mumbled something before pulling the
covers back up over his head. The bed was too warm to leave.

“Tathan, please wake up.” The covers were
pulled down. He sat up abruptly, wondering where he was. A young
woman stood beside the bed, watching him while caressing a violet
flower in her hair. Soft morning light shone through the open
shutters.

In a panic, he realized that his sword
wasn’t next to him. He searched frantically for it in the sheets
before seeing it against the nightstand. Tathan grabbed it and held
it in his lap, running his fingers along the hilt and crossbar.

“Are you alright, Cousin?” There was worry
in her eyes as she stared at him.

He remembered where he was. The young woman
was Liselle and he was home in the valley. Tathan had slept on the
road for so long that he had forgotten how marvelous a soft, warm
bed could be. “Yeah. I’m alright.” He rubbed the sleep out of his
eyes. “Did you say breakfast?”

“Yes. We tried to get you for dinner last
night, but you wouldn’t wake up. Aunt Ellin said to let you sleep.”
Liselle looked nervously at the sword. “She said that if you didn’t
wake up for breakfast, she was going to dump a bucket of water over
your head. She’ll do it too.”

“She will. She did it more than once when I
was growing up,” he admitted with a grin.

Liselle chuckled and relaxed a bit. “Yeah.
She’s done that to me a couple of times too. I make it a point to
wake up before her now.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I never
succeeded. I liked sleep too much when I was younger,” Tathan said.
He stood up and looked at his sword. For a moment, he considered
leaving it against the nightstand, but attached it to his belt
instead. He shouldn’t need it here, but it had become a part of
him.

“Do you need to carry that?” Liselle asked,
pointing at it with obvious distaste. “You’re safe here.”

Tathan ran his fingers along the steel
wrapped hilt once more. The sword was black as night from tip to
pommel. The sheath was also made of the same dark metal. What
couldn’t be seen with a normal eye were the runes that traveled the
length the blade.

“Yes. I must carry it always,” Tathan
replied cryptically. His voice was deeper than normal as he spoke.
“I . . . found it . . . in a dark place. It has magic and they want
it . . .” he trailed off, still caressing the hilt.

There was something chilling about his
voice, which caused Liselle to shiver and hug herself. She took a
few steps back toward the door. Tathan saw the movement and looked
up. When he saw the look on his cousin’s face, he shook his head to
clear the dark thoughts. “I’m so sorry, Cousin. Something’s been
chasing me for this sword . . .” He stopped. That was a lot more
information than he had intended to share.

Tathan took a deep breath and stepped toward
Liselle, who took another step back, bumping into the door jamb
behind her. It was obvious that she was scared of him and he didn’t
blame her. “I’m sorry I scared you.” That was all he could think to
say.

Liselle took a deep breath of her own before
moving forward. She gave him a quick hug. “Hurry before breakfast
gets cold.” With that, she was headed out of the room and down the
stairs.

It must have taken a lot of courage for
her to do that
. He didn’t follow her right away, instead going
to the window. The sun had risen above the eastern mountains and
begun warming the cool air. Birds sang their early morning songs.
That had always irritated him as a child. What right did they have
to be so happy in the morning while he wanted to sleep? Now,
however, the sound brought a half-smile to his face. It didn’t last
long, but it tried.

Tathan looked down at the flowers. They were
staring at him. It was the only way he could describe it. There
were definitely more flowers around the house than when he was a
child and he could have sworn they were watching him suspiciously.
He shook the feeling off and headed downstairs.

The aroma of cooking food swirled around his
head, dragging him into the dining room where breakfast and family
awaited him. Everyone else had already filled their plates and
begun eating. “There you are, Tathan. I thought for certain that I
was going to have to get a bucket of water from the stream,” his
mother said with a gentle smile.

He grinned and sat down next to her,
immediately filling his plate with food. Mealtimes were always
casual. They didn’t pray to gods, neither real nor made up deities,
like many people in the cities he had visited. Instead, everyone
took a share of food and ate until full. Anything leftover was
eaten later in the day, saved for the next, or fed to the
animals.

Liselle gave him a tentative smile, which he
tried in vain to return. He realized that it had been a long time
since he had consciously smiled and had forgotten how. Liselle
giggled at the face he made. “What in the world are you doing to
your face, Cousin?” she asked.

Tathan sighed. “I’m trying to smile. It
doesn’t seem to be going well, does it? It’s been too long since
I’ve been home.”

His mother put a kind hand on his shoulder.
“Stay with us and learn how to smile again.”

The thought of living out his life in the
serene valley with its quiet solitude horrified him. It would be
too . . . boring. He liked traveling to new cities where life was
dangerous. Tathan had been at the edge of death more times than he
could count. His heart needed to race in exhilaration whenever
possible. “I’m sorry, Mother. I just can’t do that,” he told her
guiltily.

She looked down at her plate in an attempt
to hide her disappointment. Tathan saw it and wrapped his arms
around her, holding her close in comfort. She held him, knowing
instinctively that this would be the last time her son would
visit.

“Surely you’re not leaving right away. Won’t
you stay a few days at least?” Laremy asked from across the table.
There was a fork full of food in his hand, waiting to be eaten.

Tathan nodded as he let his mother go. “Yes,
definitely. I thought I’d stay a few weeks or perhaps a month. I’m
willing to help with a few of the chores, but I’d like to spend
some time exploring the valley a bit. After that, I’ll probably
travel to Rothton to the east and decide where to go from
there.”

“I’ve told them how you do chores, Son. I
think they’d rather you explore the valley,” Ellin said wryly. They
all laughed at that, even Tathan. It was true. Tathan had never
liked doing chores much, sneaking away whenever possible to go
exploring and leaving things undone around the house. He often
wondered if his father had been happy to see him, and the
frustration he caused, leave the house.

“In any case, you’re welcome to stay as long
as you like,” Scott told him from the head of the table where
Tathan’s father used to sit. It was odd to see someone else there.
“You’re family and this will always be your home.”

“When you go to Rothton, I’d like to go with
you,” Liselle said. The room became instantly silent. There were
frowns on everyone’s faces, while Liselle held her head up in a
defiant pose. Tathan’s senses screamed danger.

The answer was easy anyway. “I travel alone,
Liselle. The world is dangerous and trying to protect you would be
difficult at best.” Tathan heard collective sighs of relief from
around the table. He didn’t bother to mention to them that his
decision had nothing to do with their feelings. He really
did
travel alone.

Liselle set her jaw in anger and stared at
her food for a minute. Then she threw her napkin on it and ran out
of the room. Sherrie stood to follow her daughter, but sat back
down when Scott shook his head at her. “It’s best to let her get
over her anger. You know that.”

She glared at him. “Yes, but I’m the one
stuck doing her chores, Husband.” Scott sighed and turned his food
with his fork. Sherrie relented and went back to eating.

Tathan knew how Liselle felt. The difference
was that he had left by the age of fifteen and Liselle was already
seventeen. If it had been him that stormed off from the table at
her age, he never would have come back.

A few minutes later, Liselle walked back in
and sat down. As she began eating quietly, Scott and Sherrie
exchanged surprised glances.

When they were done with breakfast, Sherrie
said, “Ellin, go with your son and sit in the living room awhile.
Liselle and I will take care of the chores.” Ellin nodded
gratefully while Liselle glared at her mother. Tathan and Ellin
went to the living room and sat next to each other on an ancient
couch that had been recovered numerous times over the years. It was
still comfortable.

Tathan didn’t know what to talk about. “How
are you, Mother? You seem to be doing well.”

“I
am
well, Son. The question is, how
are you?” she asked with an arched eyebrow. “You don’t look well.
You look skinny and haunted.”

Tathan sighed. Being mysterious was part of
his personality and mothers never seemed to respect that sort of
thing. “I’m fine, Mother.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?” she
asked.

“No,” he said with a chuckle.

Her mouth twitched in a half grin. “Come
now. Tell me of your life, Tathan. What grand adventures have you
had these fourteen years? That’s what you set out for, isn’t it?
Adventure?” There was a challenge in her voice. Ellin had never
wanted Tathan to leave. She didn’t think it was responsible of him.
There had been complications when he was born and she was unable to
have any further children. She didn’t think it fair of him to leave
when he should have gotten married and inherited the homestead.

“Yes, I wanted adventure and I found more
than I ever imagined.” It hadn’t always been the sort of adventure
one dreamed of, with dragons, maidens, knights and treasure. Most
of it was much darker, with dark alleys, knives, and a primal
struggle for life at the lowest levels. “It’s been hard a lot of
times, but I would do it again, though I know it upsets you.” The
look he gave her was a sad one. He didn’t like to make his mother
unhappy, but couldn’t see making his own life miserable just to
please her. That didn’t make him feel any less guilty though.

She sighed deeply. “You were going to go off
to explore the world no matter what anyone said. Your father
understood that, but it took me a while. I’m still upset with you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but she smiled lovingly at him
nonetheless.

He wrapped her back up in his arms and held
her. They sat there like that awhile, letting closeness ease the
passing of time. She eventually patted his arm and sat back. He
wiped her tears and kissed her forehead respectfully. “I’m sorry I
upset you, Mother.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m not upset anymore.
You were going to go off to see the world no matter how anyone felt
about it. Tell me about the world, Son. What’s it like?”

Tathan considered for a moment. There were
things he wouldn’t tell her, but many of the sights that he had
seen were marvelous. So he began with that. “Well, the most amazing
thing is Dralin at night. There are so many lights in the city that
you can see the glow from miles away.”

“You can really see the lights from miles
away?” she asked in wonderment. “Go on. Tell me more,” she
encouraged. At that moment, the men walked back in from whatever
chores they had been taking care of and sat down in nearby chairs.
Sherrie walked in from the dining room with drinks for Tathan and
his mother, saw the men who wanted to listen to the stories as well
and called for Liselle to come join. It was amazing how fast
Liselle came into the room and sat down with an eager look on her
face.

They listened in fascination as Tathan
spoke. The world was an extraordinary place with adventure to be
had no matter where a person turned. Cities were filled with
fascinating people who built fascinating things. He told them about
the vast oceans to the west. Tathan had seen vistas that left his
jaw hanging open in awe.

Next, Tathan told them of places he had
heard about, but not yet visited. There were tales of deserts to
the east and fantastic cities made of silver. Other oceans existed
in the south with exotic cultures. His family listened intently the
whole time. They were fascinated and asked for details about things
that interested them.

A few hours later, it was time for lunch.
Tathan yawned and stretched as Sherrie and Liselle brought the food
in. He continued to tell about other adventures, but by the time
lunch was done, he was rubbing his eyes, wishing he could go to
bed. His mother shooed him off to get sleep, telling him that they
would listen to more stories over the next few weeks.

Upon reaching the room, Tathan took his
sword off and leaned it up against the nightstand once more. He
stretched out under the covers and fell into slumber. For the first
time in over a year, there was an easy smile upon his face.

Chapter
3

“Tathan, wake up! Come quick!” Liselle was
shaking him awake. There was a worried tone to her voice.

He shook the sleep out of his head as he sat
up. “What is it?”

Her eyes were filled with concern. “Father
and Laremy saw a group of men on horseback coming this way.”