to let the tears escape again.
“I won’t make it far on nothing; maybe if I apologize to him he will let me stay. I can work off my mother’s debt and then save to go my own way.” She spoke now more to herself then to Seth, but he caught the meaning of her words.
She would be willing to make a slave of herself to the abusive, violent drunk, probably selling her body, to repay a debt she did not owe. Just the thought of her small body, ravaged by old drunken men put knots in Seth’s stomach. She was so small, so helpless, he had to do something. He looked to his brother and Ashton, who had both noticed that the girl had spoken but had not heard her words, and so Seth spoke to them, at the same time as speaking to the girl.
“We can take you with us if you want.” He said to the girl in his arms while giving the other boys a pleading look unsure of himself. “We are headed to The Choosing at Valdadore castle. We don’t have a lot of money, but I think we should still have enough if you join us. Don’t worry about anything, we will help you.” Seth said all this to the girl, but his eyes remained on his brother and Ashton.
Garret nodded once and shrugged his shoulders, telling Seth that he would agree if Seth thought it best. Ashton just bobbed his head up and down several times happily. The girl once again looked up from Seth’s chest, tilting her head back at an odd angle to look in his eyes. He saw then a glint in her eyes that he had not seen before. Seth knew at once it was hope, the hope for a new beginning that shone in her eyes. As soon as the look arose however it was gone, replaced by a look of self pity. She made a move as if to get up, and Seth willingly let her go. She spun as she stood to face the three of them, and took a deep breath to steady herself.
“I’m sorry if I am bringing you undue burden, and I'm not one to take charity.” She stated looking to each of them. “I promise that as soon as I am able, I will repay you every single…
“No.” Seth interrupted her. “Don’t worry about money, you’re not burdening anyone. We just want to help and we are already traveling the same direction so it's not as if we are really going out of our way.” Seth stated a bit more vigorously than he intended, and he hoped his words would not hurt the girl.
Instead of being hurt, the young woman seemed to take his words at face value, and turned to smile at him and him alone. Seth stared in wonder as her entire face lit up when she smiled. Gone was the pain and grief that marked her face before, in its place a look of pure gratitude, pure beauty. For the first time Seth noticed her eyes were a golden honey color, something akin to amber. Her skin looked nearly untouched by the sun, smooth, flawless, she had perfect cream colored skin, and as if in defiance of her pale flesh her hair fell long and loose in a black waterfall from the top of her head. She was a beautiful woman. He realized now that he would do anything to keep that smile on her face. Seth realized all this in only a matter of seconds, but was surprised to see that she was still looking at him smiling.
“Well I guess if you are willing to make sacrifices to have me along with you then you should at least know my name.” The girl stated, still looking at Seth. “I’m Sara.” She said. “Sara Gallow.” She corrected herself, bringing her hand up to Seth, to shake his hand.
Seth raised his arm and took her hand, shaking it gently, and introduced himself. He released her hand, almost reluctantly, and let his arm fall back to his side as she turned to greet his brother. Sara shook each of the boys’ hands letting them introduce themselves, then looked around, down the street in each direction, then looked back to Seth.
“So… what do we do now?” she asked him.
Seth looked from her to his brother and then to Ashton, not finding an answer he returned his gaze to Sara.
“Well.” Seth said. “We were about to go pick up some supplies, and head out of town.
“Great!” She replied. It was obvious she wanted to get as far away as possible just as soon as possible.
Seth still unsure of what to do exactly, not knowing either what to say, looked to his twin for guidance. Garret knew his brother’s look and so he turned, motioning to Ashton, and began walking down the road the short distance to where they had seen the shops and stalls the night before.
Garret walked along the stone road with Ashton at his side joking lightly about the look on Johns face when Garret had unsheathed his sword. Seth and Sara fell in behind the other two, walking silently. Seth stole a few looks out of the corner of his eyes, at the girl beside him. He could swear that one time when he stole a glance, while pretending to look at something else, that she too had secretly looked at him.
They made the small trek down the road to where the different merchants sat with their wares, in shops and stall of all sizes, and as they reached the first few stalls Garret and Ashton stopped and turned to talk. The four of them stood in a small circle, in the middle of the road, and decided they needed three days worth of supplies to reach Raven's Keep, the next town they planned to visit. Sara mostly listened to the boys, not really knowing anything about the world outside Stone Haven. She absently reached her hand up to feel the lump on her head John had given her with his steel rod, and then slid her hand around to her forehead to feel the cut where her skin had tore against the door when she fell after being struck. Realizing the boys had stopped talking, previously lost in her painful memories, she looked to each of the boys faces. Garret looked like a statue, frozen emotionless, looking back at her. Ashton looked concerned, eyeing her cut as a physician might. Seth on the other hand looked angry, and she caught him looking at the ragged cut on her head and then glancing down the road to where they had just come from as if he might go back and try to teach John a lesson. Seeing all their faces, focused on her, she blushed slightly and smiled at them hoping to wash away their concerns. It seemed to work, all their faces smoothed back out, and they talked again deciding that Garret and Ashton would go collect what food they might need for the trip, and Seth could take Sara to get everything else they might need for the journey including equipping Sara more appropriately for travel. Seth seemed exceptionally happy about the decision and Gave Sara a Wolfish grin while asking her to join him. Not only did she join him, she reached out, taking his hand, walked with him down the road.
Garret watched them go, and thinking to himself suddenly started laughing. Ashton gave him a puzzled look and asked.
“What are you laughing at?” Ashton asked.
“I spent all night and all morning thinking about going into that brothel to get a girl.” He paused laughing again even more loudly then before. “Then, go figure, my brother brings a girl out of the brothel without ever stepping a foot inside the door. Lucky bastard!” Again Garret laughed his throaty laugh and turned to clap Ashton on the back. They too walked down the road then, looking shop to shop for the supplies they needed.
Seth led Sara through the stalls and shops knowing all the while exactly what he was looking for. They didn’t have to walk far before he seen the shop he hoped would be here. He led her up to the shop, first to the window where inside, two wooden figures stood, shaped like people. He led her around to the door and walked inside, pulling Sara along with him. Inside the clothing shop they made their way past all the racks of clothes made in the latest fashions, Seth all the while looking for something particular. He spotted what he was looking for near the back of the shop, and smiling in triumph, led Sara to the large rack of traveling clothes. Fortunately Seth knew that travel clothes were generally much cheaper than most clothing, as they were made from more available materials, and were less decorative than other clothes. Keeping this in mind, he looked again at Sara’s beautiful face, and gesturing to the rack of clothes, told her to pick whatever she wanted.
Sara looked at Seth horrified. Never in her life had she wore new clothing. One item on this rack was probably worth more than all the clothes she had ever owned. She couldn’t even imagine letting Seth spend that much money on her. She wasn’t worth it. She thought all this to herself and shook her head at the boy smiling at her.
“I can’t.” She said quietly to Seth. “It’s too much; I won’t let you spend this much on me.”
Seth was taken aback. He hadn’t expected this type of reaction from her. He thought she would like to buy new clothes. Isn’t that what girls did? Shop and buy clothes and stuff? Not really knowing how to respond, but knowing she had to get something warmer than what she wore he tried to reason with her.
“Sara you need something warmer than what you are wearing.” Seth stated trying not to sound forceful. “It’s going to be cold tonight and I don’t want you to get sick.” Seth waited for a response; sure his words weren’t enough to convince her.
Sara sighed, she knew he was right, but still didn’t think he needed to spend any money on her. She didn’t want to upset Seth though. He had been the only one to ever protect her, ever. He was kind hearted, and she knew he was doing this to keep her safe, still protecting her. She had an Idea.
