“He didn’t charge me a single copper to stay last night, nor did he charge me for my food or drink.”
Both Seth and Garret were looking at Ashton now, each with a small grin on their faces.
“You know…” Ashton continued. “You guys are really lucky.” Again the twins waited for Ashton to continue, looking at him with questioning glances. Ashton noted their looks and again continued.
“Twins are really rare. So it occurred to me that sure sometimes a kid might go to The Choosing with a neighbor, or a cousin, or even a good friend, but how often does anyone get to go with their brother or sister? It just seems to me that you guys are lucky kind of like you get to take a little bit of home, of normal everyday life with you.”
Garret thought on this a moment and nodded in response, his mood lifted a bit. Seth too pondered Ashton’s statement and realized that indeed he was quite lucky having his Garret along with him. Seth imagined what Ashton must have felt leaving home alone, traveling two days through the mountain passes alone until he reached Vineleaf.
“You know Ashton.” Seth began breaking his silence for the first time. “You are absolutely correct; we are indeed blessed to be twins. However, when I say it’s nice to not be going to The Choosing alone, I say it meaning not only am I glad to have Garret along as my brother, but to have you along as well as a friend.”
“That goes for me too Ashton.” Garret added.
Ashton smiled at them both, glad the silence was over. He had had enough silence traveling through the mountains by himself, he was glad to have company.
The three continued to talk, most of the day into early evening telling the stories of their lives up until this day. Seth spoke mostly for himself and Garret, with his brother adding in details he missed along the way. Ashton told too of his past with his family in Glenvale. His father had been a soldier in the armies of Valdadore, His mother a priestess of Lorentia, the Goddess of healing. When Ashton’s father was injured in battle, and near to death, he was given into the hands of Ashton’s mother to be watched over and taken care of. She had spent months healing his wounds, and in that time they had fallen in love. Not wanting to lose each other, and there initial enlistments to the Kingdom already passed, they left their services to the King and moved to Glenvale. Here they had two children, Alex, the eldest son now in service to the Kingdom, following his mother’s footsteps as a priest of Lorentia, and Ashton, the younger son, hoping to follow his mother’s and brother’s footsteps as well.
“How do you guys make a living?” Seth asked. “That is if I’m not asking anything too personal.” He added as an after-thought.
“Well my mom continues to heal people.” Ashton said with pride. “Though she only accepts donations because some people can’t afford much, or sometimes they can’t afford anything at all. My dad however no longer wields a sword. He spends most of his time helping people build houses, and it pays pretty well. Glenvale is growing fast, I guess it’s because we are so close to the ocean, and it’s the only pass around the mountains to the north.” Ashton ended, his childish face alight with a giant smile, thinking of home.
As it were however, against his awkward boyish looks, Ashton was nearly 4 months older than the twins. This had come as quite a surprise to the twins as they compared birthdates with their new found friend.
They continued walking and talking like old friends as they wound their way southward, following the narrow trail through the forest as the sky slowly began to darken. The day had been perfect for traveling, warm, but not uncomfortable, a slight cool breeze at their backs, sunshine, not a single cloud in the sky. Though the day was fading, rapidly becoming night, it appeared that they too would have a well weathered night. As daylight was fading the three companions decided they should look for a spot to make camp. Continuing down the trail they looked this way and that searching for a suitable spot to rest for the night. It wasn’t long before Garret spotted a small clearing just off the right side of the trail where a large tree had uprooted and leaned against its neighbors, making a large depression, sheltered from the elements on three sides beneath its roots. The trio could not believe their luck, and set to making camp.
The air was cooling off a bit as the last of the debris was removed from the hollow beneath the tree, but it wasn’t yet cold enough for a fire, so the boys unanimously agreed against starting one. The twins dug their blankets out of their packs and unrolled them and laid them in their makeshift shelter. Ashton pulled a large leather hide out of his pack, which he told them was from a small bear, and laid it in the shelter as well. They all pulled food from their packs and shared with each other happily, and talked about their hopes for The Choosing. Obviously Ashton wanted to join the white robed healers who followed the teachings of their Goddess Lorentia. Garret too had no problem telling them that he was hoping to join the ranks of the army and win glorious battles. It was then that Ashton told them that there were two gods that most of the army worshipped, Gorandor, the god of honor and valor, and Vikstol the god of battle. This brought Garret’s hopes to a screeching halt. Sure he had heard of the gods, though he didn’t remember any of their names until now, but he had never considered joining a religion. After all there were no places of worship in Vineleaf, and no one there that he could think of offhand that had worshipped any god. Thinking over it a few minutes while Ashton prattled on about the differences between the two gods, and the differences in their worship, Garret came to the conclusion that if these gods were good enough for those under the banner of the armies of Valdadore, than certainly one of them would be worthy of his worship. Only when it was Seth’s turn to tell of his hopes did their shelter seem a bit too small. Seth told them he had no hopes what so ever of glory, or honor for that matter. He wasn’t keenly interested in helping the injured, though he told Ashton it was indeed a worthy cause, just he wasn’t compelled to do it. Seth, ruining the spirit of their camaraderie temporarily told them he just wanted to come home alive, after his five years of service. He wanted it to pass quickly; doing whatever it was that he was chosen to do. He did not want to put down any roots, did not want to burden himself with choosing a god to worship. Most of all, if given a choice, as few were given at The Choosing; Seth wished he could perhaps do something for the families who would lose their loved ones in the Kingdom’s wars. All were quiet for a few moments, taking in all that Seth had revealed about himself. Ashton was the first to speak.
“That’s awfully sacrificial of you Seth.”
Seth refused to respond still consumed in thought. It was Garret who spoke next.
“How so Ashton?” Garret asked as his face puckered up in deep concentration.
“Well.” Ashton answered. “You are willing to sacrifice your life to the Kingdom by dying in battle. I am willing to sacrifice my own life to save another. Seth is willing to sacrifice happiness, to bear the burden of the Kingdom’s failures, the burden of families’ loses, the burden of broken hearts and anguished lovers. Seth is willing to sacrifice himself over and over, while we are willing to do it once.”
Seth spoke then in a low voice, trying not to let Ashton’s words sink in.
“Let’s get some sleep guys, if we pick up the pace a bit tomorrow, we should be able to reach Stone Haven by tomorrow evening.” Seth immediately lay down on his blanket, laying on half, covering himself with the other half and rolled over to face away from his brother and new found friend. He hadn’t said much to them about his thoughts about The Choosing, and yet Ashton had seen right through his vagueness, and read what his soul felt, what his mind was loathed to reveal. Ashton looked at Garret questioningly and Garret shrugged his large shoulders in response. They too then lay down, covering themselves from the cool nighttime air, slowly drifted off to sleep.
Seth lay awake a while listening first to Ashton’s words, playing over and over again in his head. He had never thought of his choice as being self sacrificial. Still it was hard for him to imagine it as a sacrifice, trying to help those that had truly sacrificed the most.
It simply felt to him as a good worthy cause, helping others heal their souls, not their bodies. Bringing closure to the bereaved just felt like the right thing to do.
Seth lay pondering his choices until he heard his brothers light snoring, as well as Ashton’s quiet even breathing. Knowing that there would be no more conversation tonight, he relaxed his hold on consciousness and let his mind drift where ever it might go. The last thing Seth saw before his consciousness was lost to darkness was an image of his mother smiling at him, that concerned look in her eyes.
Garret was the first to wake, and sitting up quickly as was his habit at home, smashed his face into a low hanging root, abruptly scaring him wide awake enough to yell at the top of his enormously loud lungs, startling his brother and Ashton awake as well. Seth quickly got his bearings, and then sat up scrutinizing his surroundings for whatever danger caused his brother to yell. Nothing found, he looked at his brother, seeing the root directly in front of Garret’s face, and the face of his brother, filled with rage, snarling at the root, he quickly surmised that there was nothing to worry about. Ashton sat up as well and just sat there looking at Garret like he were an unworldly creature, unleashed to disrupt others peaceful sleep. Seth then looking from his brother’s face to Ashton’s starting laughing loudly, causing both his companions to look at him, Garret still with a face of half rage, and Ashton in
