“Tedi did not really mean anything disrespectful. He just has a brash way of talking. He thinks if he acts tough, tough people will leave him be. I am no horseman, but I do occasionally help out at Master Tern’s stables. I do know how to brush a horse.”
Tanya tossed a brush to Arik and began using one herself. The pair worked on in silence for some minutes before Arik spoke again. “Tanya, I really do apologize for Tedi’s remarks. He was anxious about hearing some news of the old times and he knew the townspeople would be arriving soon.”
After a few more minutes of silence, Tanya finally asked, “What’s your name, fisherboy?”
Arik looked over the horse at the young girl. “I am Arik Clava,” he finally answered. “And I would prefer that you do not call me fisherboy. You make it sound like a derogatory term and my father is a fisherman. I find nothing dishonest or unsavory in his character because of his profession. He provides the best he can and I’m proud to be his son.”
Tanya stopped brushing and gazed at the village boy. “It would appear that I also owe you an apology, Arik Clava,” the merchant’s niece responded. “It was meant as a derogatory term and I apologize for it. Why are you so interested in the old times? I thought all of you Sordoans feared the Dark One coming in the night if you spoke of them.”
Arik dropped his brush and started. “You know about Sordoa?” he exclaimed. “I never heard it mentioned until earlier today. I’ve read a little about it, but only of times long gone. Do you know about the Collapse and what happened?”
“Did this Master Tern teach you how to do that with the brush?” Tanya smirked.
Arik apologized profusely and retrieved the brush, once again applying long strokes to the horse. “What can you tell me of the Collapse?” he questioned.
Tanya stopped brushing the horse and stuck out her hand for Arik’s brush. “You did good enough for a f… boy who is not used to taking care of horses,” she quipped. “I will tell you nothing of the Collapse or the old times. If your townspeople found out, my uncle would be driven out of town and times are poor enough as it is without losing some trade here.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Arik promised. “I won’t tell a soul. We could just be friends talking. No one will suspect what we are talking about.”
“You won’t tell a soul because you will have nothing to tell,” she stated. “And I don’t have friends. Friends cause you pain and grief and I don’t need anymore of either, thank you very much.”
Tanya disappeared around the side of the wagon and a befuddled Arik headed towards Tedi, who was now standing with the crowd of townspeople that had gathered to hear the latest news. Tedi noticed the woman in the green dress on the other side of the crowd and she seemed to be trying to slide through the group nonchalantly. After fifteen minutes of tales of bleakness and starvation, bandits and rogue armies, the two boys left the gathering with the mysterious woman only several feet away. People started crowding around the merchant and picking out small items from a rather poor selection of goods. Tedi pulled anxiously at Arik’s sleeve and started to run towards the harbor.
When the boys reached Arik’s home, they leaned against the back of the house in silence. Finally, Tedi turned towards Arik. “Did you see her trying to get closer to me,” he wheezed.
“I’d say it was your imagination,” offered Arik, “but she sure didn’t seem to be interested in anything the merchant had to sell. What did the old… Master Khatama have to say after I left?”
“Not much,” Tedi replied. “He griped a lot about youngsters today and their lack of respect for their elders. He also asked our ages about three different times. I guess my big mouth got us off to a rather poor start.”
“I’ll say,” chuckled Arik. “The merchant’s niece practically bit my head off for that one comment she overheard you say. She’s a bitter one, she is. You hear people talk about bitter old maids, well, this girl is around our age and she already has the demeanor to put those old maids to shame.”
“Well, I guess we won’t have to bother going back for dinner, then,” Tedi laughed. “The chance of either one of them knowing anything useful, or telling us if they did, is probably out of the question.”
“I don’t know about that,” remarked Arik. “Even the girl knows about Sordoa and the Collapse. She wouldn’t talk about it, but I could tell that she knows.”
“If I didn’t know better, I could almost be suspicious of you liking Tanya,” chuckled Tedi.
“Forget it!” exclaimed Arik. “She doesn’t even want friends. I tried to be friendly with her and I had to keep an eye on her hands to see if she would pull a knife on me. That girl is poison and will never have any friends, never mind boyfriends. Still, she does possess knowledge that I’d like to have. I’m willing to go back and talk as long you come and keep an eye on her hands.”
“Heck, if nothing else it’s a free meal,” smirked Tedi. “Why are you interested in the Collapse so much all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know,” replied Arik. “Lately, I’ve been having dreams of what I think the old times must have been like. I guess it may just be not knowing what all of the older people know and frustration at their stubborn refusal to talk about it.”
“You mean you are not afraid of calling down the Dark One on your family?” asked Tedi.
Arik combed backed his shoulder length brown hair with his fingers and sat on the back stoop. “How are we supposed to believe that story about the Dark One if nobody is even willing to talk about him?” he quizzed. “You know, Tanya laughed about the Sordoans believing in that story. She called us Sordoans. She knows an awful lot about what I want to know. I’ve got to get her to open up and tell me.”
“You have a better chance of her opening up a cut on your lip,” laughed Tedi. “Why don’t we go out in the forest and see what game we can find. I doubt the bandits are still around if the peddler got through, but we can go out the south end just in case.”
The boys headed along the shore towards the south end of Lorgo. When they reached the quay, the woman in the green dress stepped out in front of them. Tedi grabbed Arik’s sleeve and the boys ran out to the end of one of the docks. The woman slowly marched after them and paused not ten feet from the end of the dock where Arik and Tedi stood with no escape. The woman stood staring at them, her long black hair twisted into a single braid as thick as an oar shaft. “Who are you?” she demanded.
For several moments, the boys pondered their position. Certainly they could leap into the sea and she wouldn’t follow or maybe they could just run past her. When they refused to answer and the woman realized that they still planned to evade her, she moved her hands and the boys were frozen in place from the neck down. Arik tried to move his arms and legs and failed. His body refused to listen to his commands and it tingled like he was just doused with a bucket of ice-cold water. Only his head moved and he realized that it was sweating. Looking at Tedi, he realized that his friend was experiencing the same thing with sweat pouring down his face.
“I’m sorry if we’ve offended you, Mistress,” Arik croaked. “Whatever it is you think we’ve done, I apologize for it. If you could just see it in your good grace to release us, I promise we won’t bother you anymore.”
“Shut up!” she shouted. Lowering her voice as she came closer, she stared Arik in the eyes. “What is your name, youngling?” she demanded.
“Arik Clava, Mistress,” Arik whispered, “and my friend is Tedi Markel.”
“Tell me how old you are,” commanded the witch as she came toe-to-toe with Arik, her breath smelling strongly of onions.
“Fourteen years,” wheezed Arik trying unsuccessfully to lean back away from the strong odor. “And so is Tedi,” he quickly appended.
“You look much older than fourteen,” she scowled. “Perhaps you need a lesson in truth telling. How old are your parents and where do they live?”
Sweat was dripping into Arik’s eyes and his nose was starting to twitch. Arik was focusing on the woman’s face when all of a sudden, she literally rose up and was tossed into the sea. The moment she hit the water, the spell binding the two boys broke and they took off running down the dock. They didn’t stop running until they entered the woods at the south end of town. They both collapsed into a gully and turned to watch the path from town. Long minutes of silence passed before either one talked.
“What was all that about?” asked Tedi. “And why did you lie about our ages?”
“I don’t know,” answered Arik. “Nothing about today makes much sense. When she trapped us, I thought she was after you because of the incident at the inn this morning, but she seemed to be more interested in me. I guess I figured if she thought we were younger, the punishment for whatever it was that I was supposed to have done would be less because we were younger. I don’t know why, but I don’t mind telling you that I was scared like
