A
myriad of soft sounds assaulted Zarnian’s ears as her eyes scanned the
perimeter of their small camp. Timmuth’s soft breathing was reassurance he was
finally resting. He’d spent the early evening meticulously cutting apart his
trail rations of dried meat and pickled cactus with his iron dagger, while
asking if he could go and kill various members of the Merchant’s Council. In
truth, the mul would like nothing better than to kill them all herself in one
glorious bath of blood. It was not to be… yet.
Tomorrow
they would complete the journey to Tyr. Right now, in the middle of the desert
with Logan also on guard duty, she held her psionic damping crystal tight in
her hand, allowing her thoughts to drift to honey colored curly hair, warm
brown eyes, and a smile that lit up a city state. Somewhere in the Tyr valley
Jingleheimer was with his own trading house, hopefully sleeping, resting for
the coming day’s trades. Zarnian loved him, yet, closed her eyes praying to all
the elements it would be a long time before she saw him again.
There
were many reasons. She needed to prove that she would not cause his death. He
needed to prove himself to be his own person with his own success. This is what
she told herself, but the truth was different.
In
reality, she had lost nearly everything he cared about or loved. Trinidas died
while she watched psionically, Malik died before her eyes, C’aro died in her
arms, and her relationship with Trakas died a slow death. Only the faintest
embers of hope or happiness remained within her. She took those, burying some
in Timmuth, the rest in Jingleheimer. Kellis. She was alone. She could call him
by his actual name. Timmuth she protected with all she had. Kellis she
protected with his absence from the war. If either were to fall, her mind could
not bear the strain. Nothing would keep her from dying inside, with her body
soon to follow.
Looking
over at Timmuth’s sleeping, peaceful little face caused a light to fill her.
Timmuth would someday be a merchant prince. This alone made her own fires of optimism
to flare for a moment before she extinguished them again. First, she had to
keep him safe. Shoving all thoughts of anything aside from protecting her camp,
Zarnian stared off into the unknown, ready for the next challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment