Lorik looked at her for a moment. She seemed different somehow, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. She had said she needed a bit more money before she left the Point and he wondered how she planned to earn it if she stopped working. Still, he would never turn her away, and he was glad that she wasn’t ready to leave town. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, and with the rumors of the King marching to war, he wasn’t sure it would be safe to take her north yet.
“Well, Stone and I are leaving today. I certainly don’t mind you moving in. But I already offered the spare room to him.”
“That’s okay,” she said, and immediately wished she hadn’t. Of course she was thrilled at the thought of living in the same house with Liam, even though she knew she was acting like a foolish young girl. She hardly knew him, but what better way to get to know him than living in the same house with him, she thought.
“What’s going on?” Lorik asked. “Yesterday you were irate that I was even going to speak with him about partnering with me. Now you’re okay with it?”
“I spent some time with him,” she said. “Like you said, there’s just something about him.”
Her face was red, and she was looking at the floor. Lorik finally put things together. She was infatuated with Stone. It wasn’t that hard to believe. He was young and handsome, intelligent and even charming, but it wasn’t like Vera to fall for those things. There must have been something else, something that he and no one else in Hassell Point had been able to give her.
“He was interested in you yesterday,” he said. “Tell me what happened.”
“It was nothing,” she said, afraid he would be jealous.
The truth was Lorik was jealous, but not of Vera’s love. He had been the one man she had depended on and trusted over the years. Now, she was keeping secrets. He wasn’t in love with her, but he loved her in a fashion, and he felt as if he were being replaced.
“Please,” he said gently.
“He wanted to be with me and paid for the privilege in gold. I was skeptical at first and kept my distance, but he promised he would tell me whatever I wanted to know. So I asked him about you, what his real name is, and about his plans. He was completely sincere.”
“His name isn’t Stone?”
“Of course it isn’t,” she scolded. “What mother would name her sweet baby Stone?”
“So what is his real name?”
“It’s Liam, but don’t go spreading it around. If he wants to be known as something else that’s his business.”
Lorik was uncertain how to feel. He knew that Vera was a wench; she had been for a long time. He had always hated the idea of her being with other men, but he himself had been a loyal customer, and the hypocrisy of his actions had always kept him from saying anything to her. He hated it when the Riders visited her, but he had kept quiet. Now Stone had come to her, and he felt strange. Two men with affection, even merely strong friendship, for the same woman, could spell disaster.
“He told me he didn’t mean to fall in with Marsdyn, but you can see that he didn’t have much choice. He told me he didn’t want trouble, and sometimes going along with their sort is the best way to deal with men like that. The whole town knows it’s true, that’s why they pay Marsdyn protection money.”
“I understand,” Lorik said. He stood up. “I have things to do before we leave. Do you need help moving your things to my house?”
“That would be nice,” she said. “You aren’t angry, are you?”
“Why would I be angry?”
“I won’t be wenching anymore.”
“I’ve been trying to get you to stop for a long time.”
“I think I may have feelings for Liam,” she said, her face turning even more red.
“I know that,” he said.
“How?”
“It’s obvious,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve known you a long time, and I’ve never seen you this way.”
“I can’t help it,” she said. “I feel like a teenager.”
“You deserve to be happy,” he said. “I’ll admit I don’t like change. And you not being here will take some getting used to. But I would never stand in the way of what you want.”
“Oh, Lorik,” she said, her eyes shining with tears. “You are too good to me.”
“No, I’m not. Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”
“Of course I would. Nothing would make me happier than seeing you with a woman who made you happy.”
“That’s how I feel.”
“Even though we can’t be together? Once I leave this room I’m through. I need to know that I can trust you.”
“Of course you can, and don’t pretend like you don’t know that. We’ve been friends a long time, and I care about you, of course, but I can step aside. If Stone—I mean Liam—is who you want to be with, then I support you completely.”
“That means the world to me,” she said.
He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m happy for you. Do you think he feels the same way?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Men keep their feelings so guarded. He paid me in gold but didn’t sleep with me. He just kissed me and asked me not to work the rest of the night.”
“How very chivalrous of him,” Lorik said.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “If anything it’s probably a bad sign.”
“But you don’t think so—I can see that.”
“He kissed me and I...” she hesitated, feeling foolish. “I just think that maybe there was something in that kiss. Maybe I imagined it, but it felt like more than just a kiss.”
“Well, I’ll be sending him to help you get settled,” Lorik said, clamping down on the strong emotions that were springing to the surface of his mind. “I’ve got to go collect a load, but I’ll send him here with the old wagon. So be ready when he gets here. We’ll be gone for a couple of weeks.”
“Good, that will give me time to get the funky smell out of your old house.”
“There’s no smell in my house,” he said indignantly.
“Oh, don’t get upset. You’re a bachelor, and you’re gone most of the time. Your house could use a good cleaning. It’s the least I can do in exchange for you letting me stay there.”
He smiled. “All right, make yourself at home. I’ll see you when I get back.”
She kissed him, and although it was fast and friendly, it surprised him.
“You’re a good friend, Lorik. Thank you.”
He just smiled and left. He found in those moments that it was better to get busy with something he could see and touch. He walked down to one of the blacksmith’s shops.
Hugo was a huge man with thickly muscled arms and bushy beard. He was also one of the gentlest men Lorik had ever known.
“Lorik!” Hugo cried. “What brings you around today? Are your horses needing new shoes already?”
“No, I was looking to get a few weapons. Have you got some you can part with?”
“Weapons, eh? Well, of course I do, you know that. I hope all is well.”
“It is, but there are rumors of a war.”
“I’ve heard that, yes.”
“And chances are the roads may not be as safe if the Earl has sent his men away from Yorick Shire. Better safe than sorry, you know.”
“That is correct. What did you have in mind?”
“I need a bigger axe,” Lorik said. “Double-bladed if you have one. And maybe a few javelins.”
“Oh, I have just the thing. Here, let me show you.”
Hugo went into the storage room where he kept his supplies and finished projects. He came out with a beautiful axe. It was big: the handle was as long as Lorik’s leg, and the twin blades were as wide as both of his hands side by side. The axe blades curved around so that there was almost a circle around the head of the axe.
“What do you think, eh?”
“It’s beautiful,” Lorik said.
“Feel the balance,” Hugo told h
im as he handed the weapon over.
The handle was oak and wrapped in pig skin. It had heft, but it wasn’t as heavy as Lorik had imagined it would be. The length and weight of the handle counter balanced the axe head and Lorik could wield it with both hands.
“I cored the handle,” Hugo said, “and there is a beam of steel that runs from the axe head down the handle. You could block a sword stroke with the handle and not have to worry about it snapping.”
“It’s perfect,” Lorik said. “Do you have javelins too?”
“Sure, sure,” he said, stepping back into the small room.
Lorik had used a javelin his whole life. He carried a longbow when he traveled, but he’d learned to use a javelin as a boy before he could draw a stout bowstring. In the Marshlands, javelins were used for hunting and even fishing for some of the larger fish, but they were essential in fending off the mud dragons if the need arose. Hugo came out with half a dozen javelins.
“They’re all honed and balanced.”
“Good. I’ll take them all. How much do I owe you?”
He paid Hugo and then went to the market where he bought bread and smoked eel for the trip. He was just tying his provisions in a sack to the end of one of the javelins when Stone called to him from the street.
“I’m glad I ran into you,” he told Stone. “I need you to do something for me. Vera is moving into my house. Can you hitch the farm wagon up and help her move her things?”
“Sure,” Stone said, but he looked as if he wanted to say more.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “She’s been talking about leaving town for a long time. She’ll just be staying with me for a while before she goes. We’re just friends...” he paused for emphasis and then continued with a smile, “Liam.”
Stone’s face turned red.
“She told you my name,” he said, a little sheepishly.
“We’ve been friends a long time,” Lorik explained. “I told her you would be coming.”
“I might need a little help hitching the horse to the wagon,” Stone admitted.
“Well, then, come back with me now. You’ll still have time to get provisions before you leave town. I’m going out to pick up our load now. You can catch up to me on your horse later this evening.”
“All right, that sounds good,” said Stone.
They walked together, Stone leading his horse and neither man talking. Lorik knew that Stone was trying to work out what to say, but Lorik felt it was best if he let Stone say what was on his mind in his own way and in his own time. They were almost back to the barn before Stone spoke up.
“So, I need to say something,” he said. “I have feelings for Vera. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not with me,” Lorik said, even though he wasn’t sure if that was completely true.
“Can you tell me if she has been seeing someone else?”
“She doesn’t have any suitors if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve seen her turn down good matches in the past. I’ve even offered to marry her, but that isn’t what she wanted. I did promise to take her north soon. She was planning on starting a new life.”
“Oh,” was all Stone managed to say.
“Let me show you how to hitch up that old wagon.”
It wasn’t long before Stone drove the wagon away from the barn and Lorik once again watched him go. Normally the path to town from his property had to be carefully navigated to keep the wagon wheels from veering into the mud where it could get stuck, but the farm wagon wasn’t as wide as the others, and Lorik figured Stone could keep the wagon on the path.
He was relieved to get busy, since his emotions seemed so troubling. He didn’t love Vera, he knew that was certain. What he couldn’t figure out was why her feelings for Stone bothered him so much. She seemed happy, although Lorik knew that romance could evaporate as quickly as it sprang up. Vera and Stone hardly knew each other, but he had heard that sometimes love struck as quick and powerful as lightning. It wasn’t his place to doubt Vera’s feelings, and he would have plenty of time on the road with Stone to get a good sense of the other man’s character. Perhaps all he felt was grief. His friend was leaving, perhaps not leaving the Point, but she would no longer be the welcoming confidant she had always been. She had seen him through the death of his parents and comforted him. Whether things were good or bad, she had always been there for him with open arms. Now, things were changing, and he didn’t like change.
Once he had the marsh schooner ready and two of the Shire mares were in their braces, he set out. The open road had always had a way of rejuvenating him. He loved the beginning of a trip. He stopped at Chancy’s Inn and got a large keg of mead, which he secured to the bench seat beside him. It would give them something to drink in the marshes where fresh water was sometimes hard to find, and it would also serve as an armrest. He propped the big battle axe on the floor with its handle pointed up and resting against the keg of mead. His own rations and the six javelins he placed in the bed of the wagon just within reach of his seat.
The Hollist farm was one of the biggest producers of rice in the Marshlands, and the main farmhouse was sited right on the path that led out of Hassell Point. There were other villages in the Marshlands, but Hassell Point was biggest. The other villages had very little interaction with the outside world. Other than a delivery or two, usually made by Lorik, they had no contact with anyone outside of the Marshlands. Hollist was waiting at the farmhouse with three of his sons. They already had the rice dried and bagged. Hollist could have sent his rice by ship. He was close enough to the harbor, hardly an hour’s ride by wagon. He had the money to pay for the cargo to be shipped as well, but like most of the people in the Marshlands, they preferred to have one of their own moving their goods. It was not unheard of for a shipment of rice sent by sea to go missing, in which case the rice tax wouldn’t be paid and the farmer could lose everything.
Hollist’s sons loaded the rice while Lorik got specific orders from the farmer about what he needed from the north. Once everything was settled, Hollist and Lorik shook hands. Then Lorik set off in his wagon again. There were perhaps two hours of daylight left, and while Lorik was able to keep his emotions about Vera from bubbling to the surface at first, before long he couldn’t help himself. He was sad and he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t the type of person given to sentimentality, nor was he comfortable with lying to himself. He thought about what was bothering him again, and once more he ruled out the possibility that he had stronger feelings for Vera than he thought. He was concerned for Vera; he didn’t want to see her get hurt, and as much as he liked Stone, neither of them knew the young warrior very well. But his emotional anguish was more than just concern. He was upset about something, and he decided that pretending he wasn’t upset was not going to help him.
Then, out of the blue, it hit him. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that Vera was leaving him or seemed to be falling in love with Stone, he was upset because he and Vera had always been the same. Neither of them was satisfied with life, but it was easier to take the disappointment when he could spend time with someone who understood how he felt. It wasn’t that Lorik didn’t like living in Hassell Point or even like his trade. He felt lucky to have all he had, but there was something missing. It was easy to look at Vera and see that what she was missing was love. She had never found the person she wanted to share her life with until perhaps now, but Lorik was different. He didn’t think love and marriage were what was missing from his life. Finding someone to share his life with might have been pleasant, but he didn’t feel like his life was incomplete because he spent most of his time alone.
He pondered his situation and while he couldn’t put his finger on why he wasn’t happy, he did feel that he knew why Vera’s decision to leave Hassell Point and her strong feelings for Stone upset him so much. There was a measure of relief in being able to identify his problem, but he still wasn’t sure how to proceed. As night began to fall, he stopped and made camp. The main path from Hassell Point into th
e marshes was an old road of sorts. It clung to the high ground, although it occasionally dropped into the little valleys between the low hills. In those troughs the path was susceptible to muck and clinging mud, depending on the weather. It had been reasonably dry for the last week, and so far Lorik had experienced no problems on the trail. He expected to see Stone come riding along any time. The young warrior may have taken his time loading and unloading Vera’s belongings, but he would make much better time on horseback than Lorik would hauling a heavy load of rice.
He made a fire, then saw to his horses. He unhitched them and made sure to give each of them a proper rubdown before hobbling them for the night. Then he secured a tightly woven cover over the rice. He wasn’t expecting rain, but he couldn’t be too careful. Thieves were also a problem in the Marshlands, and wagons left uncovered were easy to steal from. Eventually, Lorik would make his bed on the load of rice. It wasn’t a feather bed, but it was more comfortable than sleeping on the cold, soggy ground.
Finally, with his work through for the day, he settled next to the fire and had a mug of mead. He rarely cooked much on the trail, preferring dry rations. He ate one of the small, hard-crusted loaves of bread that the bakers in Hassell Point made and sold to the ships that came into harbor. The loaves resisted moisture and could keep for nearly a month before becoming too moldy to eat. He had cheese, smoked eel, and some fruit in his provisions, too, but he wasn’t hungry. He normally got to sleep quickly after seeing to his horses and eating a bite, but he decided to wait up for Stone. It made him nervous to have to sit and wait. His mind wandered to unhealthy ideas. The young warrior had made his way to Hassell Point through the Marshlands on his own, which was no mean feat. Still, he could have wandered off the path in the darkness and dropped into a pool of quicksand, or gotten stuck in the thick, sucking mud. Some men had gotten so bogged in the sucking mud that they had died without ever getting free.
Lorik pushed the thoughts away and watched the fire as it died down. There was plenty of scrub brush around to keep the fire going. It smoked profusely and sometimes it even stank, but it burned, and that was the important thing. It would attract Stone when he got close enough. Lorik just hoped that it wouldn’t attract anyone else in the meantime.
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