The Warrior (The Rebellion) (3 page)

C H A P T E R 5

Glancing Her

Throngs of smelly people shoved against him. Barst repeatedly pushed them away, yet they continually pressed forward. Barst tried to look bored with their antics, and suppressed the desire to lay about him with his fists.

They disgusted him. They treated murders like gods and provided the demand for Barst's terrible job.
They admire me because I can kill and nothing more.
To Barst, a more shallow relationship—if one could even call it that—had never existed.

His anger rising up, Barst threw an elbow in the face of a man who had gotten too close. The man fell back into the throng, holding his broken nose and cursing. A twinge of satisfaction caused Barst to smile.
Well that’s one less fan to bother me.

Barst and Aaron finally cleared the mob and jumped into a waiting coach. Barst kept his gaze locked in front, so as not to reward the crowd with a single glance. As soon as they had cleared the throng though, Barst turned his eyes out the window. That’s when he saw Her.

She was standing on the outskirts of the mob arguing with some carriage driver. She flipped back her black hair and Barst froze. It was Her. Scarring memories of her body lying in the bloody snow, as her dull eyes gazed lifelessly to the heavens, filled his mind. But there she was. The carriage rolled onward, but Barst's thoughts had all but stopped. He had seen Her. No he couldn’t have seen her. But he could have sworn that was Her.

The rest of the journey was a blur to Barst. She was alive. It was impossible. He was sure She was dead. He had seen it, hadn't he? Barst cursed himself for not jumping out of the carriage to get a better look.

Night fell and, in a trance, he entered the room his owner had rented. Lying on a mat on the floor, Barst stared at the ceiling, mulling over the same implausible thoughts. When the sun rose the next morning it found Barst, still awake, baffled and yet suppressing a deep feeling of enthusiasm.

She was alive.

C H A P T E R 6

Stuck Mind an
d
Wheel

Rain pattered gently on the top of the carriage and thunder rolled lightly in the distance. Through the open window, Barst could see the dark, menacing clouds gathering in number. They were preparing to bring their awesome power upon the small carriage. The horses knew what was coming and were now striving to reach home before the storm hit. Barst smiled slightly as the cool rain came in contact with his grimy face.

Morning had brought what it always did—a hardened doubt and the near certainty of a misjudgment of the events the day before. A stonewallof disbelie
f
now blocked his past hopes, and Barst now avoided all thoughts of Her, assuring himself that it was just his imagination.

Aaron was on the opposite side of the carriage, his arms crossed and shivering. Barst looked over at him and his smile broke wide open, showing a range of slightly crooked, yet still handsome teeth.

"I'll never understand why, in Thorton's great name, you like to be rained on. Even when you have a perfectly good roof to hide under! It’s stupid." Aaron said with a look of irritation. "The point of a roof is to keep you dry and warm, and you have to open the window." He continued looking away and shaking his head in slight bewilderment.

"It's the air. Can't you feel it? It's cool and clean. You really learn to appreciate it after you’ve been to the suiting rooms." Barst said.

Aaron cracked a wry smile and leaned his head back against the red cushions that lined the interior of the carriage.

"Aye, I heard that really reeks."

"That is a huge understatement. Hell has to smell better."

Aaron smiled fully then closed his eyes. Barst turned his gaze back outside to where the dark clouds were commencing their charge across the sky. He rubbed the blond stubble that had formed on his jaw line and thought, despite his recent resolve, about Her.

Barst’s mind drifted back to memories that hadn’t been recalled for years. She was wading through a brook, her eyes filled with delight as small fish swarmed about Her toes. She was running across a field, chasing the shadows of birds that flew above in the bright and warm sky.

His eyes flew open when the carriage hit a hole, causing a strong jolt that shoved him back into his seat. Aaron, who was facing the front of the carriage, was thrown forward, cursing, into the cushions on Barst's side. Barst jumped out of the carriage to see the driver, Ned, futilely striving to drive the horses forward. Ned, an old man of about sixty by Barst's guess, twisted around the opposite way from which Barst was standing, and shouted into the carriage.

"We’re stuck!"

"So I noticed." Barst replied sarcastically, causing Ned to jerk around the other way in surprise. "Here I'll try to push."

Barst looked at the back right wheel, which was stuck in six inches of mud. With a sigh, he took off his boots and rolled up his trousers. Jumping behind the wheel, he shoved in a violent rhythm against the wooden wheel. When nothing happened, Barst looked to the front of the carriage where Ned was still staring back.

"Well drive the horses, will you?"

Ned snapped forward and lashed the horses and, after another violent shove, the carriage was again rolling. Barst, with his boots in one hand, jumped in the carriage and glanced at an exasperated Aaron.

"Oh, and let's not forget, rain makes mud, which causes people to get in accidents. You see this?" Aaron pointed at a newly forming bruise on his face, "This is because of your stupid rain."

Barst lightly smiled at Aaron's mock anger and once again leaned back into his seat and futilely tried to get some rest.

C H A P T E R 7

Her Laugh

Jonathan was running. Not in fear or desperation or even with purpose, but really running. The grass meadow flew beneath his feet. The clean, mountain air filled his lungs and he pushed himself faster. His feet slapped the ground and his legs screamed for more.

Small rodents and other creatures would sporadically hop out of the grass and bound away, scuttling to their hideaways.

Jonathan let out a laugh. Not just a laugh, but a real laugh that the soul lets loose when it is utterly content. It flowed out his throat and seemed to satisfy every fiber in his being.

Exhaustion began to pull at his chest, so he threw himself down onto the long grass. The sky was the picture of peaceful. The few white clouds that trailed across the sky were going nowhere fast. The soft grass blades lightly tickled his ear and he closed his eyes in contentment.

Then he heard Her laugh.

The wonderfully melodic noise wafted across the plain causing him to sit up and open his eyes, his heart in his throat. There she was, gamboling through the grass, Her dark hair flowed back, and Her stunning smile spread across Her face. Her delicate hands held the hem of Her snow-white dress that seemed to illuminate Her captivating dark purple eyes.

Something was trying to surface in Jonathan mind, but he couldn't just remember it. He frowned in thought as she drew near, but he couldn’t quite recollect the thought. Then it came to him.

He was Barst.

A cold wind swept through the valley. He shivered and looked up at Her to see Her smile transform into a malicious scowl. Dark clouds now covered the sky, and rain was beginning to
pelt down. She began to ominously raise Her arms and the wind picked up speed. Her hair flew in all directions and then a large bolt of lightning struck and the scene dissolved into a bright white light.

Barst awoke to find his knuckles also white from grabbing the side of the bed. Outside, he could hear a thunderstorm unleashing its full rage upon Aaron's house. He was home.
If this is home,
he thought. Barst layback down and let his thoughts drift.

Aaron and he had gotten back yesterday and Barst, unable to sleep on the carriage, had gone straight to bed. Barst looked out the window and judged by the amount of light coming through the dark clouds that it was probably around noon.
Must have really been out for a while.

He then thought of the dream, which was already becoming distorted. He had to ruin it, hadn't he? He rarely had a good dream, and now that he had one he couldn't just enjoy it? Why hadn't he just enjoyed the moment?

Even though he knew that it would be impossible, he lay back down and tried to make himself fall back to sleep.
Why can't you continue your dreams?

Creak.

Barst’s eyes flew open and locked on the door as he sat up, a knife from his bedside held ready in his hand. Two small and startled eyes stared back at his through the small crack, and then quickly vanished. Barst groaned, tucked his knife beside his bed, and threw his legs over the side.

After throwing on some clothes and washing his face, he opened the door and headed out to the dining room. Rich smells floated through the air making Barst aware of how hungry he was. He entered the dining room to see the family eating lunch.

A pretty, middle-aged woman with red cheeks was smiling and listening to the children that crowded one side of the dining table. She was Marcie, Aaron's wife. All the children included: Jem, a shy pretty blond girl who was about nine, Rodger, a sly boy who always had a retort, Hannah, a melancholy and pensive child with jet black hair, and then Daniel, who was seven.

Daniel had cow-licked dirty-blond hair that shot off in every direction from his head. He was missing his two front teeth, which made his crooked smile all the more bright. But what really stood out was his enormous energy.

The kid never stopped moving. Barst remembered when the household was eating at a friend's
house; Daniel hadn't stopped fidgeting for a second. This energy made it possible for Daniel to play with Barst for an hour and then, after fully exhausting the large man's energy, beg his mom to let him run outside the city walls to pick berries.

Right now he was sitting at the table, bouncing up and down, devouring a chicken leg, head swaying about. Marcie noticed Barst, and a huge smile spread across her face accompanied with deep dimples.

"Good afternoon. I'm glad you can join us for lunch."

Barst grunted, still not awake enough to come up with a reply, and sat down across from Daniel and next to Jem. Daniel beamed up at him excitedly while rocking side-to-side, and humming no particular tune.

"You sure were a sleep for a long time,” Daniel said between both mouthfuls and hums, “You missed breakfast." Then, after glancing at his mother he leaned in conspicuously and whispered "You didn't miss much though, just oatmeal."

He then stuck out his tongue and scrunched up his face, making Barst smile.

"Well, actually, I was going to sleep more until somebody opened my door and woke me up." Barst said loudly.

All the children looked at him questionably except for Daniel, who stopped moving and became very interested in his chicken.

Barst continued to stare at Daniel as Jem asked
,
"Someone woke you

up
?"

"Aye," he replied, his gaze still fixed on Daniel "I was having a great dream too."

"Well it wasn’t me," said Daniel as he got up and began cleaning off his plate, all the while avoiding eye contact with Barst.

Barst grinned as Daniel scurried out of the kitchen, and then addressed Marcie. "So where's Aaron gone off to?"

"Oh, He just went to get the mail. Wants to get you on another team soon."

Barst nodded, "I was thinking of taking a vacation, but if you needed me to, I can get right back in it."

Marcie’s face became a picture of horror and her hand covered her open mouth, "Oh, we don't need the money. Aaron just thought you’d want to get in the next fight possible. I forgot someone died."

"Who died?" Daniel's head popped into the kitchen

"No one you know, so shoo." His mother replied motioning to the adjacent room.

"It's alright I just want a short break before I go back in. I'll tell Aaron that when he comes back." Barst said after Daniel's head had vanished from the doorway.

"Good," Marcie said, and she began to collect the leftover dishes. "No need to fight soon if you don't want to. We have everything stable. Financially that is.”

She carried the dishes to the nearby water basin. “So what do you plan to do the rest of the day?" she asked.

Barst shrugged, "Today I think I'll take a break and just walk around the city. Probably go hunting. Besides, there isn't much day left to do anything with."