Luke looked down at the end of the path they were on. A little ways down the hill was the small village of Quinton.
Luke was home.
Why did they come back here? Luke didn't know. But they had simply found the nearest path after escaping from the Dueglesteiners, and it happened to be the path Luke used to use every single day.
Also, this seemed to be the nearest place to trade for some supplies. And if there was anything Luke was good at, it was hunting.
They had gotten a pretty decent catch earlier that morning, the weight of the five rabbits tugging at Luke's hand.
Luke knew Alice had to turn away as he slit each of their throats, and he understood how she felt. With each kill he'd had to make to keep his family alive, he'd felt remorse as the life ebbed away from them.
He knew it was the circle of life, but it still hurt him inside, knowing he'd taken an animal's life. He could sympathize with Alice on that.
He really wished it hadn't come to that, hunting animals in front of Alice's eyes, but they needed the supplies. Food, water, possibly weapons and other needed supplies such as rope were necessities. And since none of them seemed to have any money on them they'd need to trade.
Five rabbits didn't seem enough to trade for all of that, which is why Skylar had found some medicinal herbs and fruit to trade as well. For someone who dealt a lot in weapons, she sure knew a thing or two about plants.
There was something more about her that seemed mysterious to Luke. Maybe it was her eyes. In the daylight, they looked like pale yellow discs, which reminded Luke a little of the moon on some nights, when it turned a yellow hue. In the firelight, however, they looked more like two gold coins, shining in the firelight, almost glowing in the dark.
And now as he was walking behind her, he noticed something else. A dark, horizontal line peeked out on her skin above the collar of her shirt, resembling something of a tattoo.
Luke was captivated by her.
He looked at her again and noticed every little detail about her. She had a birthmark or mole on her right cheek near her eye.
But what was he thinking? He was so impressed by her skill. How was she so fast and agile and was skilled with the bow? How could she be a warrior but so kind at the same time?
He tried to clear his mind. Stop thinking about the girl, he said to himself.
As they made their way to Quinton, Luke felt guilty. He’d been away from home for a whole day now. His mother would surely be worried about him.
But if he told her where he was going, she’d be in danger. The Dueglesteiners could question her, torture her if she showed she had any information.
He couldn’t lose anyone else.
...
“Okay, this is it,” Luke said as they showed up at the small gates that welcomed people to Quinton.
“You know this place, don’t you?” Luke heard someone ask. It was Skylar. He didn’t even know the fear had shown on his face.
“Yes,” he said slowly, “this is my home.”
“It’s mine, too.” Luke heard Richard say. Wait, Richard?
“It is?”
“Yes,” Richard had a weird look on his face. Trepidation? Anger, even?
Richard set his jaw like he was clenching his teeth. He didn’t want to talk about it.
When they got to the first trading post, it had Karl at it. With all the meat hanging on the wall behind him, Luke was afraid Alice would faint.
“There ya are, Luke!” Karl shouted as he saw Luke walking up to him with his friends, “Where ya been? Didn’t see ya come back yesterday. Matter of fact I don’t ‘call seein’ ya go ‘n dare t’day…” Karl stroked his long beard. Oh no, what would happen if Karl caught on?
“An’ who er yer friends?” Karl said, looking at the odd assortment of kids behind Luke.
“Doesn’t matter,” Luke said, although he felt a trickle of sweat go down his cheek. He didn’t notice how tense he was. “Look, I got you some rabbits,” He set the 5 rabbits on the counter in front of Karl.
Karl still looked suspicious, but he took the rabbits and gave Luke his payment, 10 sarafu, the coin currency of Bellona.
Luke looked at the 10, small, copper coins in his hand. Each of them had an engraving of a man with a neatly trimmed beard and short-cropped hair.
Underneath the picture was a caption that said,
230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGchZe8Yhc
King Dominic III
230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxNUf4PCLt
King Dominic III was the current king of Bellona. He was a good king who had made the peace treaty between Bellona and Dueglestein. However, Luke didn’t see how that treaty would work now.
In the treaty, it said Dueglestein could not go anywhere near Bellona or the surrounding countries. This was because Dueglestien had tried, (and failed) so many times to take over Bellona that if any Dueglesteiner set foot in Bellona, it was an act of violence.
Luke and the others went over to another vendor, Daveed. He recognized Luke, too.
“Greetings, Luke Doogan, son of Nathaniel Doogan.” Luke didn’t know why Daveed always talked like this, Daveed always seemed to think he was more sophisticated than others.
“Hey, Daveed.” Luke didn’t want to deal with Daveed’s long sentences right then.
“And what do I owe the pleasure of a fine visit from the praised Nathaniel Doogan’s eldest son?” Luke didn’t understand why everyone had to compare him to his father. He loved his dad, but he didn’t feel as great as him.
“I’ve come to sell you some berries,” Luke responded, and motioned for Skylar to put the berries on the table.
“Fascinating,” Daveed said as he looked at the berries, “Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, jackleberries, oooh! And some jostaberries!”
Luke looked at the berry Daveed had praised. It was just a small bunch of purple berries that grew on a stem. But Daveed looked like he’d only seen them a few times.
“Are there any other berries or herbs you’d like to sell?” Daveed asked inquisitively, looking at Skylar especially.
“I do, in fact,” she said, rummaging in the small pouch she had on her belt.
She laid out a small patch of fabric that was filled with herbs. Daveed named them as he picked through them. “Chamomile, echinacea, garlic, feverfew, milk thistle, and valerian. You have quite the assortment of medicinal herbs, young Protector.”
Skylar's pale face went white as Daveed said that.
"H-how...how did you-" Skylar started to say, sweat beading on her forehead.
Luke looked between Daveed and Skylar, unsure of what was going on.
What was it he had called her? A Protector?
Either way, Luke didn't like the way Daveed was looking at all of them, like he knew something. And Luke really didn't want to find out...
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